African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1535 Adolf Takes Power

East Africa's transportation development model tends towards balanced development. Therefore, East African governments encourage the civil aviation industry to grow stronger, but also restrict its blind expansion, thereby stabilizing the development of transportation such as railways and highways.

At present, the main area of ​​competition between the civil aviation industry and railway and highway transportation is passenger transport, especially the railway passenger transport sector, which faces the greatest competitive pressure.

As for water transport, passenger transport is not very important to it, or rather, the speed of water transport is difficult to meet the travel needs of the public. On land, water transport has always been unable to compete with railway and highway passenger transport. With the advent of airplanes, and with the development of time, in the future, air transport will inevitably replace ships as the primary choice for international long-distance passenger transport. Air transport will surpass sea transport in international passenger transport in about the next 20 to 30 years.

Even though East Africa's civil aviation industry is not as regulated as that of the United States, it is in fact ahead of the world, which is due to a variety of factors.

On the political front, East African governments were among the first to prioritize the development of the civil aviation industry. On the technological front, East Africa was one of the first countries in the world to invest in the development of the aviation industry and has the largest number of related professionals and research institutions in the world.

In terms of market demand, East Africa alone covers an area of ​​13 million square kilometers, with a north-south straight-line distance of over 4,000 kilometers and an east-west distance of 3,000 kilometers, resulting in a large demand for civil aviation.

In terms of regional development, the civil aviation industry is of great significance to northern East Africa and the southwest region, because the transportation lines in these areas are relatively sparse. East Africa's railway and highway networks are mainly concentrated in the central area, while in the north and southwest, apart from national strategic transportation arteries, travel is not very convenient in most areas.

In terms of industry, the East African Air Force has tested the reliability of the aircraft in terms of safety, so it can transition related technologies to civil aviation. For example, East Africa has now successfully developed a large long-range transport aircraft and the world's first jet aircraft.

……

July 1932.

Berlin, Germany.

The German parliamentary elections in July have officially concluded. For the first time, the German National Party (GNP) surpassed the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the German Workers' Party (DDP) to become the largest party in the German parliament.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Labor Party are actually both Labor parties, but the former is considered dovish and the latter radical. Before World War I, the SPD had become the largest party in the German parliament.

For a long time afterward, the Social Democratic Party remained between the first and second largest party in parliament.

However, this also reveals the Social Democratic Party's "naiveté" in politics. As the largest party in the German parliament for a long time, it has never become the leader of Germany. This is certainly related to the design of Germany's political system, such as the appointment of the prime minister, which ultimately requires the consent of the emperor and the army.

After World War I, the emperor's power was effectively usurped, and now the selection of the German prime minister is directly controlled by the military, which is backed by Juncker. Compared to the Social Democratic Party and the Labour Party, the German National Party is undoubtedly more acceptable to them.

Although Adolf was also unpopular, his encouragement of military development and support for expansion appealed to the Junkers.

Furthermore, with the German National Party becoming the largest party in parliament, Adolf's rise to power was a foregone conclusion. Once the subsequent procedures were completed, he would become the new prime minister of Germany.

At this time, Adolf had already convened key members of the National Party to discuss important matters.

"1932 was a pivotal year in which the fate of the whole of Germany was changed dramatically. Our German National Party will lead the Germans to victory, but before that, we have some preparations that must be made in advance."

"First and foremost is the military, which must obey our leadership. Therefore, from now on, it is especially important to accelerate the infiltration of the military by our German National Party, and to win over junior officers and soldiers at the grassroots level."

"The Imperial Army is crucial to whether we can become the actual rulers of the Empire, rather than puppets of some incompetent people, the latter of whom we absolutely cannot allow. In addition, the continued expansion and formalization of the SA must also be put on the agenda. The SA will become an important force for us to lead the Empire."

"At the same time, it will also become an important asset for us to crush the enemy. At that time, we will thoroughly purge the parasites and saboteurs in German society, such as the Social Democratic Party and the Labour Party."

In fact, at this time, the Social Democratic Party was still an important supporter of the German National Party, and some people within the Social Democratic Party even regarded Adolf as "one of their own" because the German National Party, which Adolf led, had words such as "society" and "workers" in its full name, which is the German Workers' Party of national socialism.

However, the Social Democrats' wishful thinking clearly failed. Adolf never regarded them as collaborators, but as enemies like the Labour Party. Therefore, after confirming his entry into power, he immediately began to arrange the encirclement and suppression of the Social Democrats.

Adolf said, "In the future, there will only be one voice in Germany, and that is the voice of our National Party. We naturally represent the interests of the German nation, while the Social Democratic Party, the Labour Party, and other parties have no reason to exist."

"Especially the German Labour Party, they are spies for the Soviets and Jews, enemies lurking within Germany, traitors to the German nation."

"They are subservient to Moscow and Joseph, and collude with Jews. Therefore, they are merely pawns of the Soviet Union and Jews. The interests of the German nation are completely irrelevant to them. Therefore, we cannot allow the German Labour Party to continue to exist."

"The Social Democratic Party is the same; they are birds of a feather with the Labour Party. It's just the result of the Labour Party hedging its bets. Therefore, we cannot rule out the risk of them joining forces with the Labour Party in the future."

Although the Social Democratic Party and the German Labour Party have lower approval ratings than Germany, they both have over 20% support in Germany. If they were to merge, their combined support would reach 40%, surpassing the German National Party and threatening the position of the German National Party and Adolf. This is something Adolf absolutely cannot allow.

Of course, in Adolf's own view, the Social Democratic Party and the Labor Party were essentially "in cahoots," but in reality, since the 1920s, the ideological conflict between the Social Democratic Party and the Labor Party has even surpassed the contradictions between them and the German National Party.

"Heretics are more detestable than outcasts." This is the most accurate description of the relationship between the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the German Labor Party. The SPD even supported the dictator Adolf Hitler and was unwilling to cooperate with the Labor Party because they believed that the German Labor Party was "too extreme."

The truth is that Adolf and the National Party were far more extreme than the German Labour Party, but the Social Democratic Party turned a blind eye to this. In their previous lives, they had supported the German autocratic government, so it is not surprising that they were able to become the largest party under imperial Germany before World War I.

This is probably similar to the British Labour Party. They are not enough to make the behind-the-scenes rulers of both countries feel "threatened." After all, it is too naive to expect parliamentary struggle to become the national leadership. Their upper limit is to become the nominal rulers, but they are absolutely unable to mobilize the grassroots bureaucrats and the departments with real power.

Like the British Labour Party, even if they win the prime ministership, any of their reform measures are basically just empty words and cannot reshape the political and social structure of Britain.

After discussing the domestic political tasks, Adolf then turned his attention to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"The cooperation between the Austrian National Party and us must also be accelerated. Whether the German nation can be unified depends on Austria. Now that we are about to take power, we must begin to prepare for our infiltration of Austria."

"In the future, an unprecedentedly powerful Greater German Empire will appear on the map of Europe. This is the first step for our German nation to dominate the world." "Jupt, you should strengthen cooperation with our Austrian partners. Their situation is much more complex than ours, especially in terms of public opinion and propaganda."

"If we cannot win over the majority of people, the German-Austrian unification is very likely to fail. Therefore, it is something we must do to strengthen our propaganda within the Austro-Hungarian Empire."

Now that the German National Party is a foregone conclusion, it can focus some of its energy on the Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially on propaganda.

Goebbels adjusted his glasses and said to Adolf, "Very well, Your Excellency, I will share some experience with my fellow Austrians to reduce public resistance to the future merger of the two countries."

For the German National Party, which has a particularly strong national identity, German unification has long been one of its important goals.

Of course, if a Greater German Empire were realized, the benefits to the German National Party would be astonishing, and few could resist the temptation.

1932 8 Month 4 Day.

Berlin Royal Palace.

Under pressure from Germany's conservative elites, Wilhelm II was forced to formally appoint Adolf as the new Chancellor of Germany, marking a new turning point in German history.

Today, Wilhelm II did not look pleased. He spoke in a slightly cold tone to the "designated" new German Chancellor: "Mr. Adolf, I hope you can bring some positive changes to Germany."

Adolf himself is not particularly averse to Wilhelm II at present. He responded, "Your Majesty, we will lead the Empire to complete the unfinished business of the World War. I think this is also your ideal. Therefore, our goals are always aligned."

"It's all for the future of Germany, so I hope our cooperation will proceed smoothly and we can work together to contribute to the development of the German nation."

"What a madman!" This was Wilhelm II's assessment of Adolf. Although what Adolf said earlier wasn't entirely wrong—during World War I, Wilhelm II was indeed an ambitious man who tried to turn all of Europe into Germany's backyard.

However, he lacked such self-awareness. Wilhelm II launched the war, believing it was for Germany's benefit, but Adolf did the same, which made him a complete "ambitious man" and a "madman."

Of course, Wilhelm II still harbored a sliver of hope that Adolf was merely exaggerating, since politicians are inherently natural liars.

In his view, Adolf was a complete "political novice" who did not understand the wickedness of human nature. He believed that if Adolf were to face difficulties from the Junkers like he did, he would eventually "come to the reality."

Yes, at this time, Wilhelm II still largely regarded Adolf as a "pathetic wretch" like himself, a "puppet" of the German elite.

So Wilhelm II said to Adolf in a strange tone, "Mr. Adolf, you are an optimistic man, and I hope that you can continue to maintain this spirit."

Although Adolf did not understand his meaning, he was in high spirits at the time, so he politely replied: "Optimism is a fine quality of the German people, and my optimism will continue as well as the future development of the empire. I believe the future of the empire is bright."

No one knows what the Emperor and Adolf were whispering about, but the representatives of the German ruling group were very satisfied to see the Emperor and the new Chancellor getting along so well.

Just as Wilhelm II had previously thought, the ruling group viewed Adolf as nothing more than a "puppet" manipulated by them, and the right-wing elements of the German ruling group believed they could "control" this new imperial prime minister.

The so-called right-wing elements include the German Junkers, which consist of the aristocracy and the military, as well as Germany's large industrial capitalists, nationalist political parties, bureaucracy, and the judicial system, etc.

The German National Party is not the only nationalist political party in Germany. There are also some smaller parties, such as the German People's Party, which is mainly composed of veterans, anti-democratic and anti-Semitic elements.

Germany's large industrial capitalists were key supporters of Adolf and the German National Party. For example, German industrial giants such as Krupp, ThyssenKrupp, Fabien, and Siemens provided the main financial support to the German National Party.

Adolf was also able to satisfy their political demands, such as opposing the "social welfare policies" of the trade unions and the Social Democratic Party, suppressing the workers' movement, ensuring private property rights, and obtaining arms orders.

The Junkers, especially within the military, were divided on their support for Adolf. However, their own chosen representatives lacked Adolf's influence in Germany and were unable to challenge him. Therefore, they later shifted their support to Adolf. Their main demand for Adolf was to suppress the Labour Party and other left-wing elements.

Finally, there were the bureaucratic class and the judicial system, whose expectation of Adolf was to prevent the "equalization" reforms advocated by the Social Democratic Party and the trade unions, and to maintain the traditional authority of the system.

This is also one of the main reasons why the German police and court systems previously condoned and favored various violent activities by the SA (Storm Troopers) under the German National Party.

……

With the success of the German National Party, the situation in Central Europe has become increasingly tense, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will become the epicenter of a new round of political and social crisis in Central Europe.

Because the Soviet Union was also attempting to launch an offensive in Austria, a fierce battleground of five major forces emerged within the Austro-Hungarian Empire: first, the conservative ruling group led by the Habsburgs; then, the Labour Party; next, various nationalists; then, the Austrian National Party, which colluded with the German National Party; and finally, radical elements of the bourgeoisie.

Apart from the ruling group led by the Habsburgs, the other forces were not overly concerned with the integrity of the empire's territory.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire, a world power, is about to face its greatest challenge yet. The subsequent developments will determine the survival of this ancient empire.

Emperor Rudolf was well aware of the dire situation within the empire, but there was little he could do. Had it been in the mid-to-late 20th century, Rudolf might have had the confidence to suppress other opposing forces, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire was now a new powder keg in Europe.

Any spark could cause the Austro-Hungarian Empire to explode, and there were too many people within the Austro-Hungarian Empire attempting to "set fire," which meant that there were far more than one potential ignition point.

(End of this chapter)