Published in 1940 by the Washington Journal
under the auspices of the Deutsche Informationsstelle.
This digitalized version © 2009 by The Scriptorium.
This digitalized version © 2009 by The Scriptorium.
Dr. Friedrich Stieve
Germany's
enemies maintain today that Adolf Hitler is the greatest disturber of peace
known to history, that he threatens every nation with sudden attack and oppression,
that he has created a terrible war machine in order to cause trouble and
devastation all around him. At the same time they intentionally conceal an
all-important fact: they themselves drove the Leader of the German people
finally to draw the sword. They themselves compelled him to seek to obtain at
last by the use of force that which he had been striving to gain by persuasion
from the beginning: the security of his country. They did this not only by declaring
war on him on September 3, 1939, but also by blocking step for step for
seven years the path to any peaceful discussion.
The attempts repeatedly made
by Adolf Hitler to induce the governments of other states to collaborate with
him in a reconstruction of Europe resemble an ever-recurring pattern in his
conduct since the commencement of his labors for the German Reich. But these
attempts were wrecked every time by reason of the fact that nowhere was there
any willingness to give them due consideration, because the evil spirit of the
Great War still prevailed everywhere, because in London and Paris and in the
capitals of the Western Powers' vassal states there was only one fixed
intention: to perpetuate the power of Versailles.
A rapid glance at the most
important events will furnish incontrovertible proof for this statement.
When Adolf Hitler came to the
fore, Germany was as gagged and as helpless as the victors of 1918 wanted her
to be. Completely disarmed, with an army of only 100,000 men intended solely
for police duties within the country, she found herself within a tightly closed
ring of neighbors all armed to the teeth and leagued together. To the old
enemies in the West, Britain, Belgium and France, new ones were artificially
created and added in the East and the South: above all Poland and
Czechoslovakia. A quarter of the population of Germany were forcibly torn away
from their mother country and handed over to foreign powers. The Reich,
mutilated on all sides and robbed of every means of defense, at any moment
could become the helpless victim of some rapacious neighbor.
Then it was that Adolf Hitler
for the first time made his appeal to the common sense of the other powers. On May
17, 1933, a few months after his appointment to the office of
Reichskanzler, he delivered a speech in the German Reichstag, from which we
extract the following passages:
"Germany will be
perfectly ready to disband her entire military establishment and destroy the small amount of arms remaining to her, if the
neighboring countries will do the same thing with equal thoroughness.
... Germany is entirely ready
to renounce aggressive weapons of every sort if the armed nations, on their
part, will destroy their aggressive weapons within a specified period, and if
their use is forbidden by an international convention.
... Germany is at all times
prepared to renounce offensive weapons if the rest of the world does the same.
Germany is prepared to agree to any solemn pact of non-aggression because she
does not think of attacking anybody but only of acquiring security."
No answer was received.
Without paying any heed the
others continued to fill their arsenals with weapons, to pile up their stores
of explosives, to increase the numbers of their troops. At the same time the
League of Nations, the instrument of the victorious powers, declared that
Germany must first pass through a period of "probation" before it
would be possible to discuss with her the question of the disarmament of the
other countries. On October 14, 1933, Hitler broke away from this League
of Nations with which it was impossible to come to any agreement. Shortly
afterwards, however, on December 18, 1933, he came forward with a new
proposal for the improvement of international relations. This proposal included
the following six points:
"1. Germany
receives full equality of rights.
2. The fully armed States undertake amongst
themselves not to increase their armaments beyond their present level.
3. Germany adheres to this agreement, freely
undertaking to make only so much actual moderate use of the equality of rights
granted to her as will not represent a threat to the security of any other
European power.
4. All States recognize certain obligations in
regard to conducting war on humane principles, or to the elimination of certain
weapons for use against the civilian population.
5. All States accept a uniform general control
which will watch over and ensure the observance of these obligations.
6. The European nations guarantee one another the
unconditional maintenance of peace by the conclusion of non-aggression pacts,
to be renewed after ten years."
Following upon this a proposal
was made to increase the strength of the German army to 300,000 men,
corresponding to the strength required by Germany "having regard to the
length of her frontiers and the size of the armies of her neighbors", in
order to protect her threatened territory against attacks. The defender of the
principle of peaceable agreement was thus trying to accommodate himself to the
unwillingness of the others to disarm by expressing a desire for a limited
increase of armaments for his own country. An exchange of notes, starting
from this and continuing for years, finally came to a sudden end with an
unequivocal "no" from France. This "no" was moreover
accompanied by tremendous increases in the armed forces of France, Britain and
Russia.
In this way
Germany's position became still worse than before. The danger to the Reich was
so great that Adolf Hitler felt himself compelled to act. On March 16, 1935,
he reintroduced conscription. But in direct connection with this measure he
once more announced an offer of agreements of an extensive nature, the purpose
of which was to ensure that any future war would be conducted on humane
principles, in fact to make such a war practically impossible by eliminating
destructive armaments. In his speech of May 21, 1935, he declared:
"The German Government is
ready to take an active part in all efforts which may lead to a practical
limitation of armaments. It regards a return to the former idea of the Geneva
Red Cross Convention as the only possible way to achieve this. It believes that
at first there will be only the possibility of a gradual abolition and outlawry
of weapons and methods of warfare which are essentially contrary to the Geneva
Red Cross Convention which is still valid.
Just as the use of dumdum
bullets was once forbidden and, on the whole, thereby prevented in practice, so
the use of other definite arms should be forbidden and prevented. Here the
German Government has in mind all those arms which bring death and destruction
not so much to the fighting soldiers as to non-combatant women and children.
The German Government considers
as erroneous and ineffective the idea to do away with aeroplanes while leaving
the question of bombing open. But it believes it possible to proscribe the use
of certain arms as contrary to international law and to excommunicate those
nations which still use them from the community of mankind, its rights and its
laws.
It also believes that gradual
progress is the best way to success. For example, there might be prohibition of
the dropping of gas, incendiary and explosive bombs outside the real battle zone.
This limitation could then be extended to complete international outlawry of
all bombing. But so long as bombing as such is permitted, any limitation of the
number of bombing planes is questionable in view of the possibility of rapid
substitution.
Should bombing as such be
branded as a barbarity contrary to international law, the construction of
bombing aeroplanes will soon be abandoned as superfluous and of no purpose. If,
through the Geneva Red Cross Convention, it turned out possible as a matter of fact
to prevent the killing of a defenseless wounded man or prisoner, it ought to be
equally possible to forbid, by an analogous convention, and finally to stop,
the bombing of equally defenseless civilian populations.
In such a fundamental way of
dealing with the problem, Germany sees a greater reassurance and security for
the nations than in all pacts of assistance and military conventions.
The German Government is ready
to agree to any limitation which leads to abolition of the heaviest arms,
especially suited for aggression. Such are, first, the heaviest artillery, and,
secondly, the heaviest tanks. In view of the enormous fortifications on the
French frontier such international abolition of the heaviest weapons of attack
would ipso facto give France 100 per cent security.
Germany declares herself ready
to agree to any limitation whatsoever of the calibre-strength of artillery,
battleships, cruisers and torpedo boats. In like manner the German Government
is ready to accept any international limitation of the size of warships. And
finally it is ready to agree to limitation of tonnage for submarines, or to
their complete abolition in case of international agreement.
And it gives the further
assurance that it will agree to any international limitation or abolition of
arms whatsoever for a uniform space of time."
This time again Hitler's
declarations did not find the slightest response. On the contrary, France made an alliance with
Russia in order to increase her preponderating influence on the Continent still
further, and to augment to a gigantic degree the pressure on Germany from the
East.
In view of
the evident destructive intentions of his opponents, Adolf Hitler was therefore
obliged to take new measures to ensure the safety of the German Reich. On March
3, 1936, he occupied the Rhineland, which had been without military
protection since Versailles, and thus closed the wide gate through which the
Western neighbor could carry out an invasion. Once again he followed the
defensive step which he had been obliged to take with a liberal appeal for
general reconciliation and for the settlement of all differences. On March
31, 1936, he formulated the following peace plan:
"1. In order to
give to future agreements securing the peace of Europe the character of
inviolable treaties, those nations participating in the negotiations do so only
on an entirely equal footing and as equally esteemed members. The sole
compelling reason for signing these treaties can only lie in the generally
recognized and obvious practicability of these agreements for the peace of
Europe, and thus for the social happiness and economic prosperity of the
nations.
2. In order to shorten in the economic interest of
the European nations the period of uncertainty, the German Government proposes
a limit of four months for the first period up to the signing of the pacts of
non-aggression guaranteeing the peace of Europe.
3. The German Government gives the assurance not
to add any reinforcements whatsoever to the troops in the Rhineland during this
period, always provided that the Belgian and French Governments act in the same
way.
4. The German Government gives the assurance not
to move during this period closer to the Belgian and French frontiers the
troops at present stationed in the Rhineland.
5. The German Government proposes the setting up
of a commission composed of the two guarantor Powers, Britain and Italy, and a
disinterested third neutral power, to guarantee this assurance to be given by
both parties.
6. Germany, Belgium and France are each entitled
to send a representative to this Commission. If Germany, France or Belgium
think that for any particular reason they can point to a change in the military
situation having taken place within this period of four months, they have the
right to inform the Guarantee Commission of their observations.
7. Germany, Belgium and France declare their
willingness in such a case to permit this Commission to make the necessary
investigations through the British and Italian military attaches, and to report
thereon to the Powers participating.
8. Germany, Belgium and France give the assurance
that they will bestow the fullest consideration to the objections arising
therefrom.
9. Moreover the German Government is willing on a
basis of complete reciprocity with Germany's two western neighbors to agree to
any military limitations on the German western frontier.
10. Germany, Belgium and France
and the two guarantor Powers agree to enter into negotiations under the
leadership of the British Government at once or, at the latest, after the
French elections, for the conclusion of a 25-years non-aggression or security
pact between France and Belgium on the one hand, and Germany on the other.
11. Germany agrees that Britain
and Italy shall sign this security pact as guarantor Powers once more.
12. Should special engagements to
render military assistance arise as a result of these security agreements,
Germany on her part declares her willingness to enter into such engagements.
13. The German Government hereby
repeats its proposal for the conclusion of an air-pact to supplement and
consolidate these security agreements.
14. The German Government repeats
that should the Netherlands so desire it is willing to include that country too
in this West-European security agreement.
15. In order to stamp this
peace-pact, voluntarily entered into between Germany and France, as the
reconciliatory conclusion of a centuries-old dispute, Germany and France pledge
themselves to take steps to see that in the education of the young, as well as
in the press and publications of both nations, everything shall be avoided
which might be calculated to poison the relationship between the two peoples,
whether it be a derogatory or contemptuous attitude, or improper interference
in the internal affairs of the other country. They agree to set up at the
headquarters of the League of Nations at Geneva, a joint commission whose
function it shall be to lay all complaints received before the two Governments
for information and investigation.
16. In pursuance of their
intention to give this agreement the character of a sacred pledge, Germany and
France undertake to ratify it by means of a plebiscite of the two nations.
17. Germany expresses her
willingness, on her part, to establish contact with the states on her
south-eastern and north-eastern frontiers, in order to invite them directly to
conclude the pacts of non-aggression already proposed.
18. Germany expresses her
willingness to re-enter the League of Nations, either at once, or after the
conclusion of these agreements. At the same time, the German Government again
expresses as its expectation that, after a reasonable time and by the method of
friendly negotiations, the question of colonial equality of rights and that of
the separation of the Covenant of the League of Nations from its foundations in
the Versailles Treaty will be cleared up.
19. Germany proposes the setting
up of an International Court of Arbitration, which shall be responsible for the
observance of the various agreements concluded, and whose decisions shall be
binding on all parties.
After the conclusion of this
great work of securing European peace, the German Government considers it urgently
necessary to endeavor by practical measures to put a stop to the unlimited
competition in armaments. In her opinion this would mean not merely an
improvement in the financial and economic position of the nations, but above
all a diminution of the psychological tension.
The German Government,
however, has no faith in the attempt to bring about universal settlements, as
this would be doomed to failure from the outset, and can therefore be proposed
only by those who have no interest in achieving practical results. On the other
hand it is of the opinion that the negotiations held and the results achieved
in limiting naval armaments should have an instructive and stimulating effect.
The German Government
therefore proposes that future conferences shall have one clearly defined
objective.
For the present, it believes
the most important task is to bring aerial warfare into the moral and humane
atmosphere of the protection afforded to non-combatants or the wounded by the
Geneva Convention. Just as the killing of defenseless wounded, or prisoners, or
the use of dumdum bullets, or the waging of submarine warfare without warning,
have been either forbidden or regulated by international conventions, so it
must be possible for civilized humanity to prevent the senseless abuse of any
new type of weapon, without running counter to the object of warfare.
The German Government
therefore puts forward the proposal that the immediate practical tasks of this
conference shall be:
1. Prohibition of dropping gas, poison, or
incendiary bombs.
2. Prohibition of dropping bombs of any kind
whatsoever on open towns and villages outside the range of the medium-heavy
artillery of the fighting fronts.
3. Prohibition of the bombarding with long-range
guns of towns more than 20 km. distant from the battle zone.
4. Abolition and prohibition of the construction
of tanks of the heaviest type.
5. Abolition and prohibition of artillery of the
heaviest calibre.
As soon as possibilities for
further limitation of armaments emerge from such discussions and agreements,
they should be utilized.
The German Government hereby
declares itself prepared to join in every such settlement, in so far as it is
valid internationally.
The German Government believes
that if even a first step is made on the road to disarmament, this will be of
enormous importance to the relationship between the nations, and to the recovery
of confidence, trade and prosperity.
In accordance with the general
desire for the restoration of favorable economic conditions, the German
Government is prepared immediately after the conclusion of the political
treaties to enter into an exchange of opinions on economic problems with the
other nations concerned, in the spirit of the proposals made, and to do all
that lies in its power to improve the economic situation in Europe, and the
world economic situation which is closely bound up with it.
The German Government believes
that with the peace plan proposed above it has made its contribution to the
reconstruction of a new Europe on the basis of reciprocal respect and confidence
between sovereign states. Many opportunities for such a pacification of Europe,
for which Germany has so often in the last few years made her proposals, have
been neglected. May this attempt to achieve European understanding succeed at
last!
The German Government
confidently believes that it has opened the way in this direction by submitting
the above peace plan."
Anyone who today reads this
comprehensive peace plan will realize in what direction the development of
Europe, according to the wishes of Adolf Hitler, should really have proceeded.
Here was the possibility of truly constructive work, this could have been a
real turning-point for the welfare of all nations. But once more he who alone
called for peace was not heard. Only Britain replied with a rather scornful
questionnaire which avoided any serious consideration of the essential points
involved. Incidentally, however, she disclosed her actual intentions by setting
herself up as the protector of France and by instituting and commencing regular
military staff conversations with the French Republic just as in the period
before the Great War.
There could no longer be any
doubt now that the Western Powers were following the old path towards an armed
conflict and were steadily preparing a new blow against Germany, although Adolf
Hitler's whole thoughts and endeavors were directed towards proving to them
that he wanted to remain on the best possible terms with them. In the course of
the years he had undertaken numerous steps in this direction, of which a few
more shall be referred to here. He negotiated the Naval Agreement of June
18, 1935 with Great Britain, which provided that the German Navy should
only have a strength of 35% of that of the British Navy. By this he wanted to
demonstrate that the Reich, to use his own words, had "neither the
intention nor the means, nor was it necessary" to enter into any rivalry
as regards naval power, such as had had so fateful an influence on its
relations to Great Britain in the well-remembered days before the Great War.
He assured France on every
possible occasion of his desire to live at peace with her. He repeatedly
renounced in plain terms any claim to Alsace-Lorraine. On the return to the
Reich of the Saar territory as the result of the plebiscite, he declared on March
1, 1935:
"It is our hope that
through this act of just compensation, in which we see a return to natural
reason, relations between Germany and France have permanently improved.
Therefore as we desire peace, we must hope that our great neighbor is ready and
willing to seek peace with us. It must be possible for two great people to join
together and collaborate in opposing the difficulties which threaten to
overwhelm Europe."
He even endeavored to arrive
at a better understanding with Poland, the eastern ally of the Western Powers,
although this country had unlawfully incorporated millions of Germans in 1919 and
had subjected them to the worst oppression ever since. On January
26, 1934, he concluded a non-aggression pact with her in which the two Governments
agreed "to settle directly all questions of whatever sort which concern
their mutual relations."
Thus on all sides he opposed
to the enemy plans his determination to preserve peace and strove to protect
Germany in this way. When however he saw that London and Paris were arming for
attack, he was once more obliged to undertake fresh measures of defense. The
enemy camp, as we have seen above, had been enormously extended through the
alliance between France and Russia. In addition to this the two powers had
secured a line of communication to the south of the Reich through
Czechoslovakia having concluded a treaty with Russia which put her in the
position of a bridge between east and west. Czechoslovakia, however, was in control
of the high-lying country of Bohemia and Moravia, which Bismarck had called the
citadel of Europe, and this citadel projected far into German territory. The
threat to Germany thus assumed truly overpowering proportions.
The genius of Adolf Hitler found
a way of meeting this danger. The conditions in German Austria, which under the terror of
the Schuschnigg Government were tending towards civil war, offered him the
opportunity of stepping in to save the situation, and to lead back into the
Reich the sister nation to the south-east that had been sentenced by the
victorious powers to lead the life of a hopelessly decaying "Free State".
After he had thus established himself near the line of communication between
France and Russia mentioned above, a process of dissolution set in in the mixed
State of Czechoslovakia, which had been artificially put together from the most
diverse national elements, until after the liberation of the Sudetenland and
the secession of Slovakia, the Czechs themselves asked for the protection of
the German Reich. With this the enemy's bridge came into Adolf Hitler's
possession; and at the same time direct connection was made possible with
Italy, whose friendship had been secured some time previously.
While he was gaining this
strategical success for the security of his country, Adolf Hitler was again
endeavoring with great eagerness to reach a peaceable understanding with the
Western Powers. In Munich directly after liberation of the Sudeten Germans,
approved by Britain, France and Italy, he made an agreement with the British
Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, the text of which was a follows:
"We have had a further
meeting to-day and have agreed in recognizing that the question of Anglo-German
relations is of the first importance for the two countries and for Europe.
We regard the agreement signed
last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of
our two peoples never to go to war with one another again.
We are resolved that the
method of consultation shall be the method adopted to deal with any other
questions that may concern our two countries, and we are determined to continue
our efforts to remove possible sources of difference and thus to contribute to
assure the peace of Europe."
September 30, 1938. Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain."
Two months later, on Hitler's
instructions, the German Foreign Minister, von Ribbentrop, made the following
agreement with France:
"Herr Joachim von
Ribbentrop, Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs,
and M. Georges Bonnet, French Minister of Foreign Affairs,
acting in the name and by order of their Governments, are, at their meeting in Paris, on December 6, 1938, agreed as follows:
and M. Georges Bonnet, French Minister of Foreign Affairs,
acting in the name and by order of their Governments, are, at their meeting in Paris, on December 6, 1938, agreed as follows:
1. The German Government and the French Government
fully share the conviction that peaceful and good-neighborly relations between
Germany and France constitute one of the most essential elements for the
consolidation of the situation in Europe and the maintenance of general peace.
The two Governments will in consequence use all their efforts to ensure the
development of the relations between their countries in this direction.
2. The two Governments recognize that between the
two countries there is no territorial question outstanding, and they solemnly
recognize as final the frontiers between their countries as they now exist.
3. The two Governments are resolved, while leaving
unaffected their particular relations with other Powers, to remain in contact
with regard to all questions concerning their two countries, and mutually to
consult should the later evolution of those questions lead to international
difficulties.
In token whereof the
representatives of the two Governments have signed the present Declaration,
which comes into immediate effect.
Done in two original Documents
in the French and German language respectively, in Paris, December 6, 1938.
Joachim von Ribbentrop,
Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs
Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs
Georges Bonnet,
Minister for Foreign Affairs"
Minister for Foreign Affairs"
According to all calculations
one should have been able to assume that the way was clear for collaborative
reconstruction in which all leading powers would participate, and that the
Fuehrer's endeavors to secure peace would at last meet with success. But the
contrary was true. Scarcely had Chamberlain reached home when he called for rearmament on a
considerable scale and laid plans for a new and tremendous encirclement of
Germany. Britain now took over from France the leadership of
this further encirclement of the Reich, in order to obtain a substitute for the
lost Czechoslovakia many times its value. She opened negotiations with Russia,
granted Poland a guarantee and also Rumania, Greece and Turkey. These were
alarm signals of the greatest urgency.
Just at this time Adolf Hitler
was occupied with the task of finally eliminating sources of friction with
Poland. For this purpose he had made an uncommonly generous proposal by which
the purely German Free City of Danzig would return to the Reich, and a narrow
passage through the Polish Corridor, which since 1919 had torn asunder the
north-eastern part of Germany to an unbearable extent, would provide
communication with the separated area. This proposal, which moreover afforded
Poland the prospect of a 25-year non-aggression pact and other advantages, was
nevertheless rejected in Warsaw, because there it was believed,
conscious as the authorities were of forming one of the principal members of
the common front set up by London against Germany, that any concession, however
minor, could be refused. This was not all! With the same consciousness Poland
then started to be aggressive, threatened Danzig, and prepared to take up arms
against Germany.
Thus the moment was close at
hand for the attack on the Reich by the countries which had been brought
together for the purpose. Adolf Hitler, making a final extreme effort in the
interests of peace, saved what he could. On August 23rd, Ribbentrop
succeeded in reaching an agreement in Moscow for a non-aggression pact with
Russia. Two days later the German Fuehrer himself made a final and truly
remarkable offer to Britain, declaring himself ready "to enter into
agreements with Great Britain", "which... would not only, on the
German side, in any case safeguard the existence of the British Empire, but if
necessary would guarantee German assistance for the British Empire,
irrespective of where such assistance might be required". At the same time
he was prepared "to accept a reasonable limitation of armaments, in
accordance with the new political situation and economic requirements".
And finally he assured once again that he had no interest in the issues in the
west and that "a correction of the borders in the west are out of any
consideration."
The reply to this was a pact
of assistance signed the same day between Britain and Poland, which rendered
the outbreak of war inevitable. Then a decision was made in Warsaw to mobilize
at once against Germany, and the Poles began with violent attacks not only on the Germans in Poland, who for some time had been the
victims of frightful massacres, but on Germans in German territory.
But even
when Britain and France had already declared the war they desired, and Germany had overcome
the Polish danger in the east by a glorious campaign without a parallel, even
then Adolf Hitler raised his voice once more in the name of peace. He did so
although his hands were now free to act against the enemy in the west. He did
so, although the fight against him personally was proclaimed in London and
Paris, in immeasurable hate, as a crusade. At this moment he possessed the
supreme self-control to proclaim in his speech of October 6, 1939, a new
plan for the pacification of Europe to public opinion throughout the world.
This plan was as follows:
"By far the most
important task, in my opinion, is the creation of not only a belief in, but
also a sense of, European security.
1. For this it is necessary that the aims of the
foreign policy of each European State should be made perfectly clear. As far as
Germany is concerned, the Reich Government is ready to give a thorough and
exhaustive exposition of the aims of its foreign policy. In so doing, it begins
by stating that the Treaty of Versailles is now regarded by it as obsolete, in
other words, that the Government of the German Reich and with it the whole
German people no longer see cause or reason for any further revision of the
Treaty, apart from the demand for adequate colonial possessions justly due to the Reich, involving in the
first place a return of the German colonies. This demand for
colonies is based not only on Germany's historical claim to her colonies, but
above all on her elementary right to a share of the world's resources of raw
materials. This demand does not take the form of an ultimatum, nor is it a
demand which is backed by force, but a demand based on political justice and
sane economic principles.
2. The demand for a real revival of international
economic life coupled with an extension of trade and commerce presupposes a
reorganization of the international economic system, in other words, of
production in the individual states. In order to facilitate the exchange of the
goods thus produced, however, a new system of markets must be found and a final
settlement of currencies arrived at, so that the obstacles in the way of
unrestricted trade can be gradually removed.
3. The most important condition, however, for a
real revival of economic life in and outside of Europe is the establishment of
an unconditionally guaranteed peace and of a sense of security on the part of
the individual nations. This security will not only be rendered possible by the
final sanctioning of the European status, but above all by the reduction of
armaments to a reasonable and economically tolerable level. An essential part
of this necessary sense of security, however, is a clear definition of the
legitimate use and application of certain modern armaments which can at any
given moment strike straight at the heart of every nation and hence create a
permanent sense of insecurity. In my previous speeches in the Reichstag I made
proposals with this end in view. At that time they were rejected -
presumably for the simple reason that they were made by me.
I believe, however, that a
sense of national security will not return to Europe until clear and binding
international agreements have provided a comprehensive definition of the extent
to which the use of certain weapons is permitted or forbidden.
The Geneva Convention once
succeeded in prohibiting, in civilized countries at least, the killing of
wounded, the ill-treatment of prisoners, war against non-combatants, etc., and
just as it was possible gradually to achieve the universal observance of this
statute, a way ought surely to be found to regulate aerial warfare, the use of
poison gas, of submarines etc., and also so to define contraband that war will
lose its terrible character of a conflict waged against women and children and
against non-combatants in general. The growing horror of certain methods of
modern warfare will of its own accord lead to their abolition, and thus they
will become obsolete.
In the war with Poland, I
endeavored to restrict aerial warfare to objectives of military importance,
or only to employ it to combat resistance at a given point. But it must surely
be possible to emulate the Red Cross in drawing up some universally valid
international regulation. It is only when this is achieved that peace can
reign, particularly on our densely populated continent a peace which,
un-contaminated by suspicion and fear, will provide the only possible condition
for real economic prosperity. I do not believe that there is any responsible
statesman in Europe who does not in his heart desire prosperity for his people.
But such a desire can only be realized if all the nations inhabiting this
continent decide to work together. To assist in ensuring this co-operation must
be the aim of every man who is sincerely struggling for the future of his own
people.
To achieve this great end, the
leading nations on this continent will one day have to come together in order
to draw up, accept and guarantee a statute on a comprehensive basis which will
ensure for them a sense of security, of calm, - in short, of peace.
Such a conference could not
possibly be held without the most thorough preparation, i. e. without exact
elucidation of every point at issue. It is equally impossible that such a
conference, which would determine the fate of this continent for many years to
come, could carry on its deliberations while cannons are thundering, or
mobilized armies bringing pressure to bear upon it. Since, however, these
problems must be solved sooner or later, it would surely be more sensible to
tackle the solution before millions of men are first uselessly sent to their
death, and billions of dollars' worth of property destroyed.
The continuation of the
present state of affairs in the west is unthinkable. Each day will soon demand
increasing sacrifices. Perhaps the day will come when France will begin to
bombard and demolish Saarbrücken. The German artillery will in turn lay
Mühlhausen in ruins. France will retaliate by bombarding Karlsruhe, and Germany
in her turn shell Strassburg. Then the French artillery will fire at Freiburg,
and the Germans at Kolmar or Schlettstadt. Long-range artillery will then be
set up, and from both sides destruction will strike deeper and deeper, and
whatever cannot be reached by the long-range artillery will be destroyed from
the air. And that will be very interesting for certain international
journalists, and very profitable for the aeroplane, arms, and munition
manufacturers, etc., but appalling for the victims. And this battle of destruction
will not be confined to the land. No, it will reach far out over the sea.
To-day there are no longer any islands.
And the national wealth of
Europe will be scattered in the form of shells, and the vigor of every nation
will be sapped on the battlefields. One day, however, there will again be a
frontier between Germany and France, but instead of flourishing towns there
will be ruins and endless graveyards."
The fate of this plan was the
same as that of all the previous appeals made by Adolf Hitler in the name of
reason, in the interests of a true renascence of Europe. His enemies paid him
no heed. On this occasion also no response was forthcoming from them. They
rigidly adhered to the attitude which they had taken up in the beginning.
In the face of this series of
historical facts is there any need for further details as to the question of
why they did so? They had created Versailles, and when Versailles threatened to
collapse they wanted the war, in order to follow it with an even worse
Versailles. The reproaches which they make today to Adolf Hitler and
Germany, recoil one and all on those who make them, and characterize their
actions. They are the disturbers of peace, they are the ones who meditate
the forcible oppression of other peoples and seek to plunge Europe in
devastation and disaster. If were not so, they would long ago have taken the
hand that was stretched out to them or at least have made a gesture of honestly
wishing to cooperate in a new order, and thus spare the nations "blood,
tears and sweat" in excess.
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