Axis Powers Hetalia: The Beginning of the Reich
1.
The black, red and yellow of the German flag fluttered in the wind as the evening closed in. The proud flag of a proud, but embittered people and nation crowned the flagpole and stood there like a proclamation that even though the Great War had been lost over 16 years ago, Germany still stood. But now the flag had a much more somber duty: the President of Germany, Paul von Hindenburg, laid on his deathbed and soon the flag would be lowered to the middle of the pole.
Germany and his brother Prussia sat silently around a table in a small room, looking out of the window at the flag. Both of them had beer mugs in their hands, but neither of them was particularly happy. To lose one's leader was a terrible thing indeed. The President was, of course, an old man, but he was an old man who had served the Kaiser well through the entirety of the Great War and who had continued to lead the German nation even when all hope of ever becoming stable and prosperous again had almost faded.
"So", Prussia finally broke the silence. "General's going to die. Who's going to replace him?"
Germany looked at his own mug. "The law says that the Speaker of the Parliament. But I'm quite sure that the Chancellor will take command. He has the ambition, he has the willpower and he has the followers, his brown-shirted SA and the black-uniformed SS."
Oh yes, the Chancellor, Prussia mused. A daring, almost outrageous, man he was, a political opportunist, a skilled orator, a veteran of the Great War. Was he up to it? Could he really lead Germany to a new era of prestige and power as he had promised? His followers – his Nazi party – certainly believed that. Only time would tell if this man would truly be a new Frederick the Great or Otto von Bismarck or would he be soon forgotten by history.
Prussia noticed Germany's gloominess. Usually he would have been the first one to slap his brother and the back and tell him to stop being such a killjoy. But Prussia understood the pain of losing a beloved leader very well. He still ached from the time when Old Fritz departed to the kingdom come.
"He has lived a long life and done good towards his house and his God", Prussia finally said, unusually serious. "Didn't England write something like that on the Unknown soldier's tomb? It describes the President well."
"True", Germany admitted, but he couldn't take any joy in admitting that his leader had truly served his Kaiser, his country and his God to the best of his ability. Soon the President would join the rest of the great leaders in the great unknown.
"Attention!" a voice shouted outside. The honor guard, who had stood still, keeping their gazes firm and directed forward, standing in front of the flag took position of attention when an officer and two soldiers accompanying him walked to the flagpole. The officer saluted as the soldiers lowered the flag to the middle.
The President was dead.
The brothers fell silent and felt a dark sense of loss. What would the future hold for them? What would it hold for their nation?
"Marshall von Hindenburg, we salute you", Germany finally said and raised his mug.
"To all those who came before him and who will come after him, if God wills so", Prussia added and raised his own mug.
They raised the mugs to their lips and gulped the beer down their throats. But now, when the harrowing waiting was over, they could relax. Tomorrow would be a new day. A new dawn would come, no matter how bleak everything now seemed. The President wouldn't have wanted them to lose their spirit because of him. The death of one soldier meant nothing, as long as the duty was fulfilled.
"We still have each other, brother", Prussia then said and smiled. "Comrades in arms, the most awesome brothers this world has ever seen. As long as we stay together, we can make it."
Germany smiled. "That's what the President and the Kaiser would want us to do. We are brothers now and forever. "
Both brothers smiled and raised their mugs again.
"Prost!"
2.
Next to the flagpole that carried the German flag was another flagpole, as of yet without an occupant. But soon it would change.
The soldiers saluted the lowered flag. Then they saw black-uniformed men approaching, flanked by men in brown shirts and breeches.
The two groups met and nodded to one another. The officer waved his hand and the soldiers detached the flag of the republic from the flagpole and, according to the orders that had come down from the Chancellery, they attached a new flag to it and raised it to the top of the pole: the flag of the Empire in black, white and red.
But the other group, which had just arrived, attached their own flag to the empty flagpole and raised it to the top as well. It was a red flag with a white circle on it. And on that circle was a black swastika. This too was an order from the Chancellor, who would soon be called Führer, Leader of Germany. The flag of the Weimar Republic he so loathed was to replaced by not only the old Imperial flag, but by the flag of the Nazi Party. A new era was about to start in Germany, an era of relentless acquisition of power. Old order would be swept away, undesirable elements of society would be eliminated and those contaminated by them would be cleansed. A new order would arise, an order of merciless, pitiless strength and ruthless determination. Germany would be strong again and all of Europe would shake in terror at the mere thought of facing him. Germany would be strong, even if his new leader would have to force him to be strong, force him to do the terrible things for which this Führer planned.
The men in brown shirts and black uniforms raised their hands, not in military salute, but in what they called German salute.
Evening became darker as the night closed in. The last day of the republic was over. Darkness covered the land, darkness which would not leave for years to come.
This was the end of the so-called Weimar Republic. The Third Reich had begun.