Whatever else was significant in Herr Hitler's Reichstag speech on
Sunday, the tone was unmistakable. In manner and expression it was by far the most hostile and uncompromising towards other countries that the Fiihrer has yet delivered. The voice was harsh, uneven, rising to a hysterical high shriek at emotional crises. Herr Hitler spoke with a violence unusual even for him ; but for once he seems to have Ailed of his effect. Usually, whatever he says sounds sincere ; however extravagant its content, he seems to believe in it and persuades others by the sincerity of his own conviction. On Sunday he blustered ; it was unmistakably the voice of a man who goes further than is justified and knows it. As someone said to me, for the first time he spoke as if " he were too big for his boots." It remains to be seen whether he is.
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