12 April 1925
The second round of the presidential elections will have just three candidates: former army commander General Paul von Hindenburg, Prussian Prime Minister Otto Braun, and KPD leader Ernst Thaelmann.
General Hindenburg, who commanded German ground forces from 1916 to 1918, was the highest-scoring candidate in the first round, securing over 35% of the vote. He has been endorsed by two candidates who have withdrawn from the second round: BVP candidate Heinrich Held, and DVP candidate Karl Jarres, who collectively took 9.6% of the vote. NSDAP candidate General Erich Ludendorff’s withdrawal from the second round is expected to give Herr Hindenburg additional support, despite General Ludendorff’s somewhat unenthusiastic show of support.
Herr Braun, who has been Prime Minister of Prussia for most of the last five years, scored almost twenty-four percent of the vote in the first round, and was the highest scoring of the Weimar Coalition candidates. Braun, the Social Democrat candidate, has been endorsed by Wilhelm Marx of the Catholic Centre party, a not unexpected move given SD support for Catholic Centre Chancellor Cuno. Democratic party candidate Willy Hellpach added his support yesterday after announcing tha the would decline to run.
KPD leader Ernst Thaelmann remains a candidate for the second round, after a fiery speech in which he denounced the Social Democrats for “brutally suppressing the working class” in 1919-20 and called General Hindenburg, “an aging puppet of the capitalists”. Thaelmann’s candidacy may well be the deciding factor in this election, as without it, most candidates would more likely back Herr Braun.
This second round of elections will be won by the candidate with the most votes; an absolute majority is not required.
27 April 1925
Otto Braun is the new president of Germany.
Herr Braun secured 49.4% of the vote in the run-off, narrowly defeating Paul von Hindenburg, who took 46.3%. Ernst Thaelmann took 4.3%, a number almost identical to his total from the first round.
Herr Braun was born in 1872, in the Prussian capital of Konigsberg. The son of a cobbler, he trained to be a printer and edited Social Democrat newspapers until his election to the Abgeordnetenhaus (Prussian Parliament) in 1913. After holding posts as the Prussian minister for agriculture, he was elected prime minister of Prussia in March of 1920, a post he held for virtual all of the subsequent period.
Herr Braun has been called, “The Red Tsar of Prussia”, and is known for his direct, pragmatic method of governance. His pacifist stance and opposition to the return of the monarchy are expected further polarize the Reichstag between the Weimar and right-wing blocs.
There were reports of riots in several cities, as right-wing extremists clashed with police in Munchen and communists fought with police in some of the coastal cities.
15 May 1925
In his first nationwide speech to Germany, President Otto Braun spoke on military defence.
“We have something of a dilemma.
“We are a law-abiding nation, and have pledged to uphold the commitments made under the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty is very harsh with respect to matters of the military, for the Allies with whom we negotiated were dis-trustful of us. Given the political situation of the time - uprisings by extremists at both ends of the political spectrum - this was not entirely unreasonable.
“We were thus left with a small army, quite incapable of defending our own frontiers against even minor incursions. We were left with a small navy with obsolete capital ships, no submarines, and no mines. We were left with no air force of any kind.
“I agree that this does reduce whatever threat may exist to our neighbours, but it creates a threat and sense of insecurity for Germany, which can not effectively defend itself against aggressive actions. The world has failed to implement the arms reductions that Versailles was intended to begin, instead allowing for growth to unprecedented levels of warship operation among other issues. Even Denmark has a naval force to challenge us, and this is without even considering the French, Dutch, Russian, Nordmarker, and Polish fleets.
“This is not to say that any one of these nations currently seems to be threat to us, but who is to say what the future will bring?
“Now, I am by no means a supporter of war or even an enthusiastic proponent of armed forces, but I am practical enough to understand that an insecure Germany is more of a danger than a secure Germany. An insecure Germany will takes its eye off economic growth and social reform, and focus instead on security. One-note politicians like Admiral Tirpitz will gain power despite their inability to keep food on shelves or garbage off the streets.
"So as I see it, there are three ways in which we can ensure that German is safe from foreign aggression:
“First, we can renounce the Treaty of Versailles, and re-arm. This would, however, constitute a breaking of our oath and is thus untenable.
“Instead, we can ask the Entente powers to be released from the Treaty of Versailles, and if they agree, build our forces back to a level sufficient to defend our cities and our lands without being perceived as a threat to our neighbours. If we can accomplish this, we can secure our future without breaking our word or entangling ourselves in the issues of others.
“Should we not be freed from Versailles, we can seek out nations with whom we can secure military alliances. Their aircraft will defend our skies, their submarines our shores, their capital ships our seas. But as we have learned from the Great War, this comes with considerable risk - that we may once more find ourselves drawn into a conflict not our own. It may also antagonize some of our neighbours, who may find themselves facing Germany in one direction and Germany's allies in others. This would only serve to speed up military growth on our neighbours' part. Nonetheless, it is an option.
“To this end, I have ask Chancellor Cuno and Minister Stresemann to begin working on our two feasible options. They will report their progress back to me, and to you, before the end of the year.”
[OOC: Historically, Britain, France, Italy, and the USA were the major powers with whom Versailles was negotiated. Are there others here, or shall we assume countries like Atlantis concluded separate peace treaties?]