Hermann Eschau
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Hermann Eschau | |
|---|---|
 1935 official portrait | |
| Reichsleiter of the Vierz Empire | |
| In office 18 July 1931 – 3 July 1949 | |
| Preceded by | None (office created) |
| Succeeded by | Helmut Bergmann |
| Chancellor of the Vierz Empire | |
| In office 15 June 1927 – 3 July 1949 | |
| Preceded by | Lars Hencke |
| Succeeded by | Helmut Bergmann |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hermann Luther Eschau 25 August 1865 Wenerau, Vierz Vonzumier |
| Died | 3 July 1949 (aged 83) Adtrüs, Vierz Empire |
| Political party | Independent |
| Alma mater | Constantine Imperial War College |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Vierz Empire |
| Branch/service | Imperial Vierz Army |
| Years of service | 1887–1900 1912–1949 |
| Rank | Reichsmarschall |
| Battles/wars | Frontier Wars Great War |
Hermann Luther Eschau (25 August 1865 – 3 July 1949) was a Vierz military officer and statesman who led the Vierz Empire from 1927 to his death in 1949. A key figure in world history, he was instrumental in the start of the Great War and the transformation of Vierzland into a military dictatorship after the June Putsch.
Eschau was born in 1865 to a wealthy Vierzblütig family in Wenerau, in what was then Vierz colonial Vonzumier. His childhood occurred during the Vonzumerian Revolutionary War, and he and his loyalist family moved to Vierzland in 1868 to escape the conflict. In 1877, he enrolled in the Imperial Vierz Army to fulfill his mandatory military service, achieving the rank of Gefreiter before his honorary discharge in 1900. After working for the Ministry of Defense for some years, he enrolled in Constantine Imperial War College to undergo officer training. He led numerous Vierz forces in the Frontier War against Vonzumier in the 1910s, winning multiple engagements despite Vierzland's eventual defeat in 1914. He returned to Vierzland thereafter, considered a war hero.
After his return to Vierzland, Eschau became responsible for military affairs in the empire's Tusolan and Oridian colonies. When the 1924 economic crisis broke out, he, having attained the rank of Generalfeldmarschall, returned to Vierzland proper and worked to quell civil disobedience against the imperial government. After the abdication of Kaiser Viktor II in June 1927, the new emperor Alexander II tasked Eschau with overthrowing socialist chancellor Lars Hencke, culminating in the June Putsch. The coup d'etat made Eschau acting chancellor, and he used his power to centralize state power and repress political dissent. Eschau pursued a policy of dirigisme, and military spending sharply increased; all in a bid to combat inflation and unemployment. His ideology of Machtstaat, which postulated the idea of a strong central government influenced by political catholicism and national conservatism, was implemented at all levels of government.
In foreign policy, Eschau forged a policy of "direct confrontation" with Vierzland's geopolitical foes.