Lies
being taught;
Mein
Kampf is unintelligible ravings of a maniac.
Now
the Truth; It is the opposite of what press has told
you
CHAPTER
XIII THE GERMAN POST-WAR POLICY OF ALLIANCES
Part 5
-Germany must secure independence.
If the
German nation is to put an end to a state of things which threatens to wipe it
off the map of Europe it must not fall into the errors of the pre-War period
and make the whole world its enemy. But it must ascertain who is its most
dangerous enemy so that it can concentrate all its forces in a struggle to beat
him. And if, in order to carry through this struggle to victory, sacrifices
should be made in other quarters, future generations will not condemn us for
that. They will take account of the miseries and anxieties which led us to make
such a bitter decision, and in the light of that consideration they will more
clearly recognize the brilliancy of our success.
Again
I must say here that we must always be guided by the fundamental principle
that, as a preliminary to winning back lost provinces, the political
independence and strength of the motherland must first be restored.
The
first task which has to be accomplished is to make that independence possible
and to secure it by a wise policy of alliances, which presupposes an energetic
management of our public affairs.
But it
is just on this point that we, National Socialists, have to guard against being
dragged into the tow of our ranting bourgeois patriots who take their cue from
the marxist press. It would be a disaster if, instead of preparing for the
coming struggle, our Movement also were to busy itself with mere protests by
word of mouth.
It was
the fantastic idea of a Nibelungen alliance with the decomposed body of the
Habsburg State that brought about Germany's ruin. Fantastic sentimentality in
dealing with the possibilities of foreign policy to-day would be the best means
of preventing our revival for innumerable
years
to come.
Here I
must briefly answer the objections which may be raised in regard to the three
questions I have put.
1. Is
it possible at all to form an alliance with the present Germany, whose weakness
is so visible to all eyes?
2. Can
the ex-enemy nations change their attitude towards Germany?
3. In
other nations is not the influence of Jewish finance stronger than the
recognition of their own interests, and does not this influence thwart all their
good intentions and render all their plans futile?
I
think that I have already dealt adequately with one of the two aspects of the
first point. Of course nobody will enter into an alliance with the present
Germany. No Power in the world would link its fortunes with a State whose
government does not afford grounds for the slightest confidence. As regards the
attempt which has been made by many of our compatriots to explain the conduct
of the Government by referring to the woeful state of public feeling and thus
excuse such conduct, I must strongly object to that way of looking at things.
The
lack of character which our people have shown during the last six years is
deeply distressing. The indifference with which they have treated the most
urgent necessities of our nation might veritably lead one to despair. Their
cowardice is such that it often cries to heaven for vengeance. But one must
never forget that we are dealing with a people who gave to the world, a few
years previously, an admirable example of the highest human qualities. From
the first days of August 1914 to the end of the tremendous struggle between the
nations, no people in the world gave a better proof of manly courage, tenacity
and patient endurance, than this people gave who are so cast down and
dispirited to-day. Nobody will dare to assert that the lack of character among
our people to-day is typical of them. What we have to endure to-day, among us
and around us, is due only to the influence of the sad and distressing effects
that followed the high treason committed on November 9th, 1918. More
than ever before the word of the poet is true: that evil can only give rise to
evil. But even in this epoch those qualities among our people which are
fundamentally sound are not entirely lost. They slumber in the depths of the
national conscience, and sometimes in the clouded firmament we see certain
qualities like shining lights which Germany will one day remember as the first
symptoms of a revival. We often see young Germans assembling and forming determined
resolutions, as they did in 1914, freely and willingly to offer themselves as a
sacrifice on the altar of their beloved Fatherland. Millions of men have
resumed work, whole-heartedly and zealously, as if no revolution had ever
affected them. The smith is at his anvil once again. And the farmer drives his
plough. The scientist is in his laboratory. And everybody is once again
attending to his duty with the same zeal and devotion as formerly.
The
oppression which we suffer from at the hands of our enemies is no longer taken,
as it formerly was, as a matter for laughter; but it is resented with
bitterness and anger. There can be no doubt that a great change of attitude has
taken place.
This
evolution has not yet taken the shape of a conscious intention and movement to
restore the political power and independence of our nation; but the blame for
this must be attributed to those utterly incompetent people who have no natural
endowments to qualify them for statesmanship and yet have been governing our nation
since 1918 and leading it to ruin.
Yes.
If anybody accuses our people to-day he ought to be asked: What is being done
to help them? What are we to say of the poor support which the people give to
any measures introduced by the Government? Is it not true that such a thing as
a Government hardly exists at all? And must we consider the poor support which
it receives as a sign of a lack of vitality in the nation itself; or is it not
rather a proof of the complete failure of the methods employed in the management
of this valuable trust? What have our Governments done to re-awaken in the
nation a proud spirit of self-assertion, up-standing manliness, and a spirit of
righteous defiance towards its enemies?
In
1919, when the Peace Treaty was imposed on the German nation, there were
grounds for hoping that this instrument of unrestricted oppression would help
to reinforce the outcry for the freedom of Germany. Peace treaties which make
demands that fall like a whip-lash on the people turn out not infrequently to
be the signal of a future revival.
To
what purpose could the Treaty of Versailles have been exploited?
In the
hands of a willing Government, how could this instrument of unlimited blackmail
and shameful humiliation have been applied for the purpose of arousing national
sentiment to its highest pitch? How could a well-directed system of propaganda
have utilized the sadist cruelty of that treaty so as to change the
indifference of the people to a feeling of indignation and transform that
indignation into a spirit of dauntless resistance?
Each
point of that Treaty could have been engraved on the minds and hearts of the
German people and burned into them until sixty million men and women would find
their souls aflame with a feeling of rage and shame; and a torrent of fire
would burst forth as from a furnace, and one common will would be forged from
it, like a sword of steel. Then the people would join in the common cry:
"To arms again!"
Yes. A
treaty of that kind can be used for such a purpose. Its unbounded oppression
and its impudent demands were an excellent propaganda weapon to arouse the
sluggish spirit of the nation and restore its vitality.
Then,
from the child's story-book to the last newspaper in the country, and every
theatre and cinema, every pillar where placards are posted and every free space
on the hoardings should be utilized in the service of this one great mission,
until the faint-hearted cry, "Lord, deliver us," which our patriotic
associations send up to Heaven to-day would be transformed into an ardent
prayer: "Almighty God, bless our arms when the hour comes. Be just, as
Thou hast always been just. Judge now if we deserve our freedom. Lord, bless
our struggle."
All
opportunities were neglected and nothing was done.
Who
will be surprised now if our people are not such as they should be or might be?
The rest of the world looks upon us only as its valet, or as a kindly dog that
will lick its master's hand after he has been whipped.
Of
course the possibilities of forming alliances with other nations are hampered
by the indifference of our own people, but much more by our Governments. They
have been and are so corrupt that now, after eight years of indescribable
oppression, there exists only a faint desire for liberty.
In
order that our nation may undertake a policy of alliances, it must restore its
prestige among other nations, and it must have an authoritative Government that
is not a drudge in the service of foreign States and the taskmaster of its own
people, but rather the herald of the national will.
If our
people had a government which would look upon this as its mission, six years
would not have passed before a courageous foreign policy on the part of the
REICH would find a corresponding support among the people, whose desire for freedom
would be encouraged and intensified thereby.
The
third objection referred to the difficulty of changing the ex-enemy nations
into friendly allies. That objection may be answered as follows:
The
general anti-German psychosis which has developed in other countries through
the war propaganda must of necessity continue to exist as long as there is not
a renaissance of the national conscience among the German people, so that the
German REICH may once again become a State which is able to play its part on
the chess-board of European politics and with whom the others feel that they
can play. Only when the Government and the people feel absolutely certain of
being able to undertake a policy of alliances can one Power or another, whose
interests coincide with ours, think of instituting a system of propaganda for
the purpose of changing public opinion among its own people. Naturally it will
take several years of persevering and ably directed work to reach such a
result. Just because a long period is needed in order to change the public
opinion of a country, it is necessary to reflect calmly before such an
enterprise be undertaken. This means
that one must not enter upon this kind of work unless one is absolutely
convinced that it is worth the trouble and that it will bring results which
will be valuable in the future. One must not try to change the opinions and
feelings of a people by basing one's actions on the vain cajolery of a more or
less brilliant Foreign Minister, but only if there be a tangible guarantee that
the new orientation will be really useful. Otherwise public opinion in the
country dealt with may be just thrown into a state of complete confusion. The
most reliable guarantee that can be given for the possibility of subsequently
entering into an alliance with a certain State cannot be found in the
loquacious suavity of some individual member of the Government, but in the
manifest stability of a definite and practical policy on the part of the
Government as a whole, and in the support which is given to that policy by the
public opinion of the country. The faith of the public in this policy will be
strengthened all the more if the Government organize one active propaganda to
explain its efforts and secure public support for them, and if public opinion
favourably responds to the Government's policy.
Therefore
a nation in such a position as ours will be looked upon as a possible ally if
public opinion supports the Government's policy and if both are united in the
same enthusiastic determination to carry through the fight for national
freedom. That condition of affairs must be firmly established before any
attempt can be made to change public opinion in other countries which, for the
sake of defending their most elementary interests, are disposed to take the
road shoulder-to-shoulder with a companion who seems able to play his part in
defending those interests. In other words, this means that they will be ready
to establish an alliance.
For
this purpose, however, one thing is necessary. Seeing that the task of bringing
about a radical change in the public opinion of a country calls for hard work,
and many do not at first understand what it means, it would be both foolish and
criminal to commit mistakes which could be used as weapons in the hands of
those who are opposed to such a change.
One
must recognize the fact that it takes a long time for a people to understand
completely the inner purposes which a Government has in view, because it is not
possible to explain the ultimate aims of the preparations that are being made
to carry through a certain policy. In such cases the Government has to count on
the blind faith of the masses or the intuitive instinct of the ruling caste
that is more developed intellectually. But since many people lack this insight,
this political acumen and faculty for seeing into the trend of affairs, and
since political considerations forbid a public explanation of why such and such
a course is being followed, a certain number of leaders in intellectual circles
will always oppose new tendencies which, because they are not easily grasped,
can be pointed to as mere experiments. And that attitude arouses opposition
among conservative circles regarding the measures in question.
For
this reason a strict duty devolves upon everybody not to allow any weapon to
fall into the hands of those who would interfere with the work of bringing
about a mutual understanding with other nations. This is specially so in our
case, where we have to deal with the pretentions and fantastic talk of our
patriotic associations and our small bourgeoisie who talk politics in the
cafes. That the cry for a new war fleet, the restoration of our colonies, etc.,
has no chance of ever being carried out in practice will not be denied by
anyone who thinks over the matter calmly and seriously. These harmless and
sometimes half-crazy spouters in the war of protests are serving the interests
of our mortal enemy, while the manner in which their vapourings are exploited
for political purposes in England cannot be considered as advantageous to
Germany.
They
squander their energies in futile demonstrations against the whole world. These
demonstrations are harmful to our interests and those who indulge in them
forget the fundamental principle which is a preliminary condition of all success.
What thou doest, do it thoroughly. Because we keep on howling against five or
ten States we fail to concentrate all the forces of our national will and our
physical strength for a blow at the heart of our bitterest enemy. And in this
way we sacrifice the possibility of securing an alliance which would reinforce
our strength for that decisive conflict.
Here,
too, there is a mission for National Socialism to fulfill. It must teach our
people not to fix their attention on the little things but rather on the great
things, not to exhaust their energies on secondary objects, and not to forget
that the object we shall have to fight for one day is the bare existence of our
people and that the sole enemy we shall have to strike at is that Power which
is robbing us of this existence.
Moreover,
the German people will have no moral right to complain of the manner in which
the rest of the world acts towards them, as long as they themselves have not
called to account those criminals who sold and betrayed their own country. We
cannot hope to be taken very seriously if we indulge in long-range abuse and
protests against England and Italy and then allow those scoundrels to circulate
undisturbed in our own country who were in the pay of the enemy war propaganda,
took the weapons out of our hands, broke the backbone of our resistance and
bartered away the REICH for thirty pieces of silver.
The
enemy did only what was expected. And we ought to learn from the stand he took
and the way he acted.
Adolf
Hitler
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