The Dominion FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 1932. DEMOCRACY’S FAILURE IN GERMANY

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 278, 19 August 1932, Page 10

The Dominion FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 1932. DEMOCRACY’S FAILURE IN GERMANY

The one thing that is clear in the political nuiddlement d dis ¥he?e r -bled Sgnor MussoliffiS My to effect his celebrated coup and so rescue his country from anarchy and the menace of Communism. That the parallel will be made complete by a Hitler marcn Berlin similar, to Mussolini’s march on Rome does not however seem The coub that he might have made has been anticipated oy President von Hindenburg’s action in establishing a virtual dictatorship in Prus“a-«hid. comprises two-thirds of Germany-backedbyWOO nolice and the full strength of the military forces. That neither th President nor the Chancellor, Dr. von Paper., has any .mentton of vacating' this position until political and social order have been fully LXel is made perfectly clear by the latter’s statement published tn-dav “We shall be in office a long time. . . tO d Sr. von Papen throws some light on the negotiations be ween the Government and Herr Hitler. Apparently it was not Hitler s personal wish to demand, as he did, powers comparable to tho assumed by Mussolini in Italy. He acted unde .^ he he has followers, a plain indication that he is no Mussolini, further, he has been told that the Government will stand no> nonsense,and wi 11 proi p° suppress any attempts at a revolution. Germany, declares Dr. Paoen “is again united more closely than ever behind President ion HiSdenbirg and we have full confidence in his leadership.” It would thus appear that the Field-Marshal through his personal ascendancy, initiative, and decision is now master of the situation. Dr. von Papen seems to be confident that he will be able to control the militancy of the Nazis. Apart from Hitler s personal there are various points of contact between his party aims and t! of the Government’s. Dr. von Papen shares with Herr Hitler the sentiments of a narrow nationalism, a thorough detestation of Communism, and a dislike of the Social Democrats. On the other hand •, there is a marked distinction between the calibres of their respective followings. Dr. von Papen has rallied the cultured classes,.landowners, and the survivors of the old military caste, with their high sense of duty and administrative experience, to the cause of public discipline and order. The Hitler group is merely a heterogeneous mass of malcontents inflamed by their leader’s platform denunciations of the existing order, and attracted to him by his genius for showmanship. President von Hindenburg sees clearly that if the Nazis were given power through a numerical ascendancy purely fortuitous the security of the country would be endangered. Politically speaking they are raw and inexperienced, with nothing to guide them but various slogans coined at high temperatures «for electioneering propaganda, That their influence will decline as the country’s economic situation improves seems certain, and the President with admirable astuteness has set the stage for such a revulsion by adroitly.elbowing Herr Hitler away from the splotlight. Under a dictatorship which the German people seem to have accepted with comparative calm, it should ’be possible, for order to be restored. The various political groups will have time for reflection and a readjustment of their perspectives. For the time being democratic government in Germany is at a discount. Its failure lies in the inability of the different political parties to thjnk in national terms, and in the disinclination of the States to subordinate their interests to those of the Republic. This explains the Hitler view, which is intensely nationalistic, that German unity will be achieved only when Germany is organised as a unitary State. It also justifies the President in his action in removing party politics from the scene and concentrating the attention of the nation on the prime necessity of safeguarding the Republic as a whole.