Reichswehr and Party
. Two versions of the attitude of the Reichswehr to the Nazi Party—a question of the first importance—have been published in the past week. The first took the form of an article in an Austrian paper by the former Reichs- wehr officer Captain Felsen, and all copies of The Times, which quoted extensively from it, were confiscated in Germany. Captain Felsen takes the view that while the Reichswehr as a whole supports Herr Hitler, particu- larly in view of what he has done in mobilizing the military strength of the country, it has no use for the clique of National-Socialist Ministers and officials, and will sweep them away ruthlessly if occasion arises. As a result, pretty obviously,• of this, an article by General von Reichenau, the second-in-command to General Fritsch, the Commander-in-Chief, was issued for publica- tion to the German Press on Tuesday. It is a declaration of loyalty both to Herr Hitler himself and to the Nazi Party, and sets the Reichswehr in due and ordered relationship to the Hitler Youth, the Labour Service and the Party organizations. Allowance must be made in either case for the author's point of view. Captain '1'elsen is said to have left Germany " for political reasons." General von Reiehenau is clearly writing not only with official approval but by official arrangement. That there is a section of the Reichswehr which cares only for the army and nothing for the Party is well known, but predictions of disruptions based on 'antagonism between the army and the State have at present no visible foundation.
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