The veteran lounged in his wicker chair. Air softly escaped from between the cushions, as the remains of his lunch began to digest. The stewed prunes and custard for desert sat heavily. He sighed as he fixed his eye on the canvas in front of him. His building sketch-work of Vienna was transferred onto canvas almost as an afterthought. Dabbing at the picture, he reflected on the possibilities, not mentioning to himself that his chances of selling more pictures like his earlier sales, were small but steady. The countryside around Linz, Austria reflected the sunlight in a tranquil way, the same daily routine that the veteran had been following since the guns had ceased to speak on the tenth day of the tenth hour of the tenth month, all those years ago. By now, his memories of the trench nightmare started to become fuzzy around the edges. Old comrades would swim into view. Today, the veteran remembered good ol' Rudolf. How we used to laugh at his one eyebrow and pechant for astrology! For the victory parade, "Rudy" had been absent, which meant that missing the parade was missing all the fond memories. Having fought hard for so long, victory was the only outcome that could put a smile on the faces of the members of the List Regiment, and a victory it was to celebrate wildly! Coming home, the government had promised the old vets "a place in the sun", and now they had that as well. The Imperial German Government looked after it's veterans well, for it was a prospering society with an overseas colonial empire to rival the old enemy. Every German now felt the warmth of that prosperity, in every shop and market, every bank and synagogue.... But the veteran had no time for reflection of what might have been. Reclining, he thought of his pension payment tomorrow, and of the trip that his sister Paula would have to make to the local markets for his special vegetarian diet. Paula imposed it on him to rid him of the intestinal cramps and bad breath that the unwanted wind wrought. All were scars of his trench service in the aptly named "War to End All European Wars", but the veteran felt happy that he was one of the survivors, alive enough to experience life, to sketch and paint, to listen to his favourite Richard Wagner.....how he wished he could have gone into politics, and had a "say" in the rebuilding of post-war Europe. But that was for other men more able, more energetic, more influential. "Adi" sighed again. Such dreams were the dreams of ordinary men, as he well knew, he was just another one of them. Another German serviceman.....enjoying his place in the sun. (Volga Boatman Copyright....2009)
What would the world be like with a German victory in the latter half of 1918? A better place for all that. No demagogue dictatorships, no holocaust, no "divide and rule" from Englishmen bent on financial control of the European mainland. Russia struggling to conform to the European model of government, no pretentious France with an attitude, no spirit of revenge for Italy.... The Great War was a gigantic mistake to begin with, diplomatically and militarily. The worst outcome for the "War to End all Wars" was the one that transpired. It virtually guaranteed a second round, a conflict that was to destroy Europe, in very Greek fashion, in order that it be "saved".
Such a nice vetrans story. His thoughts on international jewery seem to have dropped off the post. Id have a word with admins to see how it dissapeared from your post ?
Wasn't included....If you look at the text, The Imperial German Govt has Synagogues as well as banks. I don't think victorious Central Powers soldiers would have given much thought to Semite people. Without a lost war to blame for economic woes, a pogrom against Jewish people would be an extremely unlikely event. Our mythical Central Powers vet is simply sitting in an armchair, farting and painting,.....rather than conquering and losing Europe!
Ah..I see...He is mythical...Did he perhaps have a brother or is that still to come....The evil twin.
