A good hitler sı?!?!?!?!? what madness is this!!! Enjoy 😅
Link: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/auferstanden-aus-ruinen-hitler-mind-merge-insert.515882/
Disclaimer and Content Warning: The following is a work of fiction containing themes of extremism, political and wartime violence, period-accurate language and prejudices, and involves individuals who in real life committed horrific actions. It is not the author's intent to excuse, support, or whitewash real and tragic events. The intent is only to present a hopefully interesting and entertaining alternate history starting from the end of the First World War.
Prologue
"Do cowards ask themselves,
Did I choose something,
I could regret?"
- Die Krupps, "Fatherland"
On November 11th, 1918, across all of Europe, the guns fell silent. The so-called "War to End All Wars" had finally come to an end. Four years of war had left the continent devastated, once-green fields turned to brown and gray, and littered with unexploded ordnance and the bodies of the slain. Ten million soldiers had given their lives in service to the Great Powers, and ten million innocents joined them in death, from hunger, from disease, and from the brutality of their fellow Man. And in the end, the Entente stood victorious. A bitter, pyrrhic victory, but a victory nonetheless.
But as peace descended, many knew, feared, or hoped that it would not last. Across Germany in particular, men, women, and children woke up to the reality that they had lost. Those millions of fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands that had marched away, never to return...they had all died in vain. A deep sense of shock settled in to the collective psyche of the German people. German boots tread on French soil. Russia had torn itself apart in a bout of fratricidal madness. The Hochseeflotte could still muster sixteen capital ships under its banner, along with dozens of escorts. The newspapers reported nothing but success, story after story of French, British, and American troops fleeing from the Heer's relentless advance. It seemed inconceivable that they could have lost.
It was, of course, an illusion. German forces across France were scattered, under-strength divisions left without reinforcement, and without ammunition. Russia's revolutionary troubles were already beginning to spill over into other nearby countries, Germany included. The remaining ships sworn to the Kaiser's navy were, though numerous, hopelessly outmatched and outnumbered by the colossal Royal Navy. And the propaganda offices of the Reich began to sweat, as their efforts to hide the truth bore their final, unintended fruit. A disbelieving populace was left unable to understand their defeat, leading them to search for answers. Or rather, culprits.
Someone had to be blamed. And all across Germany, people from all walks of life had their own suggestions. The Social Democrats. The socialists. The banks. The Jews. The Kaiser. The military. Almost immediately upon the war's end, German society began to fracture. From the moment the armistice was signed, lines began to be drawn. Germany was a powder keg just waiting for men of violent conviction to light it.
In a hospital in the small town of Pasewalk, in the far northeast of Germany, one such man lay in bed, recovering from the sting of the gas at Ypres. He was nothing more than a simple Gefreiter, yet had history proceeded as it was meant to, he should have gone on to become one of history's most reviled figures. He should have been the architect of a senseless genocide, and driven his nation back to ruins once again.
Instead, the moment the news of Germany's defeat reached Adolf Hitler, he was struck by a severe seizure, and fell into a several day long coma.
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Initially, there was only pain, confusion, and panic. Two minds were not meant to share the same body. Instinctively, they began to fight, grappling for control of the limited space. Steadily, though, more and more of their thoughts and memories began to leak out to the other, and they drew back in disbelief. Memories of recoiling from a father's fist were opposed by visions of quiet suburbia. Two funerals played out before them, one laden with grief, the other cold and grim. Birds and deer scattering at the boom of a shotgun faded to painted Vienna skylines. The phantom pain of a bullet mixed with that of artillery shrapnel.
The two minds stared off at one another. A century of history separated them, history that the "older" mind was slowly absorbing as it came to the forefront of the "younger"'s mind. Confusion only intensified, followed by disbelief, amazement, pride, and then ultimately horror. The whole time, the other mind, the mind from the future, offered no comment. It was stunned, almost catatonic. The mind from the past-or rather, the present-soon joined it in that state.
For some time, they stayed like that, contemplating the how and why of their predicament. Eventually, it became apparent that no answer would be forthcoming. They were alone, in a container too small for the two of them. Worse, it was becoming apparent that they were beginning to fray apart. They were losing cohesion. Melding. Becoming one individual.
Both minds were afraid of what that individual might look like, and what they might do with the knowledge they possessed. Tentatively, the mind from the future proposed a deal of sorts. Reluctantly, it was accepted.
So, the two minds set to work, going through their memories, discussing, planning. A topic would be raised, and would be debated until a consensus could be reached. In many cases, compromises had to be made. Democracy, they grudgingly decided, was a noble ideal, but was neither a requirement for nor a guarantee of a just society. Other topics took less argument.
The Holocaust. The persecution of the Jews, of homosexuals, and of ethnic minorities. Convincing the Gefreiter of its foolishness was not as difficult as the other mind expected. Perhaps the process was aided by the constant mingling of their emotions and thoughts, or perhaps it was the fact that he had yet to truly be radicalized, and bore only an impersonal disdain for those "others" that was hardly out of place in the present time. Pointlessly slaughtering millions while trying to also wage a World War, he understood, was an act of absurdity.
The mind from the future did not stop there, however. Pressing on, it drove home the true insanity of that sort of thinking. Was the fat, greedy oligarch of pure German blood better than the Jew in feldgrau who charged bravely into French fire, dying for his fatherland? Was a man who spent his days drinking and lusting after women better than the homosexual who extracted bullets and stitched wounds to save the lives of his or her countrymen? And what of Lettow-Vorbeck's Askaris? How could anyone say that those men that outfought three-hundred times their own number were anything less than heroes of the Reich?
Blood and genetics did not define a person's worth. Even culture and language were of little importance. What mattered was one's ideals, and what they swore their loyalty to. A German, the mind from the future argued, was an individual who had given their loyalty to the idea of Germany. After all, Germany was the Fatherland, and children could be adopted, or indeed, disowned.
But a father provided for his family. The German state was bound by duty and honor to protect the rights and freedoms of the German people, to ensure their happiness, and to protect them from harm. No matter their color, no matter their blood, any true son or daughter of Germany deserved loyalty in return from their leaders.
It was easy logic for a soldier to grasp, especially when that soldier was reminded that it was a Jew who recommended him for his Iron Cross.
On and on, they continued their odd, introspective debate. Capitalism and communism were both deeply flawed, they came to agree. A mixed system was best, but it needed to be designed in such a way as to provide the people protection from international and domestic corporate interests. Neither mind wanted to see the return of the crony-capitalist dystopia that other future had begun to flirt with.
With the mental equivalent of a groan, the minds realized they were advocating for a form of nationalist socialism. The irony was not lost on them.
Still, they managed to come to an agreement of sorts on their beliefs, ideals, and what course they felt Germany should take. A society based on justice and equality, but one that valued patriotism and loyalty, not just to the nation, but to its people. Call it nationalism, call it socialism, even call it that, but they felt it was a noble goal. To provide everyone willing to call themselves "German" with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, no matter where they came from.
Content that whatever individual they merged into would probably not be a raving schizophrenic plagued by conflicting ideologies, and aware that they were beginning to come apart at a much faster rate, they moved on to more concrete planning. They knew the future-or at least, a possible future. But things were about to happen very quickly, likely faster than a single Gefreiter could hope to derail. Uprisings, putsches, and attacks from all sides of the political spectrum would assail the lame Weimar Republic. The French would invade to enforce their impossible dictate. Eventually, someone would take advantage of the people's growing anger to assume control of Germany, and a new war would start.
They couldn't just sit by and watch. Maybe they wouldn't be able to achieve absolute dictatorial power, but they at least had to try to maneuver into a position that gave them enough power to put their future knowledge to use. It would be difficult, though. Their beliefs, the rough ideology they had hammered out, would likely be decried as radical by the right and reactionary by the left. Most likely, they would have to rely on personal charisma and careful choice of words to sway key individuals to adopt their true beliefs. Paradoxically, they felt the right would likely be better targets to sway, despite the extremely liberal social views they now held. The left-wing movements of the time were either too international, too tied to Marx and Lenin's disastrous experiment, or they were simply crying out for bread and fair treatment, and would come around on their own. Many on the right, though, already possessed a borderline-irrational devotion to the nebulous concept of Germany, and of "Germanness".
If they could just move the goal post, and redefine what it meant to be German...perhaps they could steer those dangerous elements onto a more productive path. Direct their ire away from innocent scapegoats like the Jews, and towards the real threats. The Soviets. The French and the British, with their self-righteous and nonsensical foreign policy, highlighted again and again by the likes of the Treaty of Versailles, and the Sykes–Picot Agreement. For a chance at revenge, surely at least some of those hardliners could stomach some compromises, especially if those compromises led to an up-swell in patriotism among Germany's minority population.
The amusing image of a multiracial Wehrmacht parading down the streets of Paris came to mind. A more realistic image of Germans shaking hands with Poles and Ukrainians followed it. Maybe they could pull it off. A rearmed Germany as hegemon of Europe, ensuring liberty and personal freedom for its people, and for any allies they could pull together. Then they just had to acquire a nuclear deterrent, and the Fatherland could sit back and enjoy peace and prosperity.
Or maybe they would fuck up horrendously and the country would crash and burn. But a little optimism couldn't hurt, right?
As their final merging drew closer, the two minds adopted a feverish pace. Half-remembered scraps of trivia were dredged up and committed to memory as best as possible. Dates were put to events, names were put to faces, and a list of persons of interest was formed. Heroes of the first war, true ones and not simply power-hungry men like Ludendorff and Hindenburg, men such as von Mackensen and the aforementioned Lettow-Vorbeck. Key men of the other future's second war, like Manstein, Guderian, and Rommel. Scientists as well, with German citizens like Einstein at the top of the list, as well as foreigners who could perhaps be swayed to come to a Germany that promised them better treatment. Alan Turing came to mind. Finally, they considered the titans of the NSDAP. Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich...many of them were still just young men, and had yet to adopt the beliefs they held in the other time. Heydrich in particular was still just a child. Maybe some of them could be saved as well.
The two minds frayed further, their discussions becoming more incoherent. Then, halfway through a rambling argument over how best to combine a Panther and a Sherman into one ultimate medium tank design, the end came. Each mind felt a last tug at the fabric making them up, and made a final prayer that whoever they became, they would be able to do something of worth, and change history for the better.
-
On November 15th, 1918, in a hospital in the small town of Pasewalk, Adolf Hitler woke up.
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Posting this prologue to establish the premise, gauge interest and see if anyone has feedback or suggestions, particularly in regards to the opening. I believe I've fairly accurately, if maybe overly simplistically, set the scene for the situation developing in post-war Germany and the emergence of the "stab in the back" myth, but I'm not a professional historian.
Also posting this to make sure it doesn't violate the rules. I don't see why it would, considering some of the other Nazi-focused timelines in this sub-forum alone, but if it does, I apologize and consent to its removal.