The German Elections So far as the German election results
prove anything, they tend to prove a little too much. That Germany is solid behind Herr Hitler when he defies the Treaty of Versailles and makes a coup which removes the one remaining restriction on German sovereignty is not surprising. Any known opponents of the regime, moreover, have either fled the country or been committed to concentration camps. Even if they were still in Germany and still at large they would not be able to make their views known by public speech or in the public Press. The Government, as Dr. Goebbels has justly observed, has the army, the wireless, the police and the Nazi organisations at its disposal—and the Press. It worked up public enthusiasm with great skill to reach its highest pitch on election day, though Herr Hitler in effect only redelivered the speech made at his various pre-election meetings, and it was not particularly impressive of its kind. But no free vote of sixty-five million people has ever yielded a majority of 99 per cent. There is always a minority opposed for one reason or another to the majority's programme. There is no reason to doubt that the ballot in Germany is secret, but even so in the atmosphere prevailing in Germany today it is hard to imagine any voter taking the risk of putting anything but " Ja " on his ballot-paper. A 90 per cent. majority would have suggested that a few free voters did still exist.
Previous page
