The story of Lukas Schmidt from 1918 until 1930

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          I have managed to survive the Great War. I am a wealthy businessman in Berlin and I will admit I have made my fair share of marks. I remember before the war, when I got shipments in from all over the world and especially Britain. Trade flourished everywhere; now no-one wants to trade.

I understand that Germany could not continue fighting the war, but to surrender. Now I fear Germany will be punished without reason. The treaty and its terms will be decided on in the years to come. I have been told that the American president is trying very hard to punish Germany as little as possible. This is promising but the godforsaken French will be there and will poke there insignificant noses in and bellow their hatred of Germany from the rooftops. I hope this president of America ignores them.

There are fears that we will be forced to pay reparations which would completely and utterly bankrupt Germany and me.

The last months have been utterly terrible because the Kaiser was forced to abdicate. He was a great, incorruptible man. He refined Germany and all his work will crumble under this new government. Before the war ended there was a huge revolution which is why our great leader has fled.

The former enemies have forced us to become a democratic country. The Weimar republic has been founded. There are so many problems facing them.

They need to repair the economy and build up the trade. At this point in time Germany has yet to recover from the war, still bankrupt from the war expenditure.

Somehow they need to convince the public that being a democracy is a good change. They need to solve the problems quickly.

During the war the women were encouraged to work because of the lack of men, now the men are back and the social opinion is separated. Many think women should not work however I believe they can if they wish. 

The war has left our once proud country in shock and needs a few years to settle down.

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I have discovered that the public are always expressing their dislike for the government openly which makes me feel that the government are fighting for a lost cause.

To start with the structure of the government is easily corruptible because once a president is elected then he could appoint whoever he wanted in the courts, as chancellor and the government ministers. He also the sole controller of the armed forces which meant he had the power to do whatever he wanted. If this happened Germany would no longer be democratic. They should have made almost every position elected so the public could vote for what they wanted, making the democracy more popular.

Two parties have formed which oppose the government, The Freikorps and The Spartacists.

The Spartacists wanted Germany to follow Russia and become a communist country which was ruled by the workers and soviets. Becoming a communist country would just make them follow Russia and there would be a national civil war which would devastate Germany. They should go to Russia then they would be either happy or they would realise their idea is utterly stupid.

The Freikorps is made up of the Great War soldiers who do not want communism. They wanted the Kaiser back and for Germany to be a capitalistic country. I have to agree with them because if Germany is communist then my whole business would not make me any profits which would be terrible. I do not have a wife so there is no problem with the women a worker there; I have a maid who is incidentally a woman but a man in this position would be completely stupid so no-one bothers me.

The Spartacists are trying to create soviets and are failing because the Freikorps and the army are killing them all, which is good. One night the fighting was only a few streets down and I gave a group of Freikorps shelter for the night. They told me that almost all the communists were dead and now they were after the cowardly leaders.

The bloody communists tried to take over Bavaria and the great Freikorps were victorious again. This time they killed 600. My life just gets better and better.

The terms of the treaty of Versailles were announced and I am very angry at them. My cousin’s family were living in the West Prussia and now they live in Poland. They are disgusted and have informed me that they feel deserted by the government. Proof that now, even more ordinary people hate the government.

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Another communist revolution failed against the magnificent Freikorps and I was told 2000 communists dead, how many are there?

In March, Wolfgang Kapp led 5000 Freikorps here. We called it the Kapp Putsch. The Freikorps got to Berlin but were somehow stopped by the communists. I thought them dead. They caused a strike which stopped our march. Then quietly assassinated Wolfgang. None of the 5000 was punished though because I and other Freikorps have positions in the government courts.

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I have expanded my business and have named the second business, the Kapp Laden. A memorial to the first try by Wolfgang Kapp.

The government has not started to pay the reparations this year which will not work out well.

As a result of the Weimar republic’s actions, the damn French have taken over the Ruhr. The government has informed us that they are taking the reparations in form of goods and raw materials. This will mean even less trade for my businesses.

The public are saying that Ebert has ordered a strike to stop the French getting the money and goods from the Ruhr. This caused many deaths of the strikers; the French are definitely evil and violent. Luckily none of my relatives live in the Ruhr because many have lost their lives to the thieving French.

The government have started printing more money! This is outrageous! My business will collapse around me if they continue. I admit they need money but to print more money is not the way of gaining it. They will ruin the economy. I haven’t much faith in the government so I am going and spending all my money on dear goods like jewellery or gold; hopefully the government can’t make gold.

A loaf of bread is now 160 marks; at the start of 1922 it cost less than one mark; I am very happy I am spending all my money. I have changed my shop into a more profitable business in the current disaster; I am now trading goods for goods instead of the useless marks.

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          The government have continued to print money and a loaf of bread is now 250 marks I am so glad I have no money. Its only January!

          I am too disgusted with the government to say more than; a loaf of bread is:    July – 3465 marks, September – 1,512,000 marks, November – 201,000000000 marks. People are using bank notes to start fires.

          I have most of Berlin’s jewellery in my pocket. I can still buy goods and when the mark goes back to normal I will sell it all, and be rich. In some ways this economic crises will pay off after all. How can I be such a genius?

In November, 1923, Adolf Hitler started a revolution. He thought we would support him. He took control of Bavaria by force; using Nazi storm troopers. Hitler is seen as a trouble-maker and Ebert responded quickly. The police moved in and killed 16 Nazis, this sent the revolution into chaos and it broke up quickly. Hitler escaped however was later taken to court were he was punished very lightly. High treason would usually get a life sentence but Hitler only got 5 years. He should have got the whole life sentence because he tried to kill everyone and I think he is a cruel man from the reports I have received.

We have a new chancellor in the Republic who seems promising, his name Stresemann; I feel he will go far.

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          Stresemann has become the foreign minister and is now trying to resolve the problems in Germany. Luckily he is a Freikorps supporter so he should keep Germany strong and independent.

          Stresemann has started getting loans from America and using them to build up the industry; the Dawes plan, making me and my workers happy. The income and trade is very low nationally and this plan will increase it rapidly. If the Americans decide to stop the loans then the whole plan will fail.

          There is less censorship which is making most entertainment more related to sex; this does not bother me because as I have said I have not married.

          The political side is also settling and the opposition of democracy is admitting it is working; one political leader said “the republic is beginning to settle and the German people are becoming reconciled to the way things are.” This is great because they have been arguing for power for long enough.

          Stresemann is also reintroducing trade with the other European countries. This is further increasing trade and showing the other countries that we have changed and no longer argue over the war.

          Hitler has already been released from prison and he has written a book while he was locked up. It’s called “Mein Kampf” and it explains Hitler’s ideas. Hitler going to prison has just given him time to think they should have shot him at the revolution. I fear the public will be narrow-minded about the problem he has outlined and follow Hitler with his rash thinking and genocide ideas.

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          The national income is still rising past expectations, which is Stresemann’s proof that the Dawes plan will work. Everyone calls him the saviour of Germany.

          Berlin has become a brilliant place for a bit of nightlife but is not so good because the music is very loud until about mid-morning. However many of the musicians are Jewish and immigrants which is lowering moral and traditional values.

There are many new movies being filmed in Berlin and shown to the public at cinemas. I was intrigued and purchased a cinema because I think it will create a lot of money in Berlin and then all around the world.

          Stresemann has signed a new treaty which agrees to the treaty of Versailles however Stresemann assures us that this is the first step in a plan of his to soften the Versailles terms on Germany. This is helping towards foreign trade.

          The elections are receiving more democratic outcomes and the parties supporting the communists, Nazi’s and Freikorps are not getting many votes.

         

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          The trade is still increasing and is recovering from the war. The reparations are being paid and the loans from America.

The price of land has risen 700% in large towns which distressing many people. I have started selling more products which may have put the local shops out of business but that’s too bad.

          To say my cinema is doing well would be very modest of me, whereas in reality the film business is booming.

          The communists and Nazis are creating more organisations which are increasing their influence. The election made a nationalist, who wanted a Kaiser back, as president. He wrote to the Kaiser for permission to be president which could have stopped the democracy completely. Also we are getting a new chancellor almost every year.

          Germany has been accepted into the League of Nations, I think this is almost surrendering completely however I have full confidence in Stresemann because he is working towards the greater good. This has angered many nationalists.

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          The new music and some of the films are a bit graphic when it comes to certain points. I am not sure whether I approve or not; I can’t decide.

          The election gave democratic parties the majority of the votes which is settling the political battles.

          Stresemann has continued his plan and the reparations are now to be paid over a longer period of time instead of the original time set at the treaty of Versailles.

          The Nazi party has started producing propaganda by the tonne; they are also getting bolder in that this latest propaganda is titled “We demand”. It outlines that the Nazi party want to drive out all foreigners from Germany, because apparently they are steeling jobs and money from the German people. He primarily blames the Jews for the unemployment in Germany, which is not at all fair because the Jews are just people looking for work, the same as any other unemployed person. He is just using them as scapegoats as an easy way to show he will change things when elected.

They then want the empty homes to be given to war veterans and the jobs to the unemployed. Admittedly this is a way of decreasing unemployment but it is so brutal and unjust.

The propaganda is aimed at the working German, right at the bottom, who is admittedly very poor and almost living in poverty under the Weimar government, they see Hitler as a chance to improve their living conditions and lives as a whole. They are not well enough informed of the dangers of Hitler’s plans and Weimar is trying to fix this problem reasonably and legally.

The public are going to see Hitler as a powerful leader who will strengthen Germany; then vote for him because the republic is more considerate of more variables in a way and less narrow-minded.

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          The national trade is the same as before the Great War and industry is once again flourishing but I think the trade will continue to increase in the following years.

          There is new architecture which is very strange, new and exiting but still strange, it’s called Bauhaus.

          The Nazi party got less than 3% of the vote; they have proved themselves a bad leader for Germany and the public have realised that.

          The next step in Stresemann’s plan is to make the eastern border of Germany the same or similar to 1913 and I believe this will be achieved very soon.

          The Nazis are still spreading their plague of narrow-mindedness to the working people, the workers in my factory are becoming more a Nazi supporter everyday.

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          The income is still increasing and the whole country is very happy. Many people are calling it the golden years, which I agree and it is all down to Stresemann.

The democracy is safe and the eastern borders have been realigned. All is good.

Stresemann has died and I now fear that his successor will not be as talented. He fixed many problems in Germany and the next foreign minister will probably undo the work and his plan.

To make things worse there has been a major stock market crash in America. The loans have stopped funding German industry and there is even less jobs. Hitler will use this to his advantage. Nazi supporters have used this as an example of depending on foreigners; they are saying the government is weak because of them depending of the Americans.

Unemployment is rising and the Nazi party are getting more seats in Reichstag as a result of it. I think that unemployment will continue to rise and Hitler will continue to gain votes until he is president. I hope the government will create a plan to lower unemployment, therefore decreasing Hitler’s popularity. Reducing the levels of unemployment will show the lower class workers that there is more than one way to get them working and again have faith in them. I fear this is impossible now Stresemann has died because we need a brilliant politician like him to think of ways to fix this.

The results of the Wall Street Crash in America are that unemployment has risen to six million, six million votes for Hitler.

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The Nazis are gaining support and in this years election they got more seats in the Reichstag than the communist parties which is good, because I hate communists, but bad because I also hate Nazis.

          As I expected the level of unemployment is rising and the Nazis are gaining more supporters because of it. Weimar has not seen the problems and has done nothing to lower unemployment in anyway. They can’t do anything without help because their funding is gone; Chancellor Brüning has cut expenditure and worst of all there is less unemployment pay. These will in no way help the depression the Wall Street Crash has cause. He also ignored the Reichstag before starting this which will infuriate the Nazi party; the Nazis will undoubtedly take control soon.