HITLER'S TIRADE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23714, 22 July 1940, Page 8

HITLER'S TIRADE

. LAST 'APPEAL ; PEACE DESIRED BRITAIN BLAMED ; BOASTS AND THREATS .'.MIGHT OF THE AXIS BERLIN, July 10 Boasting that the might of German . arms was threatening the destruction of the British Empire, Hitler delivered a peace ultimatum in his speech at the Reichstag. In the first place, he sought to blame the democracies''' for the war, and declared . that only "the obstinacy of the bloody-handed Jewish warmongers of Britain and France" was responsible for Poland's oppositon to his reasonable proposals. Ribbentrop, Goering and the Italian Foreign Minister, Count Ciano, were on the platform when Hitler addressed the Reichstag. Goering opened the proceedings by paying a tribute to the German and Italian dead. Jews, freemasons, arms manufacturers, war profiteers, international .business circles and stock exchange pirates used the desperado of political hirelings to launch war, said Hitler. Germany .showed super-human self- • control, but France and Britain wanted war. ' Finland and Norway Then, as documents had since revealed, these stony-hearted politicians sought ,to extend the war, and attempted to use the Russo-Finnish war to harm Germany through Russia. They determined to convert Sweden and Norway into a theatre of war and they planned a conflagration in the Balkans : to gain the assistance of 100 divisions in those countries. \' They also planned the bombardment of Batum and Baku by a ruthless and unscrupulous interpretation of Turkish "neutrality and inveigled Belgium and ""Holland until they enticed them to sign 'General Staff agreements.

German Tactics Disguised g' After a detailed account of the 'reasons for and the operations in the invasion, which he described ■as the' boldest undertaking in the history of the German forces, Hitler declared .that- it then became evident that Britain and France intended to make a. lightning dash across Belgium into Germany at any moment after the

'i»eginnirig of May. ' Hitler described how he planned and ( forked out methods to meet these •threats, and how the Schlieffen plan [became, a disguise for thrusting the 'maih;6erman force against,the enemy's jight; flank, and reaching the Meuse. v ; . \ "My Final Appeal" 1 Hitler said he had summoned the Reichstag;-first, to give the Germans an inkling; of historic ©vents; secondly, to express his admiration for German soldiers; and, thirdly, to make "one •more appeal to common sense in Eng- . land." "This," he said, "is my final f appeal." - i/L J French and British culture, said •Hitler, had demonstrably failed in - world leadership. The programme of r the Nazi movement was simply to can- . i eel the Treaty of Versailles. All at- . tempts to achieve that aim peacefully had failed. "Even on September 2, 1939, peace could have been saved if Churchill and others had the feeling of responsibility . .that .1 had," Hitler continued. "We :.t.hen accepted Siguor Mussolini's peace plan, but British and French warmongers needed war. "A Reasonable Peace" "I now speak as a victor proposing a reasonable peacie, not a victor demanding the capitulation of the vanquished. I appeal once more to England. .A .world empire -will be destroyed if England insists 011 continuing the Avar. "Germans found in a railway station fin France secret documents of every " ineeting of the British and French War ■i Council, bearing hand-written annotations of Gamelin, Daladier, Weygand * and all the rest. These show how small r nations were to be brought into the '* conflagration. "Britain- and France planned to spread the war throughout Europe. We owe our knowledge of the democracies' trar plans to their garrulousness. German Preparations "During the winter they looked out ' for. new opportunities to plunder. I concentrated 011 increasing the military efficiency of the Reich. The democracies intended, after occupying strategic points in Norway, to march into Sweden, but the British troops landed . in Norway were notable only for their unscrupulous inadequacy. Their equipf ment and training were definitely inferior from the outset. "Then we learned that an enemy ; _advance on the Western Front was to >be expected, but the enemy actions greatly increased the ease of our break 'through'. This operation, which included the destruction of the entire British ■" Expeditionary Force, was not primarily directed to taking Paris, but to reachring the Swiss frontier. "During the campaign in France I • aimed to destroy completely the —British and French armies. 1 succeeded in. deceiving the enemy staffs r by inverting the Schlieffen plan.

Misery of France "I had warned France that misery ■was to be expected," continued Hitler. ' Marshal Petain asked for an armistice in, an impossible military situation. Only the bloody dilettantism of Churchill is incapable of understanding this. "Now, even in this hour, I consider it my, duty to relieve my conscience and direct my last appeal to England. This time I shall be believed because J. am not the defeated begging, but the victor appealing to reason. "I am sorry for the victims that continuance of the war will bring. I want to spare my nation sorrow. Great suffering will begin for millions of other people. I do not want to wage war, but to build a new social order. This 'struggle will end only in the annihilation of one of the adversaries. Churchill believes it will be Germany. I know it will be Britain. - "My object for the past 20 years has been friendship with Italy and Britain. Even. to-day I am sad because I am

unable to achieve friendship with Britain. Germany's politico-military cooperation with Italy is complete, and will lead to final victory. Italy from the outbreak of war has kept strong units of the enemy occupied and finally took up arms of her own accord.

"After the destruction of Britain no Churchill will remain to attempt tho task of rehabilitation. People in London will have a totally different idea from Churchill's.

"There arc no grounds for continuation of the war. British statesmen do not realise what a German offensive against the United Kingdom will mean. Churchill and his Government will fleo to Canada, afraid to face the music.

"I prophesy that the whole world will be destroyed unless Britain listens to reason.

Judging by Results "Possibly Churchill will brush away my appeal as born from fear. In that case I am relieved by my conscience regarding things to come. During tho past 10 months my opinions about the future have always been right and tho enemy's always wrong. "England declares that she emerges moro powerful from disaster, but Germany emerges more powerful from victory. Germany is stronger militarily than ever. Our losses in men and material hitherto have been negligible. We were able to send back many divisions from France to assist in tho military production of war material, producing such quantities that we are forced to find additional storage. "Ample War Supplies"

"We have unlimited supplies of coal and iron. We need no further imports of fuel-oil nor metals. To all, this we can add the unlimited possibilities of booty from the occupied territories. These are still untouched. "Germany.andltaly control .'200.000,000 people, of whom over 70,000,000 are employable. We have food enough for as long as the war lasts. There is nothing to worry us in our future. "Assertions of the possibilities of a revolution in Germany are just stupid. England hopes to switch the burden of the war on to other countries.

"The possibility of Russia being involved is absolute nonsense. 1 have defined the spheres of our interest. German-Russian relations have been finally stabilised. "Empire Will be Destroyed"

"Churchill declared that he wants war. Our reply will be terrible. His great world Empire will be destroyed, i never wanted it, but it will come." Hitler pausied during his account of the "Western Front operations to name numerous military leaders, many of whom had been promoted to the rank of field marshal. Frantic cheers greeted each announcement, but overwhelmingly the biggest ovation greeted his announcement of Goering's elevation.

"It is not given to many mortals to create an air force from nothing and make it the proudest weapon of its kind in the world," declared Hitler. "I name Goering Riech Marshal of the Great German Reich, and give him that Great Cross of the German Order of the Iron Cross." Translations of the Reichstag proceedings in foreign languages, including English, were broadcast after the German transmission. Local Nazi group leaders were ordered to arrange communal broadcasts for those without wireless sets. All German stations broadcast Hitler's declaration.

VAIN POSTURING HITLER AS LIBERATOR MR. MENZIES' COMMENT (Received July 21, 7.10 p.m.) SYDNEY, July 21 "A'slave Europe would be a very poor foundation for a free world," said the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. R. G. Menzies, commenting on Hitler's speech. "The truth is that, after some swift conquests. Hitler now finds himself confronted by unimpaired British seapower—by a resolute and well-trained British community and by an outraged world conscience. He has his choice, as he has given 11s ours. He can either attack Britain and expose himself to a disaster of the first magnitude or he can pose as the guide, philosopher and friend of the Poles, Danes, Norwegians, Dutch, French and Belgians whom ho has ravaged and whose liberties he has temporarily destroyed.

"If Hitler thinks that kind of posturing will have the same effect on the British mind as upon his well-disciplined clackers in the' Kroll Opera House in Berlin, he is very much mistaken. The peace we want is something very different from what he is likely to proscribe."

"The answer to Hitler's 95-minutes speech will be the derisive laughter of the whole British world," said Mr. Menzies, speaking at a patriotic rally in Melbourne to-day. "Although Hitler made his speech to a well-drilled Berlin audience, it was also meant, for us as a threat. All he said in 95 minutes could be replied to in half a minute. We flung back the challenge and said, 'We want peace on our terms, not

yours.' " Mr. Menzies warned Australia against Hitler's subtle propaganda. .It was better that innocent people in Europe should suffer this winter than that the heart of our Empire should be beaten down. If there were to be hardship in Europe, let Hitler answer for it. If there were to be' insurrection in Europe, let Hitler deal with it.

POOR HARVEST GERMAN ADMISSION LARGE RESERVES CLAIMED (Received July 21, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, July 20 The Berlin news agency says that a preliminary survey shows that the harvest, especially from autumn sowings, will not reach last year's level. "But Germany has enough supplies," adds the agency, "to prevent a shortage and disappoint the starvation strategists." SEIZED IN EIRE LORRY-LOAD OF AMMUNITION (Received! July 21, 6.60 p.m.) LONDON, July VO Police intercepted and seized near Dublin early yesterday morning a lorry containing about four tons of ammunition. They arrested the six occupantß.