African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1561 The Capitol Bombing

The practice of seeking cheap mineral resources in West Africa and then profiting from the price difference between manufactured goods and raw materials to obtain relatively substantial profits from industrial development is not uncommon.

British industry is now following this path. When an economic crisis breaks out, the prices of industrial products plummet, and the prices of raw materials also fall accordingly. However, the relationship between the two is volatile. If the decline in the price of industrial products is less than the decline in the price of raw materials, it is possible to turn a profit.

Britain controlled a large number of colonies, which allowed it to reduce the cost of raw material production. For example, India was rich in agricultural and mineral resources and had extremely low labor costs, so Britain had a way to drive down the price of raw materials in India. Its overseas colonies in East Africa did not have this advantage.

Besides the small population of the East African colonies, a more important point is that the people of the East African colonies were mainly immigrants, and their political status was higher than that of the Indians under British rule.

If West Africa could economically integrate with East Africa, this problem could be solved effectively, as it has a considerable pool of cheap labor and the minerals and energy that East Africa needs.

……

April 2, 1945, Berlin.

After a long period of economic depression, Berlin's economy finally showed a significant recovery in early 1934. Factories resumed operations, workers found new jobs, Berlin's industrial machinery started running again, and consumption was also stimulated.

The direct driving force behind all of this is Prime Minister Adolf, who just took office last year. Now, Adolf has delivered an economic report card that satisfies most of the German people, and his approval rating has once again skyrocketed.

If, at the beginning of Adolf's rise to power last year, the German Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party could still rival each other in terms of public support, now the German National Party has completely pulled ahead of them.

Once German workers had enough to eat, they readily joined the German National Party. They would naturally support whoever could bring them a stable life. This was the extent of the political aspirations of the German working class who had experienced the Great Depression.

However, this is not surprising. Imagine if there had been no Great Depression, no matter what the German government did, the German working class would not have been satisfied and would have complained about not having a decent and comfortable job.

After experiencing the famine during the Great Depression, the demands of the German lower classes became very low: just a job that could support their families. Whether it was respectable, whether the salary was too low, or whether the workload was too heavy became less important. This is probably the "broken windows theory".

Without the support of the workers, the German Labor Party and the Social Democratic Party are like fish out of water.

In the Prime Minister's residence, Adolf listened to reports from his subordinates summarizing the achievements of the German National Party in power and the domestic situation in 1933.

Heinrich and other senior members of the National Party stood in front of his desk, each with a barely perceptible smile on their face.

Holding a report, Heinrich said, "Your Excellency, under your leadership, the German economy has shown a significant improvement. Now, the entire industrial machinery of the Reich is running again under the guidance of the government."

"Industrial indicators such as coal, steel, and machinery manufacturing have recovered rapidly. Various large-scale projects in China have also been launched. Enterprises have made money, and workers have returned to the factories."

"As a result, our society as a whole has stabilized, the support rates for the Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party have plummeted, and many people have come to their senses and left these two evil organizations."

“Recently, our intelligence services have noticed these changes, with the scale and frequency of unrest by the Labour and Social Democrats showing an exponential decline across the country.”

"On the contrary, the number of members joining our party is increasing rapidly, and at the same time, within the Reich, public support for the National Party continues to rise. Under your wise leadership, Germany has regained its former glory..."

Adolf leaned back in his chair, head held high, listening intently to Heinrich's report. A smile involuntarily crept onto his lips, and the small mustache beneath his high nose bridge distorted with smugness, revealing his extremely pleased mood.

He slowly rose from his chair, stared at the portrait of Bismarck on the wall, and said, “Very good. The past year has fully demonstrated that only under our leadership can Germany have a bright future.”

“The Labour Party and other malignant tumors have no positive effect other than bringing social unrest and contradictions, and the German people are no longer deceived by them.”

"They don't understand that for our great nation, there is only one path to true prosperity and strength, just as the great Chancellor Bismarck said: it is through iron and blood that we win everything the German people want."

"Germany has too little land and too many people. So, the only way to solve Germany's problems is to use our sharp weapons to expand outwards and seek more land under the sun."

Heinrich said respectfully behind him, "Your Excellency Prime Minister, this is truly insightful, but unfortunately, many people do not understand it and have a deep misunderstanding of us."

Adolf turned around, his eyes sharpening, and said in a stiff tone, "Sometimes we don't need to reason with the ignorant or beg for their approval."

"The German people will naturally stand behind us. All opponents have only one identity: they are enemies of the German nation."

"We have only one attitude toward our enemies: send them to hell. Anyone who tries to stop the German people is not worthy of our sympathy or tolerance."

At this point, Adolf straightened his back, looked down at his subordinates, and said, "Now, it's time to deal with the Labour Party members. I have only one requirement for these traitors to the German nation: leave none alive..."

The menacing words instantly chilled the air in the otherwise empty office, but the Nationalist Party's top brass were all eager to try their luck and were itching for a fight.

Hermann said excitedly, "It should have been done long ago. These terrorists of the German Labour Party should be executed. But, Your Excellency, what grounds should we use to arrest them?"

Although the German Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party have now completely lost the strength to compete with the National Party, these two "labor party organizations" are still the second largest parties in Germany after the National Party.

Therefore, even if the National Party wanted to take action against them, it would have to find a reason that could convince the general public in Germany.

Adolf had anticipated this, and he confidently stated, "Gentlemen, I believe that terrorists like the Labour Party have some serious mental problems and violent tendencies. Therefore, Labour Party members could plan and participate in violent activities at any time."

Hermann cautiously probed, "Does the Prime Minister mean to frame me..."

Adolf was clearly not satisfied with the term "framing," saying, "No, Göring, your wording is problematic. After all, everyone knows that the Labour Party is a notorious violent criminal organization in the international community." "In the past few years, in any country where the Labour Party has been active, various forms of violence and anti-social activities have been very frequent. So how could we possibly use such a low and despicable method as framing? Instead, we should expose their true colors to the German people."

Herman quickly replied, "Your Excellency is right. Given the behavior of the Labour Party members, we really don't need to take action. They are not clean to begin with..."

"However, Prime Minister, what event do you think would better expose the true nature of these terrorists in the Labour Party?"

Adolf thought for a moment, and then he suddenly remembered an arson attack that the Stuttgart Stormtroopers had planned before.

This is a good example. Although the arson attack targeted a newspaper company in East Africa, planning a similar attack to smear the German Labour Party is clearly a good tactic.

Of course, arson alone is not enough to cause a national uproar. It would be better to make the destruction greater and the incident more serious, so that the National Party can be more ruthless when dealing with the Labour Party and gain the support and understanding of the German people.

At the same time, the location should be carefully considered. It is best to choose a place that is eye-catching and solemn, as this will be more likely to arouse public outrage. If it can cause bloodshed or casualties, the effect will be even better.

Thinking of this, Adolf suddenly had a bright idea. He said to Herman and the others, "What do you think of the Capitol? If a serious incident were to occur there, it would certainly attract the attention of the entire nation."

"As for the specific violent incident, the script goes like this: dissatisfied with the election results, Labour Party rioters, under the planning and direction of senior Labour Party members, attempted to assassinate members of parliament by planting explosives..."

It must be said that Adolf's idea startled other high-ranking members of the National Party. After all, the combination of the words "Reichstag," "explosion," and "murder of a member of the Reichstag" would likely cause a sensation not only in Germany but also around the world.

Herman said with some concern, "Wouldn't this cause too much of a commotion and lead to the situation getting out of our control?"

Adolf, however, was completely unconcerned. He said with a hint of fanaticism, "The bigger the commotion, the better. Only in this way can we be more unrestrained in dealing with the Labour Party."

"As for how things have developed, if it were a year ago, we would naturally need to be cautious, but now we have become the ruling party, the government departments are in our hands, and the investigation results are naturally up to us."

Then he turned to Heinrich and said, “Your department will be in charge of this matter. It must be kept strictly confidential. At the same time, all evidence must point to the German Labour Party. Also, the blast radius cannot be too wide. Two or three people being injured or killed is within an acceptable range.”

Heinrich felt a chill run down his spine when Adolf entrusted him with the task. After all, this involved taking action in the Reichstag, one of the centers of imperial power, and it was an explosion that would cause casualties. If anything went wrong, his political career and life would likely be over.

However, despite knowing the risks, Heinrich took the plunge. He pushed up his glasses with his finger, a hint of malice in his shrewd eyes, and said, "Your Excellency, rest assured, we guarantee we will handle this perfectly, leaving no evidence against us."

Despite his seemingly refined and gentle demeanor, Heinrich was a ruthless executioner who instilled fear throughout Germany. After all, working in the intelligence service inevitably involved some shady methods.

He did countless dirty jobs for the National Party and Adolf.

Adolf was very satisfied with Heinrich's attitude: "I believe you can do a good job. Now let's begin discussing the domestic military industry and the military situation..."

After handing over all matters to Heinrich, Adolf still focused on military affairs. After all, from the beginning, the National Party's goal had always revolved around preparing for war and expansion, which was determined from the very beginning of its establishment.

……

February was drawing to a close, and February 23rd was the day the German National Party reported to the parliament on its economic work.

Many high-ranking German officials, including Adolf, attended the meeting. Just halfway through the meeting, a sudden explosion occurred from the Labor Party seats.

A time bomb that had been placed under the seats was detonated, instantly blowing two Labour MPs to their deaths. The shockwave also injured several other MPs, three of whom collapsed and fell unconscious.

The explosion caused panic in the meeting room. Many members of parliament looked shocked and bewildered, while some hid under their chairs in fear. Meanwhile, the senior members of the National Party above pretended to be serious and angry.

Suddenly, a squad of guards rushed in, went straight to the Labour Party seat, took everyone under control, and found more explosives under the chairs.

Labour Party Chairman Thallman's expression changed instantly. He realized that the Labour Party had been tricked, but the guards didn't give them any time to explain. They simply pinned them all to the ground and subdued them.

At this point, Adolf pretended to have just recovered from his shock and said, "Everyone, stay calm. Someone is trying to disrupt the meeting. There might be a risk here. Except for the Labour Party members, everyone evacuate in an orderly manner and hand this place over to the guards. We'll wait for the professionals to investigate..."

At this moment, the uninformed members of the Imperial Diet didn't care what had happened; they just wanted to leave this dangerous place as soon as possible, since who knew if there were any other explosives hidden in the Diet.

So the members of parliament, crouching low and under the cover of the guards, withdrew from Parliament, leaving only the Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party pinned to the ground.

That afternoon, the German police and security services issued an investigation report: Labor Party member Marinus was the mastermind behind the bombing. According to their investigation, this Labor Party member suffered from severe mental illness. Marinus brought explosives into the parliament and, with the cooperation of other Labor Party members, planted the explosives in the parliament beforehand.

However, due to improper operation, Marinus detonated the explosives prematurely, resulting in his own death. Labour MP Del, who was also killed in the explosion, was his accomplice.

German police and security services have confirmed that the bombing was orchestrated by the Labor Party and have taken Thälmann and other senior Labor Party officials into custody.

Adolf and the German National Party gave the Workers' Party no chance to defend itself and quickly closed the case. At the same time, Adolf, in his capacity as Reich Chancellor, issued a telegram designating the German Workers' Party, including the Social Democratic Party, as a terrorist organization and demanding the nationwide arrest of Workers' Party members.

In an instant, German prisons were overcrowded, with tens of thousands of members of the German Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party being arrested and imprisoned. Some were directly convicted and executed by the Adolf government, while a large backlog of cases were also pinned on them.

(End of this chapter)