Correspondence
Can Hitlerism Last ?
6-- . [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.1 Sin,—The Hitler Cabinet, by the Enabling Act of March 23rd, 1933, has acquired absolute dictatorial powers until April 1st, 1937. The most competent judges see no serious obstacle to the completion of this term of office, but they do not deny that it may end in a Fool's Day. To venture upon any prophecy with regard to Fascist Germany is no doubt perilous. The Italian—or the Russian—analogy must remain inexact. To a large extent Hitlerism will be a new experiment in large-scale propaganda, a more complete test of human credulity than even American advertisement has hitherto provided. The Nazis do homage to Lord Northcliffe's methods, but his was a War-time success ; they owe a great debt to Moscow, but the Bolsheviks have had a comparatively illiterate population to mould. The success of Hitlerism depends, then, upon whether there is a point at which people sicken of propaganda, or whether they can reacha point beyond humanity and never sicken of it at all. By 1937 there will.be a block of new voters who are still at school to-day ; they will have enjoyed the full effects of Dr. Goebbels' activities. The Reichstag fire on February 27th was pretty cynically received, not only by the Left and the Centre. The Election of March 5th was morally a Government defeat, if 46 per cent. of the voters of Germany dared to express their hostility in the circumstances then prevailing. But now the stream is flowing in the opposite directiOn ; scepticism is being submerged by the patriotic indignation which the Govern- ment Press stimulates against the " Jewish Atrocity Cam- paign," and the bold suggestion that has come from abroad that Das Dritte Reich was founded in part at any rate, upon lies and terror. The theatre, the film, the wireless, and above all the school, now ceaselessly insinuate what the Chancellor has signalized as the return to heroism—the virtue of the soldier of the German race and of- the present dictatorship, and the evil of all contrary notions.
In addition to propaganda, the Government is destroying its enemies, partly by intimidation, partly by economic pres- sure. Everyone with any inclination towards Liberalism or Socialism—often a person who is merely sceptical about the ultimate value of race, or the romantic qualities of modern war—is being deprived of job and pension at a time when there are no alternative jobs. The pauperization of a man like Scheidemann is one case among thousands. In future the dole will be a matter of discrimination ; only good Nazis can be sure that Nazi officials will relieve them. There are very few of us who could stand out against this sort of thing, and the most courageous leader cannot reconstruct a political opposition out of doleless paupers. In his speech before the Reichstag, on March 23rd, Herr Hitler made it clear that he knew the urban working-class to be cowed, not won ; he declared it to be one of his chief tasks to bring them into a really organic community of the people (Volksgemeinschaft). The Trade Union leaders have already surrendered, and the Unions will be incorporated in the State along with the rival Nazi bodies. The more obstinate artisans will be treated as military prisoners in the concentration camps now being started. Many others will be forcibly taken " back to the land " as Arbeitsdienst conscripts ; urban solidarity is to be broken up by making Labour Service (chiefly work on the land) into a compulsory system. It is interesting to fmd that older men associated with the Left do not seem quite to despair ; they have survived other revolutions. But it is often in terms of ten, twenty, or thirty years that they estimate the work of reconstruction.
The Government itself is a heterogeneous, not a coherent, team ; and many of its supporters conceal the gravest doubts. The Nationalists, the Stahlhelm, and the Army chiefs are uneasy over the Jewish boycott, the Frau Jankowski type of incident (of The Times, April 1st), and over a great deal more into the bargain. These groups seem to have delayed too long, and, even if the Nationalist Ministers have survived, are at present getting the worst of things. But should dissensions among the purely Nazi leaders reach a head, they may yet step in as arbiters. Herr Hitler has not inaccurately been, stalled the most moderate member of his own party. NVIlen the Prussian Diet meets next month the problem .of Captain Goring's ambition to be Premier of Prussia will have to be faced. When President von Hindenburg dies, other problems will arise. If Herr Hitler takes his place and Captain Goring becomes Chancellor, the Army should and would obey the President to the detriment of a demurring Chancellor. If a Hohenzollern succeeded to Hindenburg's authority while Herr Hitler remained Chancellor, the chances of conflict would be less, because Captain Goring would have less scope.
The stability of the Hitler regime may be questioned on other grounds. The new Germany is staffing itself with new and inexperienced officials ; it repudiates intellectuals, and laughs at the loss which the country in consequence suffers, The " cleansing " operation (Hitler calls it tnoralische Sanierung, Goring more often Sauberung) may inflict a wound upon Germany that is more than skin-deep. Military leaders, for example, may soon regret the expulsion of the best scientists, and Ministers look round empty rooms for economic experts. The Chancellor's economic programme, as revealed on March 23rd, seemed to consist chiefly in emphasizing the sanctity of private property. But his movement has been made by very young people of whom many-are convinced National Socialists for the very reason that, owing to slump or inflation, they have no property at all ; propaganda will indeed have to storm new-heights if it is to keep these youths contented with torchlight processions. Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of the Nazis has been their destruction—during the one week March 5th to 12th—of Germany's federal divisions, but there may be divisions in. the Nazi camp instead ; in Wiirtemberg, for instance, the local Nazis resented the officials appointed from Berlin.
Herr Hitler chose to take office at the beginning, as he hoped, of an economic revival. The Bourse showed gratification at first, but the attack on the. Jews has seriously shaken it ; indeed the whole anti-Semitic campaign seems calculated, while giving temporary delight to rivals, in the long run to disorganize and delay recovery.
Even if the Peace Treaties are revised, it is scarcely credible that Herren Hitler and Goebbels will be able indefinitely to insist upon the sanctity of the German race together with the return to soldierly heroism, while avoiding a clash with Poland. If there is war before the " cleansing !' work is finished, they will risk a very serious mutiny which might rapidly develop into a Communist Revolution. In the long run, if they succeed in disintegrating the urban masses, Germany may relapse into a primitive community in which a peasant mentality predominates ; in East Prussia the feudal overlord may continue to survive. The peasants have re- sponded yery- warmly to the simple appeal of the Nazi move- ment, which is in a way the revolt of the country against the town. But although many people look forward to the straightforward evolution of the movement of " national resurgence," the chances of the town against the country are about fifty-fifty, and if the town wins, it looks as though the victory will come in the shape of a Communist Revolution.
—I am, Sir, &c., YOUR CORRESPONDENT IN GERMANY.
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