BERLIN
April 10, 1939
The muted rapping of fingers on wood echoed in the silence of the Fuhrer's private study within the Reich Chancellery. much to the annoyance of the men who had built the Reich. The Fuhrer, his head down and lost in the malaise that had afflicted him this past year, seemed not to notice, but the dark glares of the men surrounding their leader put a stop to the noise almost immediately. Their eyes returned to the finely polished marble floor. How could it have come to this? All they had built, their plans laid brick by brick, coming to destruction at the hands of the people. Had they not delivered success after success to the Volk? The hated French had wilted before German demands to remilitarize the Rhineland. The imperious English had acquiesced at Munich and now Czechoslovakia lay within the Reich. Austria was reunited with the Fatherland. Germany's factories had been running full tilt since 1936 building the most powerful army the world had ever seen. Even now, nearly 100 divisions of the Wehrmacht lay poised on the Polish border ready to add yet more lebensraum. All for nothing.
It had started in Cologne. A meeting here, a speech there. It was simple to ignore at first, and the internal security chiefs did just that. By the time it was realized that the Zentrum were a real threat to the Reich, it was too late. Their message of a democratic Germany, seeking reconciliation with the West, eschewing Empire, had resonated. The apparent closeness of the Fuhrer with the hated Communists of the Soviet Union had been the final straw. Demonstrations had occurred in every major city and even now the Reich Chancellery was surrounded by the German people crying for change. The Volk had turned on their Fuhrer.
The Fuhrer appeared ashen and mopped his face with his hands, not daring to look up even as their guest entered the room.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am sure most of you know who I am by now, but for those unacquainted, I am Konrad Adenauer."
Few eyes looked up from the floor.
"The rest of my staff shall be here shortly, but there are some preliminaries I wished to discuss as we transition the Government..."
The Current Situation: