A Man and a Plane: An Alternate Germany

by Joseph T Major

  The two aces went to one end of the reception hall, the end draped with red-black-gold flags and pictures of Reichspräsident von Hindenburg and Reichskanzler von Richthofen (draped with red-black-white bunting). He raised his hands and said, "Herren and Damen, your attention please!"

  The buzz of chat died away. "I am told that the Special Envoy of the American President has a personal message for me. Since we have met before, I know his character -- Rickenbacker, I mean -- and he wouldn't do anything that wasn't serious. So, Herren and Damen, I present Herr Oberst Edvard -- Edward V. Rickenbacker, champion ace of the U.S. Air Service, and good friend."

  Damn that slip of the tongue. "Eddie" he could pronounce easily enough.

  Eddie smiled ruefully. Then he began speaking to the crowd, with that atrocious Swiss accent: "Herren und Damen Germans. As you know, America has been enriched and strengthened by many Germans, including President Huber -- Hoover that is -- and on down, including myself. The ties between Germany and America go back to the days of our revolution. Your king, Friedrich der Grosse, offered encouragement to our cause and was among the first of the sovereigns of Europe to recognize and sign treaties of commerce with our nation. His general, Friedrich von Steuben, provided the skills needed to make our Continental Army victorious over the British.

  "German culture has enriched and enlivened America. My home state, Ohio, has a strong and flourishing German culture in its great city of Cincinnati.

  "As the spread of technology -- particularly flight -- makes the world more open, more interconnected, the affairs of other countries are rightly of interest in our nation. Our first president, the great George Washington, rightly warned us about remaining uninvolved in the internal affairs of Europe. We in America must guard against their coming to us.

  "In an era when these petty quarrels can become spread all too quickly, when foreign powers intervene in the affairs of other nations, when doctrines ignore national boundaries and foment subversion across the world, the turn of the German nation and government against these doctrines, against these preachers of war and subversion, is an accomplishment to be acclaimed.

  "Germany is fortunate to have a war hero who has dedicated himself to the acts of peace, a great leader who leads in the spirit of democracy, a man who could have lived a life of ease but who took up the burden of office in a desperate hour.

  "Chancellor von Richthofen, our President, and the American people, extend their congratulations on your appointment, and our best wishes for your government."

  Polite applause broke out at the end of this statement. Manfred thought it was a little much in some places -- if "democracy" could cast up such freaks as the Nazis and the Bolsheviks, could it really be all that great? "Democracy" was such a fetish of the Americans. And then the thought of Lindbergh, taken up by some revolutionary group, using his glowing reputation, brilliant mind, and impressive good looks . . . he trembled, and not just by the comparison.

  The applause died down, and now he had to formulate a response. He raised his hands and the clapping came to an end, and he said "Thank you -- since this is official, I suppose, thank you, Oberst Rickenbacker.

  "I'm not used to making speeches on such short notice, but I'll try. I have had the pleasure of traveling to America on many occasions, for my business interests, or just for pleasure. I always could find someone who spoke German.

  "I did work with Eddie -- I can put it that way because it was personal -- across the nation. As something of a perfomer, which I've given up now, passed to Herr Udet here. Ernst, take a bow."

  Some clapping ensued as Udet stepped forward, bowed, and stepped back.

  "I believe it is desirable at this point to reaffirm our shared values in these troubled times. Both our countries have had factionalists, striving for power at the expense of the soul of the nation. Thus far, we have both overcome them -- as long as we have such dedicated men as my friend Rickenbacker here, we shall continue to do so. Herr Representative -- I'm being official again -- Herr Representative, please deliver the thanks and good wishes of myself, and of our union of German political forces working for the common good, to the American President and to the American people."

  An hour later he was in the office of the Reichskanzler, talking serious business with Herr Sackett, backed up by Neurath and Papen. Which last did not positively impress the American, but he had to have an informed opinion to back up his own.

  "What exactly is your government willing to do, Herr Sackett?" Manfred said. "Some guarantees for our loans would be useful. The economy here is very fragile and if my government doesn't get some benefit, it will fall, and this time the Nazis will come in."

  "Not the Communists?" the ambassador asked, plaintively.

  "Who with?"

  They fenced for some little time over what could be done. In the end the ambassador got up, saying, "I will pass matters on to the government, though I doubt they will be able to do anything. Mr. Roosevelt and the Democrats will be coming in next month, and they may be receptive."

  Then Papen had to say it. "Better than '17, anyway."

  Everyone else glared at him, and he had to recover. "I realize that I left America under a bit of a cloud. Such things happen in war, you know. But look here, I advised Herr Zimmermann and the Reichskanzler Herr Bethmann-Hollweg that we should not bring America into the War, it would be our ruin. Zimmermann was a fool to make that offer to the Mexicans. I saw the country he was talking about. The Mexican army couldn't have done anything there on its best day ever!"

  Ambassador Sackett still didn't appreciate the stirring up of old scores. "Thank you, Herr Minister. Herr Foreign Minister, if you will?"

  Neurath sighed, for he would have to escort the American ambassador out, as a sign of respect. They left.

  Rickenbacker had been silent throughout the official conversation. After a moment, he said, "Herr von Papen. Did you really tell Herr Zimmermann not to send that telegram?"

  "Well, not exactly," Papen said, flicking a glance at Manfred. "I did advise against doing anything to bring America in. But I was just a junior Army officer attached to the Foreign Office, in a bit of disgrace for being caught. I had been down to the area, I had seen what nonsense any hopes of Mexican aid were. Who would listen to me?"

  Rickenbacker stamped his foot. "Goddam! And here I was thinking it could have been a fake, cooked up by the British! All to get us into the War!"

  "I wish it were, Herr Rickenbacker," Papen said. "It would have been so much better for us. But no. The Reichstag even debated the matter, and passed a vote of approval for Herr Zimmermann's initiative. One learns."

  Manfred wished to rein in this touchy subject. "Why don't you go see some of our new airplanes? Ernst will be happy to show you around."

  "I'd like --"

  A popping of gunfire cut the conversation off. Rickenbacker, who was only a wartime soldier, was the slowest to hit the floor. Then the telephone began ringing.

  Manfred carefully reached up on his desk and answered it, to the background of gunfire. "Richthofen here. What the Hell is going on!?"

  In Munich, while the foreign ambassadors flattered the new Cabinet of Barons, Ernst Röhm discussed his discontents with his men (and boys, but that was a different arrangement). "Adolphe Legalite has blown it again!" he said, beerily. "No more vote maneuvers!

  "If I'd been in charge in '23, we'd have had none of this shit! Everything I did worked! Smash the Jews, march on Berlin, and then break all their heads! I tell you, we have to show the Jew-Flyer who is Boss! Sieg Heil!"

  The SA leaders (and Röhm knew who wasn't there and would remember) shot to their feet, sending beer mugs tumbling. "Sieg Heil! Heil Röhm!" they bellowed.

  Röhm got to his feet, a vindictive smile spread across his broad, scarred face. "We'll kick those pieces of vomit back up the Jews' throats! All of them! Sieg Heil!"

  The first shots were fired within half an hour, as a hastily-assembled mob of SA attempted to storm a police headquarters in Ce
ntral Munich. Meanwhile, Röhm was making telephone calls across the country, issuing orders.

  The regular police and what Nopos were on duty fought back. They could make calls, too, and within the hour more auxiliary police were mobilizing, while the army was on the way.

  In Berlin, all was not well. Röhm had made some scabrous comments about the man who should have been his closest ally in the Party, now that Strasser was gone, and as a result the Berlin party leader's car was shot up; Dr. Goebbels threw himself to the floor when the shooting began but took a bullet in his thigh. (When he heard about it later, Papen made some sly comment about how the bitterest quarrels seemed to be between brothers, one that Bolko did not seem to appreciate.)

  In the Bendlerstrasse, Noske and Hammerstein directed the defense of the army headquarters. They had been meeting with General Beck, the new chief of the Truppenamt, to work out the expansion of the Army. (Noske had commented, "We have a General Staff, but we call it 'Troops Department'. We have an Intelligence Service, but we just call it 'defense'. I suppose it's my fault. Shall we have to create a new euphemism for our new air force?")

  The firefight in the immediate area died down, as Manfred continued to listen to reports from beneath his desk. "Please keep this to ourselves," he said to his ill-assorted associates. "It would look embarrassing to hear that the great hero ducked for cover."

  From his refuge beneath a table, Papen said, "If you were to be shot, Herr Reichskanzler, all my work these past two weeks would have been for nothing! By all means, take cover under fire!"

  Rickenbacker had given up trying to hide under anything and had moved out a bookcase to stand behind. From that cover he said, "Damn, and I thought the Klan was bad! What the Hell is going on!?"

  "It's 1923 all over again," Manfred said. "Herr Hitler's thugs are trying to take power." A telephone in the secretary's office rang and rang. "Anyone want to risk getting that?" A crackle of shots indicated the desirable response.

  Then the telephone on Manfred's desk rang again, and he reached up and over to get it. "Richthofen here," he said.

  It was Bolko. "Good God, things are in a mess! The Old Gentleman is about the only one here who hasn't gone off his head yet! They're bringing in the wounded . . ." and he went on to describe the situation from the Reichspräsidentenpalais.

  Then he had a real kicker. He paused in the middle of a conversation. "What . . . Here, let me talk to him."

  Manfred waited, his worry growing. The shooting seemed to have died down, and Rickenbacker was looking out the window. Then his brother came back on the line. "It's Herr Hitler! He said he tried to call you."

  "I don't want to talk to him."

  "He says this was against his orders, that Röhm has gone completely out of control, and will be expelled from the Party for this."

  Manfred laughed harshly. "So the thieves are already falling out."

  A half-hour later, Bodenschatz came into the office, to find the Reichskanzler talking on the telephone again, but at least sitting at his desk instead of beneath it. "The ambassadors all got back safely," he said. "The police have the Wilhelmstrasse safe for now. Gruppenführer Ernst, the SA leader here in Berlin, is under arrest.

  "There was a piece of news from Pöcking, which I was going to deliver before all the fuss started. Herr Strasser stopped there on his way back from Italy. He has issued a call for 'Serious followers of the National Socialist philosophy to meet to discuss serious participation in the affairs of state.' About a half-dozen Nazi members of the Reichstag were with him at the time."

  "Aha!" Papen cried.

  "And, you have a visitor to see you. His name is Churchill, he says."

  "The English minister?" Papen said. "What would he be doing here?"

  Manfred said, "Show him in."

  The man who was shown in was too young to be the notorious English minister of their navy. His color was high, as if he had had a drink or two or five. Manfred got to his feet. "Mr. Churchill," he said, but harshly, as if the name were false, "I admire your dedication in getting here, and your bravery in staying in the middle of a war, but I can only spare a few minutes."

  The young man said, "My father said as much."

  Richthofen looked at Papen, then over at Rickenbacker, who seemed to have appointed himself a foreign observer to this internal conflict. "Your father?" he repeated.

  "Winston Churchill. The First Lord of the Admiralty when the War began. Oh, and here's my letter of introduction."

  The telephone rang once while he was reading and he motioned Papen to answer it while he read the letter of introduction "of Mr. Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill, Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph." Herr Churchill had met him at an air show in England, back in '28, and wished to introduce his eager young son. And now Manfred remembered that he had been at the reception, and even spoken with him, or perhaps more listened while he spoke.

  "Hamburg is under control," Papen said, breaking his train of thought. "The SA and the Rotfront spent so much time shooting up each other that the Nopos could settle the affair themselves. About two hundred dead."

  "That makes, what, thirty-five hundred?"

  Young Churchill whistled. Then he said, "Baron von Richthofen, if it's not convenient right now . . ."

  "What, and go out and get shot? However will it look?"

  Rickenbacker said, "Young man, perhaps you and I can go see what else is to do around here while the Germans get about their problems."

  "Very well, Eddie," Manfred said. "But both of you, do come back about seven, and you can have that interview while we eat. Or something."

  Young Herr Churchill turned out to be a very probing and incisive questioner. He spoke that way to everybody, looked like. Manfred felt like slapping him down a time or two, and then there was the way he drank.

  One thing he asked gave Manfred a chance to get across a point. "There are a great many reports that you plan to suspend the parliament -- Reichstag -- and declare emergency. What are your plans in that regard?"

  Saying that over a full plate and a half-empty glass of wine! Manfred composed himself, wished he had had Papen there to advise him, realized that having Papen there would give the impression that Papen was running things and he was only the figurehead, and decided how to handle this question.

  "On the contrary, and you may tell your readers that week after next, Friday at the latest, that would be the third, March third, we will have a regular session of the Reichstag. You must understand, there will have to be a cooling-off period for us to be able to deliberate properly. Indeed, I would like to personally invite you and your father to observe, to see for yourselves that the Reich remains a democratic, civilized nation."

  The weeks passed, but the Churchills need not have come; Randolph's report went over very well. As for Manfred, he spent the week preparing himself, until the day came.

  The session would begin at ten, and from a seat near the front, the seat at the head of the Cabinet table, Manfred watched the members file in. Casting a look to the right of the chamber, he said, with just a touch of congratulatory mockery, "Now don't they just look a little bit shrunken."

  Three National Socialist Reichstag members had found that parliamentary immunity doesn't mean physical immunity, and had received glorious Aryan Funerals. Herr Röhm had presided at two of them, and Herr Hitler at one. Röhm was still in Munich and Hitler was also boycotting the session. Dr. Goebbels was still in the hospital.

  Strasser was standing at the back of the hall, waiting to declare himself, with some of his followers around him. Going through the Reichskanzler's official papers had unearthed a memorandum by Schleicher listing the people he thought would likely follow Strasser, and Papen was busy identifying them. Fortunately the general himself was not there.

  By way of contrast, Göring was present, ready to call the session to order, and he was staring at Manfred as if he were seeing a dead fish in the middle of the super-sized custom-fitted hand-embroidered extra-thick weave
pure silk sheets of his bed. The hand on the clock reached twelve, and with a slow banging he rapped on the podium.

  "This session of the Reichstag is now in order," he began.

  Manfred got to his feet. "Herr Reichstagspräsident --" he began.

  "SIEG HEIL! SIEG HEIL! SIEG HEIL!!!" came from the Nazi seats, drowning him out. Then at a signal, the shouting died down, and a voice came from there, crying, "Move the Reichstag has no confidence in the government!"

  Göring said, "Vote!"

  Papen cast a glance over his shoulder at the group of Strasser's men. "This had better work," he said.

  The members stepped to the front to put ballots in boxes. A voice vote would mean nothing, a roll call would take hours, lining up in the English style would mean fist fights between the "Ja" and "Nein" lines, so they had little else left.

  The Nazi members gave the Roman salute as they passed Göring, and some of the Communists gave their clenched-fist salute. Manfred had a sinking feeling that his brave words to Hindenburg in January had been overoptimistic.

  The vote took time, time. Members went down, dropped ballots, and went back to their seats or had to be dragged apart. There was always the possibility that some member or another would decide in pique that he had to vote his conscience and not associate with them. Whoever "they" were.

  He had asked some of the Ministers to do what they could. Hugenberg had called all the Nationalist delegation together last night and made an apocalyptic speech to them on the theme that anyone who refused to follow the Red Battle-Flyer was betraying the Reich. Meanwhile, Noske had made an even more vehement speech to the Social Democrats, invoking the horrors of the Communist terror in Russia, Bavaria, and so on.

  There was a silence. The buzzer then sounded the end of the voting. Now they had to count the ballots.

  The cabinet all looked at each other with patent concern on their faces. One or two Nazis, who may have known something, scowled all the harder at Papen. Herr Frick, for example. He had apparently been promised Moldenhauer's ministry.