Meinhard Frank (Pacifica)
Meinhard Frank | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Meinhard Frank, 1934 (improved with AI) | |
| Führer of the Greater Gianlucian Empire | |
| In office 2 May 1935 – 20 April 1954 | |
| Chairman of the Frankist Party | |
| In office 6 December 1924 – 27 June 1954 | |
| Preceded by | Founder of the party |
| Succeeded by | Party was prohibited |
| Commander-in-Chief of the Reichsarmee | |
| In office 2 May 1935 – 20 April 1954 | |
| Preceded by | Emperor Gianluca III |
| Succeeded by | Queen Charlotte |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 February 1894 Warburg, Gianlucian Empire |
| Died | 22 September 1954 (aged 60) Nordtor, Gianlucaland |
| Citizenship | Gianlucian |
| Political party | Frankist Party |
| Spouse(s) | Klara Glas (married 31 August 1938) |
| Parents | Heinrich Frank Alma Frank |
| Cabinet | Frank cabinet |
Meinhard Adolph Frank [ˈmaɪ̯nhaʁt ˈaːdɔlf fʁaŋk] (14 February 1894 - 22 September 1954) was a Gianlucian politician, who led the Gianlucian Empire from 1935 until the royalist-backed military coup of 1954. He rose to power as the leader of the Frankist Party, successfully demanding the transfer of the Emperor's power onto him in a coup in 1935 after which he has styled himself as the Führer ("Leader") of a Greater Gianlucian Empire. During his dictatorship, he initiated the Great War in North Cordilia by invading Snolland on 1 September 1949. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the genocide against X million Besernians and other victims of his racist ideology.
Early years
Meinhard Frank was born on 14 February 1894 in Warburg, a small town in the rural Westland region of the Gianlucian Empire. He was the third of seven children born to his parents, Heinrich and Alma Frank. One of his older siblings, his sister Margarethe, and two of his younger siblings, his sister Anna and brother Alois, have died due to a measles outbreak in his town in the late 1890s. Meinhard has survived that outbreak, which was met with different reactions by his parents. While his mother believed in a miracle and started to pamper him, his father was viewing Meinhard as the kid unfairly outliving the eldest daughter. Eventually his father would take out his aggressions on Meinhard in the following years, especially whenever he was not doing well in school or showed more interest in the arts or pursuing relationships with several women instead of developing an interest in farming or politics, both topics being dear to Heinrich Frank's heart as a long-term city councillor and later mayor of Warburg.
In 1911 his parents and remaining two younger siblings have died during a fire in Warburg's city hall, which eventually left the adolescent Meinhard homeless. He moved to Südtor to pursue a career in the arts, however the university has not admitted him after his two free attempts at the entrance exam. In early 1913 he tried returning to Warburg, where he found his only sibling left, the older brother Friedrich, was not willing to take him into his home. In his book Für die Ehre ("For Honour") he will later judge his brother's heartlessness as a result of being married to a "non-Catzyan" wife from Bruuma and formulate, he has not and will never forgive "her and her people" to have corrupted his family's bonds this immensely.
After that experience he moved to Westtor, where he would eventually receive the opportunity to serve an apprenticeship as architectural designer. In the following years, he made himself a name especially by designing several cultural buildings as theatres or cinemas. During opening ceremonies he has shown a rhetoric talent to excite bystanders to visit the newly opened establishments. At the same time he established contacts to architect guilds, especially to those focusing on "Catzyan design". Most historians nowadays see this as the defining moment for Frank's future radicalisation.
Entry into politics and rise to power
The colonial history of the Gianlucian Empire was never stable. The empire could never secure its biggest extent for an extended period of time. Colonised territories in Scopia, Besern or Eflad were lost to successful independence movements between the late 1600s and 1800s and eventually territories on Bailtem and in present-day Transsuneria could also not be held anymore when the 1900s started. This put the Gianlucian Empire into a tough economic position as direct trading routes between it and other economically powerful nations were severed and similarly strong bonds could not have been established with the Frastinian neighbours due to the former colonial history. The result were rising costs of living and unemployment throughout the Empire in the late 1910s and early 1920s.
During this time Frank has written his book Für die Ehre ("For Honour"), in which he laid out his ideas on how a Gianlucian government should take back control of formerly lost territory and use it to the advantage of the "original Gianlucian people". He has called those "Catzyans" as a reference to the Catzyan tribe, which founded the Gianlucian Kingdom in 1305. Published in 1923, the book became a bestseller in nationalistic debate circles. So-called "Frankists", who were calling for Frank to run in chancellery elections would emerge and lead to Frank's decision to found the National and Socialist Party of Frankist Progressivism (NSPFP), commonly known as Frankist Party, on 6 December 1924.
In 1925 his party ran for seats in the Reichstag for the first time, but only received 1.54% of the votes. Not content with the results and also seeing firm and partially violent opposition especially from communists and social democrats, he has founded the militant support group Schwarzumhänge ("Black Coats", also known as "SU") which clashed with opposing militant groups regularly in the following years and was capable, especially in rural areas, to spread terror leading to favourable election results for the NSPFP. By 1929 around 57% of all mayors and district administrators in the mainland of the Gianlucian Empire were already NSPFP members. In the following Reichstag election this political shift was visible also by Frank's party gaining already 24.72% of the votes nation-wide ranked 3rd behind the Social Democrats and Christian Conservatives. After successful talks with several minor right-wing parties to cooperate in fighting off the "rise of Communism" especially in bigger cities, the terror conducted by the SU and its partners spread even more. On 12 December 1934 the last nominally free Reichstag election was held, in which the NSPFP and her minor partners received 47.93% of the vote. Emperor Gianluca III declined making Frank chancellor of the Empire however. Instead he made conservative chairman Ernst Brühl chancellor, aiming to appease the conservative spectrum within the NSPFP. While politicians from the Christian Conservatives and Social Democrats have applauded that move as a "victory of democracy", Frank and his inner circle, to which many high-ranking generals of the armed forces belonged to, were not content with this decision. Frank announced at the day of Brühl's inauguration "the Imperial family will be sorry for having ignored the voice of the people, which has spoken out against the status quo, against the establishment, against any untermensch (Alman: sub-human) ideology."
After four months of planning on 2 May 1935, Frank marched onto the palace in Gianlucastadt with the help of huge parts of the army, the SU and many ordinary voters especially from the countryside, who have caused civil unrest in the streets. Arriving at the palace, Frank demanded from the Emperor to transfer all his powers onto him. If the Emperor would not follow suit, he would pay with his and his family's life, the same would apply to Chancellor Brühl and his family and to any conservative, social democrat or similarly aligned person in the Empire. Trying to prevent an auto-genocide, Gianluca III has accepted Frank's terms after four-hour-long negotiations. At the same day at which Meinhard Frank has proclaimed the Greater Gianlucian Empire and let the Reichstag pass the "Enabling Act", a constitutional reform, which styled him as Führer ("Leader") of the Empire, prohibited every party except of the NSPFP and has revoked Gianlucian citizenship from all "uncatzyan" persons living in the Empire, the Imperial family fled to Besern, moving to Hazelia later.
Preparing the Greater Gianlucian Empire
Programs to strengthen and "dezenevianise" the economy
A week after the "Enabling Act" was passed, on 9 May 1935, Frank met with the chairmen of the 50 most valuable companies in the Empire and promised them better competitiveness on Frastinian and global markets. He laid out, that he will increase employment through the Arbeit macht Freude ("Work creates happiness") program and huge infrastructural investments as well as promoting work in Gianlucian companies abroad. Similar promises were made to the public in a speech one day later. In a first step to increase profits of "Catzyan" companies, Frank asked the public to boycot all "Zenevian and Atlantic" shops from the 15 May 1935 onward, "Zenevian" eventually becoming the new umbrella term for "non-Catzyan". Huge parts of society followed that demand, but some resistance has formed especially in towns and cities, as the "Zenevian" shopowners were often well-established and important parts of the local communities. Tolerated at first, Frank passed a decree on 23 August 1935 positioning members of the SU in front of said shops to remind and shoo away people, trying to buy in said shops. As that measure has not been fruitful enough, another decree was passed on 14 September 1935 and executed the next day, in which SU members destroyed hundreds of "Zenevian" shops and businesses all throughout the Empire. On 20 September 1935 Frank offered to buy off all the "Zenevian" businesses, mostly for only a third of the actual value of the business. Those who refused were often deported to the first concentration camps in the Empire and were enlisted as "voluntary workers" for the planned infrastructure projects. Those who accepted the deal were met with shunning from their communities and had to watch big Gianlucian businesses take over theirs.
On 1 November 1935 Frank has presented his "five projects program" in Nordtor during another meeting with the major company chairmen. The program was described as the "fundament to bring the Gianlucian Empire into the era of modernity and glory" and consisted of five mega projects. The dictator wanted all big cities to have monuments of the Frankist progressivist movement in scales comparable to some Bruuman statues from today, the autobahn system of the Empire to be expanded and improved, for Volksmobil to design "a car affordable to every citizen", a reimagination of the Gianlucian train system with better links to the Hazle Isle by building a bridge spanning the Atlantic Strait and faster trains going as far South as Ryccia, and the most modern military in Pacifica. The materials needed, he announced, would be provided by "friendly nations" he would be set to strike a deal with, whereas the workers would come cheaply for the companies thanks to a "reeducation program" conducted in all prisons, which included the concentration camps. The usage of the first slave labourers from prisons and concentration camps in companies like Volksmobil can be dated back to as early as the 16 November 1935, whereas the start of the construction of multiple mega projects did not commence until late 1936.
Over time, "Zenevians" and other unwanted people like homosexuals, disabled people or persons following other religions than Christianity were stripped of their economic rights completely. At the start of the war in 1949, it was not possible for them anymore to legally obtain an existential minimum of goods regularly on normal markets in order to "protect the 'Catzyan' population from people draining the social security system", as the Frankist propaganda explained.
Frankification of the Gianlucian culture and society
Within the first year of Frank's reign, the boards of all civilian organisations, including volunteer organisations, sports clubs and agricultural groups had to be replaced by boards loyal to the new leadership of Frank and the NSPFP. The standard greeting was changed to "Heil Frank!" ("Hail Frank!") in combination with the Führergruß ("Leader Greeting"), in which the right arm is held in a roughly 45° angle from the body into the air. In 1936, national symbols like the flag and the national anthem were altered to represent the Frankist direction of the state also internationally. The upper house and apolitical judges were abolished in a decree passed in January 1937, opening the opportunity for the Frankists to persecute royalty and personnel of the judiciary, who have dared to speak out against the party and its leader or were considered Zenevians in the following months. Similar decrees were passed against the scientific community, the education sector, the arts and in 1940 also against the churches. The latter has resulted in the forming of an underground organisation, the "Free Church", with the goal to "leave the belief untarnished from any political ideology". Many foundation members like the priest Franz Höfer would be found out and deported during the war based on an order by Frank, who was identifying as atheist.
As a method to instill the younger population with the ideology, youth organisations for girls and boys aged 8 - 18 have been created. Membership in the GMG (Gianlucische Mädchengruppe, "Gianlucian Girls Group") and FJ (Frankistenjugend, "Frankist Youth") became mandatory with the start of the school year 1938/1939, but was massively encouraged through peer pressure especially on the countryside and within sports clubs as soon as the "Enabling Act" was passed.
Diplomatic and military preparations for the war
While many military leaders have supported the transition of power to Frank, having been lured into his ideology by the possible renewed expansion of the Gianlucian borders through the establishment of new colonies and the planned renaissance of militarist ideology in civil society, many have grown impatient with Frank when in the first few months of his reign nothing has changed to the better for the military. Opposite to what was expected, many young people preferred to join the less organised, more active and violent SU, which in turn asked Frank to transfer powers of the military police officially onto them. Only by the dictator's announcement in November 1935, that the military complex would be part of the "five projects program" and be the first stepping stone on the way to a stronger and more resilient Empire, opposing voices were silenced for a short while.
On 17 March 1936 the Imperial Air Force presented their first prototype of a new bomber plane going into serial production later that year. New developments in hand weaponry and armoured cars followed soon after, which brought the SU's wishes to become an official part of the state up again. To set a sign to the military and gain their full allegiance, Frank has ordered several assassinations against high-ranking SU members on 2 December 1936, disbanding the SU afterwards and instead founding the Sturmdepartement (SD, "Assault Department") within the military. The pledge of allegiance was changed on 5 December 1936 to officially refer to Frank instead of the Gianlucian state. Every member of the military had to renew their pledges afterwards, which was protocolled by trusted SD members, who have noted down even slightest anomalies of the mimic or voice of the pledging person. Those inconsistencies would later be brought up in trials, if a member of the military was accused of not following the Frankist ideology, e.g. by disobeying orders.
On 20 June 1938 the first concepts of new battle tanks and fighter planes were presented to Frank in his private headquarters in the mountains north of Nordtor. Those concepts are said to have infuriated Frank immensely as both would have lacked the technological standard of the time, that countries like Karnetvor, Ryccia or Sedunn had. He ordered the Gianlucian embassies in those countries to work together with a newly established secret service, the ProPo (Progressivistische Polizei; "Progressivist Police"), to receive intel on military technology. Over the course of the next 1 1/2 years, Gianlucian engineers were receiving the necessary information on official and unofficial ways to draft and propose new vehicle concepts to the Gianlucian head of state, also including battle ships and u-boats, on 6 January 1940. Content with the results, Frank ordered a mass production of "all necessary goods and vehicles for a military mobilisation between 1947 and 1950" in a private meeting between him and the heads of the armed forces.
The Great War in North Cordilia
Start of the war
On 1 September 1949, 3:00 AM, the Gianlucian Empire has officially declared war on Snolland citing an attack on a Gianlucian trade vessel on its way from Westtor to Puerto Pollo and the protection of Gianlucian expats in Snovian territory from numerous hate crimes, the Gianlucian Empire would have tolerated for far too long. In just two weeks the Empire has taken control of the country with the help of Blitzkrieg tactics. To secure the Western border from intervention of communist forces from Bruuma or military of the Austral Empire, Frank has dropped plans to invade the Bruuman islands. Instead money and weapons were produced and given to the communists during the Bruuman Civil War hoping to create a future ally with this.
The armed forces of the Empire regrouped and started to break the cooperation treaty with Atlantis by invading the country within a week, coming from the Atlantic panhandle in the North-West and the Oberkern region simultaenously. On 3 October 1949 the Frankist administrations in Snolland and Atlantis have been established and the war on the Western front was considered over. A new regrouping of troops to the Gianlucian-Scopian border was met with criticism of the Scopian government, which wanted to ensure the neutrality and integrity of the Scopian state. In a meeting between the heads of state and foreign ministers of the two countries, Frank blackmailed Scopian president X by presenting and threatening to publish multiple photographs of the president taking part in multiple, partially homosexual sex parties, his wife most likely knew nothing about. After this so called "X affair", no shot was fired to get Scopia under full mlitary control of the Frankists on 25 October 1949. The official government was not removed by Frank though in exchange for not publishing the photos and the government repressing criticism of the Frankist regime.