Fourth Reich (Viertes Reich)

The Greater Empire of Germany (German: Großdeutsches Reich), or the Fourth Reich (German: Viertes Reich), was a country that existed from January 1936 to December 1963 under the House of Hohenzollern.

On 01 January 1936, Adolf Hitler was assassinated by three anti-Nazi members of the military intelligence service, the Abwehr. Immediately upon public discovery of Hitler's death, a provisional government headed by Ludwig Beck (Chief of General Staff) and Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, took control of the country. The Schutzstaffel (SS) was disbanded and all SS leaders, including Heinrich Himmler and Kurt Daluege, were taken into custody.

In the 1936 Federal Election resulted in the defeat of the governing DNVP (German National People's Party), which won a mere 12.8% of the national vote. The National Liberal Party under former Weimar Chancellor Gustav Stresemann gained power with a landslide majority of 59.3% of the vote. Wilhelm of Hohhenzollern was invited from exile in the Netherlands to Berlin, to create a new imperial monarchy similar to that of 1871-1918.

History
On 14 January 1936, the Federal Election began all over Germany. This was to prove a disastrous election for the newly created Provisional Government under Generaloberst Ludwig Beck and Carl Friedrich Goerdeler. The DNVP was replaced as the major party in the Reichstag by the newly reorganised National Liberal Party, led by Gustav Stresemann, who had governed the Weimar Republic from August to November 1923.

Wilhelm of Hohenzollern, who had been in exile in the Netherlands since the end of World War One, was invited to the Reich Chancellery on 16 January to discuss the future of Germany with the leaders of the National Liberal Party and Reichpräsident Beck.

After three days of negotiations, Beck agreed to step down as Head of State, with Wilhelm succeeding him. The government outlawed all nationalist and fascist parties in Germany, and trade unions were legalised.

The New Europe Policy
In February 1936, the Kaiser and the Chancellor met in Berlin to assess the foreign policy of Germany. The ex-Foreign Ministry Joachim von Ribbentrop had advocated an expansionist policy similar to that of Hitler. The new foreign secretary, independent politician Otto Meissner, was aiming to forge a new-found friendship with the UK and France.

The Russo-German Nonaggression Treaty was signed on 05 August 1936 between Meissner and the Soviet foreign secretary, Maxim Litvinov. The German Empire and the Soviet Union agreed to a partnership spanning four years.

The British and French governments were alarmed by the Russo-German pact. Stanley Baldwin called it an "unholy alliance of ideological foes, linked only by the interests of their foolish leaders". The Kaiser at once visited the German embassy in London, and recieved overwhelming support from the British public.

Wilhelm spoke of a "natural bond... in the interests of every German and English citizen", when he was interviewed by the Manchester Guardian. "The bond is so strong that nothing, no Russian diplomat, can break it."

The Storm-Clouds Gather
On 10 October 1937, the Italian fascist government under Benito Mussolini deposed King Victor Emmanuel III. He was replaced by Mussolini, who then merged the titles of Prime Minister and King, as Adolf Hitler had done in 1933.

The king fled to Italian-controlled Addis Ababa, and led a revolt against the fascist forces there. Two tank divisions were deployed against him, and the king died of old age on 18 December.

Germany annexed Austria in March 1938. The Italian forces threatened war if Reichswehr troops continued to occupy key strategic points in the small republic, but the Kaiser refused to "abandon" what he termed "historic German territory". The French government backed the Germans, as Mussolini's regime had concerned the Allied powers since the invasion of Abyssinia in 1935.

Italy declared war on Germany on 11 June 1938, and sixteen infantry divisions swept into Klagenfurt against tough resistance. Two panzer divisions met with three Italian divisions at the Battle of Innsbruck on 15 June, and the invaders were pushed back past the Austro-Italian border. The war ended with the German annexation of Trentino, and the collapse of Mussolini's army.