Jens Pohl

Jens Pohl
Official photo, 1976
Chancellor of the Vierz Empire
In office 27 April 1967 – 14 February 1977
Monarch	Alexander II Viktor IV
Preceded by	Hans Richter
Succeeded by	Philipp Lorenz
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 10 June 1964 – 27 April 1967
Monarch	Alexander II
Chancellor	Otto Wagner Hans Richter
Preceded by	Siegmund Gehrke
Succeeded by	Torsten Hagmann
Reichskommissar for Apelia (East Apelia)
In office 9 December 1956 – 10 June 1964
Monarch	Alexander II
Chancellor	Otto Wagner Hans Richter
Preceded by	Albert Jonke
Succeeded by	Helibert Schumacher
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 18 August 1954 – 5 December 1958
Chancellor	Thomas Weber Otto Wagner
Minister	Siegmund Gehrke
Preceded by	Heinz Rieger
Succeeded by	Gunter Fährmann
Personal details
Born	Jens Erhard Pohl (1908-11-03)3 November 1908 Oftfeld, Lonzig, Vierz Empire
Died	7 October 1981(1981-10-07) (aged 73) Adtrüs, Vierz Empire
Alma mater	University of Wilsbüren Imperial Political Institute
Military service
Allegiance	Vierz Empire
Branch/service	Imperial Vierz Army
Years of service	1927–1945
Unit	2nd Army

Jens Erhard Pohl (3 November 1908 – 11 July 1981) was a Vierz statesman who served as Chancellor of the Vierz Empire from 1967 to 1977. Prior to his chancellorship, he held a number of positions in the foreign ministry, including that of foreign minister from 1964 to 1967.

Pohl was born to a working-class family in the village of Ostfeld in eastern Lonzig. While performing his mandatory military service, Pohl saw combat in the Great War, where he was wounded-in-action. He studied at the University of Wilsbüren after the war, graduating in 1950, and thereafter studied political science at the Imperial Political Institute until 1952. Pohl gained employment at the foreign ministry shortly thereafter, and was made Reichskommissar for Apelia from 1956 to 1964, where he had tremendous sway over the country's government. He quickly gained favour with Kaiser Alexander II, who made him foreign minister in 1964. Pohl's success in negotiating with Legatia during the Silent War propelled him to the position of Chancellor in 1967.

Identifying with the national conservative wing of the state, Pohl moved quickly to centralize power and suppress the "democratic movement" within the government and refuse the influence of the Kaiser – reestablishing the principle of Kanzlerwirksamkeit (efficacy of [the] chancellor). He issued a number of decrees limiting freedom of the press and speech, and curbing the power of the states. Pohl expanded investment in petroleum extraction in West Oridia, while limiting the economic power of the colonial authorities. He was also influential in the expansion of natalist policies, as he instructed the immigration ministry to curb immigration from the colonies as well as emigration from Vierzland.

Pohl's foreign policy ended the brief period of detente between Vierzland and Legatia. Referring to Legatia as an "authentically un-Patyrian" state, he preferred a policy of 'direct confrontation' with Vierzland's geopolitical rival. In response to Legatia's placement of nuclear-armed ICBMs in Talenna in 1974, Pohl ordered the closure of the Straits of Vell, causing an international crisis that was solved only after months of threats of global thermonuclear war. Anti-Vierz protests in Luepola in 1976 led to Pohl ordering a violent crackdown and harsh penalties against dissent in the Vierz client state.

The Straits Crisis, the deteriorating situation in Luepola, and a poor domestic economic situation onset by international sanctions and oil prices led Pohl to fall out of favour with Alexander II and his successor, Viktor IV. He was dismissed from his position in 1977, and placed under house arrest until 1978. He died in Adtrüs in 1981 at the age of 73.