Chapter 872: Rearmament of Germany

Germany, 1935.

Hitler appeared at the Loupold Arena. He is more of a revered target than a speaker. He walked in sharply, followed by Goering, Goebbels, Hess, Himmler, and several lieutenants. The orchestra played the Badenweiler March. When the moving "Egmont Prelude" was finished, Hess walked to the stage and slowly read the names of the martyrs who died in the 1923 uprising. It was a moving experience for 30,000 listeners.

The most important words came from the mouth of the local governor, Wagner. He read out a copy of Hitler's communiqué. Because Wagner's voice resembled Hitler's, some reporters listening to the radio thought it was him.

"The German way of life in the next 1,000 years must have been decided," Wagner reads there: "For us, the turbulent 19th century is over. There will be no more revolutions in Germany for the next 1,000 years. ”

Hitler was intoxicated by the almost incessant cheers of his admirers, but he was still tormented by anxiety.

Many of the stormtroopers who came to celebrate the festival came with remorse and awakening. The thought of an embarrassing or even dangerous scene makes him nervous, and sometimes even he regrets it. Once, while eating in a restaurant frequented by party officials, he suddenly turned to Hans. Frank. "I was annoyed that you didn't do it in Munich on June 30th!" He shouted. When Frank asked for his resignation again, he interrupted him impatiently, "In a few weeks, the state law joke will be over." ”

The Reich will call the shots, and Bavaria and the rest of the states will have to obey, he said. After an uncomfortable silence, he walked out.

As the congress became more and more exciting, Hitler was in a state of euphoria again. This was especially evident on the night of the 7th.

That night, 200,000 loyal party members waved more than 200,000 flags and packed the Chaplin Stadium. Their ranks are as neat as an army.

Speer's 130 searchlights were more thrilling than you could have imagined

In the terrible silence, Hitler's voice resounded through the loudspeakers, producing a terrifying effect. "We are strong and will be even stronger!" He said. This is both a promise and a threat.

Rini. Ryfensdal and his photographers captured the scene from more than 10 angles, and in the process, the nosy browns, at Goebbels' instigation, interfered with her in concealment from the Führer. They constantly harassed photographers, pushed them away from the most advantageous angles, and even dismantled several photo stations.

Hitler himself was threatened, as it was possible for the stormtroopers to react.

Two days later, 50,000 stormtroopers assembled in the stadium; Hitler was wary of this.

In his speech, the Führer pardoned all stormtroopers associated with the Roma conspiracy.

The conference ended without incident. This guaranteed the success of the last show on the 9th and 10th of the next day.

This day is designated as Army Day, and for this reason, mobile troops, equipped with the latest weapons, put on a perfect show on the huge lawn.

For the first time since the end of the war, the armed forces were shown to the public in Germany.

Seeing this realistic combat exercise, the 300,000 spectators were almost ecstatic.

Hitler was also as intoxicated by joy as the masses. After he finished his final speech, the cheers of the crowd resounded in the sky, and there was no silence for a long time. Hess's voice was finally heard: he bid farewell to the Führer on behalf of the Nazi Party.

"The party is Hitler!" He said: "Hitler is Germany, and Germany is Hitler." Cheers to Hitler! Hurrah victory! Hurrah victory! Hail Hitler's victory! ”

The frantic crowd rhythmically "Cheers Victory!" ”…,

This scene is really elated, inspiring, and exciting. But to those who were not infected by Hitler, it was the roar of a creepy beast, a scream from a cave.

There is no better symbol of the Führer's wedding to the army, and he decided to make a gesture of reconciliation with the senior generals. That night, after a spectacular army parade in front of the hotel where he was staying, he invited them to dinner!

"I know that you accuse us of a lot of wrong things in our party." Hitler said at the time: "I admit that you are 100 percent right. But you also have to remember that in the moment of struggle, the intelligentsia abandoned me, so I was mostly not a good quality person who worked with me. I've been trying to correct this shortcoming. But just as it takes several years to build up the officer corps in the new armed forces, it takes even longer for the party to build a good leadership group. ”

His words were effective, and he knew how to use his great skill to adapt his speech to the needs of his audience.

Subsequently, Hitler visited the barracks.

There, the old corporal had a heated fight with the soldiers, telling jokes and reminiscing about the past. Upon returning to the hotel, he was relaxed and cheerful, and while having a late night snack with his henchmen, he recounted in detail about the reunion with the soldiers. This is the end of a week's hard work, and this is the most appropriate one.

Two days later, a reception was held at the presidential palace to welcome Hitler.

He was in high spirits. The diplomats, who had been avoiding him, had to send official congratulations to the new president. In spite of certain unpleasant events, in spite of moments of anxiety, he accomplished everything he had set out to do in Nuremberg. The party was reunited, and the people and the army were on his side.

At the same time, Hitler spent much of his time on foreign policy. Because success in diplomacy depended primarily on strength, Hitler sought to rearm the Reich overnight.

Behind the smokescreen of the disarmament negotiations in Geneva, he quickly built up the German armed forces at all levels. At the military exercises in Nuremberg, he was encouraged by the reaction of the masses. Three weeks later, he ordered the army to triple its 100,000-strong army. On the day the secret order was issued, 70,000 people enlisted. The defense budget increased to DM 654 million.

Even with strict secrecy measures, the sudden addition of 9 corps headquarters, 14 infantry divisions, and 7 mechanized battalions could not but arouse rumors that this was a violation of the Treaty of Versailles.

These rumors, together with the deterioration of Anglo-German relations, were a real concern for Hitler.

In addition, as a result of Germany's military expansion, it was clear that the military unity of Britain and France had become even closer. On the other hand, there is evidence that the UK is not prepared to take big risks.

"There is no country, not a single country, especially the United Kingdom." In the autumn of that year, the private secretary of the British Foreign Secretary revealed to Prince Otto von Bismarck that he was "willing to go abroad to fight for the benefit of other countries." ”

Because Hitler had no intention of getting his hands on the British Empire, and his entire foreign policy was based on British tolerance, he straightforwardly regained their sympathy.

On March 10, Hitler took another step on his diplomatic chessboard.

He revealed it separately to Price of the Daily Mail. Recently, the Luftwaffe has officially become a branch of the German armed forces.

As Hitler had hoped, neither Britain nor France officially condemned it.

On the contrary, John, who may have heard about it. Sir Simon informed the House of Commons that he was still planning to visit Berlin once the Führer had recovered from a cold.

France's response was also only proposed by the Ministry of Defence to extend the service of the troops.

This weak reaction was defeated by Hitler without consulting his generals.

On the morning of March 15, he ordered the chief lieutenant to meet him at the Four Seasons Hotel in Munich. He instructed his adjutant to issue news of the re-conscription and expansion of the armed forces. …,

That night, the National Defense Committee met to discuss Hitler's conscription plan, which had alarmed them.

Feng. General Blomburg expressed concern about the possible response of the major Powers. Ribbentrop thought that there was nothing to worry about, and ignored Blomburg's concerns.

"You're talking nonsense!" Blomburg retorted angrily. He attacked the plan all night, and the next morning, when he and Flitsch reported to Hitler, his objections were put to rest.

That afternoon, Saturday, about 100 foreign journalists crowded into the conference room of the Propaganda Department. No one understood why they were suddenly brought in, so the air inside was a little nervous. Goebbels is in!

"It looks both mattery and serious." He read aloud a new decree announcing full military service and increasing the peacetime force to 300,000.

This is something that everyone has guessed, but it's still shocking. Roshina and several reporters hurriedly ran into the hall to make a phone call. Although Goebbels is still answering questions.

It was then that the French ambassador was getting first-hand information in the study of the head of the Prime Minister's Office. Franciswa. Bencypriot argued that the circular was a flagrant violation of the Treaty of Versailles and regretted that Germany had allowed France to accept a fait accompli without prior contact or discussion with France.

Hitler solemnly and with conviction retorted that his intentions were purely self-defensive. France has nothing to fear.

France's answer to Germany's renewed show of force was a meaningless appeal to the League of Nations!

On the morning of March 25, the official British delegation met with Hitler in a friendly atmosphere. For the first time, he served as the Führer's interpreter. Schmidt noted that when the Führer asked Johann. Sir Simon, Aiden and Ambassador Eric. When Sir Phipps greeted him, his smile was "exceptionally friendly".

Simon declared that the first thing the British government and people needed was peace, and sincerely hoped that Germany would cooperate with other European countries to move towards this goal. The decisive factor in Britain was the British public, who he said was "very disturbed" by events such as Germany's "withdrawal from the League of Nations, Austria and certain unilateral declarations". Britain "was not opposed to Germany, but was strongly opposed to anything that might endanger the peace." ”

During the morning talks, Hitler calmly and politely retorted in a manner that surprised not only the British, but also his translators. However, after lunch, he lost his cool when the Eastern Convention involving Lithuania was proposed.

"We have nothing to do with Lithuania!" Hitler shouted.

At the moment, a conspiracy trial of the German minority is taking place there. Anger shot out of his eyes, his voice was hoarse, and even the trills of R came out. "They trampled on the German minority in Memer. Under no circumstances will we conclude a treaty with such a country! ”

At 10 a.m., Sir Simon suggested that the issue of equipment be discussed. He said that Britain was recently holding separate consultations with the major powers in preparation for a major naval conference to revise the current naval treaty.

He invited Germany to London to participate in similar informal consultations. Hitler accepted it on the spot. He repeated the question he had previously asked the Ambassador: to limit the tonnage of Germany to 35 per cent of the tonnage of the British fleet.

At the same time, he could not see "any time or place" that would force him to "recognize the superiority of the French or Italian fleet!" ”

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