It’s time for the A to Z Challenge! Hello and welcome to my main blog. My name is Rose Anderson and I’m a novelist. Join me and nearly 2000 bloggers and authors as we blog the alphabet throughout the month of April. It’s not as easy as you might think. There’s a reason Q and Z are worth 10 points in Scrabble!

For me, this year’s alphabet will be about history and historical science– things that tickle my fancy or capture my imagination. I hope you will find them interesting too.

Keep the topic rolling! If you’ve enjoyed the today’s offering and have comments or questions, add them at the end of the post in the comment section. And…if you enjoy romances with unique twists, a good deal of steam, facts, and characters full of personality and depth, scroll down for a free chapter sampler. I love to make the impossible sound plausible. Suffice to say, I have an unusual mind.
🙂

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Today’s Calliope’s Writing Tablet post is brought to you by the letter V ~ Volkswagen

For us, the days of buying new cars have passed. Been there, done that many times over the course of our marriage. Our last new car was a Honda Hybrid. I can’t say enough good about that car. Not only did it have fantastic gas mileage, it saved my husband’s life in a serious collision– a crash he shouldn’t have been able to walk away from.

Life is quieter now. The kids are grown. No more shuttling here and there. He’s done with school and public programs for the most part. And as of three years ago, I no longer work outside the home. After the Honda we decided our needs were less than when we were busy raising our family. We don’t need a monthly car payment on a new vehicle that depreciates in value the minute you drive out of the dealership and gets worse by the mile. Living miles from anyone and anything, those miles add up! Our next new car will be electric. But until electric car ports become standard features on the roads, we’ll buy used. It saves resources too. Like many, we’ve shared cars for the whole length of our marriage. The last car I owned independently of marriage was a purple AMC Gremlin.  I now have another– a silver Volkswagen Beetle. It even has a dashboard vase. lol

Adolf and the Bug

After WWI, Germany was subjected to strict punitive measures under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The world was angry over the war to end all wars and Germany would pay 132 billion gold Reichmarks ($32 billion dollars) in addition to the $5 billion initial payment demanded by the treaty. On top of this, the new German government was required to surrender approximately 10% of its pre-war territory in Europe and all of its overseas possessions. Even German patents were lost. (This is how we come to have aspirin, inks, and dyes). Some would say the treaty took rather draconian measures against Germany, and that it made no sense to break the country’s economy because no good would come of it. They were right. While all of Germany suffered for the Kaiser’s actions, there were some who plotted for change. The end of the 1920s saw a financial collapse that would rock the western world. Things were already pretty thin in Germany and the stock market crash of 1929 made things even worse. The National Socialist German Workers Party (a.k.a. Nazi) grew out of this political and economic instability.

After reading Henry Ford biography during a brief stint in prison in 1923, a young Adolf Hitler, who couldn’t drive himself oddly enough, became somewhat of a car nut. By the time he became chancellor in1933 he had an idea to “get Germany motoring”. Prior to Hitler’s rise, the economy of Germany was so poor, the cars being built weren’t affordable to the average German. At this time, Austrian engineer Ferdinand Porsche was already working on a smaller cheaper car to fill that void. Hitler appointed Porsche as the designer of the government funded people’s car and set his mind on revitalizing the German auto industry.

Volkswagen ~ The People’s Car

Hitler’s government would support the development of the peoples car, literally, volks wagen. The car could carry two adults and three children at hit a speed of 60mph. The price of the Volkwagen would be 1000 Reichmarks, just slightly more than a motorcycle (about $140). He even roughed out a sketch. But cars weren’t Hitler’s only focus. When Germany went to war again, the production of the Volkswagen halted. The people’s car was being fitted for desert warfare.

At the end of WWII, the auto factory was in ruins. The world had seen first hand what stripping a country to its bones had led to. Allies wouldn’t make that mistake again. Instead they used Volkswagen to resuscitate the German auto industry.

This is an interesting video told in three parts. Follow through to the next.

More~
http://en.volkswagen.com/en/company/history.html

Tomorrow ~ Fun Day Sunday & Weekend Happenings
Monday ~ letter W!

My Other Weekend Happenings~

Weekend Writing Warriors
http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

There’s still time to try my wild foods recipes on my other blog
Scroll back for all ten.  Yum!
http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/

My Sexy Saturday
http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Snippet Sunday
**A promo op for you too!**
http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

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Fantastic authors & industry representatives all month long. http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Romance Books ‘4’ Us
http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

Authors~ check out our promo services.
And…Our April contest is on. We have prizes!
http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Attention Authors~ My Exquisite Quills blog hosts five fun and free promo opportunities a week. I’m delighted to say it’s a hot spot with great exposure. Come join in!

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places –
Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories
Download your free chapter sampler today!

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