Greater Germanic Reich

Greater Germanic Reich of the German Nation Großgermanisches Reich der Deutschen Nation
Flag of Germany
Core territories of Germany shown in bright green - non-core territories De Jure part of Germany shown in fainter green - foreign members of the Großraum shown in grey TAG = GER
Politics
Capital	Germania
Ruling Party	Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (Tr: National Socialist German Workers' Party)
Last Election	04/12/1938
Head of State	Führer Adolf Hitler
Head of Government	Parteiminister Martin Bormann
Diplomacy
Sphere	Grossraum Kontinentaleuropa
Foreign Alignment	Master of Europe, Einheitspakt
Economy
GDP	$225.64B
Credit Rating	Exceptional
Market Type	Gelenkte Wirtschaft

Germany (German: Deutschland), officially the Greater Germanic Reich of the German Nation (German: das Großgermanische Reich der Deutschen Nation) is a country located in central Europe, and one of the three global superpowers. The Reich borders the Generalgouvernement, Ukraine and Ostland to the east, Italy, Switzerland, Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia to the south, Denmark and the Baltic and North Seas to the north and while to its west the Reich technically borders France, the Ordensstaat Burgund, a de facto independent state unrecognized by the international community and technically part of Germany, is between both nations. The Reich also possesses colonies spanning across Africa, Eurasia and Antarctica, most of them having different styles in controlling their respective areas.

Germany has a history stretching back centuries, but the Greater German Reich itself was only formed in 1933 after the National Socialist German Workers Party or the Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, took control of the country. After victory in World War II, Germany established the Einheitspakt, a faction designed to reign in the newly established colonies of Europe and Africa. However, following a market crash in 1950 and political infighting amongst the government as the Führer's health deteriorates, the very structure of Germany and the empire it constructed hangs in the balance.

Germany is a totalitarian one-party state, ruled by the NSDAP and led by Adolf Hitler (although most government duties have been given to other officials). It is the leader of the Einheitspakt and the most powerful state in Europe.

In-Game Description

Once humbled by their failures in the Weltkrieg, Germany once more rose to prominence with the leadership of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. Thanks to the failure of the Allies, WW2 has ended in complete German victory.

Germany now presides over the most powerful empire on Earth, but despite her victory, Germany's control remains tenuous at best. Wracked by an economic crash that has frozen the nation for a decade, and with a massive slave caste providing for the German people, the population has began to protest. The nation is now wrapped in a series of student protests and the machinations of the Deutche Bank.

History

Interwar Period

Flag of the Weimar Republic

Following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, Germany was serverely punished by the treaty of Versailles. The Rhineland was occupied by France for a short time, and would be demilitarized shortly after, leaving the industrial center of the German economy largely detached. In the place of the German Empire, a weak Republic, the Weimar Republic, was set up to hopefully reform Germany into a democratic state. However, Germany was left with little resources to negate the effects brought on by the Treaty of Versailles, political violence, and the ensuing 1929 Stock Market Crash and Great Depression.

Post-Great Depression

The Great Depression would leave Germany with many more problems such as unemployment, Hyperinflation, increased Political Violence, food shortages, low GDP, and a broken economy. In the crash, new ideologies such as Communism and Fascism would gain traction, furthering political divides in the German Government.

Hitler's Rise to Power

Adolf Hitler

Reichstag building on fire, 1933.

Adolf Hitler, the soon-to-be Führer, gained massive popularity through the 20's and 30's. He rose to power as chancellor in 1933, and as Führer in 1934, with many promises to the German people. Mass murder of minorities (i.e. Jews, Slavs, etc.) ensued during the Holocaust, to ''purify'' Germany from all ''non-Aryans''. Hitler began violating the Treaty of Versailles almost immediately by sending German soldiers into the Rhineland, which was demilitarized, restarting the German Air Force, rearming the military, building new military and civilian factories to greater enhance the German War Economy, surpassing army size limits, etcetera. Germany saw a steady economic rise in the Interwar period.

Austria and Czechoslovakia were subjugated into the newly formed Germanic Reich in 1938 with Austria willingly joining Germany with Anschluss and Czechoslovakia being conceded to Nazi Germany through the Munich Agreement in 1938 and declared invasion of Czechkoslovakia in the fall of that year. The Nazis began amassing large forces on the border of Poland, much to the dismay of Poland who requested the backing of the Allies in the case of war with Germany.

In August of 1939, Germany signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, dubbed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, aimed at partitioning Poland between the two powers. This would be violated in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa later on in World War II.

World War II

Main article: World War II

Invasion of Poland

German Soldiers lifting a barrier between Danzing and Poland, 9 September 1939.

In the early hours of September 1st, 1939, German Soldiers crossed the German-Polish border. The underarmed Polish Military put up a stiff resistance, but once the Soviet Union joined in on the invasion, the Polish Government quickly collapsed. German Infantry units entered Warsaw on September 28th and Poland would quickly surrender by October. The UK and France declared war on Germany on September 3rd, officially marking the beginning of World War II. Nazi High Command had not anticipated the Allies to have declared war so quickly, leaving Hitler and the Wehrmacht deliberating on what to do following the fall of Poland.

Blitzkrieg

In April of 1940, German forces invaded Denmark and Norway to protect vital shipments of Iron Ore from Sweden from the Allied navies. Following the quickly success, the Wehrmacht launched Blitzkrieg, or Lightning Warfare, on France, invading the low countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg) in order to bypass the Maginot Line. During this campaign, a large force of British and French forces attempting to evacuate Dunkirk would be encircled and destroyed by advancing German forces, leaving a token force to guard the British Home Isles. Paris fell soon after the Battle of Dunkirk, and French President Pétain, who succeeded President Reynaud following Reynaud's resignation, announced the surrender of the French Republic to Germany on June 26th 1940.

Africa and Italy

German Panzer Tanks in Greece , 1941.

In Africa and the Mediterranean, German Fallschirmjäger units successfully captured Gibraltar, trapping the remainder of the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, further weakening the defense of the British isles. Italy successfully captured Cairo and the Suez Canal, however a surprise invasion of Greece would result in an embarrassment for Italy, with the Greek Army repelling Italy despite their general size and preparedness being overshadowed in every way imagineable. Due to Yugoslavia serving as a roadblock between Germany and Greece, Hitler managed to pressure Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria into adhere to the Tripartite Pact, forcing Yugoslavia to do the same. A coup was launched in Yugoslavia against the king due to the move being unpopular with Yugoslavians. With the removal of the Regent from power, Nazi Germany had justification to launch "Operation 25" in April of 1941, which saw the Axis powers invade Yugoslavia and Greece by extension. German Fallschirmjäger would capture airfields on Crete, leading to the capitulation of the Greek Government shortly after following the capture of most of the Hellenic Mainland.

Eastern Front

German Troops cross the Soviet Border, 22 June 1941.

Later in the summer of 1941, Hitler would authorize "Operation Barbarossa", the invasion of the Soviet Union. In collaboration with Finland, bitter about the Winter War, and the rest of the Axis Powers, Germany launched an invasion of the USSR in the early morning of June 22nd 1941. The Soviet Military, badly weakened by the lack of industrialization in the Soviet Union under Bukharin, could barely muster resistance against the Axis Powers. Cities like Kiev, Minsk, Leningrad, Rostov, and Stalingrad would fall to German forces quickly, with Moscow falling on Christmas Day. Despite a coup by Joseph Stalin, no counterattack could be organized, and the USSR would be dissolved on New Years Day 1942.

Despite this, many Russians continue to despise Germans, with a key example of this being the 1954 West Russian War.

Operation Sea Lion

German 24th Panzer Division soldiers near Piccadilly Circus during the Siege of London, 1943

With the Soviet Union successfully defeated, Nazi Germany turned its eyes to Great Britain. Britain had resisted the Axis onslaught fiercely, and guarded by the armies of fallen Allied nations, the chances of a successful invasion of the home isles seemed impossible. That was until Nazi high command realized the potential of a neighboring nation: the neutral Republic of Ireland. Due to a long history of British occupation of Ireland up until 1921, Ireland felt strong resentment towards England and agreed to aid Germany in their attempt at the invasion of Britain. In 1943, Ireland would invade Northern Ireland and grant the German Kriegsmarine access to Irish ports, thus blockading the isles completely to US shipping. Simultaneously, Germany launched Operation Sealion. A combined-armed assault commenced, with the Kriegsmarine, Luftwaffe, and Heer all storming the channel and rushing the beaches. Paratrooper units captured airfields, supply depots, AA, radar installations and towns while Marines landed on the coast. Combined with the Luftwaffe successfully asserting air dominance and the Kriegsmarine facing little opposition, the invasion of Britain had begun.

Despite a stiff resistance from the Allied forces, London would fall by 1944 and Allied forces would leave the British Isles fully by 1945, thus ending Allied Operation in Europe totally. The Treaty of Westminster would cement this withdrawal later on at the end of the war as Germany declared Victory over Europe.

End of War

Meanwhile in the Pacific, Japan was struggling against the juggernaut that was the United States. Despite a series of early victories at the beginning of the Pacific war, Japan was running out of resources, planes, guns, soldiers, ships, and more whilst the US was not only producing ships at a steady rate but surpassing the Japanese Navy in every sense. While the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima destroyed nearly half of the 400 ships sent to Iwo Jima, nearly all that remained of the Japanese Navy and Air Corps were also destroyed at the battle, fully paralyzing the capabilities of the IJN. However, Nazi Germany had a special device they could use to end the war once and for all: a Nuclear Bomb.

Atomic Bombing of Hawaii

A still photo of the mushroom cloud over Pearl Harbor, July 4, 1945.

On July 4th, 1945, a German Messerschmidt Me.264 took off from a piece of Japanese-occupied territory in the pacific and dropped the Heisenberg Device over Pearl Harbor and Honolulu. The ensuing fireball melted away a large chunk of the Pacific Fleet licking its wounds from the battle of Iwo Jima. Honolulu would also suffer by extension as well. While the US had its own Atomic Device ready, US President Thomas Dewey was shocked by this attack and with war support plummeting, Dewey signed the Akagi Accords, thus ending World War Two in an Axis Victory.

Yet this victory would last only a handful of years before Germany, Japan, and all the Axis powers bathing in success would collapse under their own weight.

Post War

Nazi Soldiers round up Jews in Minsk, 1947.

An advertisement in a German magazine encouraging people to visit Germania, 1966

Following the end of the war, Germany was triumphant in their victory. The budget for the Wehrmacht tripled, resulting in the Heer becoming the most powerful army in the world before the US Army would overtake them in the mid-to-late 1950s. Wasting no time, Hitler embarked on a campaign of reshaping the European and Southern African Continent to his hearts content, dividing conquered lands into a series of Reichskommisariats, puppets, and client states in the case of the United Kingdom. This resulted in massive campaigns of slaughter, terror, systemic executions, separation of communities, and other heinous crimes being committed on the daily by the German occupying forces in the name of Lebensraum, which was the mass deportation, concentration, and execution of Central and Eastern Europeans. In Poland, Belarus, and the Baltic nations, those considered "unworthy of life" i.e the Jews, the Roma, the disabled, and others considered a detriment to the state, were murdered en masse by the SS and Wehrmacht with brutal efficiency. In what was Russia and Ukraine, Generalplan Ost was commenced, which called for the mass extermination and ethic cleansing of Eastern Europe. This effort was spearheaded primarily by the RHSA and Schutzstaffel under Heinrich Himmler. Unlike the central European exterminations, Generalplan Ost, due to logistical and economic constraints, could not be carried out fully, and most "undesirables" were deported past the A-A line into Warlord Russia or simply shot on the spot.

Massive infrastructure projects were also conducted, such as the near-total revamping of Berlin, turning the city into Germania which Hitler envisioned to be a "World Capital." Germania would be completed by the 1950s. Other projects such as the Congo River Dam, the German Space Program, production of additional nuclear bombs, and more. All these projects were fueled on the backs of slaves, resulting in the biggest slave-driven workforce in the history of mankind.

Photo of a German ICBM undergoing testing in Northern Germany, August 5 1956

Across the water, as the United States began rebuilding and amassing a nuclear arsenal of their own, and as the Axis powers began the fracture, the stage would be set for the Cold War. Both sides would spend billions of dollars into missile development and military funding, with both sides working on Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles capable of reaching both tipped with Nuclear weaponry. After Japan successfully tested its own nuclear weapon in 1949 and severed ties with Germany, a three-way Cold War had begun. Germany focused primarily on matching the US ICBMs, but also in conquering Space, which Hitler dubbed the "Final Front." Hitler demanded billions of Reichsmarks be poured into the German Space effort, and with the likes of Wehrner Von Braun heading the program, the RLR would lauch the first satellite into space ahead of the US in 1957. President Eisenhower would counteract this with the formation of NASA in 1958, thus kicking off the Space Race.

As for the Axis Powers, the once triple alliance had gone sour, especially with the Japanese Nuclear arsenal and Missolini welcoming "undesireables" into Italy. Thus, the three nations formed their own alliances, with Germany founding the Einheitspakt, an alliance designed to hold all of Germany's puppet nations and allies under one umbrella to counter the OFN, GEACPS, and Triumvirate.

In the 1950s, Germany would launch an invasion of Portugese Colonial holdings in Southern Africa, invading Nambia and Mozambique in a flash. Despite condemnation from the United States and OFN and criticism from Spain and Italy, no one would come to the aid of Portugal, giving the German colonies of Africa additional land to encroach on South Africa and to exploit fully.

The 1951 Crash

In 1951, following six years of post-war overspending and increasingly distressing economic reports, the German economy would implode in on itself. Across Germany and - by extension - all of Europe, millions of people would lose their jobs, inflation would skyrocket, prices would soar, and the repuation of Germany would shatter in an instant. While numerous figureheads offered methods to solving the Crash and ensuing multitude of crises, the warlords of Russia would see an opportunity emerge.

West Russian War and SS Coup attempt

Main Article: West Russian War

With the dismal state of the Nazi Empire and their puppets in chaos and disarray and the Wehrmacht strained, a fragmented Russia decided that their opportunity to reclaim their occupied territories had arrived. Despite the fall of the USSR, Russian industrial capability in Russia had grown under the leadership of Stalin and Kaganovich. Whilst designers such as Mikhail Kalashnikov had designed the AK-47 Assault Rifle, which could be manufactured at staggering rates whilst maintaining reliability and stopping power. Combined with material aid from the US and Japan, both seeking to topple Germany, West Russia was ready for Operation Suvorov, a general front wide-advance aimed at reclaiming Moscow.

Operation Suvorov begins

German Soldiers organize a desparate defense of Moscow, 1955 early September

Soviet soldiers march past a flyer encouraging citizens to join the WRRF, 1955

In the spring of 1955, German guards at the A-A line were shocked to see a horde of millions of Russians crossing the border, armed with modern weaponry, tanks, and planes. Grand Marshal Yegorov had correctly assessed that the German Wehrmacht in Russia was in a state of disarray, and used the all-out attack and muddy terrain to his advantage. Within the first week, the WRRF had pushed hundreds of miles into Western Russia, with no sign of stopping.

In Germania, the outbreak of the West Russian War had caught Hitler off guard. The Economic Crash was already a major burden on the power of the Wehrmacht and Political Power, and now with the Russians out for revenge, the Reichstag had gone into full meltdown. Most Heer units were ordered to West Russia in a desperate attempt to stop the WRRF from reaching Moscow.

To make things worse, local partisans had arisen in Moskowien, sabotaging an already weakened Army by grounding the Luftwaffe at their airfields, cutting telephone cables, ambushing convoys, seizing armories and villages, and more. In desperation, Germany formed the Russian Liberation Army, under the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia, implementing extensive conscription, and other desperate attempts to stem the tide of the Russian advance, though most of these attempts failed horribly. Stalingrad was captured by summer and the WRRF were only a handful of miles away from Moscow by the time winter came. All seemed lost for Moskowien, but soon the tables would flip, yet not before one man would attempt something drastic to crush the West Russians for all.

SS Coup Attempt

Main Article: SS Rebellion

Following the end of World War II, the SS held a position of power in Germany, and the economy was in a state of expansion from all the wealth of the conquered states of Europe and Africa. This prosperity soon came to a grinding halt as the ambitious projects of Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer drained the German treasury and caused the economy to collapse. To make matters worse, the West Russian War had came right after, fracturing Germany moreso. It was these circumstances that lead Heinrich Himmler to plan to seize power from Hitler.

SS Soldiers under suppressive fire during Speidels strike, 1955

The SS plan to seize power was simple: SS units would strike the much stronger Wehrmacht from the rear while they were busy in Russia, and destroy their forces. Then, the SS would march on Berlin and seize control of the country, throwing out Hitler and saving the Nazi ideology.

Their plan was destined to fail from the start. General Hans Speidel discovered their plans, and along with several other generals, launched a pre-emptive strike against the SS, defeating them and causing a portion of their forces to flee. In order to prevent a full civil war, Hitler offered Himmler an opportunity. He would take full control of Reichskommissariat Belgien-Nord Frankreich, and border territories of the French State. In return he would stay out of German affairs. This was accepted, and the SS State of Burgundy was created, leaving the remaining SS in Germany under the control of his deputy, Reinhard Heydrich.

The Tide Turns

While numerous cities were lost to the WRRF, the war had a positive effect on Germany. The German government had organized itself out of necessity, the Wehrmacht had arrived in force to Russia, the Luftwaffe had clawed back the skies from the Soviet Air Force, and the supply situation had been fixed. The Heer had organized a hasty defense of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, stopping the WRRF in their tracks. Political infighting in the WRRF had also slowed the Russian advance to a crawl and the unpreparedness of the scrappy Soviet army finally caught up to them. The West Russian Front would collapse, and Germany would be left both victorious and defeated.

A German soldier uses a flamethrower to torch a suspected WRRF hideout, March 28 1956

On one hand, the West Russian Front had been destroyed, and Moskowien was no longer at an immediate threat of collapse. However, they had pushed over 500 miles past the A-A line and liberated everything from the A-A line to Vologda. In Moskowien itself, unrest was rising at a rapid rate as ordinary Slavs, having not been purged en masse unlike those of Poland and the Batlics, had seen the potential for freedom from the German oppresion. The policy of RK Moskowien had shifted from a half-baked attempt at Lebensraum to suppression of rebellion and fortifying their borders with dozens of new Warlord states. In addition, with Himmler's SS state in Burgundy, an increasingly liberalizing and rebellious youth, and the deteriorating state of Hitler, the writing on the wall would finally appear for Germany.

Post-WAW and Gang of Four

Students protest in Stuttgart, Germany, August 9 1961

Speer is considered by many to be the most popular amongst the youth of Germany, but not so much amongst the German government and older citizens, who still retain a large conservative and militarist culture.

The Nazis image had been shattered after the 1951 crash, but the West Russian War had torched it. Germany was seen as a ticking time bomb by scholars and politicians. Younger people had been enlightening themselves, smuggling in banned books from Italy and music from the United States, listening to "vulgar artists" such as Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. Having both seen the true horrors of the Nazi regime from eyewitness accounts in books and the better lives of people in the US and the West, students began to protest. Students began organizing marches, demanding for an end to the rampant inflation and unemployment, and were joined by other German citizens who were also unhappy with the current situation. Within the Government, Hitler, whose health was rapidly declining, decided he was not fit to rule all of Germany by himself, instead giving power to four people: Albert Speer, a reformist who wished to liberalize and democratize Germany; Martin Bormann, the Deputy Fuhrer and staunch Conservative; Hermann Göring, the Reichsmarchall of Germany and the leader of the militarists; and Reinhard Heydrich, the leader of the SS in Germany and considered by most to be a puppet of Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS-Ordensstadt of Burgundy. However, this system was doomed to fail due to disagreements amongst all of these figures, leading to an only worsening strain on an already weak government.

Today, Germany sits on a knife's edge, balanced only by Hitlers pulse, but if he were to be killed or finally succumb to his age, then the future of Nazi Germany will become one of chaos and potentially Civil War.

See Also

• Einheitspakt
• Adolf Hitler
• Heinrich Himmler
• German Civil War
• Martin Bormann
• Albert Speer
• Hermann Göring
• Reinhard Heydrich
• West Russian War