Der Kampf: The Rise and Fall of the Austrian Führer
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Glad to see this back! I sure hope Simon can get out Austria before the bad times come.
I have a feeling Simon's son and daughter-in-law are going to be liquidated, his younger son and wife sent to the camps... and I get the feeling Hannah is being setup for something horrible, judging by the frequent mentions of her quiet and innocent nature
Thank you!
Simon is fine for now. He has a job, he has his family and the Sozinats are the junior members of a fascist coalition. In OTL Dolfuss’ Federal State of Austria didn’t really harm or persecute Jews from what I gather other than pretty standard casual 1930s antisemitism.
Hope you enjoyed it!
Some Jews will make it out, yes, and the Holocaust is smaller than OTL.
Not going to confirm or deny but some solid observations nonetheless.
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Monthly Donor
i was completely focused on the chapter. My boss came by, saw me so focused on the screen and wanted to see what was i doing. He went from " what the hell are you doing" to " don't scroll i haven't finished reading"
I mean if it's a slow day or something I can imagine the boss being okay with it .
edit Once at a family event I was reading the American Hitler TL and they asked me what I was reading and I had to explain the whole thing to my parents and grandparents
pls don't ban me
Monthly Donor
i mean, it started as hell the day with lots of stuff but then in the afternoon it was all chill so i got to chill on AH
No, there are no camps yet though the prisons are getting a bit crowded. While Austria so currently ruled by fascists, it is technically a democracy still. There are various parties, even Social Democrats and Communists are still around, but they have to walk carefully. They aren’t being arrested en masse due to political affiliation but any infraction or misdemeanor is punished as if a major crime.
Dollfuss has not no. Jews are wary of the Dollfuss Government but other than Rothschild being forced to sell his share of Creditanstalt stock, Jews have been able to get by largely as they did under Seitz and Seipel.
They are thanking God that the Sozinats are the minority partner in the coalition and not the majority.
Oh! Well I hoped he enjoyed it. Did you have to explain any background or did he get it?
Right?!
Giving the grandparents flashbacks are we? Lol. I’ve explained what I’m doing to coworkers and most don’t care about alternate history but the few that do have found it weird it is over a Hitler led Austria and not a Nazi victory TL.
Ngl, due to this week at work being one filled with field days, field trips and makeup testing I’ve been writing while my students are just chilling as we are done with all classroom material.
Indeed!
Thank you! Trying to improve on that actually so I’m glad it’s coming across as intended.
You write very well, if I may offer some constructive criticism, in my opinion you might be starting to- not yet, but starting to- make Stalin a little too much of a cartoon-villian (like how Hitler is usually portrayed IRL) which is what you've successfully avoided with Hitler. Maybe instead of trying to describe Stalin's "aura" (as externally perceived) you could:
1. Tell more through his actions rather than direct descriptions of how other characters feel about him, for example, if you have a scene where he shoots someone you don't need extra/superficial description of how he might look ruthless or cold or whatever, as that's redundant, instead focus on his literal actions which real people can understand in real life, not an "aura" which is vague and supernatural to non-story characters
2. Build his personality more from inside out rather than the reverse, provide the background context and reasoning of his actions, instead of direct description of the resultant character that is him. For example you could talk about his experiences in the civil war and connect it to an action he undertakes in the presence, showing an aspect of his character in a more show-don't-tell way.
And also I don't want to sound like I'm being overcritical and again want to say you are literally a way better writer than I am; but for my two cents on Hitler:
Although Hitler too while quite well written and relatable, I think it would be nice to make him more multi-dimensional in the sense that his literal sole drive in life should not be his ideology. So far everything has tied back to his ideology and I think adding a little bit more nuance of other background motivations would make him much more realistic, for example IRL Hitler's mother's and sibling's death are both known to have impacted him deeply.
Thank you for the great TL and can't wait for the next update.
pls don't ban me
Monthly Donor
i mean, i had to explain him first what an Alternate history is first and then tell a bit of background but found it interesting
Thank you for the feedback! I’ll definitely try and refine Stalin to make him more nuanced, less propaganda-ish like.
As for Hitler, glad I’ve avoided the carpet chewing madman trope with him. Perhaps when he’s Führer of the Austrian State he pushes through a health program to limit cigarettes, alcohol and push for research into cancers, using his mother’s death as a propaganda tool but also show he cares about those things somewhat.
India and Middle East I can’t think of much at the time. Southeast Asia will be involved in the war sooner than OTL due to the Anglo-Japanese War.
Oh nice. Appreciate you explaining it to him.
Maybe Hitler has, Middle Eastern allies , Ala; Iran, Turkey, Iraq and Afgh and Azad Hind has more success?
Earlier Pacific War also lead to butterflies in India.
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I wonder how thats going to look like. I doubt the Brits are going to try to do island hoping to Tokyo or start an offensive from malysia into Machuko or smth. And I doubt the Japanese are going to do a pearl harbour at Singapore or Hong Kong. Maybe just a naval war to see who can smash who's navy first.
Maybe even the battle of midway or midway equivalent but this time its limey vs the Japanese.
Well, I definitely will be looking forward to whatever the Anglo-Japanese War holds in store.
Even if it is a short conflict between Britain and Japan during the 1930s, no doubt that it will have major repercussions for the future and both the Royal Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy will learn lessons, not to mention that the US will take prominent interest in getting their US Pacific Fleet ready for a potential war against Japan.
No doubt some major battleship actions will occur, with the aircraft carrier making a small, but vital impact that leads to more investment into aircraft carriers.
Even if it is a short conflict between Britain and Japan during the 1930s, no doubt that it will have major repercussions for the future and both the Royal Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy will learn lessons, not to mention that the US will take prominent interest in getting their US Pacific Fleet ready for a potential war against Japan.
No doubt some major battleship actions will occur, with the aircraft carrier making a small, but vital impact that leads to more investment into aircraft carriers.