Theodore Lothrop Stoddard
(29.06.1883
- 01.05.1950)
Another noteworthy point is
that the Government made no attempt to ease the people into the war by tactful
stages. Quite the reverse. Nazi spokesmen tell you frankly that they cracked
down hard from the start and made things just about as tough as the civilian
population could bear. Indeed, they say that severe rationing of food and
clothing from the very beginning was done not merely to avert present waste and
ensure future supplies; it was done also to make people realize that they were
in a life-and-death struggle for which no sacrifice was too great.
This
was stiff medicine for a people as stunned, depressed, and jittery as the
Germans certainly were during the first two months of the war. I do not recall
any other Government which has prescribed a course of treatment so drastic,
under similar circumstances. Flag-waving and assorted heroics are the orthodox
formula.
I
was therefore deeply interested to discuss this original method with the man
who carried it out. He was no less a person than Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels, head
of the vast propaganda machine which is perhaps the most outstanding feature of
the Third Reich.
This
lithe, brunet Rhinelander, with his agile mind, cynical humor, and telling gestures,
is an excellent person to interview. He is mentally on his toes every instant,
and he is full of what the journalist calls „good lines.“ He got one of them
off early in our conversation when he stigmatized the British blockade of
Germany by exclaiming: „It’s high time that forty million people stopped
dictating to eighty million when they should have a cup of coffee!“ As Dr.
Goebbels warmed to his subject, his words flowed with the smoothness of a
well-oiled machine.
„Mr.
Minister,“ I began, broaching the subject uppermost in my mind, „the thing that
strikes me most since I’ve been in Germany this time is the great difference
between the popular mood now and in the last war. No hurrahs, parades, bands,
and flowers like in 1914.“
„That’s
right,“ he shot back quickly, „and the reason is very simple. In 1914 the
German people didn’t know what it was all about. They had no clear war aim.
Some French iron mines! A bit of Belgium! _Gott strafe England_! Slogans and phrases! That’s no way to wage a
war. And our rulers then couldn’t make them understand. They were an aristocratic caste, out of touch
with the people.“
„And
now?“ I put in.
„Now?“
he countered. „We National Socialists are men of the people. We know how our
fellow-citizens think and how to make them understand. But, really, the British
have done it for us. They’ve given us our war aim by forcing the war on us.“
„Meaning
what?“ I asked.
„Meaning
this,“ he replied. „We made it clear to the British that we didn’t want to
disturb their empire. We carefully kept our hands off sore spots like India and
Ireland. Why, we even offered to give them a military guarantee of their
empire’s integrity. But we made it clear that, in return, they were to keep
their hands off our sphere of interest--Central Europe. Well, they wouldn’t
have it that way. They’re trying to crush us.
So, this time, every German knows what it’s all about.“
„And
that’s why they’re so quiet about it?“ I asked.
„Exactly,“
nodded Dr. Goebbels with a quick smile.
„We Germans don’t like this war. We think it’s needless--silly. But, since England feels that way, we see
it’s got to be gone through with. The average German feels like a man with a
chronic toothache--the sooner it’s out, the better. And he doesn’t need brass
bands and flowers to get it over with. That’s where our aristocrats went wrong
last time. They forgot old Bismarck’s saying that hurrah-patriotism isn’t like
pickled herring that you can put up in barrels and store away for years.
Listen! If I wanted to get the German people emotionally steamed up, I could do
it in twenty-four hours. But they don’t need it--they don’t want it.“
„Then,
psychologically--“ I began.
Dr.
Goebbels cut in with a sweeping gesture. „Psychologically,“ he answered, „we
are way ahead. Last time, I admit, it was very different. Then, at the crucial
moment, both France and England produced great men--Clemenceau and Lloyd
George, both men of the people. If we on our side could have produced a
Bismarck or a Hitler, we should have won. This time, we have the right men and
the others haven’t. We National Socialists understand profoundly that it is the
human being who counts--not just material resources. England is socially
unsound. She is a colossus with feet of clay.
Furthermore, England has a negative, defensive war aim. This time, it’s
the British who talk in vague phrases like ‘aggression.’ What does it mean to
Tommy in the trenches to tell him he’s fighting ‘aggressors’?“
„Would
you mind enlarging on that a bit, Mr. Minister?“ I asked.
„Certainly
not,“ he answered. „The more you examine British war aims, the more negative
they appear. The English admit they have
nothing tangible to get out of this war but that they have a lot to lose. We,
on the other hand, have very little to lose and a lot to win. Here we Germans are--eighty million of us,
all together. And right next to us is
our sphere of influence in Central Europe--everything under one roof. Sooner or
later, we massed Germans are bound to get what we need. The British, on the
contrary, are spread all over the map. They draw their resources from the four
corners of the earth. Their empire is too dispersed, too artificial. They’re
bound to lose in the long run.“
„Then
the British Empire--“ I began.
„Please
understand,“ broke in Dr. Goebbels. „We had no designs upon it. We showed this
clearly when we made the naval treaty with England limiting our fleet to
one-third their size. In face of that fact, any responsible German who might
have meditated an attack upon the British Empire would have been guilty of
criminal madness. It is only now, when England forces us to a life-and-death
struggle, that we hit back in every possible manner. All we asked was that
England regard us, too, as a great nation with its own special sphere. After
all, nations should be treated on their merits, for what they are. Live and let
live was our motto toward England. It is the British who would not have it that
way.“
„The
English,“ I remarked, „seem to believe that this is a struggle between
democracy and dictatorship.“
„Dictatorship!“
shot back Dr. Goebbels scornfully.
„Isn’t the National Socialist Party essentially the German people?
Aren’t its leaders men of the people? How silly to imagine that this can be
what the English call dictatorship! What we today have in Germany is not a
dictatorship but rather a political discipline forced upon us by the pressure
of circumstances. However, since we have it, why shouldn’t we take advantage of
the fact?“
„Just
what do you mean by that, Mr. Minister?“ I queried.
„I’ll
give you an example,“ answered Dr. Goebbels.
„Take the difference between the way we and the English handle radio. We
don’t let our people listen to foreign broadcasts; the English do. Why should
we permit our people to be disturbed by foreign propaganda? Of course we broadcast in English, and the
English people are legally permitted to listen in. I understand lots of them
do. And can you imagine what is one of the chief discussions about it across
the Channel? It is, whether our German announcer has an Oxford or a Cambridge
accent! In my opinion, when a people in the midst of a life-and-death struggle
indulge in such frivolous arguments, it doesn’t look well for them.“
„Then,
Mr. Minister,“ I asked, „you don’t think there is much likelihood that history
will repeat itself?“
Dr.
Goebbels’ dark eyes lighted. „History never repeats itself,“ he exclaimed with
a sweeping gesture.
„History
is like a spiral--and we believe that, since the last war, we have made an
ascending turn while Britain has made a descending one. Today, we have a
national unity, discipline, and leadership vastly superior to that of 1914, and
even more superior to anything which England has as yet produced. The rightful
claims of the German people were thwarted a generation ago. They cannot be denied a second time.“
So
saying, the world-famous Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda rose
briskly from his chair and gave me a vigorous handshake. One last look at the
slim, dynamic figure and his spacious office hung with historic portraits, and
the interview was over. I had got „the dope,“ all right, from headquarters. And
the more one studies the text of that interview, the more revealing it
becomes--in many ways! It certainly was propaganda of the Goebbels brand.
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