From January 6 to January 18, 1919. Ludwig. Feng. Lieutenant Colonel Hersmann stayed in the Potsdam Provisional Headquarters as the head of intelligence, and did not go to Berlin in the bloody rain.

There was nothing to see about the killings and repressions, and the outcome of the January Revolution in Germany had already been decided a year earlier in the January upheaval in Russia.

Lenin's dispersal of the Constituent Assembly and the ensuing Russian Civil War taught a vivid lesson to the German socialists, capitalists and Junker aristocracy. Fearing that Germany would become a second Russia, these people had long been in tandem and unanimously opposed to the Bolsheviks. Fourteen years later, Adolf. Hitler's accession to the German Chancellor was in fact a continuation of this "anti-Bolshevik line".

From the January upheaval in Russia, to the Finnish Civil War, to the January Revolution in Germany, and then to the Hungarian Revolution. The struggle of the Bolshevik Party and the Socialist Party (including the Social Democrats, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, etc.) appeared rather bloody and brutal.

The Social Democrats, who were considered harmless to humans and animals, went on a killing spree against the Bolsheviks in Germany, Finland and Hungary. In Russia, it was the Bolsheviks led by Lenin who were ruthless.

After several fierce struggles from cooperation to bloodbath, there was little possibility of cooperation between the center-left (SPD) and the J-left in Europe. Even in the face of the imminent rise to power of the Nazis and fascists, it was difficult for the Socialists and the Bolshevik Party to cooperate effectively and effectively.

Of course, cooperation cannot be said to be absent, for example, the Bolshevik Party and the Socialist Party in Spaghetti concluded the Convention on United Front Action against Fascism in 1934. However, in the face of the Italian National Fascist Party at the time, this cooperation really did not have much effect.

On the other hand, the right-wing Pai in Europe were able to unite in the face of the threat of the Bolshevik Party and do everything possible to suppress the Bolsheviks. This was particularly evident in Germany, where the army, controlled by the Junker aristocracy, was always trying in every possible way to get along with the Bolsheviks, joining forces with all the political forces opposed to the Bolsheviks.

And the Social Democrats and the Independent Socialist Party, which won the bloody struggle, were not in a good position. Because they were not able to preserve the monarchy for the Junkers, and because they also participated in the November Revolution, they were only slightly stronger than the Bolsheviks in the eyes of the Junkers. It can only be regarded as reluctant cooperation, not a solid alliance at all, and pulling the Socialists from the throne of the ruling party is the long-term goal of the Juncker officer corps.

After the bloodbath of the working class (not the vast majority of whom were not Bolsheviks) in several large German cities (not only Berlin), the German Socialists as "moderate leftists" were in fact shaking their foundations. And without the support of the powerful Juncker officer corps, the fate of them and Germany seems to have been predicted!

However, Germany will remain a democracy for a long time to come, as Hersmann was convinced of at the beginning of 1919.

Because the Junker aristocracy would have been devastated after the defeat in the World War, it would not have a state with an army of 100,000 or more men. In politics, the "moderate left Pai" or "moderate right Pai" rule by the ballot box rather than the barrel of a gun.

Even the Juncker officer corps, during the historic Weimar Republic, could only play the game of politics decided by votes under the leadership of Hindenburg. Because the weakened Juncker would not be able to suppress the resistance of the German working class even if he staged a coup d'état to seize power.

Therefore, for most of the Weimar Republic, the Junkers, the "moderate left Pai" and the "moderate right Pai" were roughly balanced, and the Junkers could form a pattern of right-wing and left-left politics.

But Hersmann knew that this balance was only temporary, and that oppression from the Entente and revolutionary exports from the Soviet Union would strengthen the extremist faction. When the right time comes – like the Great Depression – extremist factions explode!

……

"Ludwig, whose vote should we vote?"

"Odeya, you have to vote for the Christian Democratic People's Party, which is the original Catholic Center Party. Chloe, you have to vote for it too. ”

"But I don't believe in Catholicism!"

"I'm a Catholic."

"Brother, are you supporting the Catholic Center Party because of Chloe?"

"Margaret, what are you doing here? You are not yet 20 years old and cannot vote. ”

"I can't vote, but I can watch you vote."

19 January is the day of the National Assembly elections. To vote, Hersmann returned to Berlin a day early with his stepmother Odeya, his sister Margaret and his fiancée Chloe.

Of course, Chloe did not vote for the Catholic Center Party because she believed in Catholicism, but because she was not attached to religion. Voting for the Catholic Center Party was an order of the Union of German Officers. Under the double blow of Germany's surrender and the November Revolution, the Fatherland Party, which was run by the German military, had collapsed and did not participate in the January 19 elections. That is why the Union of German Officers' Officers instructed its members to support three parties other than the Social Democratic Party and the Independent Social Democratic Party, the German National People's Party, the German People's Party and the Christian Democratic People's Party.

The three parties, which bear the names of the "People's Party" and the "Democratic Party", did not have their current names before the November revolution and will soon change their names. The words "people" and "democracy" were hung on the signboard only to cater to the political atmosphere after the November Revolution.

At that time, the realization of socialism seemed to be the consensus of the whole people. However, after the "January Crackdown" led by the Social Democrats, the golden sign of socialism has faded a little.

"Ludwig, which party do you think will win the election?" Hersman's sister, Margaret, asks questions in front of a makeshift polling station.

The place where Hersman, Chloe, and Odeya voted is near her luxury apartment. The queue in front of the polling station was all well-dressed propertied class.

"Social Democrats." Hersmann's answer was resoundingly yes.

"Chloe, what do you think?"

"It's supposed to be the Social Democrats, and this time they're the big winners." Chloe's answer was the same as Hersmann's, and she shook her head slightly, "I think Mr. Albert will be president, and his Social Democrats will form a cabinet." ”

"It's not a big winner," Hersman said lightly, glancing at the orderly voting line, "because they're just a mess that's hard to clean up." ”

For a long time, the Social Democrats were the largest party in the Second Reichstag and had a deep mass base. Although this time, because of the repression of the workers, the split and confrontation of the left Pai masses was damaged.

But because the extremist workers' parties such as the Bolshevik Party and the Nazi Party will not participate in this election. The Bolshevik Party had just been suppressed, and it was unlikely that it would participate in the general elections for some time to come. The Nazi Party may not have been formed yet, and even if it did, it would be a small and insignificant party. The Independent Socialist Party, which had split from the Social Democratic Party, not only participated in the repression, but also faced a new split in its own right - from which the German Bolshevik Party splintered.

With no rivals competing with the SPD for workers' votes, the SPD can be expected to win the majority of the workers' and peasants' votes. But the Social Democrats, who came to power, had to face a mess they could not have imagined.