Berlin,
March 18, 1938
Deputies,
Men of the German Reichstag!
I have had you summoned to attend this short
session today, myself moved to the depths of my heart, in order to give you a
report on the events whose significance you all appreciate. Furthermore, I must
inform you of decisions affecting the German Volk and the German Reichstag
itself.
When I was able to speak to you a few weeks ago, I gave you an account of
the five-year work of constructing the National Socialist State, which may well
be described, in terms of overall outcome, as beyond compare.
Wilson’s right of self-determination of the peoples, which was used in part
to persuade our Volk to lay down its arms, was replaced by the most brutal
national violation of countless millions of German Volksgenossen. Rights which
were self-evidently accorded to the most primitive colonial tribes were
withheld from one of this world’s old civilized nations for reasons as
unacceptable as they were insulting.
In my speech on February 20, I explained that it will hardly be possible to
reach a settlement concerning the volkisch and territorial conditions in
Europe to the satisfaction of everyone involved; i.e. we do not believe that it
should be the objective of a national leadership of state to use every means
available, be they protests or actions, of enforcing territorial claims which,
although motivated by national necessities, ultimately cannot lead to general
national justice. The countless volkisch enclaves in Europe make it, to
a certain degree, simply impossible to establish borders which do equal justice
to all the interests of the peoples and states. However, there do exist
political structures that so strongly embody the character of conscious and
intentional national injustice that they cannot be maintained for any length of
time except by means of the most brutal force.
The formation of a new, mutilated Austrian state was also a measure which
signified a naked violation of the right of self-determination of six and a
half million people belonging to the German race. This violation was admitted
with cynical frankness-for it was of no importance whatsoever at that time,
either to the reputed inventors of the right of self-determination, the
independence, and the freedom of nations, nor to the extremely curious, pious
world rulers who otherwise profess to be so very concerned about justice being
done on this earth-that the free will of six-and-a-half million people was
simply cut off by the so-called peace Diktats and that these people were
being coerced by force to surrender to the robbery of their right of self-determination
and to accept their unnatural separation from the great common motherland.
When the decision was nonetheless made in Austria at that time to hold
referenda on the Anschluss-and I might particularly remind the Mister Democrats
in London and Paris of the fact that this was a tune at which National
Socialism existed neither in Germany nor in Austria-and the referenda resulted
in more than 95 percent of all votes in favor of unification, the apostles of
the new international law simply made use of the power of brutal force to
prohibit without further ado this peaceful demonstration of the true desire of
unhappy people who are separated from their Volk.
The tragic part about it was that, from the very beginning, this state of
Austria was simply not viable! The economic distress was horrendous as could be
anticipated; the annual mortality rate rose alarmingly. Alone in a city such as
Vienna, there were 24,000 fatalities and only 10,000 births. I am not saying
this in the belief that it might make an impression on democratic world
Philistines, because I know that their hearts are completely hardened to such
things. They can calmly look on while half a million people are butchered in
Spain without being moved in the least. At the same time, they are equally
capable of feigning profound indignation without blushing in the least, when in
Berlin or in Vienna some Jewish agitator is divested of his means of doing
business. No, I mention this only in order to ascertain in all objectivity how
the perpetrators of the peace Diktats succeeded, by the simple fact of
establishing this inviable figment of state, in passing a sentence of slow but
sure death for millions of people.
The fact that the Saar-with the exception of a few thousand people of
French nationality-is inhabited exclusively by Germans was proven in the
plebiscite conducted there under international supervision. However, the fact
that these few percent nonetheless sufficed to coerce a territory to submit to
a plebiscite before its reunification with the Reich was allowed is a crass
contradiction to the attitude taken when millions upon millions of German
beings are involved. In that case, complying with their wish to return to their
fatherland is simply rejected as inopportune for the democracies, and indeed
the mere hope is virtually branded as a crime. In the long run, a violation of
rights of this sort cannot be glossed over with the transparent morals of
certain international institutions! Justice will be done, even if Germans are
concerned! And who would not be surprised that the peoples who are being
stubbornly denied this right ultimately see themselves compelled to procure
their human rights for themselves. The nations are created according to God’s
will and are everlasting, but the League of Nations is a highly dubious
construction of human fallibility, human greed, and human bias.
And one thing is certain: just as the peoples have been existing for
countless millenniums without a League of Nations, there will come a time when
the League of Nations is a thing of the distant past, and the peoples will
nevertheless prevail throughout the millenniums.
Germany has once again become a world power. Yet which power in the world
would calmly tolerate for any length of time that, before its very gates, a
mass of millions (Millionenmasse) belonging to its own national race are
so bitterly abused? There are moments when it becomes simply impossible for a
self-confident nation to bear that sight any longer!
It was for these reasons I had decided to arrange for that conference in
Berchtesgaden with the former Chancellor Schuschnigg of which you are all
aware. In all earnestness, I confronted him with the fact that a regime totally
lacking in legitimation, which was governing virtually by force alone, would,
in the long run, necessarily come into ever greater conflict with the will of
the Volk running diametrically opposed to its own currents. I endeavored to
make it clear to him that this situation must ultimately lead to an ever
increasing opposition on the one hand and to an ever mounting use of force on
the other.
Yet particularly in consideration of the great power of the resurrected
German Reich, revolutionary uprisings were impossible to be ruled out. Under
these circumstances, the only consequence was a further increase in terror. And
in the end, a situation would arise making it impossible for a major power with
a sense of national honor to patiently stand by any longer, much less to take
an indifferent standpoint.
I left no doubt in Herr Schuschnigg’s mind that there was not a single
German-born Austrian with national decency and a sense of honor who would not,
at the bottom of his heart, yearn and be willing to strive for a unification
with the German Volk. I asked him to spare German-Austria, the German Reich and
himself a situation that, sooner or later, would inevitably lead to very
serious disputes. In this context, I suggested a path to him which could lead
to a gradual lessening of tensions internally and, hence to a slow
reconciliation not only among the people within Austria themselves, but also
between the two German states!
I pointed out to Herr Schuschnigg that this would be the final attempt on
my part and that I was resolved, in the event that this attempt were to fail,
to protect the rights of the German Volk in my homeland with the only means
ever left on this earth when human insight closes itself off from the precepts
of common justice: for no decent Volk has ever sacrificed its life for the sake
of democratic formalities. And, by the way, this is something which is out of
the question in precisely those democracies where there is the most talk about
it.
On February 20, I offered my hand to former Chancellor Schuschnigg before
the German Reichstag. Even in his initial reaction, he rejected my offer of
reconciliation. Indeed, he began to only haltingly fulfill the obligations he
had assumed as soon as it became evident that certain other states were
propagating a negative attitude. Moreover, we are now in a position to know
that a part of the campaign of lies being launched against Germany was inspired
by Herr Schuschnigg’s own press office. There could no longer be any doubt that
Herr Schuschnigg, who had no legal justification whatsoever for his existence
and who had been ravaging German-Austria with a dwindling minority’s reign of
terror, was determined to violate this agreement.
On Tuesday, March 8, the first reports on plans for a referendum appeared.
They were so fantastic and so unbelievable that they could only be dismissed as
rumors. Then on Wednesday evening, by way of a truly astonishing speech, we
were made aware of an attempted assault not only against the agreements reached
between us, but above all, against the majority of the Austrian population. In
a country which has not held a single election for years, in which there are
neither voters’ registration nor lists of voters, an election was scheduled to
take place within scarcely three days’ time. The question at issue was to be
worded such that a rejection would seem to be punishable as a criminal offense
according to the prevailing legislation in Austria at the time.
There were no voters’ lists; hence it was impossible to examine such lists
from the very beginning; there was no way of contesting the results; secrecy
was neither guaranteed nor desired; the “nay” voters were stigmatized from the
very beginning; the “yea” voters were provided with every opportunity to
falsify the results; in other words: Herr Schuschnigg, who was perfectly aware
that only a minority of the population was behind him, attempted to procure for
himself, by means of an unprecedented election fraud, the moral justification
for an open breach of the obligations he had undertaken. He wanted a mandate
for continuing to oppress-with even more brutal force- the overwhelming
majority of the German-Austrian Volk.
The fact that he both broke his word and resorted to this measure could but
lead to rebellion. Only someone who was crazy and blind could believe this
could possibly serve to silence a tremendous majority of the Volk, allowing him
to create a legal foundation upon which he could present his illegal regime to
the world. Yet the rebellion which was undoubtedly to come and which did, in
fact, announce itself immediately, would have led to renewed-and this time
terrible-bloodshed. For once the embers of a passion fanned by such a permanent
state of injustice begin to flame, experience has always shown that they can
only be extinguished by blood. Of this, history has given us sufficient
examples.
I was thus resolved to put an end to the further violation of my homeland!
Hence I immediately initiated that the requisite measures be taken designed to
ensure that Austria could be spared the fate of Spain.
The ultimatum which the world suddenly began to complain of consisted
solely of the firm assurance that Germany would no longer tolerate any further
oppression of German-Austrian Volksgenossen-and hence of a warning not to
choose a path which could only have led to bloodshed.
The fact that this attitude was right is proven by the fact that, in the
midst of the intervention which had nonetheless become necessary, within the
space of three days my entire homeland came rushing to meet me without a single
shot having been fired and without a single casualty, as far as I know-
naturally to the great disappointment of our international pacifists. Had I not
complied with the wishes of the Austrian Volk and its new National Socialist
Government, in all probability circumstances would have evolved in such a
manner that our intervention would subsequently have been necessary in any
case. I wanted to spare this magnificent country endless misfortune and
suffering. For when hatred has once begun to smolder, reason is obscured.
Then a just assessment of crime and punishment becomes a thing of the past.
National wrath, personal vindictiveness, and the primitive instincts of
egotistical drives together raise the torch and frenziedly go about their mad
hunt for victims with total disregard for what is right and total ignorance of
the consequences! Perhaps Herr Schuschnigg did not believe it possible that I
could make the decision to intervene. He and his followers can thank the Lord
God for that.
For it was my resolve alone that probably saved his life and the lives of
tens of thousands of others, a life they by far do not deserve, given their
complicity in the deaths of innumerable Austrian victims of the Movement, but
which the National Socialist State generously gives them as a sovereign victor!
I am also happy that I have thereby now become the one to fulfill this supreme
historic assignment.
Can there be a prouder satisfaction for a man in this world than to have
joined the people of his own homeland to the greater Volksgemeinschaft? And you
can all appreciate my feeling of joy that I did not need to conquer a field of
corpses and ruins for the German Reich, but that I have been able to bestow
upon it an intact Land filled with overjoyed people! I have acted in the only
way for which I can assume responsibility as a German before the history of our
Volk, before the past and living witnesses to our Volksgemeinschaft, before the
holy German Reich, and before my cherished homeland! Seventy-five million
people are standing behind the decision I have made, and before them stands,
from now on, the German Wehrmacht!
It is almost tragic that an event that, at bottom, merely eliminated a
tension in Central Europe which in time would have become unbearable, has met
with such an utter and complete lack of understanding, particularly on the part
of our democracies. Their reactions were in part incomprehensible and in part
insulting. However, a number of other states had declared from the very
beginning that the matter was no interest of theirs, while others expressed
their hearty approval. This was the case as regards not only the majority of
the smaller European countries, but many of the larger states as well. Of
these, I might mention the dignified and sympathetic attitude of Poland, the
warm-hearted approval of Hungary, the declarations submitted by Yugoslavia in
cordial friendship, and the assurances of absolutely sincere neutrality on the
part of many other countries.
Yet I cannot conclude my enumeration of these votes of friendship without
going into more detail on the stand taken by Fascist Italy. I had felt myself
under an obligation to explain in a letter to the leader of the great Fascist
state, who is a close personal friend of mine, the reasons for my actions and,
moreover, to assure him that not only would nothing change in Germany’s
attitude toward Italy subsequent to this event, but that moreover, just as this
was the case as concerned France, Germany would regard the existing borders to
Italy as given.
At this time I would like to express our warmest thanks to this great
Italian statesman, on behalf of the German Volk and on my own behalf! We know
what Mussolini’s attitude during this time has meant for Germany. If any
further reinforcement had been possible in the relations between Italy and
Germany, it has now come about. What was originally a mutuality based on
Weltanschauung and interests has now become, for us Germans, an indissoluble
friendship. For us, the land and borders of this friend are inviolable.
I may repeat that I will never forget Mussolini for taking this attitude!
Let the Italian Volk know that the German nation backs up my word! Hence once
again the axis which joins our two countries has done a supreme service for the
cause of world peace. Germany desires only peace. It does not intend to do harm
to other peoples. Yet under no circumstances will it tolerate that harm is done
to itself; it is prepared at all times to go to the bitter end in defense of
its honor and its existence. May no one believe that these are empty words, and
may it be, above all, understood that no great Volk with a sense of honor can
sit by idle and look on while great masses of millions who share its blood are
subjected to unremitting oppression!
I believe that-in these great and historic hours when, thanks to the power
of the National Socialist idea and the strength which it gives to the Reich, an
ageold dream of Germans has come true-not only one part of our people can be
called upon to verify, by its affirmation, the tremendous feat of the
long-awaited foundation of a truly great Reich of the German Volk. On April 10,
millions of German-Austrians will make their pledge before history to the great
German common destiny and the great German Volksgemeinschaft. And they shall
not be alone in taking this first great step in the new German Reich. They will
be accompanied from now on by the whole of Germany. For beginning with March
13, their path will be the same as the one taken by all the other men and women
of our Volk. Hence on April 10, for the first time in history, the entire
German nation, to the extent that it is today a part of the great Reich of the
Volk, will come forward and make its solemn vow. Not six and a half million
will be asked, but seventy-five. [-] I am thereby dissolving the Reichstag of
the old German Reich and ordering elections to be scheduled for the
representatives of Greater Germany. This date I am also setting for the 10th of
April.
I am thereby calling upon nearly fifty million of our Volk eligible to vote
and asking them to give me a Reichstag which will enable me, with the generous
help of the Lord God, to accomplish our great, new tasks. Now the German Volk
shall once more weigh and consider what I have achieved with my staff in the
five years since the first Reichstag election in March of 1933. It will come to
the conclusion that these achievements are historically beyond compare. I
expect of my Volk that it has the insight and the power to make a decision both
honorable and unique! Just as I asked the German Volk in 1933, in view of the
tremendous work lying ahead of us, to give me four years’ time to solve the
greatest problems, I must now request of it a second time: German Volk, give me
another four years so that I can consummate the consolidation which has now
been performed externally in an internal sense as well, for the benefit of all.
When this term has expired, the new German Reich of the Volk shall have grown
to become an indissoluble unit, firmly anchored in the will of its Volk, under
the political leadership of the National Socialist Party, protected by its
young National Socialist Wehrmacht, and rich from its flourishing economic
life.
When today we see the boldest dreams of so many generations coming true
before our very eyes, we are filled with a feeling of boundless gratitude to
all those who have done their part, by their labors and above all by their
sacrifices, to help us achieve this highest goal. Every German tribe and every
German landscape has made its own painful contribution to make this work a
success. In this moment, let there rise from the dead before us those who
constitute the last victims for the cause of German unification-all those many
fighters who, in the old Ostmark which has now come home to the Reich, were the
faithful heralds of the German unity we have achieved today and, as blood
witnesses and martyrs, gasped with their dying breath those last words which
shall, for us, be more sacred now than ever before: one Volk, one Reich.
Deutschland! Sieg Heil!
No comments:
Post a Comment