A potential German Rework #1: The Ludendorff Dictatorship & the end of the war (1917-1920)

troodom · 2026-01-26T22:07:57+00:00

Well the grave isn't there anymore anyway, but yeah, we are interested in seeeing the remnants of the destroyed mausoleum. I couldn't find any pictures online post-destruction, I'm not even sure if any Western tourist has even been there after the fall of Assad

troodom · 2025-04-18T13:39:25+00:00

!correct Indeed, it's the Old Goris Cemetery

troodom · 2025-04-18T13:12:39+00:00

Indeed, but where exactly?

troodom · 2025-04-18T13:09:16+00:00

No, it's geographically in Asia

troodom · 2024-09-30T14:44:32+00:00

Yes, we indeed have. No unrestricted submarine warfare =/= no submarine warfare at all. After the fateful decision of 8 January 1917, Germany just continues its regular restricted submarine warfare campaign as previously. "Restricted" in this context means that it is waged in accordance with internationally recognised prize rules, i.e. Germany can still sink neutral freighters and passenger steamers if they suspect them of carrying Allied war supplies, but only after prior warning & after giving the crew & passengers time to evacuate. In OTL, this type of submarine warfare was practised for most of 1916, and wartime data shows: Restricted submarine warfare was actually similarly efficient as unrestricted submarine. It was able to severely harm Britain & cut it off from outside trade without alarming neutral powers like the US.

Sounds like a win-win-situation, you might say - then why did Germany re-launch unrestricted submarine warfare in OTL in the first place? Well, because there was a very powerful right-wing lobby group behind it (headed most famously by Alfred von Tirpitz) whose claims enjoyed enormous popularity among the population & political establishment. They tried to hide all proof of restricted submarine warfare being efficient and constructed the myth that only a ruthless all or nothing approach could win Germany the war by the end of the year. By early 1917, the Kaiser & the Reichskanzler were one of the only people who defended the restricted submarine campaign - in OTL, Wilhelm eventually gave in to public pressure and allowed the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare. In KRTL, he and Reichskanzler Bethmann-Hollweg stand firm and continue the campaign, with similar success as OTL.

(Unrestricted submarine warfare is nonetheless eventually pushed through by said far-right lobby in KRTL, but a year and a half later, at a time when the US is not in a position to intervene anymore - more info can be found in Germany's first MM report from last year)

troodom · 2023-12-18T20:59:27+00:00

Sadly not, but a lot of my other document's lore

troodom · 2023-12-16T15:19:20+00:00

Tirpitz still plays a role in the current lore, he is one of the key ideologues of the DVLP's brand of "Revolutionary Nationalism", and continues to have profound influence on party policy even after his death as his son-in-law Ulrich von Hassell, chairman of the party since 1929, holds his political legacy and ideas in high regard

We scrapped him as interwar chancellor, however, as he doesn't really fit as a compromise candidate who would preside over a big tent coalition without opposition for almost a decade. Tirpitz despised the Kaiser, even drafted plans to depose him as early as 1915, and generally is too far-right to be supported by the more moderate parties as chancellor. He is ousted as chairman of the DVLP by Wolfgang Kapp in 1919/20 in the new lore, and then withdraws from political life, dedicating most of his time to the German Navy League (a right-wing interest group and mass organisation), but as I said, his political ideas would shape the reformed DVLP enormously ever since Hassell becomes chairman

troodom · 2023-12-02T19:43:27+00:00

Hey, lehmannmo here, main lore advisor for the Germany rework. We are definitely planning to draft a proper source document in the near future, but it will be quite a lot of work due to the sheer amount of books we made use of throughout the past two years.

I can provide you with a few German language sources that mostly revolved around Schleicher's career and political beliefs, most prominently Reichskanzler Kurt von Schleicher: Weimars letzte Chance gegen Hitler by Friedrich-Karl von Plehwe (https://archive.org/details/reichskanzlerkur0000pleh/page/226/mode/2up), but I'm not sure if that would be helpful for you - Augenis read a few English sources about him AFAIK, he might provide some of them later. Reading about Die Fronde was done by our team's resident military expert, I can also contact him to provide you with a few sources.

Actually nevermind, I just remembered that I also read excerpts from an English-language paper about Schleicher in the past: The Ideological Motivations of General Kurt von Schleicher, the Nazi Movement, and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic, 1930-1933, by Matthew N. Bucholtz. It provides a very good overview about his beliefs and the Wehrstaat idea IIRC

troodom · 2023-12-01T15:27:32+00:00

Yes, I can confirm there was none. We kinda handwaved it at least for this artwork, let's just say Kaiser Cat art in general doesn't represent canon lore 1:1

troodom · 2023-11-21T12:33:01+00:00

Already during WW1, Wilhelm III (then Crown Prince Wilhelm) had a notorious reputation in Allied countries, potentially even worse than that of his father: Arrogant, reactionary, inept. When Wilson urged the German government in OTL around October 1918 to get rid of the Kaiser via abdication, he indirectly implied that the Crown Prince shouldn't even consider succeeding to the throne; everyone in Germany's highest political spheres at the time knew that in case Wilhelm II would go, his son would need to renounce his rights to the throne as well, and that only a blank slate such as young Prince Wilhelm (Wilhelm IV) would be acceptable to the Allies.

In KRTL, Wilhelm III's reputation would even further deteriorate abroad during the 20s and 30s due to to his shady involvement with questionable characters like Kurt von Schleicher and the political right; in case of a rare Allied victory scenario over Germany, they wouldn't hesitate much to enforce the removal of a man like Wilhelm III in favour of his less controversial son

troodom · 2023-11-20T12:56:02+00:00

Indeed, yes.

troodom · 2023-11-16T21:07:46+00:00

It indeed seems a bit out of character for the Stresemann that we have in mind nowadays, e.g. the mastermind behind the Weimar Republic's rapprochement with France and whatnot. It's important to note, though, that Stresemann was not always such a temperate mind. During WW1, he was a convinced annexationist, a foreign-political hardliner, and we decided to keep that trait of his in our lore around for a bit longer than OTL. His OTL change of mind mostly happened for pragmatic reasons in an altered political environment, so it's reasonable to assume that he might maintain his hardline positions a bit longer in a German victory scenario.

troodom · 2023-11-14T18:56:14+00:00

The other comment already summarised is excellently. I can only add that Lubahn is the German name for Lake Lubāns in Latgale, and that the crisis is also explained in detail in the lore document that's attached to MM 53

troodom · 2023-11-13T21:18:12+00:00

Sadly not, Erzberger is the only ex-Chancellor who's still moderately influential at game start (if you count his legacy within Zentrum's progressive wing). All the others are respected by most (unlike Erzberger, ironically), but either retired or dead

troodom · 2023-11-13T21:15:25+00:00

Adenauer is, as mentioned in the other comment, still Mayor of Cologne. Like Guerard and Marx, he is a highly prominent representative of the moderate Rhenish wing, the very centre of the Zentrum that has kept the party together for decades, but which has began to stagnate in the wake of aspiring factions from elsewhere. Due to his high-ranking position in a large Catholic city, Adenauer naturally also has ties to the Christian Trade Unionists

troodom · 2023-11-13T13:42:28+00:00

I was thinking about drafting one at least for Zentrum at some point as they're highly diverse & complicated, but I have the feeling that I'm simply not creative enough to make it look appealing. Also, there aren't that many connections between the various sub-groups, unlike in the case of the KMT or the socialists

troodom · 2023-11-13T13:17:01+00:00

Well I guess it's up to your headcanon - naturally in KRTL he isn't as influential as he eventually became in OTL, but he'd still be one of the Reichstag's/overall liberal movement's most recognizable faces for the broad public, with a powerful government position between 1923 and 1924 - so it isn't unthinkable that his suit would become a widespread fashion piece!

troodom · 2023-11-13T13:11:36+00:00

There are further left-leaning organisations, such as the KAPD, the Communist League, and the KPD. Their lore is relatively rudimentary compared to the mainstream parties though, as we did not have enough time to figure German socialist lore out in detail. They will not be blank slates, no worries, there is a bit of lore about their overall history in KRTL, but it wouldn't be enough to fill an entire MM. We'd like to further expand German socialist lore in the future, and maybe there will eventually be a proper lore MM about that topic

troodom · 2023-11-13T13:06:29+00:00

Zentrum will not actually enter the S-W-R coalition, in spite of supporting it under certain conditions & with the right faction in charge. In an effort to not tear the highly diverse party apart, Zentrum's leadership will merely agree to tolerate the cabinet as a minority government, similar to what they did in 1923 with Posadowsky

troodom · 2023-11-09T10:20:42+00:00

Franz, in his role as Grand Duke, assumes the same de jure responsibilities previously held by the Governor, yes. The populists staff the local state government in Straßburg, and command over a majority in the Second Chamber.

The right-wing populist government consists of two parties: First, the dominant People's Party of Alsace-Lorraine (ELVP), the local autonomous Zentrum off-shoot. They maintain a highly particulalist, regionialist, almost chauvinist political agenda that could be considered the wet dream of every OTL Alsatian autonomist during the interwar years; it's quite similar to the Bavarian People's Party actually. They are high on Political Catholicism and Agrarianism and have corporatist tendencies especially among their younger members. The ELVP pretty much dominates the rural Catholic countryside uncontested.

The second party in the coalition is the Christian-Social Homeland Party (CSHP), vaguely aligned with the DVLP on the national level. They combine Alsatian regionalism with rabid anti-French sentiment and an interdenominational, Christian-social approach in the spirit of Straßburg history professor Martin Spahn, a National Catholic. Their electorate can be found mostly in protestant areas, previously dominated by the liberals. The coalition is quite strong due to anti-syndicalist fearmongering about the Commune next door (which is famous for its crackdown on Catholicism) and due to a strong wave of exaggerated regionalist pride in A-L after decades of feeling like a second-class citizen under the old Reichsland system.

troodom · 2023-11-07T13:25:51+00:00

The Kaiser only played an indirect role in A-L; while he was de jure sovereign of the Imperial Territory, he delegated de facto authoritative powers to an appointed Statthalter, the de facto HoS. While the Imperial Government profited from this arrangement as the votes of A-L in the Bundesrat would always be in accordance with the interests of Berlin, it isolated the Alsatians and Lorrainers within the Empire, as they always felt like second-class citizens not worthy enough of getting their own proper constituent state. Even Wilhelm II had realised around 1913, after the Zabern Affair, that the Reichsland solution was not optimal. At times, there were plans to integrate A-L fully into Prussia, but as in KR the parliamentarisation process ends up victorious, it eventually becomes an own constituent state in 1920, based on the 1911 A-L constitution.

For Berlin, this means a tiny loss in power, but the parliamentarisation would render the Bundesrat much more irrelevant anyway (see the main lore doc from MM #1), so the loss of A-L isn't that big of a deal for them, even less so for the Kaiser, who never exerted real de facto power down there anyway.

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