Meet Friedrich

A young German boy, 17 years old, who lives in the Ruhr. The year is 1925 and the Ruhr Crisis come to an end.

As the last of the French soldiers marched into the distance, Friedrich recalled that wintery morning in January 1923 when he had come to work, as usual at the coalmine, only to find it barred by row upon row of French soldiers.

The French had seized the coalmines of the Ruhr to try and force the Germans to pay reparations. After months of negotiations, Friedrich finally read in the papers that America had promised to help out Germany with a loan and that the wretched reparations could be reduced. Some fellow named Dawes had won a prize - the Noble? Nobel? prize for helping Germany out.

What a load of rubbish that all was, Friedrich thought. Important men in suits talking about millions of marks like it was nothing: he couldnt even scrap together 2 marks some days. And that was after spending all day down in the mine, digging, shovelling, carrying, building...

That night at dinner, he helped his father get his food as usual. Friedrichs father, Kristoff, couldnt reach the food sometimes - he was stuck in his wheelchair, the result of fighting in World War 1. The family ate in silence. Knives scrapped plates, mouths chewed, but no one dared to say a word. They all knew what day it was.

It was

NOVEMBER 11, 1925.

The anniversary of the end of World War 1. The day Friedrichs father, Kristoff, cursed anyone who even dared to breathe a word about life in the new Germany.

Our day of humiliation. Kristoffs voice sounded like poisoned daggers in the silence. The day our cursed Weimar government stabbed us in the back! Darling, lets just have our stew, murmured Friedrichs mother.

Father, why was it a stab in our back? piped up Elsa, Friedrichs littlest sister. Friedrich groaned inside. Why didnt Elsa just keep her mouth shut? Now the whole family would be forced to sit through yet another of his fathers bitter rants about the Weimar government.

We were stabbed in the back! The leaders of our country now - the Weimar government - they were the ones who decided to end the war. Our German army, or brave, wonderful soldiers, they were doing so well! But the politicians signed the armistice just so that they could stop the war. We could have won the war. The November Criminals stabbed us in the back when they secretively surrendered.

Friedrich looked at the bottom of his soup bowl. He knew exactly what his father was going to say next. In fact, he could almost repeat it word for word. His father was now going to talk about the Treaty of Versailles. Then he was going to talk about the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and how Britain and France had humiliated Germany and dragged the name of Germany through the mud.

Then he was going to scream about how the current Weimar government had signed all these horrible documents and brought hardship to Germany. It was almost like a history lesson.

Vote: Weimar or new leader?

The year is 1925 and Friedrich is 17. He lives under the Weimar government but dreams of a better life. If you were Friedrich, would you want to be led by the Weimar government, OR seek a new leader?