WHO IS ADOLF HITLER

Hokitika Guardian, 25 October 1930, Page 6

WHO IS ADOLF HITLER

V NOT A MUSSOLINI. f ,PARLIAMENT the means to an END. LONDON, September 19. ■ “Hitler Adolf. Son of a petty Austrian official living near the Bavarian border; Fought in the Bavarian Army during the war. Rose to notoriety in 1922 shortly before the Mussolini coup d’etat in Italy, by founding the socalled German National Socialist Workmen's Party. Concentrated on exploiting the Semitic and Bolshevik bogies. He also denounced the Entente, the Reich Government, the Bavarian Gov,eminent, and Capitalism. His chief following was drawn from the young Nationalistic Socialists and Communists, the two latter classes of the convert type. His Workmen’s Party actually included more students, minor officials and policemen than workmen. He obtained some financial assistance from" industrialists. In the autumn of 1923 he joined with General von Lud- : eiidorff rn .leading the insurrection in Bavaria,' but, ' after a temporary, escape, was arrested and subsequently tried-dor-high treason, receiving a, sentence; of fiVe years’ fortress.,- He.,was. finally released after six months and bound over for the rest of his sentence, fading;into oblivion.” Tlie .above biographical note of the man in the spotlight in Germany ap-, •pearecl dast-yeaf as-a footnote in Lord 'D’Aberqon’s Diary. But “Handsome Adolf” after all has emerged from oblivion, 'and there were—and may still be—fears that his followers will take to .arms, and so widespread was the fear that prices of German stocks slumped. New York, however, was not alarmed—and it now is the world’s greatest potential lender—and recovery lias taken place in prices of 'German stocks. THEATRICAL ATTITUDES. -

The man that some of the Press are calling ; a Mussolini deserves attention. He is likfe 'his"alleged prototype,. fond 'of striking theatrical attitudqs, l 'Luden-; dorff staged his return, to; polities in 1923 in conjunction withYvori ;•> Kahr, when the latter was about to deliver, says Lord D’Abernonp.;“a; )much 7 ad-;; vertised address on Marxism, the, agitator Hitler—whose programme comprised the extermination of the Jews, the hanging of the Reichstag, and the defeat of the French by a Central Government headed by General von Ludendorff and himself—suddenly appeared on the platform of the bierhalle, where the meeting was being held, revolver in hand. He presented von ,Kqhr r ,to,.the latter’s consternation, as the new Regent of Bavaria. Amidst great applause, lie pronounced the deposition of President Ebert and of the Stresemann Government and the formation of a Germany National Government at Munich tinder Hitler’s leadership and with General von Luderidorff in supreme military command. Von Kahr pretended at the time to accept Hitler’s terms, but slipped away later with General von Lossow and the Head of the Police. A FARCICAL ENDING.

• jthe' next -morning they issued; a proclamation stating., that the guilty would; hie punished and decreeing the dissolution of the more extreme patriotic associations. Hitler was not aware of this turn of affairs, and when, the next day, he and Ludendorff marched at the head of their troops to the centre df the town, they were disagreeably surprised when they came into contact' with a detachment of the Reichswehr who, despite the appeals of Ludendorff, opened fire. Hitler’s courage was unequal to the occasion. He flung himself on the ground to escape the bullets with such violence as to dislocate. his shoulder, and subsequently escaped from Munich in a motor-car. Ludendorff, no. less taken aback by, the loyalty of the Bavarian Reichswehr to the Central Government, surrendered on the spot.. .Thus what might easily have been a national, tragedy ended almost as a farce.” No wonder the historical authority who wrote the biography note we quoted 'said he sank “into oblivion.” PARLIAMENT THE MEANS.

’ Reaction in Germany has always been strongest is Bavaria, where Saxony and Thuringia, and in all three States German Nationalists. “Nazis,” or Fascisti, who have taken the Swastika as their emblem, are now in a majority, and the swing, over in the Germans elections to the Nazis may well bring trouble both in Germany and elsewhere. Herr Hitler, however, seems either to have become less of a blusterer if his speeches of yesterday means what he says, or else he has become almost Fabian, and instead of force, he said yesterday, will use parliamentary persuasion ; and, having announced this, retired to the Alps for a holiday! In his speech he explains how the Nazis regard Parliament, a thing they had hitherto l looked on with contempt. Parliament for the Nazis, he said, was not the objective itself, but a means of reaching the objective; not a goal, but a way to the goal. They were not ,a parliamentary party by principle, but by (compulsion, and the compulsion •was the Constitution. The Constitution . compelled them to employ this method, but it did not compel them to have a particular aim; it only prescribed a. way. They would follow that way legally in observance of the Constitution to the goal they had set themelves. Constitutions could not lay down for ever a hard and fast aim, especially when that aim was not compatible with a nation’s right to live. Their aim was a revolution of the German,soul and its capture. After-, “ i

wards, they could leave the sovereign German people to settle accounts with those who had led it astray.

WEAPON OF VICTORY

The victory was more than ' a mere election victory. Hitherto they had had to fight against being ignored, against unwillingness to listen to them. Now things were different. They had attracted the attention of the public, not only in Germany, but far beyond the frontiers. The victory had also bought them a new weapon. They now had 107 men standing in the legal arena prescribed for combat in these days, and . those 107 men would prove that the National-Socialists were able, not only to move and master the masses, but also to fence with the foils in that arena. They would boldly avail themselves in that area of all possibilities which might bring them nearer their goal, but they would proclaim ceaseless that that arena was not in itself their goal. They did not fight for the sake of Deputies’ seats; they won the seats in order that they might one day set the German nation free.

FOREIGN REACTIONS

By the reaction of Hitler German relations with foreign, countries wants watching.’ . There is first, an increase iii French nervousness and fear of a coming war of revenge; and so a hardening of .France’s attitude of disarmament. •

■ Second; a steadily growing pressure on the German Government to declare that, the Young Plan is unworkable, and to demand its revision—a pressure which may prove irresistible.

C: 'Third/a strengthening of Pilsudski’s 'hanejv'in Poland and a worsening ot German-Polish relations.

The only counterbalancing advantage to all this is that it reduces the chances of a Pilsudskist adventure to the East. The “Young Plan” situation may easily become very serious in the quite near future. There is certainly a majority in the new Reichstag for the working of the plan. But naturally there is no enthusiasm for it anywhere; while the opposition is more than enthusiastic. “They say to us, .‘Why should we pay money to France ;for. her to spend on armaments?’ and jit is- not easy to answer” a Socialist member writes. “Down with the Young Plaid’ ; was the cry both of the 'Fascists; and the Communists. It got •them niiilibiis of their votes. And ;‘milHb’ris’-.more. who did not vote for them are with them on this point. PHENOMENA IN BRITAIN.

Tliis’-increase in Germany in extreme nationalism a,nd; extreme left wingconiinunism is* being compared in Great Britain to the phenomenon of Empire Free Trade and Clydeside communism, both promising short cuts to the millenium. Germany, in spite of the energy and ability : displayed in the rationalisation of her industries, finds herself in the throes of an industrial and financial crisis, with two milion unemployed on her streets. The reparations payments* which could be borne with comparative ease in good times, have become a more serious 'burden, and it is much easier to excite animosity against the creditor nations than- to analyse the real cause and cure of the economic depression. Revision of the Young Plan has become as popular a cry as Empire Free Trade, and for much the same reasons.