Heinrich Brücken

## Heinrich Frederick Brücken

Heinrich Frederick Brücken was the Chancellor of Germany from September 2019 to November 2019 with his limited time as chancellor ending with his resignation. He returned as chancellor in late November before his arrest by INTERPOL in January which culminated with his eventual resignation and replacement with Fred Vogel.

The chancellorship under Brücken saw a more militarised Germany and the beginning of the Warsaw Crisis. Brücken also oversaw the 2019 Oil Crisis and OPEC Crisis. Brücken implemented large economic policies such as the 4 Year Plan which overhauled the German economy. His policy of rapprochement came later in his second period as chancellor following Germany's humiliation by the UN following the outbreak of the Warsaw Crisis.

### Early Life

Brücken was born in Berlin in 1968 to Thomas Brücken and Eva Brücken. Thomas was a professional footballer for Münster FC and Eva was a lawyer. Brücken had a generally poor relationship with his father and refused to play sports despite Thomas' encouragement and persistance. Brücken instead decided that he wished to become the chancellor of Germany, a dream that Thomas decided was pointless. Eva suddenly died in 1975 following a heart attack leaving Thomas severely depressed and turned towards alcoholism. Thomas was released by his club and his alcohol addiction only got worse, frequently beating Heinrich and subjecting him to mental torment. Brücken frequently ran away to his friend's house, Stephen Falk who eventually reported Thomas to the police. Thomas was arrested and sent to prison and Brücken was adopted by Falk's family.

Brücken expressed strong ambitions to become the chancellor of Germany and took any opportunity to take leadership and show his skills. Brücken was known for his excellent charisma and speech skills but his seemingly impossible ambition led him to be bullied by his schoolmates. Eventually Stephen Falk became sick of Brücken's dream to be chancellor and the two were involved in a fight which left Falk severely injured and being permanently stuck to a wheelchair. Brücken was disowned by the Falk family at age 17 due to the incident and moved into his own residence on the outskirts of Berlin in 1985. Due to the Falk family's destitute state, they were unable to press charges against Brücken. Heinrich had to enrol in a new high school as well and had no friends. Heinrich began working part time at a bakery and later at a farm in order to meet ends meet. He began a love affair with a fellow co-worker and daughter of his employer named Christa Meyer. Her father and Heinrich's boss, however, would not allow the two to date or meet and banned Christa from meeting Brücken. This did not prevent Brücken from secretly meeting Meyer and they frequently met in the middle of the night at the edge of the farm. This relationship did not last long as very soon Meyer's father found out and sacked Brücken. With the limited funds Brücken struggled and only ate one meal every two days which was detrimental to his health. Meyer's father spread rumours around the town that Brücken was a predatory who had tried to rape his daughter and as a result, Brücken struggled to get a job. His limited funds also meant that he could no longer move out and he was frequently bullied at school. However, despite all the odds, Brücken passed with the highest grades attainable and was granted a scholarship at LMU Munich.

After moving to Munich and beginning his degree in History and Economics, Brücken tried to send letters to Christa Meyer in hopes that he could begin contact with her again. He received no replies and after completing his four year course Brücken travelled back to the town and found that Christa had married and was pregnant. In embarrassment and shame, Brücken went back to Munich and decided that he would prioritise becoming chancellor at all costs. His best friend and only friend, Robert Kenken at LMU Munich commented that "he would spend countless hours sat in his bedroom in a trance. He named it the 'contemplation state' and spent hours staring at this empty plant pot. Apparently, this helped him concentrate, but for what it was I never know." Kenken later described Brücken as "a very depressed character who frequently mourned over Christa. Personally, I think he was being overdramatic, but he never had any real passions except for that particular person and politics. People would describe him as a heartless politician but there used to be something more." Brücken would later comment in an interview that "Kenken was the only friend I ever had. Everyone else was there, okay, but they were not there for me in the same way that Kenken was. I loved him as he loved me."

Brücken joined the SPD in 1981.

### Rise to Power

Brücken assumed the leadership of the SPD in August 2019. A snap election was called by President Steinmeier following a political crisis caused by a scandal of the then sitting Chancellor Merkel. The result of the September 2019 election was a landslide victory for the SPD and saw Brücken head the grand coalition consisting of the SPD, CSU and now much smaller CDU. Brücken begin rapid militarisation and increased funding with the aim of making Germany as strong as the UK and France whist also maintaining the same diplomatic and trade strength that it held.

### Warsaw Crisis

Brücken along with the new Foreign Minister, Erika Staffen, began a heightened German military presence in Poland and the Baltic States. This came under much criticism by the international community, especially the USA and the UK which condemned Germany's action as it appeared as though that they were intending on occupation and eventual annexation of Poland. The increased German presence caused the Polish government to fall into disarray and the eventual beginning of the Warsaw Crisis. German and Polish troops fought against rebel troops and eventually Commonwealth troops before Staffen announced that Germany would be withdrawing on the 11th of November 2019.

### Resignation and Vogel

Following the withdrawal of German troops from the conflict, Brücken resigned and his deputy, Minister of Economics Fred Vogel took over. Vogel took a different approach to Brücken's aggressive and assertive foreign policy which caused resentment within the SPD which was still loyal to Brücken, despite the embarrassment he brought to the party. Vogel's sudden change in direction angered the SPD and many members of the SPD refused to vote for Vogel's new policies. Eventually a vote of no confidence forced Vogel to leave, making the Minister of Education, Albert Engels as chancellor.

### Return to Power

Brücken returned following Engel's resignation after only a week in power. Brücken and Engels collaborated in order to bring Brücken back to power and oust Vogel, with SPD members voluntarily plotting against Vogel and his unpopular globalist policies. Brücken immediately removed Vogel from his position as Minister of Economics and appointed Engels instead. Brücken allowed US intelligence to search all over Germany to locate the missing Russian nuclear missiles.

### Assassination attempt in Dresden

Whilst giving a speech in Dresden, Brücken was shot three times by Ukrainian nationalist Myron Koziy. Koziy later committed suicide, but Brücken continued his speech before being taken to hospital where he told journalists that "nobody can kill me, I am a man of steel and I came to make a speech. I will get those bastards and strangle them with my bare hands."

### Final Days and Arrest

Brücken oversaw the 2019 Oil Crisis and OPEC Crisis and managed to dampen the blow that the economic crisis had on Germany. Whilst it caused damage, Brücken implemented the Four Year Plan which helped Germany to recover much quicker than other European countries.

As the Russian Missile Conspiracy was uncovered, Brücken and members of his cabinet including Engels and Staffen were arrested by INTERPOL and put on trial at an international court. At the beginning of the trial Brücken resigned citing his declining health following his assassination attempt as the main reason. Vogel took over as both Staffen and Engels had been taken away by INTERPOL. Before his impeachment process could be finished, Brücken had resigned meaning that Vogel was now acting chancellor. He sought to solidify his position by calling another election, which he lost to Hozenhollern.