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Fatherland

 Fatherland
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TVTItem
 Fatherland
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Fatherland
 Fatherland
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Fatherland
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Fatherland is a 1992 Alternate History novel written by Robert Harris. It was adapted into a made-for-TV film starring Rutger Hauer and Miranda Richardson in 1994. The story is set in a Nazi-controlled Europe, twenty years after Germany won World War II.It's 1964 and Adolf Hitler's 75th birthday is approaching. Nazi Germany dominates Europe and is engaged in a Cold War with The United States. President Joseph P. Kennedy has been invited to Berlin, in the hopes of reaching a détente and finally ending the costly war against the American-backed Soviet guerillas.Meanwhile, a dead body is found and police investigator Xavier March takes on what seems at first to be a routine murder investigation, only to find himself on the trail of an explosive political secret — the long-hushed-up truth about the Final Solution.The book is one of the more realistic visions of a world in which Nazi Germany has been victorious. Compare a more recent fictional timeline called Thousand-Week Reich, which shares many similar elements.
 Fatherland
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2024-02-20T11:29:16Z
 Fatherland
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2024-02-20T11:29:16Z
 Fatherland
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Dropped link to IfThisIsAMan: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Fatherland
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Dropped link to TheBeatles: Not a Feature - IGNORE
 Fatherland
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DBTropes
 Fatherland / int_11dd3268
type
Empire with a Dark Secret
 Fatherland / int_11dd3268
comment
Empire with a Dark Secret: The Nazis killed millions of people from disfavoured groups, especially Jewish people.
 Fatherland / int_11dd3268
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_11dd3268
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1.0
 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_11dd3268
 Fatherland / int_1439161f
type
Heroic BSoD
 Fatherland / int_1439161f
comment
Heroic BSoD: While reading secret documents, Xavier comes across a real historical note about concentration camp victims' hair being cut off and turned into felt, which was then made into socks for U-boat crews. He reacts badly to the news that he wore dead Jews' hair during the war.
 Fatherland / int_1439161f
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_1439161f
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1.0
 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_1439161f
 Fatherland / int_173909
type
Brainwashed and Crazy
 Fatherland / int_173909
comment
Brainwashed and Crazy: What March actually thinks of his son educated by the government, although he pretends to be proud of him.
 Fatherland / int_173909
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_173909
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1.0
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Fatherland / int_173909
 Fatherland / int_1e8f4221
type
Fingore
 Fatherland / int_1e8f4221
comment
Fingore: Globus personally reduces March's right hand to a bloody mangled pulp with a baseball bat.
 Fatherland / int_1e8f4221
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_1e8f4221
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_1e8f4221
 Fatherland / int_1f6983f7
type
Ambiguous Situation
 Fatherland / int_1f6983f7
comment
Ambiguous Situation: The novel ends with March trapped in a standoff at the former site of Auschwitz, surrounded by Gestapo agents. As he draws his weapon, he imagines Charlie successfully managing to deliver the evidence to the US, though even he admits it's an unlikely possibility.
 Fatherland / int_1f6983f7
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_1f6983f7
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Fatherland / int_1f6983f7
 Fatherland / int_21d70919
type
Crapsack World
 Fatherland / int_21d70919
comment
Crapsack World: For Detective Xavier March, it most certainly is. Divorced? Check. Son hates you? Check. Nightmares? Check. PTSD? Check. Living in apartment previously owned by Jewish family, who were "sent East"? Check. Suddenly discovering that the regime you serve is full of mass murderers? (You see where this is going, right?) Also for anyone who doubts or differs from the Party line on any of a thousand things. For example, we see a priest whose church is across the street from police HQ, in a regime which officially discourages religions other than Hitler-worship. He is not a cheerful-looking man.
 Fatherland / int_21d70919
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_21d70919
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_21d70919
 Fatherland / int_21f7ff0f
type
Knight in Sour Armor
 Fatherland / int_21f7ff0f
comment
Knight in Sour Armor: March lives a lonely existence, is pretty much alienated from his ex-wife and son, is a borderline alcoholic, and has become very disenchanted with the Nazi regime he serves. But he still risks his life and limb to solve the murder.
 Fatherland / int_21f7ff0f
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_21f7ff0f
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Fatherland / int_21f7ff0f
 Fatherland / int_2206fd8c
type
Fallen States of America
 Fatherland / int_2206fd8c
comment
Fallen States of America: Averted. While the Nazis did win the war in Europe, America defeated Imperial Japan and remains a functional and free society, and it is all but stated that it is pulling ahead of Germany in the Cold War. note It is noted that even Hitler, the megalomaniacal egomaniac that he was, thought a physical conquest of the United States was impossible. He did foresee a future conflict with America, but his plans for global dominance were more about deterring future American aggression than actually taking over all of North America, even as a puppet.
 Fatherland / int_2206fd8c
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 Fatherland / int_2206fd8c
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Fatherland / int_2206fd8c
 Fatherland / int_229c2ec8
type
Uriah Gambit
 Fatherland / int_229c2ec8
comment
Uriah Gambit: Globus has Jost deployed to the Eastern front, ridding Globus of the only witness to him dumping Buhler's body.
 Fatherland / int_229c2ec8
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_229c2ec8
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Fatherland / int_229c2ec8
 Fatherland / int_24321e44
type
Only Sane Man
 Fatherland / int_24321e44
comment
Only Sane Man: This exchange between Xavier and Charlie:
 Fatherland / int_24321e44
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_24321e44
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1.0
 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_24321e44
 Fatherland / int_27ae751
type
Swiss Bank Account
 Fatherland / int_27ae751
comment
Swiss Bank Account: The victims are revealed to have opened one. And stored proof of the Holocaust in it. The original purpose of the accounts — as a means for refugees from the Nazis to protect their assets — is also touched upon.
 Fatherland / int_27ae751
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_27ae751
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Fatherland / int_27ae751
 Fatherland / int_2a035a26
type
Allohistorical Allusion
 Fatherland / int_2a035a26
comment
Allohistorical Allusion: Former Soviet prisoners give tours of the gulags and teach about the Holomodor, in which the Stalinist regime purposefully starved Ukrainians. This parallels how The Holocaust is commemorated in our timeline. One rather subtle difference is that just as you start to wonder why "President Kennedy" is still alive and acting so Out of Character, the realization dawns that America elected former ambassador to the UK Joseph Kennedy, JFK's father.
 Fatherland / int_2a035a26
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_2a035a26
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1.0
 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_2a035a26
 Fatherland / int_2a4b8ad6
type
Tour Guide Detective
 Fatherland / int_2a4b8ad6
comment
Tour Guide Detective: Probably one of the best-known examples of the genre, in which March's investigation is used to explore in-depth the nature of this dystopia.
 Fatherland / int_2a4b8ad6
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_2a4b8ad6
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1.0
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Fatherland / int_2a4b8ad6
 Fatherland / int_2b75f9b3
type
Token Good Cop
 Fatherland / int_2b75f9b3
comment
Token Good Cop: Xavier March is seemingly the only detective in Berlin who isn't a die-hard Nazi stooge.
 Fatherland / int_2b75f9b3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_2b75f9b3
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1.0
 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_2b75f9b3
 Fatherland / int_34dd5f3
type
La Résistance
 Fatherland / int_34dd5f3
comment
La Résistance: The Germans have spent the last twenty years fighting insurgents in the Soviet Union, still led by the elderly Joseph Stalin. In Germany, the White Rose anti-war movement of the 1940s is said to have resurfaced.
 Fatherland / int_34dd5f3
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_34dd5f3
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_34dd5f3
 Fatherland / int_363f94c9
type
Awful Truth
 Fatherland / int_363f94c9
comment
Awful Truth: March learns the truth about the Jews “resettled east�.
 Fatherland / int_363f94c9
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_363f94c9
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1.0
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Fatherland / int_363f94c9
 Fatherland / int_379b8809
type
Out of Character
 Fatherland / int_379b8809
comment
One rather subtle difference is that just as you start to wonder why "President Kennedy" is still alive and acting so Out of Character, the realization dawns that America elected former ambassador to the UK Joseph Kennedy, JFK's father.
 Fatherland / int_379b8809
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_379b8809
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Fatherland / int_379b8809
 Fatherland / int_38d02d44
type
Batman Gambit
 Fatherland / int_38d02d44
comment
Batman Gambit: Krebs, Nebe, and Max act as though they are helping March escape, in hopes that he will lead them to Charlie. It doesn't work.
 Fatherland / int_38d02d44
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_38d02d44
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Fatherland / int_38d02d44
 Fatherland / int_39297f53
type
Bigger Is Better
 Fatherland / int_39297f53
comment
Bigger Is Better: During the tour of Nazi monuments, the tour-guide makes a point of comparing everything to monuments in other countries and stressing how much bigger everything in Berlin is. It's deconstructed, however, since in his inner monologue March scathingly identifies this as merely a symptom of the culture-wide inferiority complex that Nazi society deep down suffers from; even in victory, Nazi Germany is still desperately obsessed with proving how much bigger it is than everyone else.
 Fatherland / int_39297f53
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_39297f53
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_39297f53
 Fatherland / int_3aec9e5e
type
Properly Paranoid
 Fatherland / int_3aec9e5e
comment
Properly Paranoid: Buhler, Stuckart and Luther preserved evidence of the Holocaust to protect themselves in the event that the regime later decided to kill them merely for knowing about it. They were right to worry.
 Fatherland / int_3aec9e5e
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_3aec9e5e
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Fatherland / int_3aec9e5e
 Fatherland / int_3b79029a
type
Crapsaccharine World
 Fatherland / int_3b79029a
comment
Crapsaccharine World: Nazi leaders try and sell the Third Reich as a mighty, prosperous colossus, with massive monuments to boot. However, low level officials like March don't see that prosperity, being forced to live in a somewhat rundown apartment. March muses that the great monuments are a sign of a nationwide inferiority complex.
 Fatherland / int_3b79029a
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_3b79029a
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Fatherland / int_3b79029a
 Fatherland / int_3bc88a7f
type
Foregone Conclusion
 Fatherland / int_3bc88a7f
comment
Foregone Conclusion: A rarity in an Alternate History, but the event itself has already happened — it's The Reveal; the protagonist is investigating some deep political conspiracy that has something to do with the Nazi party and concentration camps.
 Fatherland / int_3bc88a7f
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_3bc88a7f
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1.0
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Fatherland / int_3bc88a7f
 Fatherland / int_3c3f28a5
type
Blessed with Suck
 Fatherland / int_3c3f28a5
comment
Blessed with Suck: Germany has the massive empire in the East that Hitler always coveted...but having to invest resources into fighting partisans and developing farmland makes the "living space" more of a hindrance.
 Fatherland / int_3c3f28a5
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_3c3f28a5
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Fatherland / int_3c3f28a5
 Fatherland / int_3e8d9cd3
type
Historical Hero Upgrade
 Fatherland / int_3e8d9cd3
comment
Historical Hero Upgrade: Artur Nebe is depicted as a semi-sympathetic Punch-Clock Villain whose main concern is maintaining law and order, and who doesn't seem to be a particularly enthusiastic or prejudiced Nazi. While the real Nebe was involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler, he was by all accounts a racist mass-murderer who only went against Hitler out of selfish opportunism. This is subverted by the end however - Nebe turns out to have been Evil All Along and fully aware and complicit in the Holocaust, with his earlier behavior only a ruse to trick March into trusting him.
 Fatherland / int_3e8d9cd3
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 Fatherland / int_3e8d9cd3
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Fatherland / int_3e8d9cd3
 Fatherland / int_3f0b2f50
type
Make It Look Like an Accident
 Fatherland / int_3f0b2f50
comment
Make It Look Like an Accident: Himmler is said to have died in a plane crash a while before the story begins. It is strongly implied that Heydrich made it happen.
 Fatherland / int_3f0b2f50
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_3f0b2f50
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Fatherland / int_3f0b2f50
 Fatherland / int_4aa98555
type
Evil All Along
 Fatherland / int_4aa98555
comment
Evil All Along: Nebe engineers March's escape from the SS, telling him to bring news so that Nebe can live long enough to "see those bastards hang". However, it's all just a ruse to get March to lead the police to Charlie and prevent her from leaking information about how the Nazi regime exterminated millions of Jews on an industrial scale. It turns out March's best friend and fellow investigator Max Jaeger was actually leaking information to Globus, so he too was part of the conspiracy to keep the Nazi empire's dark secret under wraps.
 Fatherland / int_4aa98555
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_4aa98555
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Fatherland / int_4aa98555
 Fatherland / int_4f40f2b9
type
You Can Run, but You Can't Hide
 Fatherland / int_4f40f2b9
comment
You Can Run, but You Can't Hide: Nebe gives March a speech of this kind, lest he consider fleeing while in Switzerland.
 Fatherland / int_4f40f2b9
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_4f40f2b9
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Fatherland / int_4f40f2b9
 Fatherland / int_5037b961
type
Et Tu, Brute?
 Fatherland / int_5037b961
comment
Et Tu, Brute?: Pili reports his father March Xavier to the authorities twice: the first time for not participating in any Nazi social clubs or initiatives, the second time when he visits Pili one last time before attempting to escape Germany. Xavier is deeply hurt by both betrayals, with the former incident giving him nightmares about Pili rejecting him. When March realizes that Max Jaeger was betraying him to Globus he finds it bitterly ironic that the man he knew the least, Nightingale, was completely loyal to him, while the man he knew the most, was really The Mole. Max seems pretty aware of the enormity of his betrayal, since he reacts to March's realization by laughing madly and then breaking down in tears.
 Fatherland / int_5037b961
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 Fatherland / int_5037b961
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_5037b961
 Fatherland / int_51f336bf
type
Joggers Find Death
 Fatherland / int_51f336bf
comment
Joggers Find Death: Jost witnesses Buhler's body disposal while out for a morning run.
 Fatherland / int_51f336bf
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_51f336bf
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_51f336bf
 Fatherland / int_52196c03
type
Age-Gap Romance
 Fatherland / int_52196c03
comment
Age-Gap Romance: Xavier March is a depressed divorcee in his 40s, while Charlie is a plucky American reporter in her 20s. The two bond over the course of their investigation into the conspiracy. March doesn't like Charlie at first, owing to her The Gadfly nature, but her youth and energy inspire him to take a greater interest in the wider world. Charlie Has a Type for older men, but she's initially weary of March, seeing him as a dog of the Nazi regime; after she sees him out of uniform and learns that he refuses to join the Nazi party, she likes him more.
 Fatherland / int_52196c03
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_52196c03
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_52196c03
 Fatherland / int_53a7089a
type
Pint-Sized Powerhouse
 Fatherland / int_53a7089a
comment
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: The petite Charlie lays a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Xavier in an apartment where they meet to exchange information before she remembers they're together. She ascribes her prowess to growing up as the only girl in her family.
 Fatherland / int_53a7089a
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 Fatherland / int_53a7089a
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_53a7089a
 Fatherland / int_56515a39
type
Artistic License – History
 Fatherland / int_56515a39
comment
Artistic License – History: A minor one. In the novel, it is a record of Josef Bühler's arrest the day after the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch that allows March to identify him (and to start to realise the depth of what he’s getting into). In reality, Bühler did not join the Nazi Party until 1933, though had been working for the party for some time before that.
 Fatherland / int_56515a39
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 Fatherland / int_56515a39
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Fatherland / int_56515a39
 Fatherland / int_5798bfbf
type
Reassigned to Antarctica
 Fatherland / int_5798bfbf
comment
Reassigned to Antarctica: Happens to Jost, who is deported to the still-ongoing war against the Soviet Union in the Ural Mountains. This is mentioned several times throughout the novel as a meatgrinder of a war that kills men almost as fast as they're sent out.
 Fatherland / int_5798bfbf
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 Fatherland / int_5798bfbf
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 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_5798bfbf
 Fatherland / int_5b6fe35f
type
You Cannot Kill an Idea
 Fatherland / int_5b6fe35f
comment
You Cannot Kill An Idea: "Cut a clearing in the forest of your mind, the trees are just waiting to reoccupy it (rephrased)."
 Fatherland / int_5b6fe35f
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 Fatherland / int_5b6fe35f
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Fatherland / int_5b6fe35f
 Fatherland / int_5f52cfcf
type
Intrepid Reporter
 Fatherland / int_5f52cfcf
comment
Intrepid Reporter: Charlie.
 Fatherland / int_5f52cfcf
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_5f52cfcf
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_5f52cfcf
 Fatherland / int_60194b82
type
Spanner in the Works
 Fatherland / int_60194b82
comment
Spanner in the Works: The Gestapo arranged for Max Jaeger to be assigned to the Buhler murder case (so he could ensure it went nowhere), but their Kripo superior screwed up the rotas and called March instead.
 Fatherland / int_60194b82
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_60194b82
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_60194b82
 Fatherland / int_65acf9db
type
He Knows Too Much
 Fatherland / int_65acf9db
comment
He Knows Too Much: The plot is essentially driven by March investigating his own government and finding out far more than he should. This is also why men with direct knowledge of the Holocaust are all being killed.
 Fatherland / int_65acf9db
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_65acf9db
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_65acf9db
 Fatherland / int_697b5232
type
Those Wacky Nazis
 Fatherland / int_697b5232
comment
Those Wacky Nazis: Downplayed if not outright subverted. Nazis are unquestionably treated as villains who committed terrible atrocities. However, they do not embody the stereotypical eccentricities often associated with Nazis. Instead they act as normal members of a totalitarian society. Globus is perhaps the only exception, as he comes across like a thuggish psychopath barely restraining himself from violence even when on his best behaviour.
 Fatherland / int_697b5232
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 Fatherland / int_697b5232
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_697b5232
 Fatherland / int_6b510ace
type
Hopeless War
 Fatherland / int_6b510ace
comment
Hopeless War: Germany's ongoing twenty-year war against partisans in the Soviet Union, which is slowly ebbing away at the Reich's strength. Casualties are heavy, it's increasingly unpopular at home and basically unwinnable. It's why Hitler desperately needs to reach a détente with the Americans, who are supporting the partisans.
 Fatherland / int_6b510ace
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 Fatherland / int_6b510ace
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_6b510ace
 Fatherland / int_72e0023f
type
Invoked Trope
 Fatherland / int_72e0023f
comment
Globus taunts March that no one will ever believe Germany could have committed such terrible acts.
 Fatherland / int_72e0023f
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 Fatherland / int_72e0023f
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Fatherland / int_72e0023f
 Fatherland / int_73f79f91
type
Released to Elsewhere
 Fatherland / int_73f79f91
comment
Released to Elsewhere: The official Nazi line is that Jews were "resettled East," but even Germans don't seem to really believe that.
 Fatherland / int_73f79f91
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_73f79f91
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Fatherland / int_73f79f91
 Fatherland / int_74c69a97
type
Nazi Protagonist
 Fatherland / int_74c69a97
comment
Nazi Protagonist: Averted. Despite holding the SS-rank of Sturmbannführer (which equates roughly to Major in the Wehrmacht and Komissar in the pre-Nazi Germany police force), it's mentioned several times that, despite being a very capable investigator, the protagonist hasn't progressed further in his career because of his outright refusal to become a party member. It's why he has such a poor relationship with his ultra-Nazi son and ex-wife and one of the main reasons that the kid betrays him.
 Fatherland / int_74c69a97
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 Fatherland / int_74c69a97
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_74c69a97
 Fatherland / int_77922c8c
type
Batter Up!
 Fatherland / int_77922c8c
comment
Batter Up!: Globus treats Xavier March to a mini-lecture on the wonders of the baseball bat as an instrument for inflicting grievous bodily harm. Globus admits that as much as he usually despises anything that wasn't thought up by Germansnote  Like Adolf Hitler, Globus was Austrian by birth, but aggressively re-identified himself as German, this American invention is a divine gift to a sadist like him.
 Fatherland / int_77922c8c
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 Fatherland / int_77922c8c
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_77922c8c
 Fatherland / int_79a0e313
type
Bolivian Army Ending
 Fatherland / int_79a0e313
comment
Bolivian Army Ending: While March's ultimate fate is not explicitly mentioned, by the end of the novel, he is trapped in a standoff at the former site of Auschwitz, surrounded by Gestapo agents. And considering that he is injured and armed only with a handgun, his only real options are going out in a blaze of glory or shooting himself.
 Fatherland / int_79a0e313
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 Fatherland / int_79a0e313
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_79a0e313
 Fatherland / int_79a60aec
type
For Want of a Nail
 Fatherland / int_79a60aec
comment
For Want Of A Nail: The Allohistorical Allusion mentioned above might seem like a minor detail, but it may be a hint at the story's "point of divergence". When Joseph Kennedy was ambassador to Britain, he was strongly in favor of appeasement with Germany well into 1940, and lost a lot of public face because of it. In this timeline, although America still clashed with Imperial Japan (and won), it stayed out of the war in Europe.
 Fatherland / int_79a60aec
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 Fatherland / int_79a60aec
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Fatherland / int_79a60aec
 Fatherland / int_7a143509
type
Shell-Shocked Veteran
 Fatherland / int_7a143509
comment
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Protagonist Xavier shows occasional signs of this, which might have contributed to the breakdown of his marriage. Living through the war certainly left him with a much-diminished view of the Third Reich.
 Fatherland / int_7a143509
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1.0
 Fatherland / int_7a143509
featureConfidence
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Fatherland / int_7a143509
 Fatherland / int_863fa679
type
What Happened to the Mouse?
 Fatherland / int_863fa679
comment
What Happened to the Mouse? What happened to millions of Jews who "were sent East"? Of course, this is a Foregone Conclusion. March imagines Charlie successfully making it across the border to Switzerland, but we never actually see her again after they are parted.
 Fatherland / int_863fa679
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_863fa679
featureConfidence
1.0
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Fatherland / int_863fa679
 Fatherland / int_8aa0f76
type
Deconstructed Trope
 Fatherland / int_8aa0f76
comment
Deconstructed Trope: Of previous "Hitler wins the war" scenarios. Germany in 1964 is not a very nice place by any means, but rather than the 'Nazis take over the planet' scenarios common to the sub-genre, it's clearly ended up as closer to being an analogue of the Soviet Union than an all-powerful unstoppable juggernaut. German territorial expansion is limited to the East, as planned in real life, while the nations of the west are clearly satellite states more-or-less subservient to German hegemony but nevertheless independent from direct German control (again, as planned in real life). Rather than invading the United States and conquering it, there's a Cold War between them which is starting to warm into an uneasy detente. Rather than the Thousand Year Reich lasting forever and ever it's implied that Germany is slowly beginning to stagnate and will ultimately collapse from within anyway.
 Fatherland / int_8aa0f76
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_8aa0f76
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_8aa0f76
 Fatherland / int_8ed5c6e4
type
Asshole Victim
 Fatherland / int_8ed5c6e4
comment
Asshole Victim: Doesn't get much worse than the people who engineered the Holocaust.
 Fatherland / int_8ed5c6e4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_8ed5c6e4
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_8ed5c6e4
 Fatherland / int_a536f3a3
type
Gender-Blender Name
 Fatherland / int_a536f3a3
comment
Gender-Blender Name: Charlie Maguire, a female journalist (short for Charlotte).
 Fatherland / int_a536f3a3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_a536f3a3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_a536f3a3
 Fatherland / int_a632f7fa
type
Cool Train
 Fatherland / int_a632f7fa
comment
Cool Train: The "Breitspurbahn", a railway network with three meter track gauge and gargantuan locomotives and rolling stock (and which in real life never went beyond the planning stages), got built in the story.
 Fatherland / int_a632f7fa
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_a632f7fa
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_a632f7fa
 Fatherland / int_a70223
type
Karma Houdini
 Fatherland / int_a70223
comment
Karma Houdini: Hitler, Heydrich, Goebbels and the other leading Nazis who were responsible for the war and the Holocaust got away with it and are still in power two decades later, although it's implied their rule will eventually collapse.
 Fatherland / int_a70223
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_a70223
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_a70223
 Fatherland / int_a7ba94de
type
Inferiority Superiority Complex
 Fatherland / int_a7ba94de
comment
Inferiority Superiority Complex: The Nazis are fond of overtly and implicitly rubbing their victory in the faces of their defeated foes. Their monuments are bigger than everyone else's. Their sporting teams always win (even, it is hinted, if they have to cheat). And so on. March merely considers this as culture-wide evidence of how insecure and inferior the Germans actually feel deep down: Similarly, it's noted that even within the Reich the people who tend to harp on the loudest about the purity of Aryan race and the German bloodline tend to be the ones who fall far short of Aryan standards of purity.
 Fatherland / int_a7ba94de
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_a7ba94de
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_a7ba94de
 Fatherland / int_a7c91a10
type
Meaningless Villain Victory
 Fatherland / int_a7c91a10
comment
Meaningless Villain Victory: Josef Buhler was able to complete the Final Solution...but he spent his last years living a lonely existence consumed by guilt, with his own superiors having him killed to cover up his misdeeds. In a broader sense, Germany may have been victorious, but the land it gained isn't all that useful and is crawling with guerilla rebels that are eating away at Germany's men and wealth.
 Fatherland / int_a7c91a10
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_a7c91a10
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Fatherland / int_a7c91a10
 Fatherland / int_a969c74a
type
Final Solution
 Fatherland / int_a969c74a
comment
What happened to millions of Jews who "were sent East"? Of course, this is a Foregone Conclusion.
 Fatherland / int_a969c74a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_a969c74a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_a969c74a
 Fatherland / int_aa83d0d6
type
Sub-Par Supremacist
 Fatherland / int_aa83d0d6
comment
Sub-Par Supremacist: March reflects on this trope, noting that the most vehement supremacists were those that were not considered ideal specimens by the Nazi leadership:
 Fatherland / int_aa83d0d6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_aa83d0d6
featureConfidence
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Fatherland / int_aa83d0d6
 Fatherland / int_acf33d00
type
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain
 Fatherland / int_acf33d00
comment
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Xavier figures out that Max is The Mole when Nebe tells Xavier the SS figured out Luther wasn't dead because their phones were tapped. Xavier assumed the US embassy had tipped the SS off, and there was no reason for Nebe to tell him otherwise. Only a few people knew about that particular phone, so that meant they were betrayed. Had Nebe said nothing, Xavier likely would’ve trusted Max later on and led them to Charlie.
 Fatherland / int_acf33d00
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_acf33d00
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_acf33d00
 Fatherland / int_ae3d6438
type
Deadpan Snarker
 Fatherland / int_ae3d6438
comment
Deadpan Snarker: March and Jaeger. Artur Nebe as well.
 Fatherland / int_ae3d6438
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_ae3d6438
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_ae3d6438
 Fatherland / int_b06bbf4b
type
Be Careful What You Wish For
 Fatherland / int_b06bbf4b
comment
Be Careful What You Wish For: The Nazis get their wish of seizing large tracts of Eastern Europe and Russia for German living space. In reality, the land is poor and underdeveloped, and full of partisans waging a guerrilla war against the Germans. Millions of settlers want to return home. Nebe notes the irony: "living space that no one wants to live in."
 Fatherland / int_b06bbf4b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_b06bbf4b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_b06bbf4b
 Fatherland / int_b6844837
type
Evil Is Bigger
 Fatherland / int_b6844837
comment
Evil Is Bigger: Justified and deconstructed. The Nazi Reich has a ton of monuments that are bigger than anywhere else. However, March sees this as a sign of how deeply insecure Germany is as a society, that they have to constantly build such behemoths and gloat about how much bigger they are than everyone else's.
 Fatherland / int_b6844837
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_b6844837
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_b6844837
 Fatherland / int_bd79d896
type
Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot
 Fatherland / int_bd79d896
comment
Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: The suspicious death of high-ranking Nazi Josef Bühler leads to March discovering that the German government systemically slaughtered the empire's entire Jewish population.
 Fatherland / int_bd79d896
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_bd79d896
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_bd79d896
 Fatherland / int_c335b9ec
type
Irony
 Fatherland / int_c335b9ec
comment
Irony: After being rejected by his son and having an argument with his ex-wife on the subject, March ruefully notes that between the two of them and her new husband, the only inhabitant of their household who wasn't wearing some kind of uniform was the family dog, making them more domesticated and unthinkingly obedient than a member of a species specifically domesticated and bred for blind loyalty and obedience.
 Fatherland / int_c335b9ec
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_c335b9ec
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_c335b9ec
 Fatherland / int_c3585f4a
type
Boom, Headshot!
 Fatherland / int_c3585f4a
comment
Boom, Headshot!: At the last minute, Luther is shot in the head while trying to defect to the Americans.
 Fatherland / int_c3585f4a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_c3585f4a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_c3585f4a
 Fatherland / int_c3c18143
type
Hope Spot
 Fatherland / int_c3c18143
comment
Hope Spot: Near the end of the book, after Globus has horribly tortured March, it appears that Artur Nebe, Krebs, and Max Jaeger have planned his escape so he can reveal the truth about the Holocaust to the world. However, March quickly deduces that they are trying to trick him into leading them to Maguire.
 Fatherland / int_c3c18143
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_c3c18143
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_c3c18143
 Fatherland / int_c972d624
type
Slut-Shaming
 Fatherland / int_c972d624
comment
Slut-Shaming: This happens quite often to Charlie, since the perfect German woman stays in the kitchen.
 Fatherland / int_c972d624
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_c972d624
featureConfidence
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 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_c972d624
 Fatherland / int_cf92fea8
type
Cassandra Truth
 Fatherland / int_cf92fea8
comment
Cassandra Truth: Globus taunts March that no one will ever believe Germany could have committed such terrible acts. The date-section of the book begins with Holocaust survivor Primo Levi quoting an SS officer, who expresses the very same idea. Goebbels' propaganda claims that Germany is winning the space race. March is skeptical, but according to Charlie this is actually true.
 Fatherland / int_cf92fea8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_cf92fea8
featureConfidence
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_cf92fea8
 Fatherland / int_d243518d
type
In Spite of a Nail
 Fatherland / int_d243518d
comment
In Spite of a Nail: Played with; the English rock-and-roll band who are often mentioned as becoming increasingly popular with the youth are never explicitly named, but it's pretty clear that they're either supposed to be The Beatles or an Alternate Universe equivalent who are close enough to them to make no real difference. The European Community, the predecessor of the modern European Union, was still formed, albeit it is clear that the other member states are all subordinate to Germany. Even though the United States lost in Europe, it was still able to defeat Japan (with at least one city having an atomic bomb used on it).
 Fatherland / int_d243518d
featureApplicability
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 Fatherland / int_d243518d
featureConfidence
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Fatherland / int_d243518d
 Fatherland / int_d73e0f7f
type
"Ray of Hope" Ending
 Fatherland / int_d73e0f7f
comment
"Ray of Hope" Ending: Xavier is most likely going to get shot and killed. And it's unknown if Charlie actually got away with the documents. But it is hinted that Nazism will eventually collapse under the weight of its dysfunction.
 Fatherland / int_d73e0f7f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_d73e0f7f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_d73e0f7f
 Fatherland / int_dc115332
type
Scrubbing Off the Trauma
 Fatherland / int_dc115332
comment
Scrubbing Off the Trauma: Xavier a former U-Boat captain, finds out that some of the uniform clothing he was issued while in the service was manufactured from the hair of Holocaust victims. He describes not feeling clean after bathing repeatedly for days; more justified than most given the close physical contact involved...Overlaps with Shower of Angst.
 Fatherland / int_dc115332
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_dc115332
featureConfidence
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 Fatherland
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Fatherland / int_dc115332
 Fatherland / int_de56f2bf
type
Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide"
 Fatherland / int_de56f2bf
comment
Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": Despite Nazi claims that the Jews were “resettled East,� most Germans seem to know what really happened. Xavier lampshades this and another more vile euphemism, “up the chimney.�
 Fatherland / int_de56f2bf
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_de56f2bf
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_de56f2bf
 Fatherland / int_e2ccee25
type
Animal Motifs
 Fatherland / int_e2ccee25
comment
Animal Motifs: Xavier is compared to a fox by the narrator, who also says that he doesn't run with the (wolf) pack (and groups of submarines are also called wolf packs. Xavier and Max were on subs during World War II). Max is compared to a bear.
 Fatherland / int_e2ccee25
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_e2ccee25
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_e2ccee25
 Fatherland / int_e3736433
type
Rage Within the Machine
 Fatherland / int_e3736433
comment
Rage Within the Machine: Xavier was already becoming disillusioned and disgusted with his life in the Reich well before he learned of the Final Solution.
 Fatherland / int_e3736433
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_e3736433
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_e3736433
 Fatherland / int_e567510d
type
Determinator
 Fatherland / int_e567510d
comment
Determinator: Xavier March. No matter the setback—Jost’s deportation, Luther’s murder—March is determined to learn the truth.
 Fatherland / int_e567510d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_e567510d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_e567510d
 Fatherland / int_e5fd8bc2
type
Hate Sink
 Fatherland / int_e5fd8bc2
comment
Hate Sink: Odilo Globocnik manages to be the single most loathsome character in a book full of Nazis: he establishes himself as an obnoxious, violent, bullying Jerkass even before we learn he's a Gestapo torturer who willingly played a pivotal role in the mass extermination of Polish Jews.
 Fatherland / int_e5fd8bc2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_e5fd8bc2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_e5fd8bc2
 Fatherland / int_e698d371
type
Alternate-History Nazi Victory
 Fatherland / int_e698d371
comment
Alternate-History Nazi Victory: It's set in an alternate 1964 where the Nazis now control Europe, and the truth about the Holocaust drives the plot. It's also something of a Deconstructed Trope; rather than the Nazis building a world-spanning empire, the Nazi state covers Europe only and has more in common with the later stages of the Soviet Union, slowly decaying under the weight of its own tyranny and inefficiency while engaged in a Cold War with the United States.
 Fatherland / int_e698d371
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_e698d371
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_e698d371
 Fatherland / int_e70127
type
The Mole
 Fatherland / int_e70127
comment
When March realizes that Max Jaeger was betraying him to Globus he finds it bitterly ironic that the man he knew the least, Nightingale, was completely loyal to him, while the man he knew the most, was really The Mole. Max seems pretty aware of the enormity of his betrayal, since he reacts to March's realization by laughing madly and then breaking down in tears.
 Fatherland / int_e70127
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_e70127
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_e70127
 Fatherland / int_e7f67516
type
Point of Divergence
 Fatherland / int_e7f67516
comment
Point of Divergence: The German victory in this timeline was a result of: The 1942 German offensive in the East (Case Blue) was successful, conquering the Caucasus and cutting off the Soviet Union's oil supplies, forcing them into defeat by 1943. Germany won the Battle of the Atlantic in 1944 after discovering that their Enigma codes had been cracked by the British, and Britain was starved into submission. Heydrich survived the 1942 assassination attempt in Prague.
 Fatherland / int_e7f67516
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_e7f67516
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_e7f67516
 Fatherland / int_e866f3b8
type
Puppet State
 Fatherland / int_e866f3b8
comment
Puppet State: We don't see a lot of Europe outside of Germany or territory directly controlled by Germany, but the mentions we get suggest that this is somewhat downplayed. Following the Nazi victory Western Europe has naturally been brought into a European Community which makes them basically puppets. But, in keeping with Hitler's real-life lack of interest in dominating Western Europe (he was more concerned with establishing "living space" in the east) and the fact that dominating Eastern Europe is hinted to basically have turned out to be a resource-draining Pyrrhic Victory, it's implied that beyond unfavourable economic ties, making sure that they come second to Germany in sporting contests and doing whatever Germany tells them in terms of world relations Western Europe is more-or-less left alone to get on with things. For example, mentions of a band that is almost certainly The Beatles becoming popular with the youth and books by George Orwell and Graham Greene (Author) circulating among the black market would seem to suggest that Britain, for one example, has a relatively more liberal public and cultural life than is enjoyed in Germany and the places directly controlled by it.
 Fatherland / int_e866f3b8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_e866f3b8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_e866f3b8
 Fatherland / int_eedee4d
type
The Starscream
 Fatherland / int_eedee4d
comment
The Starscream: It is implied that Heydrich arranged for his boss Heinrich Himmler to be killed in a plane crash so he could take over the S.S.
 Fatherland / int_eedee4d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Fatherland / int_eedee4d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_eedee4d
 Fatherland / int_f93f10e
type
Can't Stop The Signal
 Fatherland / int_f93f10e
comment
Can't Stop The Signal: Played with in the book, in which either Charlie makes it out of Germany with evidence of the Holocaust or March simply imagines it before dying. Played straight in the movie, where Charlie gives the evidence directly to President Kennedy, who immediately cancels the summit with Hitler.
 Fatherland / int_f93f10e
featureApplicability
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 Fatherland / int_f93f10e
featureConfidence
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 Fatherland
hasFeature
Fatherland / int_f93f10e
 Fatherland / int_ffad4e9f
type
Shown Their Work
 Fatherland / int_ffad4e9f
comment
Shown Their Work: Robert Harris includes an explanatory note about the historical characters he uses in the novel and their actual fates, as well as the real-life documents that he cites, just in case anyone thought he made up the thing about the Holocaust.
 Fatherland / int_ffad4e9f
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 Fatherland / int_ffad4e9f
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Fatherland / int_ffad4e9f
 Fatherland / int_name
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ItemName
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comment
 Fatherland / int_name
featureApplicability
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 Fatherland / int_name
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Fatherland / int_name
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Fatherland

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 FatherLand
sameAs
Fatherland
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Alternate-History Nazi Victory / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Big Bad Friend / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Big Brother Is Employing You / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Can't Stop The Signal / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Defective Detective / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Dystopia Is Hard / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Everyone Is a Suspect / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Government Conspiracy / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Happiness Is Mandatory / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Homegrown Hero / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
In the Past, Everyone Will Be Famous / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Internal Reveal / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Joggers Find Death / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Like Reality, Unless Noted / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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Nazi Protagonist / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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No Swastikas / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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Out, Damned Spot! / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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Rage Within the Machine / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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Released to Elsewhere / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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Scrubbing Off the Trauma / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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Sliding Scale of Alternate History Plausibility / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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Sub-Par Supremacist / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Swiss Bank Account / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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This Is What the Building Will Look Like / int_23317314
 Fatherland
hasFeature
Token Good Cop / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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Tour Guide Detective / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide" / int_23317314
 Fatherland
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You Cannot Kill an Idea / int_23317314