The German Peace

by Derek Pennington

  Will you do this for me, Jamie?”

  “Of course, Mister President. When do you want me to start?”

  “yesterday.”

  “I will get right on to it, sir.”

  Two days later MacLellan was on his way to Berlin.

  CHAPTER TWO - CONCILIATION

  1940

  BERLIN - JULY

  At the end of the European war in June 1940, Germany was in control of a huge swathe of Western Europe, with a total population of one hundred and sixty million. Of this number, ninety million were German, if one included the Austrians, and the Czechs and Slovaks of the now non-existent Czechoslovakia, who were henceforth considered to be German citizens.

  The other seventy million under Germany’s sway were citizens of the occupied countries.

  To administer and supervise this vast area and populace was no simple undertaking. This task was further complicated by the previously imposed Nazi ideology and policies which had caused some distortions and introduced bad practices throughout the region.

  The Military Council that governed Germany after the demise of Hitler, had lost no time in transforming itself into a Governing Council which included civilian members selected for their expertise. Their ministries were housed in the new Reich Chancellery built on Hitler’s orders and only finished by Albert Speer the previous year. This building would be the permanent home of Germany’s Government, even after the old Imperial Reichstag building was renovated following a mysterious fire some years earlier. The Reichstag would be used only for ceremonial occasions.

  The first meeting of the Council had been held one week after Hitler’s funeral. The previous day Goering had broadcast the composition and tasks of the Council to the German people. His message was one of supreme confidence in the new regime and reassurance that the German people could look towards a secure and prosperous future.

  One of Goering’s conditions for helping with the elimination of Hitler was that he would succeed him as the leader of Germany. This was refused outright by von Brauchitsch. With great reluctance on both sides a compromise was reached. Goering would have the title of President of the Governing Council, and would be their nominated spokesman, but he would have no real power. He would have one vote in the council, the same as the other members.

  Goering had always been considered by many to be something of a playboy. These days he enjoyed the trappings of power too much to be truly effective in any given ministerial job. Consequently he accepted his new role as the best he was likely to get.

  For the time being.

  General von Brauchitsch was effectively the leader of the Council as well as holding the position of Minister of Defence. He personally had no desire whatsoever to be a politician and made no secret of the fact that he would serve on the council only until Germany was stable and on a steady course. Then he would go back to the army or retire.

  Two other soldiers were members of the Council as ‘Ministers without Portfolio’. General Erich von Mannstein and General Ludwig Beck. Both able soldiers widely respected for their abilities, intelligence and work ethic. They also had long histories of opposition to many aspects of Hitler’s and Nazi policies.

  There were three civilian members.

  Baron von Altendorf was Minister of Foreign Affairs.

  Hjalmar Schacht had been appointed the new Minister of Economics. Schacht was sixty three years old, an economist, banker, and previously liberal politician who had at one time been the President of the German Central Bank. He had been Minister of Economics from 1934 to 1937 but had become disillusioned with the Nazi regime and resigned. He was considered by his fellow members to be a safe hand on the tiller during the impending reconstruction of Germany.

  The new Interior Minister was Albert Speer. Although Speer was only thirty five years old, he was a man of proven and outstanding organisational abilities. He was a man who got things done. He had been a registered member of the Nazi party for many years, but that had been for the sake of convenience. He was essentially apolitical.

  Under his wing, in the short term, would be the departments of labour, industry, transport, justice, police, education, health and agriculture. He had been tasked with finding suitable heads or ministers for some of these functions as a matter of urgency.

  This was the make-up of the Council that now ruled most of Western Europe.

  Von Altendorf and Schacht were considering prospective Deputy Ministers to assist them. The potential appointees had to have distinguished records in the German civil service. Speer had already made such an appointment for his own ministry.

  Von Brauchitsch had also appointed two deputies of his own to assist with the restructure of the armed forces. These were Admiral Karl Donitz of the Kriegsmarine, and General Albert Kesselring from the Luftwaffe.

  The first hastily convened Council meeting was opened by Goering as President of the Council. He gave a short but flowery speech welcoming everybody and reminding them of the grave responsibility that rested in their hands.

  The first person to speak, at his own request, was the Minister of Economics. He had been appointed only the previous day. His address was simple and to the point.

  “Gentlemen, since my appointment as Minister of Economics was only confirmed two days ago, I have had no chance to collect any meaningful information on the state of the country’s finances and economy. Three years ago I was aware that the rearmament of Germany had strained us financially. Since then, the war has obviously imposed an additional huge burden.

  With effect from today I have cancelled all staff leave for Ministry of Economics and Finance staff. I have issued strict orders for all relevant information to be collected, analysed and collated, and to be made available to me within a maximum of two weeks, without fail.

  I hope to be in a position to present this Council with an emergency budget four weeks from today. I must warn, however, that because of the haste at which it will be compiled, it cannot be considered a truly accurate budget. That will take a little longer.”

  He paused for a sip of his water.

  “It is, of course, impossible to draw up a meaningful budget unless I know the requirements of each of your own ministries for the next year, and longer. I urge you to give this your urgent attention and let me have details within the next two weeks. As I said, in view of the time constraints, and the unusual situation Germany is in at present, I do not expect complete accuracy but we will at least have something to work with.

  Finally, I ask all present to direct all departments and ministries under their control to institute a regime of austerity with immediate effect. Any unnecessary expenditure should be curtailed, or at least delayed, for the present, until we know where we stand.”

  He then spent another fifteen minutes answering various questions as well as he was able, given his current lack of detailed information and short time in the job.

  Goering now asked the Interior Minister for his contribution.

  “My new deputy Minister is heading a task force which is examining closely each of the departments under my ministry. At first glance they appear to be functioning reasonably well, subject to various distortions caused by the war, and directives from the previous regime. Many experienced staff were lost through conscription into the German armed forces.

  The only radical change I would like to look at immediately, subject to the Council’s approval, is in the manner in which the police are administered. I recommend that control of police matters reverts to the old system of local and individual state control, who in turn will be responsible to the Interior Ministry.

  I would also like to abolish our ‘esteemed’ secret state police” – he said this with a grimace – ‘the Gestapo’. These people are most unloved – I should say feared - by the populace in Germany. I am not saying that police should be loved, but they should certainly be respected and trusted. This is not the case with the Gestapo.”

  This drew murmurs of agreement from the rest of the member
s with the exception of Goering who kept quiet.

  “My intention is that all Gestapo members shall be decommissioned immediately, but are then allowed to reapply to the police for a new job. They will, of course, be carefully vetted to weed out undesirable elements, which I suspect will be many. There have been constant rumours of bullying, torture and even killings by them while they were under the control of Heinrich Himmler.

  There is one other matter I ask this Council for clarification. We are all familiar with the anti-Jewish laws and the anti-Semitism encouraged by the previous regime. These are something which other nations find abhorrent. Indeed, I believe they are cruel, unnecessary, and do not recognise the contributions made to science, industry, finance and the arts by the German Jewish community.

  I suggest we institute a Commission of Enquiry under the Justice Ministry to look into this as a matter of urgency and make appropriate recommendations.”

  This suggestion received the immediate and unhesitating support of the rest of the Council with the exception of Goering, and even he acquiesced when he saw the unanimity of his fellow members.

  Speer spoke again. “As regards, the requests from the Minister of Economics, my departments will reduce unnecessary expenditure, and a report on my budgetary requirements will be ready in two weeks.”

  He was finished. No wasted words.

  Von Brauchitsch thought to himself that with men such as this - talented, hard-working, conscientious, non-political, and no personal hidden agenda - Germany would become the most prosperous and stable country in the world.

  Von Altendorf was next. He outlined the current state of Germany’s relations with various countries, but more particularly with Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. These he dealt with in detail. Then he moved on to his main priority.

  “I propose that we now re-establish, as a matter of urgency, full diplomatic relations with Great Britain and exchange ambassadors. I need this in order to use the good offices of the British to open talks with the governments-in-exile of the occupied territories.

  Only after I have talked with these people can I have an idea of what it will cost to normalise relations with their countries. I think if the British government can coerce them into talking to me, I could see them all in one visit to London lasting only a matter of days.”

  All the members approved this, although Goering mentioned that von Altendorf should proceed with caution when talking to the ‘so called’ governments-in-exile, and not be soft in any negotiations.

  The other Council members listened politely to Goering but paid little serious attention to his remarks. Goering was ‘yesterday’s man’ in their opinion.

  Now it was the turn of the Minister of Defence to speak.

  “My two deputy Ministers, Admiral Donitz and General Kesselring, and I, have initiated a full scale review of the armed forces, which will include manpower, equipment, future strategic role - in fact all military aspects. To enable the Minister of Economics to plan ahead we undertake to have at least a preliminary report completed in the next two weeks.

  One measure under active consideration is demobilising some of our troops. This will be carried out in an orderly fashion so as not to flood the labour market. In this respect we will liaise with the Interior Minister.

  It is also our intention to disband the SS. There have been some disturbing reports of atrocities committed by them in Poland. These cannot be overlooked and are now being investigated by the Wehrmacht military police.”

  Here Goering interrupted. “Is that necessary General? Whatever happened in Poland happened nearly a year ago. Cannot it be allowed to die a quiet death?”

  “No. Absolutely not. It is a stain on the German army and the German people. How can we ever expect the Poles to trust us if we just pretend nothing bad happened? I expect to be in a position to report on this matter in a few weeks. In the meantime the Minister of Foreign Affairs should be prepared for some hard words from them, if and when he meets the Polish government-in-exile.”

  He continued.

  “Another radical change we are looking at, is scrapping the Kriegsmarine’s large surface fleet - the battleships, battlecruisers and heavy cruisers - to make way for a stronger submarine fleet and aircraft carriers. We are inclined to believe that the age of the big surface warships, other than carriers, is dead.

  Obviously the Soviet Union is by far, Germany’s biggest potential external threat, and this will always be uppermost in our minds during our military review”.

  Von Brauchitsch was not a politician. He did not need to use one hundred words for something that could be said in twenty. He was finished.

  The two Ministers without Portfolio had nothing to report at this time.

  General von Mannstein had been given the task of assessing the future role and needs of the armies of the occupied countries. This would largely depend upon whether these countries would be prepared to co-operate with Germany.

  This led to the second part of his brief. To explore his idea of a European Alliance. An attack on one country, is an attack on all. This part of his job excited him the most.

  General Beck was now responsible for all intelligence gathering, both civil and military. The Abwehr, German military intelligence, under the redoubtable Admiral Canaris, also fell under his wing.

  Such was the first meeting of the Governing Council. Minimum amount of time wasted, and everyone, (with the possible exception of its President), aware of the tremendous amount of work that had to be accomplished in a relatively short space of time.

  Goering was anxious to get home and relax. The others were more interested in getting back to work.

  Over a twenty day period beginning 24 June, over two hundred thousand British prisoners of war were repatriated back to Great Britain from camps in Germany and France. General Rommel had been given the responsibility for ensuring an orderly handover of the troops to the British officers sent to Europe to accept them. Rommel in turn delegated the task to his trusted aide, Colonel von Altendorf.

  The British team was under the command of none other than General Brooke. He had been one of the last British officers to leave when Dunkirk had been evacuated, and now he had been one of the first officers ashore. He had to wait another three days before the men of his own regiment arrived, but when they did, there were tears in more than a few eyes at an emotional reunion.

  Brooke’s aide was the newly promoted Colonel Blackstone, who was to act as the British liaison officer with Colonel von Altendorf. Blackstone had, of course, met von Altendorf’s father at the peace negotiations in Lisbon. A fact that he kept to himself.

  Rommel had instructed von Altendorf that the British prisoners of war were to be treated with maximum respect at all times. He had even ordered that their German escorts be supplied with beer, to be given to the British troops at the assembly stations. This proved very popular with the troops of both countries! There was little evidence of animosity between the two nationalities at this stage. In the eyes of the average British soldier the German’s had won ‘fair and square’ through the use of better equipment, tactics and leadership, while the British had been saddled with the French army!

  If there was any resentment harboured by the British troops, it was directed towards their own country that had sent them into a war for which they were poorly equipped.

  It was known that the British Secretary for War had not only feuded with the British Army high command, but had also misled the House of Commons on the capabilities of the British Expeditionary Force. He had assured the House that the BEF was sent off to war ‘as well, if not better, equipped than any similar army.’ This was either wishful thinking or outright deceit.

  And the BEF paid the price.

  Von Altendorf carried out his repatriation mission perfectly. He met several times each day with Blackstone, and by the time the last British prisoner-of-war stepped aboard the last ship, the two had become firm friends. Each of them had invited the other t
o visit them and meet their families at the earliest opportunity.

  This happened sooner than either of them anticipated. It was only a few weeks later that Blackstone was seconded to the British Embassy in Berlin as military attaché, following the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. This appointment had also been at the behest of General Brooke.

  The entire repatriation operation had gone smoothly and the British soldiers arrived back in England to be greeted by huge crowds. The King accompanied by the Prime Minister had been at the port to welcome the first shiploads of troops home.