WesWorld

The Heer's definition of a medium panzer is up to 24,000 kg, armed with either a 50mm gun or a 75mm howitzer and two coaxial 7.92mm MGs. Here's the post from the German Q4, 1932 news:

October 19, 1932 - Grafenwohr

The Heer has released more detailed specifications of what it desires in a new battle tank. The vehicle shall weigh no more than 24,000 kg in fully-loaded configuration, have a crew of 5 men (driver, commander, gunner, loader, and radio operator), be armed with either a 50mm gun or a 75mm howitzer (alternate versions), with 2 coaxial 7.92mm machineguns. Road speed shall be a minimum of 40 km/h, and range shall be no less than 150 km at that speed.

June 3, 1934 - Rechlin

The fly-offs for the close support aircraft competition and the long-range fighter competition have begun. Heinkel, with their He-118, and BFW, with their Bf-110, are currently the favorites, though the Focke-Wulf Fw-187 may provide stiff competition in the long-range fighter competition.


June 18, 1934 - Karlskrona

The Luftwaffe demonstration group, made up of 3 Bf-109As and a Ju-52 transport, has landed in Karlskrona to show off the Luftwaffe's new fighter aircraft.

June 23, 1934 - Bremen

The Focke Wulf Fw-200 V1, a large four-engined transport built in response to a request from Luft Hansa, has taken off from the airfield with Dr. Kurt Tank at the controls. Powered by 4 BMW-132 engines, the aircraft is designed to carry passengers across the North Atlantic.


June 27, 1934 - Rechlin

The Fw-187 V2, equipped with DB-600 engines, has joined the competition for the long-range fighter competition with a blistering speed run.

[Backdated a bit because of Marek's absence.....]

June 3, 1934 - Berlin

The Foreign Minister has left for Poland again, "Another trip to visit our neighbors, to see if some mutually beneficial arrangement can be reached on subjects of mutual interest", said Herr Stressemann, when asked why he was going again. "The Poles are our neighbors, and we share more than merely borders with them, there are Germans in Poland and Poles in Germany."

The Foreign Minister is expected to leave in 2 days time.


June 19th, 1934 - Berlin

News has leaked from the Foreign Ministry that the Foreign Minister has reached agreement with the Polish government on a "Danzig Corridor". Details are not yet available, but even this much has thrown the Reichstag into an uproar. The Ministry is being inundated with questions, which they are currently stonewalling. Answers will be needed soon, though, it is thought that the Chancellor is likely to ask for answers very soon.


June 20, 1934 - Berlin

The Foreign Minister has returned from his trip to Poland and was immediately closeted with the Chancellor. The Chancellor was said to be furious over what may be a new Treaty that he did not particularly want, but other parties in and out of the government do.

June 24, 1934 - Berlin

The basics of the deal that the Foreign Minister and the Polish government have worked out were leaked today. What Germany would gain from the deal was clear: a 99 year lease on land wide enough for a double-track railway line between Danzig/East Prussia and the rest of Germany. The new line would be built over any existing roads and railroads that crossed it. The costs were also clear enough: fairly high, but not so high that they were unreasonable. A number of areas would have to have their budgets raided to pay for it, unless a new bond issue or tax was levied.


Political issues, however, remained. Chancellor Jarres was said to be privately furious about this, the DNVP was not necessarily in favor of this sort of accommodation with Poland (wanting a solid corridor, not a lease), and this negotiation smacked of the Foreign Minister going against the Chancellor's wishes. Of course, Foreign Minister Stressemann is not a member of the Chancellor's party, and he has been working on the Polish issues for years, under the previous governments. The problem for the Chancellor is that the proposal is likely to find great favor with other parties in and out of the government: the junior partner in the government, former Chancellor Cuno's DZP was in favor of this sort of a deal during the previous government, as was Herr Muller's SDP which is currently the main party in the opposition. If the DZP, SDP, and Foreign Minister Stressemann's DVP all vote for it, they have the votes to pass it over the objections of the DNVP. And that's not considering the EP and DDP, which seem very likely to favor it, and the KPD that remains the definition of a wild card.

So the Chancellor has to decide whether to support the bill (over his own and his parties objections) or to risk the collapse of his government and the possible formation of a new coalition with his party back in opposition.

Foreign Ministry of Russian Federation was asked today for their reaction to news of German-Polish agreement.

"We have long been aware of several issues containing seeds of possible conflict between Germany and Poland. We have hoped that such issues would be settled amicably by means of peaceful negotiations between German and Polish governments, and have followed Herr Stressemann's efforts to do so for some time. We are encouraged by news of recent German-Polish agreement, and hope that both contracting parties promptly ratify it. Peace in Europe would be more firmly founded thereby."