The German Peace

by Derek Pennington

  Von Altendorf suggested that he should reply using suitable diplomatic language that would not upset the Americans but at the same time indicate their less than enthusiastic interest in the proposal. This was agreed by the Council.

  “The next item is of more importance. It concerns a note I received yesterday from the Soviet Ambassador. As you know, they made no significant remarks when we first formed the European Alliance with Norway and Denmark. Their comments were both negative and stronger when the Alliance was extended with the inclusion of Poland and Holland. They lodged a strong protest when France, Spain and Portugal joined.

  All of this was dealt with diplomatically and the Soviet ruffled feathers were smoothed - to a degree. It was pointed out to them such an alliance was a natural reaction in a Europe that had come close to a world war. Also they should note that the armed forces of the two major powers, Germany and France, had been progressively and significantly reduced over the past eighteen months. Finally it should not be forgotten that the European Alliance is a purely defensive organisation.

  We have now received another, more serious, communication from the Soviets in response to Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria joining us. They have said that they regard this as an unfriendly act and that these three countries have traditionally been within their sphere of influence. The Soviets insist on urgent face to face talks to discuss the matter. If we do not respond urgently to this, they reserve the right to take whatever actions they deem appropriate.”

  The Council members pondered on what they had been told. It was von Brauchitsch, in his capacity of Minister of Defence, who replied.

  “As regards the claim that those three countries are in the Soviet sphere of influence – we all know it is rubbish! We went through the analysis of the historic facts before agreeing to them joining the Alliance. The only claim the Soviets had was for Bessarabia in Romania, and that territory was given to them by Romania in July 1940 in terms of the pact previously made with the Soviet Union by Hitler.

  Copies of our assessment, suitably edited, should be forwarded to the Soviet Ambassador.

  The question is, how do we answer their demand for a meeting? By simply agreeing to this, are we in effect acknowledging to some degree that they do indeed have a claim? Would we be seen to be weak if we accept their demand? We all know that the Soviets probe for the slightest political political weaknesses.”

  It was Speer who came up with a possible solution. “What if we tell them that we have also been thinking for a long time now, that a high level meeting between our two countries is much overdue. We deliberately do not mention their claim, but instead we raise other issues. For instance my department needs to revise our trade agreements, particularly with regards to oil imports. There is also the ongoing situation of the Soviet occupation of Eastern Poland. There must be other things we can think of to cloud the issue and avoid giving the impression we are simply bowing to their demand. We could even broach the possibility of the Soviet Union becoming a member of the European Alliance. All they have to do is meet our standards of government, etc, and apply.”

  This caused a few chuckles. Von Brauchitsch looked at Speer. “Why Albert, you are starting to think like a politician!” He smiled, “It is an excellent idea. Thank you”.

  All the Council agreed, and there were some amused comments at Speer’s expense. The Interior Minister had always expressed his intense dislike of politicians.

  The Foreign Minister now knew how to handle the matter.

  The only item of note from the Interior Minister was his recommendation that Germany and Britain should consider sharing resources and co-operate in nuclear research. This would result in considerably reduced time and money being spent to bring nuclear power to fruition.

  The Council asked him to open preliminary discussions with Britain and report back at the earliest opportunity.

  The Minister of Justice, Julius Buch, announced his proposed new measures concerning the sentencing of criminals. Germany did not suffer as high a level of criminal acts as most other European nations, but the Council wanted to see it even lower. The new policy to be introduced in the police and courts was to be known as ‘Zero tolerance’, with harsher sentencing for offenders. However, convicts would be given the opportunity to study or given vocational training after an initial ‘lockdown’ period. It was hoped that many prisoners could be rehabilitated and become useful members of society.

  Repeat offenders were now liable to be sentenced to a penal battalion in the army. There they would labour at the hard, dirty, and often monotonous tasks that normal soldiers would have had to do. And all this under firm military discipline.

  Nobody wanted, or even envisaged, a police state, but the German public and their property must be protected. The rights and comfort of convicted criminals were of far lesser importance compared to those of law abiding citizens.

  Another proposed measure was the creation of a Serious Fraud Office. Initially it would be a small operation staffed by accountants who would be given some legal training. The principal objective of the unit would be to investigate corruption at national level in the awarding of state or municipal contracts. Buch’s attitude was that such practices were equivalent to theft from the state. It must be stamped out, with penalties for convicted persons severe enough to act as a deterrent to others.

  The Council wholeheartedly agreed.

  The Ministers of Agriculture and Economics had little to report at this time. Neither did the two Ministers without Portfolios.

  Von Brauchitsch was the last to speak. “I can report that the first cruise of our aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin to Hawaii went without a hitch. Both the British admiralty and the American naval operations were impressed with her design. The Graf Zeppelin then went on for courtesy visits to China and Japan. Showing the flag.

  The keel for the next carrier has not yet been laid. At this stage we are delaying a decision on the future role of carriers as regards the German navy and the European Alliance. We have no overseas possessions to defend. Two aircraft carriers may well be more than we need. We are re-evaluating the position. In the meantime the shipbuilders are continually improving designs in anticipation of a future go ahead.

  The same philosophy applies to submarines. Our engineers and scientists are researching new technology with a view to designing the most advanced submarine in the world. Bigger, faster and quieter than any other, and a much greater range. Until then we are maintaining the current size of the submarine fleet by replacing the older designs with the best of the upgraded existing models.

  The Luftwaffe has extensively tested our new jet fighter, the ME262, which has resulted in significant improvements all round. The original engine reliability problem has been eliminated. The ME262 is one hundred and fifty kilometres per hour faster than any other fighter aircraft in the world. Testing and improvements continue, and the aircraft is scheduled to go into production before the end the year.

  Similarly, designs for a new high speed jet bomber/reconnaissance aircraft has been called for. I will keep the council informed of developments.

  Our new medium tank, the Panther, and heavy tank, the Tiger, are testing well. They are far superior to any tank in production or even on the drawing boards of any other nation. These will be in production by the end of the year.

  The Belgian - now French - firm of Fabrique Nationale submitted the best design for a new semi-automatic rifle for the Alliance armed forces. It is called the FAL. It is a superb rifle and has been rigorously tested under all possible field conditions, from ice and snow to deserts. It will give our troops unmatched firepower on the battlefield. Every individual government within the Alliance has placed orders for the re-equipping of their armies with these rifles as part of our standardisation of equipment policy.

  All is on schedule with the armed forces of Germany and the European Alliance”.

  MOSCOW - FEBRUARY

  The high level meeting between the German and Soviet officials was
over. The German delegation numbered twenty two and was led by Baron von Altendorf and Albert Speer. The Soviets numbered twenty three, led by their Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov.

  Molotov had been a leading figure in the Soviet Government since the 1920s. An old Bolshevik with considerable diplomatic skills, he had risen to power as a protégé of Josef Stalin. He had also supported Stalin in his purges during the 1930s.

  His name would live forever in the ‘Molotov cocktail’, the improvised petrol bomb. Molotov was one of the architects behind the Soviet – Nazi pact of 1939. One of understandings in this pact was that the Soviet Union effectively had a free hand in their dealings with Finland. This quickly led to a war with Finland during the course of which the Finnish troops used improvised fire bombs with much success against Soviet tanks. They named these weapons Molotov cocktails in an insulting reference to the perceived architect of their trials and tribulations.

  The negotiations had gone better and easier than expected. Von Altendorf had calmly dealt with all the accusation and adverse comments against the European Alliance made by Molotov. He calmly and repeatedly assured them that the European Alliance was a purely defensive alliance. Take a look at its Charter! Any European country could apply for membership, including the Soviet Union. This knocked Molotov back a little!

  He pointed out that the Molotov – Ribbentrop pact of 1939 between Germany and the Soviet Union was a non-aggression pact, and that this was still in force and was honoured in its entirety by Germany. This pact had also allocated the northern European states of Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as being within the Soviet sphere, and the eastern European countries within Germany’s sphere. The Soviet Union had subsequently occupied the Baltic States and part of Finland. Germany had raised no objections.

  The northern states were important to the Soviet Union as they were close to their important centre of Leningrad. The Soviets had also been afraid of a German presence in that region because of the potential threat it would create. Von Altendorf categorically assured Molotov that Germany had no interest in territorial expansion anywhere. Look at how we gave back Belgian, France, Norway and Poland their independence. Neither was Germany interested in attempting to increase its influence at the expense of the Soviet Union.

  At the same time, again in adherence to the 1939 pact, they had acquiesced in the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland, and they had also applied pressure on Romania to cede part of their country to the Soviets in terms of an old Russian territorial claim.

  The commercial trading agreements between their two countries continued to their mutual advantage.

  During a break in the negotiations Molotov took the opportunity to discuss the situation with Stalin. The dictator always had the final say on any important decisions in his country. While he remained highly suspicious of the European Alliance, he had no option but to concede that Germany had acted correctly so far, in terms of their written agreements. He instructed Molotov to accept Germany’s position in the matter. Despite tensions between the two countries, the pact between them had held up and neither side wanted war.

  The trade officials had then completed some marathon negotiations over the next two days. Drawing on their experience of the past years the two sides had comprehensive lists of their requirements. Basically the Germans wanted oil, raw materials and grain. The Soviets wanted machinery, locomotives, turbines, generators, diesel engines and ships. The trade would be in the form of a barter arrangement at agreed prices for the various items. The total amount due by each side should end up being more or less the same. As Germany had already delivered the Battleships Bismark and Tirpitz to the Soviets, these were included in the aggregate amount of trade goods to be exported by Germany to the Soviet Union.

  A new commercial agreement was signed. Germany and the Soviet Union needed each other.

  ROME - MARCH

  King Victor Emmanuel lll was in something of a quandary. That morning he had received a visitor, his son-in-law Boris, Tsar of Bulgaria. Apart from family news and an update on affairs in Bulgaria, Boris had brought disturbing news. Albania, of which Victor Emmanuel was also King by virtue of Italy’s annexation, was in a state of ferment.

  After Italy had invaded Albania in 1939, the Albanian parliament and its collaborationist politicians, eager to preserve their privileged status, voted to unite their country with Italy. The Albanian monarch, King Zog fled to Greece, and then to London. King Zog had maintained various contacts within his country over the past three years. He had also kept in touch with Boris of Bulgaria.

  The Albanian communists had established the Albanian Communist Party in November 1941. They had slowly expanded its membership and influence. The resistance it now led against the Italian occupiers had noticeably increased. On the orders of Mussolini, any ‘negative’ news from the occupied territories was suppressed, so Boris considered it likely that his father-in-law, the King, was unaware of the true state of affairs in Albania. Hence his visit to Rome.

  Victor Emmanuel had become increasingly concerned about events in Italy in recent months. He had heard of demonstrations against Mussolini’s rule in Italy, Albania and North Africa. He also knew that the dictator censored all news, even to the palace! Trouble was brewing.

  After the Great War, Italy had been in crisis. There was widespread poverty, mass unemployment and social unrest in the early 1920s. Communism posed a threat to the country’s hopelessly divided politicians. An authoritarian right wing - fascist - system of government was looked upon as a better alternative to Bolshevism. These factors had given Mussolini and his adherents the opportunity he sought and led to him being appointed Prime Minister. Conveniently forgotten was the fact that Mussolini himself had been a socialist and admirer of the communist Karl Marx before he was a fascist. Such is the shallowness of politicians!

  Mussolini proved to be completely ineffectual with regards to improving Italy economically. The best that could be said for him was that he got the trains running on time. By 1942 Italy’s GDP was one third that of Great Britain, even though the two countries had similar sized populations.

  What Mussolini had managed to accomplish was to squander a large portion of his country’s wealth on the acquisition of an arid and largely desolate colonial empire in North Africa.

  Italy had no need of a leader such as this.

  The news of the increasing strength of the Albanian communists was disturbing to the King. He must act!

  BERLIN

  Foreign Minister von Altendorf stared at the young man seated in front of him. He was very tall and amazingly thin. He looked like a starvation victim. He had a shock of blond, almost white, albino-like, hair, and when you looked into his eyes you saw a chilling strength and absolute confidence. For no apparent reason the Baron felt uneasy in his presence.

  He bore a confidential letter from King Victor Emmanuel. It was more of a report than a letter, and it described the current mood in Italy and Albania, and the increasing strength of the Albanian communists. In a round-about way, the Italian King was advising the Germans that he was contemplating taking action in both countries to avoid turmoil and internal strife. In effect he was asking for Germany’s moral support.

  Von Altendorf was by no means convinced that the elderly King had the necessary resolution and moral strength to take on and beat his country’s long established dictator. Mussolini had ruled his country firmly for twenty years, and although he no doubt had many enemies, he also had his fanatical fascist adherents.

  Personally von Altendorf would like nothing better than to give the ageing king his full support and get rid of the delusional Mussolini. However, he must be diplomatic. He couched a reply to the Italian King reiterating Germany’s policy of non-interference in other country’s affairs, but at the same time implying their blessing on his undertaking. ‘And the best of luck to you, your Majesty’, he thought.

  Jeremy stared irritably at the invitation to the wedding of his brother James to Fiona Makepeace.
The happy event to take place in two weeks on 30 March. ‘Bloody short notice, James’ he thought. It was unlike James to do anything impetuous, but he had always been a bit cavalier in his treatment of others. ‘What’s the rush?’

  He checked that Erica could arrange a couple of days leave, and dashed of a reply in time to catch the evening diplomatic mail pouch to London. His assistant arranged return air tickets on the newly introduced Lufthansa Berlin to Manchester service. He would leave the problem of finding a wedding present to Erica. He got back to work.

  A few hundred metres away at the American Embassy, Jamie read Katherine Blackstone’s letter for the second time. She was asking him if he would like to be her partner at her brother’s wedding. She and Jamie had been corresponding regularly since they had first met at Jeremy’s wedding. Jamie had grown fond of her and had been thinking of visiting her in England. This was the perfect excuse.