Part 105: Hearts of Iron II: Chapter 3 - White Terror: Apr - Jun 1936

April 1936 - June 1936: White Terror

Under pressure from the Reichstag, Waldemar concedes to the terms of the strike leaders, promising to reform labor rights and instutute democratic reforms.


Under the new reforms, an elected parliament is to be established, with sole power to make new laws and raise taxes. Voting rights are to be restricted to men of German origin, and the King retains the right to veto laws.


Despite these concessions to the conservatives, the reactionary backlash is immediate and furious, as cabinet members walk out on Waldemar. The protests are loudest from the officer corps, and several Generals openly condemn Waldemar for giving in to the masses. Prince Frederick, meanwhile, has postitioned himself as leader of the reformers, and a furious political struggle has begun over the future of the reforms.


As the German political turmoil continues, life elsewhere goes on. Russia has begun developing their new warm water port on Odinholm, with plans to build a major naval base that can house their blue water fleet.


New agricultural techniques are being developed by I.G. Farben, increasing Germany's crop yields and thus, population growth.



Other new research projects include the development of new computing machines with the aid of blueprints from Scandinavia, and a doctrine for the deployment of a new type of aircraft, the Iberian-invented dive bomber.


The political turmoil comes to its final, bloody chapter in May as Waldemar cracks under the pressure from all sides and signs an excutive order granting the secret police and general corps 'unrestricted authority' to deal with the political opposition. The excecutions, arrests and brutal surpression that follows comes to be known as the 'White Terror'. In a few blood-soaked weeks, the open dissent in Germany is broken by the force of its armies and police, though at a high price - the loss of thousands of intellectuals, teachers and skilled workers, as well as the creation of an underground resistance borne out of the crackdown. One of the arrests is of Prince Frederick, who is placed under house arrest in Stuttgart.


Regardless of the cost, order has been restored, though it is now an order maintained solely through force and intimidation.


The democratic reforms have been fully reversed and a number of new laws introduced that have shifted Germany further to the right, its political policies now resembling those of America, though naturally still focused around the monarchy. The Reichstag has been cleared of dissenting elements and 'temporarily' disbanded, with sole power now placed in Waldemar's hands.


The reactions from Germany's neighbours to the White Terror begin to pour in. The Lithuanian Czar remains quiet, while Scandinavia issues a diplomatic protest. Switzerland goes furthest, withdrawing from the HRE in protest.



The immediate diplomatic and political matters under control, Waldemar turns his attention to Germany's industry. An order is given to begin a gearing up and modernization of the army. The world is still an uncertain place and the new Germany must stand ready for war.