The Future of Germany

The following article on interna conditions in Nazi Germany was written by E. B. Wareing, Berlin correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph. Mr. Wareing has spent thirteen years in Germany.

Can the Nazi system really last?

Are there not all sorts of factors which will cause it to fall to pieces comparatively soon?

Questions such as these spring to the mind of the inquirer into German conditions. Thirteen years spent in Germany have taught me the complexity of conditions in this country and the difficulty—which some others do not experience—of giving a ready-made answer.

The extraordinary character of the Nazi system and the apparently irreconcilable elements on which it is supported have hitherto prompted the reply that such an amazing state of affairs as this can certainly not be of long duration.

NAZIS THE PILLARS OF NEW STATE

It is with the constructive elements in the Nazi body politic that I propose to deal in this short analysis, which is devoted to the sources of Nazi power and the degree to which it can withstand the effects of economic pressure and political errors. In a word, can the Nazi system adapt itself so as to become an integral part of the world by which it is surrounded?

The establishment of power within the country alone does not suffice. An anti-European Germany must in the long run fall to the ground of its own weight.

The pillars of Nazi power are so unequal in strength that many inquirers are completely baffled at first. One English friend after several weeks in Berlin complained that he had not yet met a Nazi. There are, indeed, extraordinarily few in the middle and upper classes, and contact with these alone may be misleading.

SHOW STRENGTH IN MIDDLE CLASS

Others who come out to investigate some political aspect of Nazi activity, such as the labor camps, meet only adherents or apologists of the Nazi party, and are convinced that it has the whole country behind it.

That the party has its strongest support in the lower middle-class is a well-known fact, for the works foreman, the small shopkeeper, and the subordinate official have always been its chief upholders. They are always happy to put on uniforms, march through the streets under the red swastika banner, assemble in their tens of thousands, shout “Down with the Jews” or “Lynch the foreign Press!”—and finish up a pleasant evening with several glasses of beer.

It is probably this class of the population which gets most fun out of the movement. The recent recovery in retail trade has left their economic position rather improved, and if they have to pay comparatively heavy subscriptions to their party group, they have at least the satisfaction of being seen and heard by the general public.

PEASANT OPINION DIFFERS IN SECTIONS

In the peasant class the state of opinion varies in different localities, but my recent inquiries indicate that dissatisfaction, where it exists, is latent and inert. The difficulties of importing food gives the peasant a wider scope for domestic sales, and although he may grumble at the legal fixed price which has been set on all his products, he at least has the certainty of selling them — and, on the whole, not at a loss.

The prices of many agricultural products other than food have risen. Two examples are timber, which, after a fifty per cent increase, now fetches more than before the war, and wool. Sheep-breeding is being encouraged by the government, and the consumption of mutton is being fostered as an alternative to pork, which the German prefers.

An important subsidiary industry in country districts is the tourist traffic. Here, again, the government is not slow to take credit for events, some of which were not at the outset foreseen. No German can hope to go abroad except on government service under the present currency restrictions, so next summer again the whole countryside will be filled with town dwellers, and an important addition to the peasants’ incomes assured.

Meantime during the winter the state railways have been encouraged to offer special facilities for devotees of winter sport (in many cases a ski course is included in the fare) which will bring money into country districts at what is normally a time of stagnation.

Consequently the peasant at the moment is inclined to forget his grievances (amongst which are the “hereditary farm” legislation and other interferences with local customs or with religion) and say that on the whole Nazi rule suits him not too badly.

Two very important sections of the population are thus either enthusiastic in support, or fairly tolerant, of the new regime. What of the working man?

Here it would seem that only the better-paid workers are behind Herr Hitler. It is true that a rather faded imitation of the Italian ” Dopolavoro ” (” after work”) organization — known here under the extraordinary title of “Strength Through Joy” promotes cheap excursions, games, visits to the theatre and other occasional entertainments. It has not, I believe, proved enough to check the disillusionment of the workers who went over to the Nazi party in the belief that it was anti-capitalistic.

PAY MORE TO NAZIS THAN DUES TO UNIONS

They now find that the wage system is as firmly established as ever, and that in addition they have to pay to the Nazi party far more than they originally contributed to trade union funds, but without equivalent benefits.

It was with this class of the community in mind that Herr Goerdeler was recently appointed Price Commissioner, for the whole economic policy at present supported by Herr Hitler is based on maintaining both wages and prices at their present level. Only in so far as he can do this will serious dissatisfaction be checked among the workers. True, it can find no outlet just now, for revolt is out of the question.

The weekly budget of the working man is slowly creeping up. He is paying more for all the staple requirements of life, especially clothing, while their quality is being debased. A suit of clothes which cost fifty marks a year ago now costs seventy-five. In consequence, all minor luxuries, such as cigarettes and beer, are gradually passing beyond his reach, and the margin available for savings has disappeared, even among the better-paid workmen.

At the upper end of the social scale there is no doubt that Nazi principles have made practically no headway whatever.

INTELLIGENTSIA BASES HOPES ON REICHSWEHR

Among the so-called intelligentsia—the professional and educated classes generally—there is a very strong feeling that the present rulers of Germany are earning contempt abroad, while at home they are turning the younger generation away from everything in life which is implied by the term civilization. The character of certain leaders, moreover, is continually criticised in whispered comment.

The patriotism of these circles and of the aristocracy is consequently liable to base its ultimate hopes upon the Reichswehr. We shall find, however, that those who support the Reichswehr as an alternative to the Nazi party are in the long run merely strengthening the party itself.

What is the position of the armed forces? On this subject much that is, in my opinion. highly misleading has been published during the last few weeks.

Points of friction, which are inevitable while adjustment to new conditions is taking place, have been regarded as though they were lines of deep cleavage. The fundamental maxim is often forgotten, that it is not in the Reichswehr’s interest at present to quarrel with the strongest party in the state any more than it is in Herr Hitler’s interest to quarrel with the Reichswehr—of which, in any case, he is himself the supreme commander. The reason is obvious.

THE AMBITIONS OF MODERN REICH

The Reichswehr is today engaged in preparing, with quiet determination, an army which both in quantity and quality shall incorporate the lessons of the past and realize the needs of the future. An ambitious future, let it be said.

There is no phase of German life that is not laid under contribution in order to further these ambitions—whether education, economics, the law, politics, or propaganda. The young are to be prepared both morally and physically. From their earliest years the glories of war are dinned into their ears and paraded before their eyes.

The country is to be self-sufficient in every possible way, as Dr. Schacht’s recent measures have shown, and the claims of the army come first.

The crime of “high treason” has been so defined that it can now be applied to the most harmless expression of pacifism. It is a clear and natural consequence that the political and propagandist organizations of the Nazi party should be used to serve the army’s ends. Each needs the other.

AMBITIOUS LEADERS CAUSES OF FRICTION

What friction exists is generally caused by too ambitious leaders, who wish either to increase the armament of their own guards or else to test the weapon which is now being forged before it has received its final tempering.

Dr. Goebbels, it has been said, is too keen about filling the Reichswehr rank and file with Nazi ideas. Other hotheads, I learn, tried to induce the Reichswehr to accept the possibility of conflict in the Saar. The Reichswehr replied that it was not able to do so, and the result was the recent order whereby a second frontier has been created twenty-five miles inside Germany which no man in uniform may cross.