Gorden Braun

**Gorden Kinnacht Braun** was a Communist politician, the first deputy party leader of the **Roessen Red Coalition Party**, Presidential candidate for the **1920 Federal and Presidential Election**, City Governor for **Boulles**, Provincial Governor for **Großer Klee** and the first **Chancellor of the Roessen Republic**. Gorden Braun started a Liberal politician, before his policies drifted to the left and he joined the newly formed coalition of left-wing parties. He was known for policies of equality and social issues over party politics. He was assassinated on the 21st September.

## Before Politics

### Early Life

Despite his rather left-leaning views, Gorden was born in 1893 and raised in a middle class family. His father was a watchmaker who had a business in a village near to the city of **Boulles, Großer Klee**. His father had hoped that Gorden would continue in the family business; Gorden's grandfather had also been a watchmaker. Gorden, however, felt disillusioned to this lifestyle, not wanting to be forced into the family tradition.

Gorden received a basic education at a school in his village before deciding to flee and start a new life, not as a watchmaker under the family tradition, but as a free man. When the **First World War** began to break out, Gorden saw this new opportunity blossoming, and he joined the military.

### Military Career

Like most men in the country, Gorden, in the main army, was assigned to the trench front-line in France, and it was here that his political ideas had started to appear. To the officers, Gorden was simply the street urchin soldier, used as cannon-fodder and made to be killed. Gorden himself, however, began to protest the role of the military officers in the war, which resulted in him having a bad reputation to the officer corps around him, and preventing him from progressing through the ranks. Gorden was moved to a different unit after having an argument with an officer, regarding how officers were lazy and got out of the violence while the common "trench rat", as he described them, were seen as expendable.

For him, the First World War had been the normal horrific experience. He hadn't suffered any major injuries, but it had moulded his political aspirations clearly. He had become exceptionally cynical of the British and German powers, and after the war concluded and he was discharged from the army, Gorden returned to the newly formed **Roessen Republic** in search of his fortune.

## Entering Politics

### Returning Home

For the first time since he left school, Gorden returned home, and found out that his father had died during the war. Being the only child in the family, legal requirements meant that Gorden would receive the business and wealth inheritance. Gorden used it to sell the watchmaking business for more money, in order to pay for housing and food while he searched for employment. Life at the time was tough, as the newly formed country had little found its way in the world. He visited his father's grave, finding his mother there who had told him she "had no son". Unwelcome and depressed, Gorden decided that the only way to put his life on track would be to enter the world of politics, where he shined most.

### Walter Schmidt's Protege

With his newfound independence, he went to the capital city of **Roessen**, annd joined the **Roessen Liberal Party**, then under the leadership of **Walter Schmidt**. A powerful orator within the party, Gorden was quick to gain Walter's attention, and in early 1919, Walter believed he had found his heir. Gorden agreed to work as Walter's protege, an easy way to progress quickly in the world of politics. It was during this time that Gorden began to notice the ever-constant shifting of party policy and Walter's inconsistency and contradictions. Once again, Gorden began to doubt his position, dissatisfied with how the party was being ran, and a new party had started to gain his attention.

## The Roessen Red Coalition Party

### Leaving Behind The Liberals

In August 1919, Walter Schmidt died, never being able to see an official election in Roessen. Many Liberals had suggested that Gorden was to be made the new party leader, but Gorden refused and stated he had grown disillusioned to the party. Gorden's views had now shifted more to the left and he started to disagree with the concepts of laissez-faire economics the RLP was stating. Instead, his attention turned to the **Roessen Red Coalition Party**, a party established through the unification of a smattering of left wing parties, including trade unionists, labourers, social democrats and Marxists. Gorden had come to agree with the Marxist faction of the coalition, and seeing their rising membership, was swift to join and make his mark.

### Deputy Leader

Gorden had grown to love the party almost immediately, leaving the RLP behind to scramble for scraps. His powerful speeches and ideas made him very popular to the staunch left, but marginally unpopular to the social democrats. Along with a fellow candidate, **Vön Zvanzon**, the further left of the party began to dominate party politics despite being less in population. Gorden and Vön were both quick to nab leadership positions, Gorden being delegated deputy leader of the new party.

### Presidential Candidate

In March 1920, when **Dominik Schrek** announced he would be standing down as President, Gorden announced he would stand for President, polling as high as 40% of the votes alongside **Roessen National Party** candidate **Adal Von Sturt**.

When the results of the election came around, Gorden won 1,420,782 votes to Adal's 1,561,781. Adal was sworn in as **President of the Roessen Republic**, while Gorden Braun continued to fight for his seat in **Boulles**.

## Chancellorship

### Election

Gorden became the Provincial Governor for Großer Klee and the City Governor for Boulles in the 1920 election. Shortly afterwards, when it was discovered that the RRCP would hold 138 out of the 278 seats, only one seat short of an exact 50%, Adal appointed him to become the **Chancellor** and sought to negotiate with him immediately. He was appointed alongside Wilber Schaffel, who became **Vice Chancellor**.

### Dealings With Wilhelm Moritz

Fearful of a **Germany First Party** rising, Gorden as Chancellor began illusive dealings with the **Verringen businessman** and **Mafia boss Wilhelm Moritz**, who agreed to help him on the terms that **Franz Hildebrand** and himself would be granted political immunity, and that Franz would be left uninterrupted with his work in the city. As a result of the agreement, Wilhelm ordered his men to destroy a GFP campaign headquarters in **Klingsingen;** the bombing made news but there was, once again, no evidence of Wilhelm's involvement.

### Alcoholism

Gorden's experiences of war but also failure to win the Presidency caught up to him, and he became deranged and an alcoholic. Many, including Vice Chancellor Wilber Schaffel himself, called for his removal. Gorden attended **Alcoholics Anonymous** to tackle the problem, but the issue had become too prominent.

## Assassination

### The News

A source from **William Friedrich** to **Radio Roessen** had suggested that the Chancellor was an alcoholic, and had been using his power to illegally dismantle the Germany First Party. When this spread to the Cabinet, there was calls for Gorden Braun's immediate resignation. Gorden refused at first, and went to campaign in his city, **Boulles.**

Beforehand, he telephoned Wilhelm Moritz to say that it was over, in which Wilhelm ended the call without saying a further word. Wilhelm's involvement in the assassination is unknown, but no evidence indicates such.

### The Shooting

The day Gorden was due to make a speech in Boulles, backstage, he was approached by a man in a suit. He told him simply: "**Don't mess with the boss**". In an instant, he was shot twice; once in the head, and once in the chest to confirm the kill when he was down. The man quickly escaped, before witnesses could catch a glimpse of his appearance. When he was supposedly late to make a speech, he was checked on, and his body was found and reported.

Five minutes later, reports came in that the Chancellor's house had been blown up. Radio Roessen caught wind of the news, reported that Gorden had died and that his house had been destroyed. They suspected an organised attack as a means of tying up loose ends. Unbeknown to the public, Wilhelm Moritz had organised the attacks himself, to hide any evidence of his dealings with the Chancellor.

## Reactions

### Vocal Responses

Wilber Schaffel became **Interim Chancellor** as a result of Gorden Braun's death. Both he and President Von Sturt made public appearances in the city of **Roessen**, watched by a record-breaking large crowd, to give speeches on the death of the Chancellor. The President said the following:

> "Chancellor Braun was a close man to me, I thought he was a friend who I knew much of...apparently not enough. However I am not here to blame anyone. This is a dark time indeed for Roessen, but we will overcome it like prior obstacles. Vice Chancellor Schaffel will be made Interim Chancellor for the remainder of my term until the next Presidential elections, and soon a new vice chancellor will take Schaffel's place, and political stability will remain. At the moment we can nor cannot confirm Braun's supposed acholic lifestyle, but a investigation will take place on this claim. Whether it is true or not, this is a sad day for us, and we will miss the reforms that promised under him, but Chancellor Schaffel will take the mantle, and allow for a prosperous Roessen dream to continue. It is essential for Roessen to remain united no matter what, and hopefully this will all be remembered as a bad memory in the future where Roessen is a wealthy and equal nation!"
>
>

Wilber Schaffel, afterwards, remarked on his vision of becoming Chancellor:

> "I do not particularly want this job. I proudly took the role of Vice Chancellor, but this position of Chancellor only gives me one notion: that I am forced to work in the shadow of a great man. I could never be as great as Chancellor Braun, but I will do everything in my power to make sure that his death is solved. That is the resolve of this government - not to twiddle thumbs, but to move on and find answers."
>
>

Both speeches were met with emotional applause.

Other politicians from all sides of the spectrum, including **Michael Collins** of the **Gaelic Defence Party** and **Heine Geiger** of the **Germany First Party**, also showed their appreciation for the statesman, and were sad to see his passing.

Gorden's long time friend, **Jon Haupt**, would later win the seat for **Boulles**, while **Oswald Mosley** would win his provincial seat.

### Theories

As Wilhelm Moritz had successfully covered his tracks, investigation into Gorden's assassination received a scarce amount of evidence. It seemed impossible to pinpoint who had been behind the organised attack, and for a while, conspiracy theories managed to emerge as a result. These included the following:

- The Chancellor's alcoholism led to ideas of prohibition surfacing, similar to that in America; this would have been seen as unfavourable for both Irish and German consumers and companies who profit off alcohol sales.

- The Chancellor had been sympathising with a conservative President, which had disgruntled the hard left of his party. The newly formed **Volksarmee** were not afraid to act on violent terms, as seen with the later assassination of British fascist **Walter Francis Robinson**, meaning their link to the Chancellor may have been a valid one.

- **William Friedrich** stated someone attempted to assassinate him afterwards, and he killed the man out of self-defence. He blamed Wilber Schaffel for paying the man to kill him, sparking two theories: one, that Wilber hired someone to kill the Chancellor, or two, that William ratted the Chancellor out in an attempt to usurp power. The latter theory became more plausible, when Wilber Schaffel began to question the necessity to kill the man in such a horrific fashion.

- The truth, that the Chancellor had been messing with the Mafia, had also been a theory. The Korrigsten Massacre was proof that the Mafia existed, and were willing to act on their own accords. Had the Chancellor been meddling with the Mafia, someone would have wanted to tie loose ends.

The murder itself had sparked this many theories. But the murder remained truly unsolved.