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.