Germany does not seek survival

It is delicious when smoked, grilled or fried.

The sausages Faust eats, though cheap, are made from ground pork stuffed into pig intestines, seasoned primarily with pepper, oregano, coriander, and garlic. Fried sausages are also delicious when served with hard, dark bread.

After Faust had eaten all the black bread on his plate, he asked:

"You can explain yourself, Mr. Chairman. I don't believe that you would cooperate with the National Socialist Party because of your political beliefs."

Rathenau smiled bitterly and said, "My identity? My most important identity in Germany is not the chairman of the German General Electric Company, but a Jew."

Rathenau's Jewish identity dominated his life. No matter how exaggerated his personal wealth was, even if he was granted noble status by the emperor, Rathenau still suffered private and public neglect, rejection and insults because of his Jewish identity.

In pre-war Germany, respectable people considered Jews, with few exceptions, to be "other people."

Chapter 184 People's Capitalism

Jews were not allowed to join clubs or other institutional associations as equal members of society, a vestige of prejudice that was particularly entrenched among prominent social groups, whether liberal or conservative, republican or loyalist.

Moreover, anti-Semitism became increasingly serious as the war progressed, and Rathenau, because of his prominent status, was more likely to arouse the jealousy and suspicion of the German public.

"I, a Jewish tycoon, represent everything the Germans hate. I am a Jew with legendary wealth and power, a new rich man who is shaking up the traditional hierarchy. I am simply the best representative of a behind-the-scenes conspirator."

In the early years, Rathenau chose to donate a large amount of money to the imperial government, spent a lot of money to befriend the princes and nobles, and tried to squeeze into the upper ruling class of Germany. Before the outbreak of the war, these practices of his did work, for example, on the surface he obtained the noble status granted by William II.

However, during the war years, as Germany suffered more and more defeats and the pressure from the people grew, the imperial government preferred to use Jewish wealthy businessmen as targets for the people to attack.

In Berlin, Jews made up only one percent of the total population, but accounted for 8.6% of writers and journalists, 25.8% of money market practitioners, and 46% of wholesalers, retailers, and carriers.

Due to historical reasons, Jews were not allowed to own land in the Middle Ages, so they could only engage in industry and commerce. As a result, in the tide of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution, they were able to gain first-mover advantage and established a first-mover advantage. The bourgeoisie in their population was indeed much larger than that of ordinary Germans.

This advantageous position naturally triggered public attacks in a society that was generally dissatisfied with the government. During the war, this public attack intensified. However, because Rathenau still had the noble status granted by the empire, he never felt that this kind of populist attack would really hurt him.

Until the revolution broke out.

The revolution destroyed the imperial government. For Jewish capitalists like Rathenau, it also destroyed the degree of protection that the imperial government had previously given them. Various populist forces used the fire of revolution to incite the masses to achieve their own goals.

Among them, the Jews had money but no weapons and no political status, so they naturally became lambs to be slaughtered.

Many wealthy Jewish businessmen that Rathenau knew had already fled Germany, but Rathenau was different from most Jewish bankers. He was engaged in industry, and most of the industries could not be taken out of Germany.

Rathenau said helplessly, "Even among my circle of friends, those big capitalists you see at the Workers' Community meetings, they implicitly attack finance capital and distance themselves from it. While they don't explicitly express anti-Semitism, as long as they hype that finance capital is the real culprit exploiting the German people, the result is that public opinion will inevitably focus on the Jews."

August Bebel, one of the founders of the Social Democratic Party and an early veteran of the German communist movement, once said, "Anti-Semitism is socialism for idiots."

Among many working-class people, anti-Semitism is a type of socialism that makes people more passionate. On the Spartacus League side, because of left-wing internationalism and the fact that the Spartacus League had Jewish leaders like Luxemburg, the anti-Semitism tendency was not strong.

But in both the Social Democratic Party and the Independent Party, anti-Semitism has, to a certain extent, become a cheap means of expressing socialism and opposing capitalists.

During the Soviet Russian Revolution, the Bolshevik leadership included a large number of Jews, and Marx was also of Jewish descent. This is by no means a coincidence, because the new world without state or nationality advocated by socialism is undoubtedly very beneficial to the Jews who have always suffered from ethnic discrimination.

The same is true of Rathenau.

"General Faust, of course I'm worried about how the revolutionary regime will deal with my vast fortune, but I'm even more worried that one day, extreme right-wingers will beat me to death in the street."

Rathenau frankly stated, "General, I belong to a race that cannot tolerate failure. If I fail, my racial identity will leave me with no escape route. Even if I support Ebert's victory, it's highly likely that Ebert's government won't be able to protect me. I don't see in the SPD, or in President Ebert's ideology, the power to constrain extreme nationalism."

Faust crossed his arms. He still didn't quite trust Rathenau. As a revolutionary, it was certainly impossible for him to believe a Jewish tycoon just because of a few words.

However, Faust has already developed a strong interest in Rathenau.

"Mr. Chairman, you can tell me more about the economic experts."

Faust smiled and said, "I want to hear what kind of people they are."

Rathenau pulled himself together and said, "First, I want to introduce you to a financial expert whom you may have heard of, General Faust. He is Rudolf Hilferding of Austria."

Hilferding.

Faust knew this person. Hilferding was one of the leaders of the Austrian Marxist school. He wrote many large works on the theory of financial capital. He was a good friend of Lenin and one of the few left-wing experts in Austria who could compete with the Austrian school in the field of economics.

"There is another man whose name you may also have heard of: Robert Bosch."

Even in the 21st century, the name Bosch is still as famous as Siemens and is still a world-class automotive parts manufacturer.

In this era, Bosch made his fortune by first working in Edison and Siemens' companies, and then starting his own business with his extraordinary inventive talent. In more than 20 years, he turned a small workshop into one of the top automotive parts manufacturers in Germany.

Yes, Bosch is similar to Rathenau, also a big boss.

Faust also expressed doubts: "I've read some of Professor Hilferding's works. He's a well-known financial expert on the Austrian left. I know that. He's now a member of Kautsky's Independent Party, right? Perhaps Mr. Chairman, you can find a way to invite Hilferding to my office. But what about Robert Bosch? He's a billionaire monopoly bourgeois. If you push such a person into the National Socialist Party, I have to doubt what you are planning, Mr. Chairman."

Rathenau was also a little distressed. He could only explain to Faust slowly:

"Bosch isn't Prussian, he's from Württemberg. His father was a member of the Württemberg Revolution of 1848, firmly opposing Bismarck and Prussia half a century ago. Although he's a major business owner, his political ideologies are very close to yours. For example, during the war, so many Social Democratic MPs voted in favor of the war, but Bosch joined the New Fatherland Alliance and even signed the 'Message to the Europeans.'"

The New Fatherland League was an anti-war group founded by Rathenau's friends when the war broke out. Its initiator was named Einstein.

Later, 93 well-known German scholars and cultural figures signed the "Letter to the Civilized World" supporting the war. Einstein and others responded by drafting the "Letter to the Europeans" opposing the war.

Most of the members of the New Fatherland League later lost their public and teaching positions, some were imprisoned, and some were placed under house arrest by the imperial government. Robert Bosch was spared by the imperial government because his factory was related to German military production.

Faust still had a lot of distrust towards the people in Rathenau's pocket, but at least as an orthodox Marxist, Faust could certainly accept Professor Hilferding.

As for Robert Bosch, Faust was still rather averse to cooperating directly with such big capitalists. Big business owners like them had plenty of publicity resources at their disposal and could easily dress themselves up as philanthropists.

Who knows whether the anti-war claims and left-wing ideas in the propaganda are true or false?

A business tycoon like Rathenau, who had experienced the ups and downs of the business world and had seen the world, could of course easily discern Faust's thoughts. The Jewish tycoon could only smile bitterly. With Rathenau's connections, the talents he could introduce to Faust were either some left-wing scholars sponsored by the German General Electric Corporation, such as Einstein, Otto Hahn, and Hilferding.

Otherwise, it could only be an industrialist that Rathenau knew himself. In addition to Robert Bosch, who founded Bosch, Rathenau actually had another recommended candidate, that is, Otto Schott, chairman of the Carl Zeiss Foundation.

Robert Bosch was a veteran German revolutionary from his family, with firm political stances that earned him the nickname "Red Bosch" in the business world.

Before the outbreak of World War II, most people in Europe worked 10 hours a day. The first three companies to formally promulgate company regulations to establish an eight-hour workday were in Germany: Degussa in the chemical industry, Zeiss in the optics field, and Bosch.

The situation of Zeiss is even more special than that of Bosch.

Bosch was mainly due to Robert Bosch himself, who came from a family with a strong revolutionary atmosphere. The founder of Zeiss, Carl Zeiss, was a fairly typical Prussian with an old-fashioned style, and he managed Zeiss as a patriarch.

However, Zeiss had another partner, Ernst Abbe, who was completely different from Carl Zeiss, who came from a businessman background. He graduated with a doctorate from the University of Göttingen. Before going into business, he worked as a professor of physics at the University of Jena for many years and had a very scholarly air.

After Carl Zeiss's death thirty years ago, Zeiss began to be completely led by Abbe, who established the Carl Zeiss Foundation in the name of Carl Zeiss.

From then on, Abbe injected all his shares into the Carl Zeiss Foundation, making the foundation the sole shareholder of Zeiss. The foundation was strictly prohibited from selling its shares. This design made the foundation a "permanent but non-transferable" owner.

The foundation's equity, as indivisible public welfare property, must use all profits for reinvestment, employee benefits and scientific research and may not be distributed to any individual or entity.

The foundation is managed by, firstly, the Supervisory Board, which is responsible for the specific management of the Carl Zeiss Foundation and becomes the actual management of Zeiss; secondly, the Workers' Committee, which has no management power but has the right to veto major matters such as salary and benefits.

After Abbe's death, Otto Schott, the third-generation leader of Zeiss, was a scientist-manager promoted by Abbe. Schott continued to manage the Carl Zeiss Foundation.

In addition to the eight-hour work system, Schott also pioneered a system of paid leave. It was also during Schott's tenure that the foundation began to distribute virtual shares to employees. Through stock allotments, Zeiss employees could share the company's profits and dividends more directly.

Bosch and Schott were both good friends of Rathenau. In the German business community, there was such a small group with Rathenau as the core. Their ideas were the origin of the idea of ​​people's capitalism in later generations.

Chapter 185: The End of Friendship

While Faust was recruiting talents in Berlin to expand the administrative department of the National Socialist Party, thousands of miles west of Berlin, on the Rhine River, there was a huge army numbering millions, lined up on both sides of the quietly flowing Rhine River.

After the November Revolution, Germany's military system completely collapsed. The million-strong army on the Western Front suffered the failure of the Michael Offensive and the complete defeat in the Battle of the Emperor. They were hit hard by the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. It was not until the Battle of Amiens that they were finally completely defeated and forced to withdraw from France.

At the beginning, Ludendorff was still very stubborn. He hoped that during the armistice negotiations, the German army would at least control most of the occupied areas in Belgium, and that even if it was only a division of German troops, they must remain on French territory.

However, this effort of the German army was quickly crushed by the Allied forces.

The revolution in the rear had thrown Germany into chaos. The railways were shut down and countless military trains disappeared. Ludendorff could no longer obtain sufficient supplies from the rear. After November 11, the million-strong army on the Western Front received only twenty train cars of ammunition and supplies.

It's just a drop in the bucket and cannot be sustained at all.

Moreover, new differences of opinion arose between Ludendorff and Hindenburg.

At a small train station near the town of Spa, Ludendorff sent troops to remove the flags and other signs that usually hung on the vehicle and indicated that it was an imperial vehicle.

Ludendorff also ordered the arrest of several members of the Hohenzollern royal family who were recuperating in the town of Spa.

This incident became the fuse for the breakup between Ludendorff and Hindenburg.

In fact, at the beginning of the November Revolution in Germany, Ludendorff and Hindenburg had relatively unified opinions. They both believed that it was impossible for the German army to continue the war after the revolution.

The army's most important tasks were, first, to preserve as much of the German army's strength as possible after the war, and second, that during the armistice negotiations, the German army should try to shift the blame for the defeat onto the revolutionary government.

In order to achieve these two goals, the military’s opinion was very clear: it was necessary to first contact the revolutionary government. The military needed to clearly express its support for the revolutionary government, and then the revolutionary government would directly contact the Allied Powers to negotiate peace.

But major problems soon arose.

Under Manstein's active efforts, Hindenburg's opinion quickly changed.

The two mobile divisions of the German army stationed in Potsdam were close to the water and had the upper hand. Manstein strongly encouraged Hindenburg to order the Potsdam troops to attack Berlin. Ludendorff was very opposed to this because he believed that once the Potsdam troops began to attack Berlin, there was a high probability that a full-scale civil war would break out in Germany.

At that time, the German army's strength would definitely not be able to be preserved until after the war, and Germany might also be subjected to more severe punishment from the Allies because of its own chaos.

However, William II was trapped in Berlin, and Manstein vowed that the revolutionary government in Berlin was very weak. Hindenburg was also dizzy. His loyalty to the emperor and his royalist ideas surpassed his rationality and occupied the high ground in his brain. As a result, he believed Manstein's plan and ordered the Potsdam troops to march to Berlin.

Everyone knows what happened next. The Potsdam troops failed miserably in the Battle of Berlin. Not only did they fail to suppress the revolution, but William II was also killed in the melee.

When Faust led the Great German Division to Berlin, the Potsdam troops were forced to surrender. After negotiating with Faust and abandoning a large number of heavy artillery, they moved to East Prussia in an embarrassing strategic move.

After this incident, the four parties in Berlin reached a compromise for a while, and Ebert's provisional government was newly formed. It seemed that the revolutionary regime had already gained the status of a legitimate central government. The position of the military on the Western Front became very, very embarrassing.

After hearing the news of William II's death, Hindenburg cried so hard that he fainted and was unable to function for two days and two nights. The old marshal still had very deep feelings for the Hohenzollern dynasty, and he did have many complaints about William II. However, after William II "died for his country", the old marshal Hindenburg was left with only grief and indignation towards this dandy emperor.

Hindenburg absolutely did not recognize the legitimacy of the Provisional Government.

This put Ludendorff in a very difficult position. The millions of German troops on the Western Front had been surrounded by the Allies. Now they were breaking off relations with the Provisional Government. How should the military cope with this?

Ludendorff was different from Hindenburg. He was not from a prominent Junker family and came from a humble background. The Hohenzollern dynasty did not show much favor to Ludendorff. On the contrary, Ludendorff always looked down on William II. Privately, Ludendorff often made up jokes about the emperor in the General Staff.

Many officers of the General Staff had heard Ludendorff personally insult William II, saying that William II was "an empty brain under the crown."

Taking advantage of the two days when Hindenburg was extremely sad and unable to govern, Ludendorff assessed the situation and ordered the arrest of several royal family members in Spa. He also planned to send all of them to Berlin in chains as a gift to show his loyalty to the new government.

Needless to say, this incident naturally caused serious divisions within the military. After Hindenburg regained his consciousness, the two once closest partners had completely fallen out. Marshal Hindenburg was so angry that he almost shot Ludendorff directly.

Ludendorff was also very rude. He said to Hindenburg with a cold face: "Old Marshal, in order to achieve a preliminary peace, we must support the Central Government in negotiating peace with the Allies. For this, any price is worth it."

Hindenburg's wrinkled face had been distorted by crying for the past two days, and he looked much older. He no longer had the dignity he once had. Only when he heard the word "central government" from Ludendorff did Hindenburg's eyes turn red and he became furious.

"Central government! Bullshit! I'll bring the army to round up all of the Berlin regicides, Albert, Liebknecht, Luxemburg... yes, and that Faust too. I'll hang them all myself! They murdered the Emperor, Ludendorff. The Hohenzollern royal family has been so kind to us for centuries, and you're such an ungrateful person! Have you forgotten everything?"

Ludendorff said coldly, "Old Marshal, I am grateful to the Imperial Government for allowing me to attend military school for free when I couldn't afford it, but apart from this, William II really has no other favors for me."

Hindenburg felt extremely heartbroken. He regretted not forcing William II to stay at the front line, and he also regretted not following his nephew Manstein to Potsdam. Otherwise, Hindenburg thought, even if he died, he would die on the battlefield rushing towards the palace.

Ludendorff then tried to persuade Hindenburg: "What can we do? The front-line troops are controlled by the Allies. We have no way to retreat. The army will either lose its combat effectiveness or fall to the revolutionary government. Even if you want to support the monarchy, Marshal, you can't take away even a battalion of German troops from the Western Front."

Hindenburg was quite disheartened. He sighed repeatedly and soon shed two lines of tears. Seeing this, many generals around him felt very uncomfortable.

Generals of humble origins like Ludendorff were a minority in the German military leadership. Most of the high-ranking German military leaders came from prominent Junker families. Everyone was disappointed with William II's abilities and character, but after his death, this disappointment was replaced by a feeling of commemoration and nostalgia.

Many generals gathered around Hindenburg, urging him to cheer up. Hindenburg wiped his tears and said, "Why should I cheer up? What else can I cheer up? The Hohenzollern dynasty has led Germany to fight the whole world for four years. It's so great, so glorious. Who else in the world, throughout history, can do so? The royal family has performed well. If it weren't for the rebellion of the regicide, we might have been able to continue fighting."

Hindenburg was completely lying. Before the November Revolution, the German military leaders had generally judged that Germany could no longer fight. Now that William II was dead, Hindenburg began to reshape a new memory and historical myth.

Hindenburg's adjutant, von Oberndorf, persuaded him: "Old Marshal, the Crown Prince is still here. I heard that the Crown Prince has arrived in East Prussia. Perhaps there is still hope."

After the Potsdam troops failed in their attack on Berlin, the remaining troops retreated to East Prussia, where Manstein commanded the Second Mobile Division, which had a particularly complete manpower and equipment structure, and instantly became the most prominent person in the small East Prussian court.

The 1st Mobile Division controlled by General Seeckt suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Berlin and was not as strong as the troops under Manstein at that time.

Moreover, in addition to East Prussia, as the actual head of the Eastern General Planning Group, Manstein also had very strong influence in Courland and Finland.

The 200,000 German troops on the Eastern Front also fell into great chaos after the November Revolution. Many of them were disarmed by the Poles without knowing it, but a large number of German troops on the Eastern Front successfully withdrew to the port of Riga, the capital of Courland.

In addition to von Oberndorf, there were many counts and barons who persuaded Hindenburg together.

"Marshal, your nephew Manstein controls Riga, and Seeckt controls East Prussia. We can go there to restore the empire."

"The Allies will not allow us to restore the Empire, will they?"

"The terms of the Allied Powers do not allow the Hohenzollerns to restore the German Empire, but they do not stipulate that we restore the Kingdom of Prussia."

"Yes, we can go to the East and rebuild a Prussia there."

……

The support from so many generals slowly cheered Hindenburg up, but it seemed that the gap between him and Ludendorff would be difficult to repair from now on.

Chapter 186 Blue-Gray Alliance

The sky on the front battlefield was gloomy and the air was freezing cold. Ludendorff was helpless. The military was seriously divided and he could not forcibly send military police to arrest Marshal Hindenburg.

If they really did this, given Hindenburg's prestige, the German army would probably have imprisoned Ludendorff first.

What Ludendorff was most worried about was that a civil war would break out directly in the German army on the Western Front. In that case, the Allies might take advantage of the situation to cross the Rhine and continue to attack the German mainland. This would definitely be the worst case scenario for the military.