WesWorld

9 July 1922

The controversial Law for the Defence of the Republic was passed today after bitter debate in the Reichstag. The legislation, introduced by Chancellor Wirth after the murder of Walter Rathenau, defines the role of the federal government in maintaining the security of the country.

Critics, in particular Bavarian politicians, have lambasted the law as infringing on the autonomy they have enjoyed for fifty years. Chancellor Wirth commented, “It is not the intention of this act that the Republic needlessly meddle in the affairs of the lander. It is instead an instrument to maintain our security against threats internal and external.”

3 August 1922

General Erich Ludendorff was today sentenced to eighteen months in prison, after being convicted in Munich on several charges, including that of arson. The general was found to be innocent of the charges of treason and manslaughter.

The sentence stems from an incident during the May riots that rocked Berlin, Munich, and several other cities in the wake of Walter Rathenau’s assassination. Prosecutors alleged that Ludendorff incited and led a mob of right-wing hooligans on a rampage through Munich, destroying businesses and homes, and killing at least four people. Though the government was unable to demonstrate that the riot constituted a threat to national security or that his actions directly caused the deaths, it was able to prove beyond doubt that events escalated when Ludendorff personally threw a firebomb through the window of a bakery after a short but inflammatory speech.

The sentence will be served in a prison just outside Munich.

15 August 1922

The Reichsmarine has announced a formal re-organization of its major forces in an effort to better defend the republic with the meager assets allowed by the Versailles Treaty.

The Second Battle Squadron’s three pre-dreadnought battleships will be based at Wilhelmshaven, along with the Third Scouting Group (four light cruisers) and Fifth Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (six torpedo boats).

The Third Battle Squadron’s three dreadnought battleships will be based with the Fourth Scouting Group (four light cruisers) and the First and Second Torpedo-Boat Flotillas (six boats each) at Kiel.

The remaining six torpedo-boats of the Fourth Flotilla, and the two new light cruisers of the First Scouting Group, are expected to deploy to Konigsberg and Rostock.

19 September 1922

Inflation may be the scourge of the working class, but German artists are benefiting from the ability to raise money for their projects.

The nation’s cinematographers are among those reaping the rewards of corporate and government largesse. This has been highlighted by the recent success of F. W. Murnau’s disturbing film Nosferatu , starring Max Schreck, Gustav Von Wangenheim, and Greta Schroder. Critics have lauded the film’s extraordinary editing, scenery, and style, while the public has been curious enough to hand over their meager earnings to take in the seventy-two minute long “symphony of horror”.

Not all is well for Herr Murnau, however, as his film’s thinly-veiled portrayal of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula has drawn the ire, of the deceased author’s estate and may result in a horror worse than that depicted in the film: litigation.