FELLOW PARTY MEMBERS:
The 24th of February is always, and rightly so, a day of vivid memories
for us. On this date and from this very hall began the Movement's amazing
march to victory, which bore it to the helm of the Reich, to leadership
of the nation and its destiny. This day is a great day for me too. Surely,
it is seldom that a political leader can stand before the same band
of followers that hailed his first great public appearance twenty-one
years before, and repeat the same program. Seldom can a man proclaim
the same doctrines and put them into practice for twenty-one years without
at any time having had to relinquish a single part of his original program.
In 1920, when we met for the first time in this hall, many of you must
have asked yourselves: "Dear me, a new party, another new party!
Why do we want a new party? Don't we have parties enough?"
If the new movement had been or had intended to be nothing but a continuation
of the old parties or an addition to existing parties, such an objection
would indeed have been justified. There were certainly more than enough
parties in those days. But, after all, our movement was something quite
different from all the existing and incipient parties of the time. It
was a movement that declared for the first time and from the very outset
that it had no intention of representing the definite, clearly outlined
interests of individual classes. It did not stand for town or farm.
It did not represent Catholic or Protestant interests; nor did it represent
individual sections of the country. This was a movement which was definitely
centered upon the concept of the German people. It was not a class party,
sworn to uphold the right or the left, attempting to divide the nation,
but one which from its very beginning had no thought for anything but
the German people as a whole.
Thus began a heroic struggle, opposed at its inception by nearly all.
Nevertheless, the essential objects of the movement embraced the decisive
element. Its clear and unambiguous aim did not allow the movement to
become the tool of definite and limited individual interests, but raised
it above all special obligations to the particular obligation of serving
the German nation in its entirety, of safeguarding its interests regardless
of momentary dissensions or confused thoughts. Thus, today, after 21
years, I again stand before you.
In those days, we were in the middle of a great collapse; Versailles
oppressed us all heavily. With heavy hearts individuals throughout the
entire German Reich began to try to find a way out of this profound
misery. There were many different views as to the reasons for the collapse.
Political mistakes of the most serious kind had undoubtedly been made,
not during the war years but many years before. It had been apparent
that a storm was brewing. Certain warmongers throughout the world-the
very ones who are doing the same thing today-were mobilizing the whole
of Europe against Germany.
Although favorable opportunities of opposing these warmongers-and,
moreover, of opposing them in good time-had presented themselves, the
German government of that time proved a political failure. At the beginning
of the Great War, too, the political leadership in both internal and
external affairs was as clumsy as possible and, from the psychological
point of view, utterly wrong.
However, in one particular sphere no reproach could be leveled against
them: They had not wanted the war. On the contrary, had they wanted
the war they would certainly have prepared for it differently, and they
would have chosen a more favorable time for it. No, their greatest crime-if
a mistake can be called thus-was that, although they knew that war was
inevitable, they failed to act at the decisive hour and, consequently,
at a more propitious time. Military mistakes were made too-many military
mistakes. Yet despite all this, one fact remains: the German soldier,
unconquered, defied his enemies for over four years.
A unique epic was enacted during these four years. Regardless of the
greatness of our present victories or of our victories in the future,
the German nation will always look back with deep emotion and inexpressible
feelings to the great days of the World War when, alone and forsaken
by the whole world, it fought a heroic struggle against an overwhelming
superiority in numbers and an overpowering mass of armaments, yet never
yielded one inch until the collapse occurred for which not the man at
the front but disintegration at home was responsible.
This brings us to the really fundamental and decisive reason, to the
actual cause of the collapse which took place at that time. The German
nation had for several decades been exposed to gradual internal disintegration.
It was divided into two worlds. We are only too conscious of them today,
we old National Socialists, for we fought and struggled against them.
We stood between these two worlds, and it was out of them that our movement
gradually came into being.
You have not forgotten the political conditions of those days, my old
party members-the conditions of our political life. You still remember
the placards of the two great conflicting ideas-the bourgeoisie on the
one side and the proletariat on the other; on the one side nationalism,
on the other socialism. Between these two there yawned a gulf which,
it was asserted, could never be bridged. The nationalist idea of the
bourgeoisie was exclusively bourgeois, and the socialist ideal was exclusively
Marxian. The bourgeois ideal was limited to a class; the Marxian ideal
was unlimited internationally. But, fundamentally both movements were
already sterile. When I first stood before you here, no sensible person
believed that there would ever be any clear decision on this point.
This, after all, was the decisive issue. This struggle was inevitable
if our nation were not to disintegrate completely. One side would have
to emerge from it as the decisive victor.
But even this was out of the question at the time, for the movements
were already beginning to dissolve and to split up. They had lost their
youthful élan. On the one side, the bourgeoisie was gradually
dividing itself into countless parties, societies, groups, associations,
bodies representing municipal and rural interests, house and land-owners,
etc. On the other side were the Marxian movements, which were likewise
disintegrating more and more rapidly. Majority Socialists, Independent
Socialists, Communists, Radical Communists, the Communist Labor Party,
Syndicalists, and so forth: Who can still remember the struggle of all
these groups against one another?
Every placard was a declaration of war, not only against their opponents
but often against their own world as well. The two camps that faced
us then must finally have led to the complete dissolution of the German
community, and naturally, therefore, to the waste and misuse of the
German people's entire strength.
Regardless of the decisions to be made, whether they related to internal
matters or foreign policy, whether they were economic or purely internal
questions, none of them could be successfully solved unless the whole
nation stood solidly united for the purpose.
Versailles confronted us at that time. When I made my first appearance
in this hall, my whole political conscience imposed upon me the duty
of protesting against this subjection, the most ignominious of all times,
and of calling upon the nation to take up arms against it. From the
point of view of foreign policy, the dictate deprived the German nation
of all its rights and rendered it defenseless. The foreign situation,
moreover, also demanded a clear decision. The shameful dictate was intended
to enslave the German nation forever. No limits had been set to this
slavery. From the very outset they said: "We won't state a definite
sum for you to pay, because we ourselves do not know what you are able
to pay. From time to time we will fix fresh sums; but you must pledge
yourselves immediately to pay everything we determine." And that
is what the German governments of those days did.
The fulfillment of these obligations would have reduced Germany to
complete ruin forever. And when a Frenchman said that the aim was really
to annihilate 20 million Germans, that was by no means mere imagination.
It was entirely possible to calculate the time when the German nation
would actually number 20 or 3o million less. This enslavement-disastrous
even from the purely economic point of view-was now opposed by the Germans,
divided into two great camps. Their points of view were completely different;
but both placed their hopes in international ideals. The more intellectually
inclined camp said: "We believe in a world-conscience, in world
justice. We believe in the League of Nations at Geneva." The others
were more proletarian and said: "We believe in international solidarity,"
and things of that sort. But they all believed in something outside
their own people-were ever ready to take refuge in the hope that others
would come and help them.
The conception of the new Movement, whose fundamentals can be expressed
in a single sentence: "The Lord helps those who help themselves,"
opposed this. That is not only a very pious phrase, but a very just
one. For one cannot assume that God exists to help people who are too
cowardly and too lazy to help themselves and think that God exists only
to make up for the weakness of mankind. He does not exist for that purpose.
He has always, at all times, blessed only those who were prepared to
fight their own battles. We have seen what can be expected from the
help of others. An American President appeared and solemnly declared
that if we laid down our arms we should receive this, that and the other
thing. We laid down our arms, and the oath was broken and forgotten.
When the gentlemen were reminded of it they became very unpleasant.
It did not matter how much democratic Germany begged and prayed, she
was granted not the slightest relief, not to mention equal justice.
Democratic Germany was certainly treated justly: she was treated just
as she deserved.
It was in this very town that I began my struggle, my political struggle
against Versailles. You know this, you old members of my party. How
often did I speak against Versailles! I probably studied this treaty
more than any other man. To this day, I have not forgotten it. The Treaty
could not be abolished by humility, by submission. It could only be
abolished by reliance upon ourselves, by the strength of the German
nation.
The days of bitter struggle necessarily led to a selection of leaders.
When today I appear before the nation and look at the ranks that surround
me, I look at a band of men, real men who stand for something. On the
other hand when I regard the cabinets of my opponents, I can only say:
"Quite incapable of being put in charge even of one of my smallest
groups." Hard times resulted in a selection of first class men
who naturally caused us a little anxiety now and then. Everybody who
is worth his salt is sometimes difficult to handle. In normal times
it is not always easy to get divergent elements to work together instead
of against one another. But as soon as danger threatens, they form the
most resolute body of men. Just as selection is a natural consequence
of war and brings real leaders to the fore among soldiers, so in the
world of politics selection is the outcome of struggle. It was a result
of this slow development, this eternal struggle against opposition,
that we gradually acquired leaders with whose aid we can today achieve
anything.
When, on the other hand, I look at the rest of the world, I am obliged
to say: "They were simply asleep while this miracle was taking
place. Even today they refuse to grasp it. They do not realize what
we are, nor do they realize what they themselves are. They go on like
a figure of "Justice"-with blindfolded eyes. They reject what
does not suit them. They do not realize that two revolutions in Europe
have created something new and tremendous. We are fully conscious of
the fact that a second revolution, where the assumption of power occurred
earlier than it did in our country, proceeded parallel with ours. The
Fascist Revolution, too, yielded the same results. Complete identity
exists between our two revolutions, not only as regards aims, but also
as regards methods. Over and above this there is our friendship, which
is more than cooperation with a purpose in view. Nor do our opponents
realize yet, that once I regard a man as my friend, I shall stand by
him and that in doing this, I have no eye for profit. I am not a democrat
and consequently no mental contortionist. Nor am I a war profiteer,
but a man who hopes that, at least after his death, common justice will
concede that the struggle of his whole life served a single great ideal.
I wish to display no faltering in this matter. There cannot be the
slightest doubt that the bond uniting the two revolutions, and especially
the bond uniting their two leaders, is indissoluble, and that one will
always support the other. Moreover, it is a common enemy whom we shall
defeat.
There was a time when Italy, Fascist Italy, which is engaged in the
same struggle as we are, which is shut in in the same way as we are,
which is as over-populated as we are and, up until now, has been given
no better chance of living than we, kept powerful enemies engaged on
our behalf. Numerous British ships were engaged in the Mediterranean;
numerous British airplanes were engaged in the African colonies. This
was a very good thing for us, for, as I told you the other day, our
warfare at sea is just, beginning. The reason for this is that we first
wanted to train new crews for the new submarines which will now make
their appearance on the scene. Let no one doubt that they are about
to appear.
Just two hours ago I received a communiqué from the Commander-in-Chief
of the Navy stating that the reports of the last two days from our ships
and submarines on the high seas reveal that another 215,000 tons have
been sunk; that of this total 190,000 tons were sunk by submarines alone,
and that this figure includes a single convoy of 125,000 tons which
was destroyed yesterday.
From March and April on, those gentlemen will have to be prepared for
something very different. They will see whether we have been asleep
during the winter, or whether we have made good use of our time. During
the long months when we had so few submarines to fight our battles,
Italy kept large forces engaged. It does not matter to us whether our
Stukas attack British ships in the North Sea or in the Mediterranean;
the result is always the same. One thing is certain: Wherever Britain
touches the continent she will immediately have to reckon with us, and
wherever British ships appear, our submarines will attack them until
the hour of decision comes. Thus, except for Germany, only Italy has
had a revolution which, in the long run, will lead, must lead and has
led to the construction of a new national community.
We had to exercise patience for many a long year, and I can only say:
My opponents may believe that they can terrify me with the threat of
time, but I have learned to wait, and I have never been idle while waiting.
We had to wait ten years after 1923 until we at last came into power.
But you old members of the Party know that we accomplished much in those
ten years. What did we not achieve; what did we not construct? The movement
which came to power in 1933 was different from that of 1923. We had
made good use of our time. It is for this reason that such threats do
not frighten us. We were never in the habit of setting ourselves a limit
and saying: This must be done on March 1, or June 15, or September 7.
It is only the journalists of our opponents who said that this was
so. They always knew everything. They said: "If the National Socialists
do not come to power by October 1928, they are lost." We were not
lost. Again they said: "If the National Socialists do not come
into power after the September elections in 1930, National Socialism
will be a thing of the past." It was not a thing of the past, although
we did not come into power. Then in 1932 they said: "National Socialism
is dead. The Fuehrer has refused to enter the cabinet. He does not want
any responsibility. He is too cowardly to accept it. We have always
said so. We knew it. He shirks responsibility."
These sharp-witted journalists who are now in England-they are no longer
among us-knew all about it. Now they said: "August 13 is the turning
point; National Socialism is done for." August 13 came-and National
Socialism was not done for. A few months later they had to fix a new
date. Finally came January 30, 1933. Then they said: "Well, now
they have made their mistake! They have gained power, and in six weeks
they will be finished-three months at the most. Three months, and that
will be the end of them." The six weeks and the three months passed,
and still we were not finished.
And so they kept on fixing new dates for our downfall, and now, in
wartime, they are doing exactly the same thing. And why not? They are
the same people, the same prophets, the same political diviners who
prophesied the future so wonderfully when they were here. Now they are
employed as assistants in the British Ministry of Information and the
British Foreign Office. They always know exactly that on such and such
a date the Germans will be finished. We have experienced that more than
once. You all know what they said. I need only refer to the celebrated
utterance of a great British statesman whom you in Munich know by sight-Mr.
Chamberlain. A few days before April 9, of last year, he said: "Thank
God, he has missed the bus." I can remind you of another-the British
Commander-in-Chief-who said: "A few months ago I was afraid, now
I am afraid no longer. They have missed their opportunity. Besides,
they only have young generals. That is their mistake and their misfortune;
it is the same with all their leaders. They have lost their opportunity.
It is all over." A few weeks later this general had departed. Probably
he too was too young.
Today they are doing exactly the same thing. They always fix final
dates. In the autumn they said: "If they don't land now, all is
well. In the spring of 1941 Britain will transfer the offensive to the
Continent." I am still waiting for the British offensive. They
have transferred the offensive elsewhere, and now, unfortunately, we
must run after them wherever they happen to be. But we shall find them
wherever they run. And we shall strike them where they are most vulnerable.
Thus, 21 years of a dauntless struggle for our Movement have passed.
After 13 years we at last came to power. Then came years of preparation
of our foreign policy, of gigantic work at home. You know that it is
all an exact repetition of what happened in the party. We asked nothing
of the world but equal rights, just as we asked for the same rights
at home. At home we demanded the right to meet freely, the right which
the others possessed. We demanded the right of free speech, the same
right as a parliamentary party as the others held. We were refused and
persecuted with terrorism. Nevertheless, we built up our organization
and won the day.
In the same way, I appeared before the world and said: "I ask
for no more than the others have. I am prepared to disarm to the limit."
I constantly made new proposals, but we were ridiculed and our demands
were refused, exactly as they had been at home. I wanted to negotiate
for everything. There can be no better way of achieving anything for
a people than by negotiating. It costs less, and, above all, no blood
is shed. Who would be so mad as to take by force anything that he could
get by reason?
But there are things which must be left to Germany, because she must
live. Others have no right to cut us off. It was monstrous for a nation
that already possessed 15 million square miles to take another million
square miles from another nation. It is intolerable for us to be the
puppets of other nations and to have them prescribe for us, for example,
what economic policy we are to pursue. We are carrying out the economic
policy which is most advantageous to the German people. I am not persuading
the others. If they want to sit on their money bags, let them do so.
But when they say: "You do the same," I shall take care not
to buy dead gold with the productive power of German workmen.
I purchase the necessities of life with the productive power of German
workmen. The results of our economic policy speak for us, not for the
gold standard people. For we, the poor have abolished unemployment because
we no longer pay homage to this madness, because we regard our entire
economic existence as a production problem and no longer as a capitalistic
problem. We placed the whole organized strength of the nation, the discipline
of the entire nation, behind our economic policy. We explained to the
nation that it was madness to wage internal economic wars between the
various classes, in which they all perish together.
Of course, a fundamental social principle was necessary to achieve
this. It is today no longer possible to build up a state on a capitalistic
basis. The peoples eventually begin to stir. The awakening of the peoples
cannot be prevented by wars. On the contrary, war will only hasten it.
Such states will be ruined by financial catastrophes which will destroy
the foundations of their own former financial policy.
The gold standard will not emerge victorious from this war. Rather,
the national economic systems will conquer. And these will carry on
among themselves the trade that is necessary for them. Whether this
does or does not suit a few gold-standard bankers in the world is quite
immaterial. And if some of these gold bankers declare: "We cannot
tolerate your trading with this or that country," it is none of
their business. In future the peoples will decline to accept rules as
to their trade policy laid down by a few bankers. They will follow the
policy which is best adapted to their needs.
In this respect we can look to the future with confidence. Germany
is an immense factor in world economy, not only as a producer but also
as a consumer. We certainly have a great market for our goods. But we
are not only seeking markets; we are also the greatest buyers. The Western
world wants, on the one hand, to live upon its empires and, on the other
hand, to export from its empires as well. That is impossible because
in the long run the nations cannot carry on one-sided trade. They not
only have to buy, but also have to sell. They can sell nothing to these
empires. The peoples will therefore trade with us in the future, regardless
of whether this happens to suit certain bankers or not. Therefore we
will not establish our economic policy to suit the conceptions or desires
of bankers in New York or London.
Germany's economic policy is conducted exclusively in accordance with
the interests of the German people. In this respect I am a fanatical
socialist, one who has ever in mind the interests of all his people.
I am not the slave of a few international banking syndicates. I am under
no obligation to any capitalist group. I sprang from the German people.
My Movement, our Movement, is a German people's Movement, and it is
only to this German people that we are obligated.
Our economic policy, I repeat, is determined solely by the interests
of the German people. From this principle we shall never depart. If
the rest of the world says: "War," I can only say: "Very
well. I do not want war, but no one, however peaceable, can live in
peace if his neighbor intends to force a quarrel."
I am not one of those who sees such a war coming and starts whining
about it. I have said and done all that I could; I have made proposal
after proposal to Britain; likewise to France. These proposals were
always ridiculed-rejected with scorn. However, when I saw that the other
side intended to fight, I naturally did that which as a National Socialist
of the early days, I did once before: I forged a powerful weapon of
defense. And, just as of old, I proclaimed that we should be not merely
strong enough to stand the blows of others but strong enough to deal
blows in return. I built up the German armed forces as a military instrument
of state policy, so that if war were inevitable, these forces could
deliver crushing blows.
Only a few days ago, an American general declared before an investigating
committee in the House of Representatives that in 1936 Churchill had
personally assured him, "Germany is becoming too strong for us.
She must be destroyed, and I will do everything in my power to bring
about her destruction."
A little later than 1936, I publicly issued a warning against this
man and his activities for the first time. When I noticed that a certain
British clique, incited by the Jews-who are of course, the fellows who
kindle the flames everywhere-was intentionally provoking war, I immediately
made all preparations on my part to arm the nation. And you, my old
Party comrades, know that when I speak it is not a mere matter of words,
for I act accordingly. We worked like Titans. The armaments we have
manufactured in the past few years are really the proudest achievement
that the world has ever seen. If the rest of the world tells us: "We
are doing likewise now," I can only reply: "By all means do
so, for I have already done it. But above all, don't tell me any of
your tales. I am an expert, a specialist in rearmament. I know exactly
what can be made from steel and what can be made of aluminum. I know
what achievements can be expected of men and what cannot be expected.
Your tales do not impress me in the least. I enlisted the strength of
the whole German nation in good time to assist in our arming and, if
necessary, I shall enlist that of half Europe. I am prepared for all
impending conflicts and consequently face them calmly." Let the
others face them with equal calm.
I place my confidence in the best army in the world, in the best army
which the German nation has ever possessed. It is numerically strong,
it has the finest weapons and is better led than ever before. We have
a body of young leaders who have not merely proved their worth in the
present war but, I can well say, have covered themselves with glory.
Wherever we look today, we see a bodyguard of chosen men to whom the
German soldiers have been entrusted. They in their turn are the leaders
of soldiers who are the best trained in the world, who are armed with
the finest weapons on earth. Behind these soldiers and their leaders
stands the German nation, the whole German people. In the midst of this
people, forming its very core, is the National Socialist Movement which
began its existence in this room 21 years ago,-this Movement the like
of which does not exist in the democratic countries, this Movement whose
only pendant is fascism. Nation and army, party and state are today
one indivisible whole. No power in the world can loosen what is so firmly
welded together. Only fools can imagine that the year 1918 can be repeated.
We encountered the same ideas among our plutocrats at home. They, too,
always hoped for internal disruption, dissolution, civil war of German
against German. Exactly the same ideas are encountered today. They say:
"There will be a revolution in Germany in six weeks." They
do not know who is going to make the revolution. There are no revolutionaries
among us. Thomas Mann and others like him went to England. Some have
already left England for America, because England is too close to their
revolution's future field of operations. They are establishing their
headquarters far from their future field of battle. Nevertheless, they
assert that the revolution will come. Who will make it? I do not know.
How it will be made, I do not know either. All I know is that in Germany
there can be, at the most, only a few fools who might think of revolution,
and that they are all behind iron bars.
Then they said: "Winter, General Winter is coming, and he will
force Germany to her knees." But, unfortunately, the German people
are "winter-proof." German history has passed through I do
not know how many tens of thousands of winters. We will get through
this one, too.
Then they say: "Starvation will come." We are prepared against
this, too. We know the humanitarian sentiments of our British opponents
and so have made our preparations. I believe that starvation will reach
them before it reaches us.
Then they said: "Time is on our side." But time is only on
the side of those who work. No one has been harder at world than we.
Of that I can assure them. In fact, all these vague hopes which they
are building up are absolutely childish and ridiculous.
In general, I should like to add one thing: The German people can look
back upon many thousands of years of development. Its history goes back
2000 years. For 1000 years there has been a German Reich, a Reich which
actually contained only Germans. During this time our people survived
the most astounding blows of fate. It will also survive everything that
the present or the future may bring. Indeed, it will do so even better,
because it is my belief that there has always been a German people and,
for more than 1000 years, a German Reich, but there has never before
been German unity nor the compact organization of our people that we
possess today, and there has not always been the leadership which the
German people possesses today.
And so, in all due modesty, I have just one more thing to say to my
opponents: I have taken up the challenge of many democratic adversaries
and up to now I have always emerged the victor from the conflict. I
do not believe that this struggle is being carried on under different
conditions. That is to say, the relation of the forces involved is exactly
the same as before. In any case I am grateful to Providence that this
struggle, having become inevitable, broke out in my lifetime and at
a time when I still feel young and vigorous. Just now I am feeling particularly
vigorous. Spring is coming, the spring which we all welcome. The season
is approaching in which one can measure forces. I know that, although
they realize the terrible hardships of the struggle, millions of German
soldiers are at this moment thinking exactly the same thing.
We now have a year of incredible successes behind us-also of severe
sacrifices, not as a whole, but certainly individually. We know, however,
that these successes have not been gained without effort. Countless
German men staked their lives at the front with the greatest bravery
and are still doing so unflinchingly. What so many of our men are achieving
in our regiments, in our tanks, in our airplanes, in our submarines,
on our ships and everywhere else in our formations is without parallel.
Better and braver soldiers have never existed.
We old National Socialists are particularly proud of them, for we are
nothing but a party of ex-soldiers-the ex-soldiers of the Great War.
We returned from that war with our hearts burning with rage and fury,
but, at the same time, heavy and sore, deeply conscious of the shame
that had been inflicted upon our brave people. We who went through the
whole struggle of the Great War can best realize what our soldiers are
achieving today.
I can only say to our soldiers that our hearts, the hearts of all the
old National Socialists, are with them. They are soldiers' hearts. How
many of us were riddled with bullets in the Great War! How many were
wounded! How many fought in the ranks! With flaming hearts, all of them
watched the campaigns of our armies in the past year. Every single battlefield
meant so much to them. It was a tremendous satisfaction to them to see
that that for which through long years of terrible misfortune they had
once shed their blood, and yet had not been able to achieve, was at
last an accomplished fact. How proud they are today of their sons, of
the young soldiers of the Third Reich. No one is more fitted to tell
them this than the old party members, those old soldiers, who, when
they returned from the Great War, refused to endure the disgrace they
found at home and immediately began a new struggle within the country,
the struggle against the destroyers of our country and of our home.
Thus, we; National Socialists are now facing a new year of struggle.
We all know that it will bring great decisions.
We look to the future with unshakable confidence. We have passed through
the hardest school known to men. We know that the untold sacrifices
we have made cannot have been in vain, because we believe in supreme
justice. What have we not done in past years? How we have toiled, how
we have labored, always with but one end in view: Our nation! Millions
have devoted their lives to it; hundreds and thousands have sacrificed
them for it.
Providence has not led us along these amazing paths in vain. On the
day that the party was founded I recalled that our nation once gained
immense victories. Then it became ungrateful, disunited, sinned against
itself. Thereupon it was punished by Providence. We deserved our defeat.
If a nation forgets itself as completely as the German nation did at
that time, if it thinks that it can shake off all honor and all good
faith, Providence can do nothing but teach it a hard and bitter lesson.
But even at that time we were convinced that once our nation found itself
again, once it again became industrious and honorable, once each individual
German stood up for his nation first and not for himself, once he placed
the interests of the community above his own personal interests, once
the whole nation again pursued a great ideal, once it was prepared to
stake everything for this ideal, the hour would come when the Lord would
declare our trials at an end.
If fate should once more call us to the battlefield, the blessing of
Providence will be with those who have merited it by years of hard work.
When I compare myself and my opponents in other countries in the light
of history, I do not fear the verdict on our respective mentalities.
Who are these egoists? Each one of them merely defends the interests
of his class. Behind them all stands either the Jew or their own moneybags.
They are all nothing but money-grubbers, living on the profits of this
war. No blessing can come of that. I oppose these people merely as the
0 champion of my country. I am convinced that our struggle will in the
future be blessed by Providence, as it has been blessed up to now.
When I first entered this hall twenty-one years ago, I was an unknown,
nameless soldier. I had nothing behind me but my own conviction. During
the twenty-one years since, a new world has been created. The road leading
into the future will be easier than the road from February 24, 1920,
to the present. I look to I the future with fanatical confidence. The
whole nation has answered the call. I know that when the command is
given: "Forward march!" Germany will march.
[1] German Library of Information.