Hermann Eschau
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Hermann Eschau | |
|---|---|
| File:Hermann Eschau, 1949.png 1940 photo of Eschau | |
| 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 1875 Niederau, Vonzumier |
| Died | 3 July 1949 (aged 73) Adtrus, 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 War Great War |
Hermann Luther Eschau (25 August 1875 – 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 1875 to a wealthy Vierzblütig family in Niederau, Vonzumier. He and his loyalist family moved to Vierzland in 1876 to avoid persecution by the new, independent government. In 1887, 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, winning multiple engagements despite Vierzland's eventual defeat in 1919. 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'état made Eschau acting chancellor, and he used his power to centralize state power and repress political dissent. In a bid to combat inflation and unemployment, Eschau pursued a policy of dirigisme, and military spending sharply increased. His ideology of Machtstaat, which postulated the idea of a strong central government influenced by political catholicism, national conservatism, and militarism, was implemented at all levels of society. In 1931, Eschau appointed himself Reichsleiter and Reichsmarschall, making him the utmost political and military leader of the empire.
Eschau forged a policy of "direct confrontation" with Vierzland's geopolitical foes. A fierce anti-communist, he lambasted the left-wing regimes in power in Apelia, Luepola, and Granzery. When Luepola invaded Zacotia in 1942, Eschau moved to Zacotia's defense and invaded Luepola, starting the Great War. After a number of initial setbacks, a decisive battle at Kasenberg helped reverse the tide of the war and Vierzland and its allies defeated the SIC in 1948. During the post-war negotiations, Eschau worked to secure a Vierzesraum ("Vierz space") in Patyria, which resulted in the creation of pro-Vierz client governments in Luepola, Borland, North Granzery, Vyzinia, and much of Southern Patyria. The Treaty of Adtrus created an uneven and hostile geopolitical situation in Patyria, leading to the dissolution of the Allianz in April 1949, and the evolution of the so-called "Silent War" between Vierzland on one side, and Tierada, Apelia, and Vonzumier on the other. Eschau's death in July 1949 left Helmut Bergmann as his successor, although the military dictatorship was eventually dissolved in 1953.
Eschau is remembered as one of the most defining characters of the 20th century and in modern world history. His belligerent foreign policy is often considered one of the primary reasons for the start of the Great War, which resulted in the deaths of some 70 to 80 million people. From the time of his rule to the end of the empire in 1990, he was portrayed in an extremely positive light by the imperial government. In contemporary Vierzland and Vierz historiography, Eschau is viewed as a flawed, controversial wartime leader who pulled the country out of economic crisis. He is strongly criticized elsewhere for his imperialist and expansionist policies which resulted in the subjugation of various Patyrian nations for 40 years.