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1Mein Kampf
2Adolf Hitler
3Translated into English by James Murphy 
4Author's Introduction
5ON APRIL 1st, 1924, I began to serve my sentence of detention in the Fortress of
6Landsberg am Lech, following the verdict of the Munich People's Court of that time.
7After years of uninterrupted labour it was now possible for the first time to begin a
8work which many had asked for and which I myself felt would be profitable for the
9Movement. So I decided to devote two volumes to a description not only of the aims of
10our Movement but also of its development. There is more to be learned from this than
11from any purely doctrinaire treatise.
12This has also given me the opportunity of describing my own development in so far as
13such a description is necessary to the understanding of the first as well as the second
14volume and to destroy the legendary fabrications which the Jewish Press have
15circulated about me.
16In this work I turn not to strangers but to those followers of the Movement whose
17hearts belong to it and who wish to study it more profoundly. I know that fewer people
18are won over by the written word than by the spoken word and that every great
19movement on this earth owes its growth to great speakers and not to great writers.
20Nevertheless, in order to produce more equality and uniformity in the defence of any
21doctrine, its fundamental principles must be committed to writing. May these two
22volumes therefore serve as the building stones which I contribute to the joint work.
23The Fortress, Landsberg am Lech.
24At half-past twelve in the afternoon of November 9th, 1923, those whose names are
25given below fell in front of the FELDHERRNHALLE and in the forecourt of the former
26War Ministry in Munich for their loyal faith in the resurrection of their people:
27• Alfarth, Felix, Merchant, born July 5th, 1901
28• Bauriedl, Andreas, Hatmaker, born May 4th, 1879
29• Casella, Theodor, Bank Official, born August 8th, 1900
30• Ehrlich, Wilhelm, Bank Official, born August 19th, 1894
31• Faust, Martin, Bank Official, born January 27th, 1901 
32• Hechenberger, Anton, Locksmith, born September 28th, 1902
33• Koerner, Oskar, Merchant, born January 4th, 1875
34• Kuhn, Karl, Head Waiter, born July 25th, 1897
35• Laforce, Karl, Student of Engineering, born October 28th, 1904
36• Neubauer, Kurt, Waiter, born March 27th, 1899
37• Pape, Claus von, Merchant, born August 16th, 1904
38• Pfordten, Theodor von der, Councillor to the Superior Provincial Court, born
39May 14th, 1873
40• Rickmers, Johann, retired Cavalry Captain, born May 7th, 1881
41• Scheubner-Richter, Max Erwin von, Dr. of Engineering, born January 9th, 1884
42• Stransky, Lorenz Ritter von, Engineer, born March 14th, 1899
43• Wolf, Wilhelm, Merchant, born October 19th, 1898
44So-called national officials refused to allow the dead heroes a common burial. So I
45dedicate the first volume of this work to them as a common memorial, that the memory
46of those martyrs may be a permanent source of light for the followers of our Movement.
47The Fortress, Landsberg a/L.,
48October 16th, 1924 
49Translator's Introduction
50IN PLACING before the reader this unabridged translation of Adolf Hitler's book,
51MEIN KAMPF, I feel it my duty to call attention to certain historical facts which must
52be borne in mind if the reader would form a fair judgment of what is written in this
53extraordinary work.
54The first volume of MEIN KAMPF was written while the author was imprisoned in a
55Bavarian fortress. How did he get there and why? The answer to that question is
56important, because the book deals with the events which brought the author into this
57plight and because he wrote under the emotional stress caused by the historical
58happenings of the time. It was the hour of Germany's deepest humiliation, somewhat
59parallel to that of a little over a century before, when Napoleon had dismembered the
60old German Empire and French soldiers occupied almost the whole of Germany.
61In the beginning of 1923 the French invaded Germany, occupied the Ruhr district and
62seized several German towns in the Rhineland. This was a flagrant breach of
63international law and was protested against by every section of British political opinion
64at that time. The Germans could not effectively defend themselves, as they had been
65already disarmed under the provisions of the Versailles Treaty. To make the situation
66more fraught with disaster for Germany, and therefore more appalling in its prospect,
67the French carried on an intensive propaganda for the separation of the Rhineland from
68the German Republic and the establishment of an independent Rhenania. Money was
69poured out lavishly to bribe agitators to carry on this work, and some of the most
70insidious elements of the German population became active in the pay of the invader.
71At the same time a vigorous movement was being carried on in Bavaria for the
72secession of that country and the establishment of an independent Catholic monarchy
73there, under vassalage to France, as Napoleon had done when he made Maximilian the
74first King of Bavaria in 1805.
75The separatist movement in the Rhineland went so far that some leading German
76politicians came out in favour of it, suggesting that if the Rhineland were thus ceded it
77might be possible for the German Republic to strike a bargain with the French in regard
78to Reparations. But in Bavaria the movement went even farther. And it was more farreaching
79in its implications; for, if an independent Catholic monarchy could be set up in
80Bavaria, the next move would have been a union with Catholic German-Austria.
81possibly under a Habsburg King. Thus a Catholic BLOC would have been created 
82which would extend from the Rhineland through Bavaria and Austria into the Danube
83Valley and would have been at least under the moral and military, if not the full
84political, hegemony of France. The dream seems fantastic now, but it was considered
85quite a practical thing in those fantastic times. The effect of putting such a plan into
86action would have meant the complete dismemberment of Germany; and that is what
87French diplomacy aimed at. Of course such an aim no longer exists. And I should not
88recall what must now seem "old, unhappy, far-off things" to the modern generation,
89were it not that they were very near and actual at the time MEIN KAMPF was written
90and were more unhappy then than we can even imagine now.
91By the autumn of 1923 the separatist movement in Bavaria was on the point of
92becoming an accomplished fact. General von Lossow, the Bavarian chief of the
93REICHSWEHR no longer took orders from Berlin. The flag of the German Republic was
94rarely to be seen. Finally, the Bavarian Prime Minister decided to proclaim an
95independent Bavaria and its secession from the German Republic. This was to have
96taken place on the eve of the Fifth Anniversary of the establishment of the German
97Republic (November 9th, 1918.)
98Hitler staged a counter-stroke. For several days he had been mobilizing his storm
99battalions in the neighbourhood of Munich, intending to make a national demonstration
100and hoping that the REICHSWEHR would stand by him to prevent secession.
101Ludendorff was with him. And he thought that the prestige of the great German
102Commander in the World War would be sufficient to win the allegiance of the
103professional army.
104A meeting had been announced to take place in the Bürgerbräu Keller on the night of
105November 8th. The Bavarian patriotic societies were gathered there, and the Prime
106Minister, Dr. von Kahr, started to read his official PRONUNCIAMENTO, which
107practically amounted to a proclamation of Bavarian independence and secession from
108the Republic. While von Kahr was speaking Hitler entered the hall, followed by
109Ludendorff. And the meeting was broken up.
110Next day the Nazi battalions took the street for the purpose of making a mass
111demonstration in favour of national union. They marched in massed formation, led by
112Hitler and Ludendorff. As they reached one of the central squares of the city the army
113opened fire on them. Sixteen of the marchers were instantly killed, and two died of their
114wounds in the local barracks of the REICHSWEHR. Several others were wounded also.
115Hitler fell on the pavement and broke a collar-bone. Ludendorff marched straight up to
116the soldiers who were firing from the barricade, but not a man dared draw a trigger on
117his old Commander.
118Hitler was arrested with several of his comrades and imprisoned in the fortress of
119Landsberg on the River Lech. On February 26th, 1924, he was brought to trial before the 
120VOLKSGERICHT, or People's Court in Munich. He was sentenced to detention in a
121fortress for five years. With several companions, who had been also sentenced to
122various periods of imprisonment, he returned to Landsberg am Lech and remained
123there until the 20th of the following December, when he was released. In all he spent
124about thirteen months in prison. It was during this period that he wrote the first volume
125of MEIN KAMPF.
126If we bear all this in mind we can account for the emotional stress under which MEIN
127KAMPF was written. Hitler was naturally incensed against the Bavarian government
128authorities, against the footling patriotic societies who were pawns in the French game,
129though often unconsciously so, and of course against the French. That he should write
130harshly of the French was only natural in the circumstances. At that time there was no
131exaggeration whatsoever in calling France the implacable and mortal enemy of
132Germany. Such language was being used by even the pacifists themselves, not only in
133Germany but abroad. And even though the second volume of MEIN KAMPF was
134written after Hitler's release from prison and was published after the French had left the
135Ruhr, the tramp of the invading armies still echoed in German ears, and the terrible
136ravages that had been wrought in the industrial and financial life of Germany, as a
137consequence of the French invasion, had plunged the country into a state of social and
138economic chaos. In France itself the franc fell to fifty per cent of its previous value.
139Indeed, the whole of Europe had been brought to the brink of ruin, following the
140French invasion of the Ruhr and Rhineland.
141But, as those things belong to the limbo of a dead past that nobody wishes to have
142remembered now, it is often asked: Why doesn't Hitler revise MEIN KAMPF? The
143answer, as I think, which would immediately come into the mind of an impartial critic
144is that MEIN KAMPF is an historical document which bears the imprint of its own time.
145To revise it would involve taking it out of its historical context. Moreover Hitler has
146declared that his acts and public statements constitute a partial revision of his book and
147are to be taken as such. This refers especially to the statements in MEIN KAMPF
148regarding France and those German kinsfolk that have not yet been incorporated in the
149REICH. On behalf of Germany he has definitely acknowledged the German portion of
150South Tyrol as permanently belonging to Italy and, in regard to France, he has again
151and again declared that no grounds now exist for a conflict of political interests between
152Germany and France and that Germany has no territorial claims against France. Finally,
153I may note here that Hitler has also declared that, as he was only a political leader and
154not yet a statesman in a position of official responsibility, when he wrote this book,
155what he stated in MEIN KAMPF does not implicate him as Chancellor of the REICH.
156I now come to some references in the text which are frequently recurring and which
157may not always be clear to every reader. For instance, Hitler speaks indiscriminately of
158the German REICH. Sometimes he means to refer to the first REICH, or Empire, and
159sometimes to the German Empire as founded under William I in 1871. Incidentally the 
160regime which he inaugurated in 1933 is generally known as the THIRD REICH, though
161this expression is not used in MEIN KAMPF. Hitler also speaks of the Austrian REICH
162and the East Mark, without always explicitly distinguishing between the Habsburg
163Empire and Austria proper. If the reader will bear the following historical outline in
164mind, he will understand the references as they occur.
165The word REICH, which is a German form of the Latin word REGNUM, does not mean
166Kingdom or Empire or Republic. It is a sort of basic word that may apply to any form of
167Constitution. Perhaps our word, Realm, would be the best translation, though the word
168Empire can be used when the REICH was actually an Empire. The forerunner of the
169first German Empire was the Holy Roman Empire which Charlemagne founded in A.D.
170800. Charlemagne was King of the Franks, a group of Germanic tribes that subsequently
171became Romanized. In the tenth century Charlemagne's Empire passed into German
172hands when Otto I (936-973) became Emperor. As the Holy Roman Empire of the
173German Nation, its formal appellation, it continued to exist under German Emperors
174until Napoleon overran and dismembered Germany during the first decade of the last
175century. On August 6th, 1806, the last Emperor, Francis II, formally resigned the
176German crown. In the following October Napoleon entered Berlin in triumph, after the
177Battle of Jena.
178After the fall of Napoleon a movement set in for the reunion of the German states in one
179Empire. But the first decisive step towards that end was the foundation of the Second
180German Empire in 1871, after the Franco-Prussian War. This Empire, however, did not
181include the German lands which remained under the Habsburg Crown. These were
182known as German Austria. It was Bismarck's dream to unite German Austria with the
183German Empire; but it remained only a dream until Hitler turned it into a reality in
1841938'. It is well to bear that point in mind, because this dream of reuniting all the
185German states in one REICH has been a dominant feature of German patriotism and
186statesmanship for over a century and has been one of Hitler's ideals since his childhood.
187In MEIN KAMPF Hitler often speaks of the East Mark. This East Mark--i.e. eastern
188frontier land--was founded by Charlemagne as the eastern bulwark of the Empire. It
189was inhabited principally by Germano-Celtic tribes called Bajuvari and stood for
190centuries as the firm bulwark of Western Christendom against invasion from the East,
191especially against the Turks. Geographically it was almost identical with German
192Austria.
193There are a few points more that I wish to mention in this introductory note. For
194instance, I have let the word WELTANSCHAUUNG stand in its original form very
195often. We have no one English word to convey the same meaning as the German word,
196and it would have burdened the text too much if I were to use a circumlocution each
197time the word occurs. WELTANSCHAUUNG literally means "Outlook-on-the World".
198But as generally used in German this outlook on the world means a whole system of 
199ideas associated together in an organic unity--ideas of human life, human values,
200cultural and religious ideas, politics, economics, etc., in fact a totalitarian view of human
201existence. Thus Christianity could be called a WELTANSCHAUUNG, and
202Mohammedanism could be called a WELTANSCHAUUNG, and Socialism could be
203called a WELTANSCHAUUNG, especially as preached in Russia. National Socialism
204claims definitely to be a WELTANSCHAUUNG.
205Another word I have often left standing in the original is VÖLKISCH. The basic word
206here is VOLK, which is sometimes translated as PEOPLE; but the German word, VOLK,
207means the whole body of the PEOPLE without any distinction of class or caste. It is a
208primary word also that suggests what might be called the basic national stock. Now,
209after the defeat in 1918, the downfall of the Monarchy and the destruction of the
210aristocracy and the upper classes, the concept of DAS VOLK came into prominence as
211the unifying co-efficient which would embrace the whole German people. Hence the
212large number of VÖLKISCH societies that arose after the war and hence also the
213National Socialist concept of unification which is expressed by the word
214VOLKSGEMEINSCHAFT, or folk community. This is used in contradistinction to the
215Socialist concept of the nation as being divided into classes. Hitler's ideal is the
216VÖLKISCHER STAAT, which I have translated as the People's State.
217Finally, I would point out that the term Social Democracy may be misleading in
218English, as it has not a democratic connotation in our sense. It was the name given to
219the Socialist Party in Germany. And that Party was purely Marxist; but it adopted the
220name Social Democrat in order to appeal to the democratic sections of the German
221people.
222James Murphy
223Abbots Langley
224February, 1939 
225Volume I
226A Retrospect 
227Chapter 1
228In The Home Of My Parents
229IT HAS turned out fortunate for me to-day that destiny appointed Braunau-on-the-Inn
230to be my birthplace. For that little town is situated just on the frontier between those
231two States the reunion of which seems, at least to us of the younger generation, a task to
232which we should devote our lives and in the pursuit of which every possible means
233should be employed.
234German-Austria must be restored to the great German Motherland. And not indeed on
235any grounds of economic calculation whatsoever. No, no. Even if the union were a
236matter of economic indifference, and even if it were to be disadvantageous from the
237economic standpoint, still it ought to take place. People of the same blood should be in
238the same REICH. The German people will have no right to engage in a colonial policy
239until they shall have brought all their children together in the one State. When the
240territory of the REICH embraces all the Germans and finds itself unable to assure them
241a livelihood, only then can the moral right arise, from the need of the people to acquire
242foreign territory. The plough is then the sword; and the tears of war will produce the
243daily bread for the generations to come.
244And so this little frontier town appeared to me as the symbol of a great task. But in
245another regard also it points to a lesson that is applicable to our day. Over a hundred
246years ago this sequestered spot was the scene of a tragic calamity which affected the
247whole German nation and will be remembered for ever, at least in the annals of German
248history. At the time of our Fatherland's deepest humiliation a bookseller, Johannes
249Palm, uncompromising nationalist and enemy of the French, was put to death here
250because he had the misfortune to have loved Germany well. He obstinately refused to
251disclose the names of his associates, or rather the principals who were chiefly
252responsible for the affair. Just as it happened with Leo Schlageter. The former, like the
253latter, was denounced to the French by a Government agent. It was a director of police
254from Augsburg who won an ignoble renown on that occasion and set the example
255which was to be copied at a later date by the neo-German officials of the REICH under
256Herr Severing's regime (Note 1).
257In this little town on the Inn, haloed by the memory of a German martyr, a town that
258was Bavarian by blood but under the rule of the Austrian State, my parents were 
259domiciled towards the end of the last century. My father was a civil servant who
260fulfilled his duties very conscientiously. My mother looked after the household and
261lovingly devoted herself to the care of her children. From that period I have not retained
262very much in my memory; because after a few years my father had to leave that frontier
263town which I had come to love so much and take up a new post farther down the Inn
264valley, at Passau, therefore actually in Germany itself.
265In those days it was the usual lot of an Austrian civil servant to be transferred
266periodically from one post to another. Not long after coming to Passau my father was
267transferred to Linz, and while there he retired finally to live on his pension. But this did
268not mean that the old gentleman would now rest from his labours.
269He was the son of a poor cottager, and while still a boy he grew restless and left home.
270When he was barely thirteen years old he buckled on his satchel and set forth from his
271native woodland parish. Despite the dissuasion of villagers who could speak from
272'experience,' he went to Vienna to learn a trade there. This was in the fiftieth year of the
273last century. It was a sore trial, that of deciding to leave home and face the unknown,
274with three gulden in his pocket. By when the boy of thirteen was a lad of seventeen and
275had passed his apprenticeship examination as a craftsman he was not content. Quite the
276contrary. The persistent economic depression of that period and the constant want and
277misery strengthened his resolution to give up working at a trade and strive for
278'something higher.' As a boy it had seemed to him that the position of the parish priest
279in his native village was the highest in the scale of human attainment; but now that the
280big city had enlarged his outlook the young man looked up to the dignity of a State
281official as the highest of all. With the tenacity of one whom misery and trouble had
282already made old when only half-way through his youth the young man of seventeen
283obstinately set out on his new project and stuck to it until he won through. He became a
284civil servant. He was about twenty-three years old, I think, when he succeeded in
285making himself what he had resolved to become. Thus he was able to fulfil the promise
286he had made as a poor boy not to return to his native village until he was 'somebody.'
287He had gained his end. But in the village there was nobody who had remembered him
288as a little boy, and the village itself had become strange to him.
289Now at last, when he was fifty-six years old, he gave up his active career; but he could
290not bear to be idle for a single day. On the outskirts of the small market town of
291Lambach in Upper Austria he bought a farm and tilled it himself. Thus, at the end of a
292long and hard-working career, he came back to the life which his father had led.
293It was at this period that I first began to have ideals of my own. I spent a good deal of
294time scampering about in the open, on the long road from school, and mixing up with
295some of the roughest of the boys, which caused my mother many anxious moments. All
296this tended to make me something quite the reverse of a stay-at-home. I gave scarcely 
297any serious thought to the question of choosing a vocation in life; but I was certainly
298quite out of sympathy with the kind of career which my father had followed. I think
299that an inborn talent for speaking now began to develop and take shape during the
300more or less strenuous arguments which I used to have with my comrades. I had
301become a juvenile ringleader who learned well and easily at school but was rather
302difficult to manage. In my freetime I practised singing in the choir of the monastery
303church at Lambach, and thus it happened that I was placed in a very favourable
304position to be emotionally impressed again and again by the magnificent splendour of
305ecclesiastical ceremonial. What could be more natural for me than to look upon the
306Abbot as representing the highest human ideal worth striving for, just as the position of
307the humble village priest had appeared to my father in his own boyhood days? At least,
308that was my idea for a while. But the juvenile disputes I had with my father did not lead
309him to appreciate his son's oratorical gifts in such a way as to see in them a favourable
310promise for such a career, and so he naturally could not understand the boyish ideas I
311had in my head at that time. This contradiction in my character made him feel
312somewhat anxious.
313As a matter of fact, that transitory yearning after such a vocation soon gave way to
314hopes that were better suited to my temperament. Browsing through my father's books,
315I chanced to come across some publications that dealt with military subjects. One of
316these publications was a popular history of the Franco-German War of 1870-71. It
317consisted of two volumes of an illustrated periodical dating from those years. These
318became my favourite reading. In a little while that great and heroic conflict began to
319take first place in my mind. And from that time onwards I became more and more
320enthusiastic about everything that was in any way connected with war or military
321affairs.
322But this story of the Franco-German War had a special significance for me on other
323grounds also. For the first time, and as yet only in quite a vague way, the question
324began to present itself: Is there a difference--and if there be, what is it--between the
325Germans who fought that war and the other Germans? Why did not Austria also take
326part in it? Why did not my father and all the others fight in that struggle? Are we not
327the same as the other Germans? Do we not all belong together?
328That was the first time that this problem began to agitate my small brain. And from the
329replies that were given to the questions which I asked very tentatively, I was forced to
330accept the fact, though with a secret envy, that not all Germans had the good luck to
331belong to Bismarck's Empire. This was something that I could not understand.
332It was decided that I should study. Considering my character as a whole, and especially
333my temperament, my father decided that the classical subjects studied at the Lyceum
334were not suited to my natural talents. He thought that the REALSCHULE (Note 2)
335would suit me better. My obvious talent for drawing confirmed him in that view; for in 
336his opinion drawing was a subject too much neglected in the Austrian GYMNASIUM.
337Probably also the memory of the hard road which he himself had travelled contributed
338to make him look upon classical studies as unpractical and accordingly to set little value
339on them. At the back of his mind he had the idea that his son also should become an
340official of the Government. Indeed he had decided on that career for me. The difficulties
341through which he had to struggle in making his own career led him to overestimate
342what he had achieved, because this was exclusively the result of his own indefatigable
343industry and energy. The characteristic pride of the self-made man urged him towards
344the idea that his son should follow the same calling and if possible rise to a higher
345position in it. Moreover, this idea was strengthened by the consideration that the results
346of his own life's industry had placed him in a position to facilitate his son's
347advancement in the same career.
348He was simply incapable of imagining that I might reject what had meant everything in
349life to him. My father's decision was simple, definite, clear and, in his eyes, it was
350something to be taken for granted. A man of such a nature who had become an autocrat
351by reason of his own hard struggle for existence, could not think of allowing
352'inexperienced' and irresponsible young fellows to choose their own careers. To act in
353such a way, where the future of his own son was concerned, would have been a grave
354and reprehensible weakness in the exercise of parental authority and responsibility,
355something utterly incompatible with his characteristic sense of duty.
356And yet it had to be otherwise.
357For the first time in my life--I was then eleven years old--I felt myself forced into open
358opposition. No matter how hard and determined my father might be about putting his
359own plans and opinions into action, his son was no less obstinate in refusing to accept
360ideas on which he set little or no value.
361I would not become a civil servant.
362No amount of persuasion and no amount of 'grave' warnings could break down that
363opposition. I would not become a State official, not on any account. All the attempts
364which my father made to arouse in me a love or liking for that profession, by picturing
365his own career for me, had only the opposite effect. It nauseated me to think that one
366day I might be fettered to an office stool, that I could not dispose of my own time but
367would be forced to spend the whole of my life filling out forms.
368One can imagine what kind of thoughts such a prospect awakened in the mind of a
369young fellow who was by no means what is called a 'good boy' in the current sense of
370that term. The ridiculously easy school tasks which we were given made it possible for
371me to spend far more time in the open air than at home. To-day, when my political
372opponents pry into my life with diligent scrutiny, as far back as the days of my 
373boyhood, so as finally to be able to prove what disreputable tricks this Hitler was
374accustomed to in his young days, I thank heaven that I can look back to those happy
375days and find the memory of them helpful. The fields and the woods were then the
376terrain on which all disputes were fought out.
377Even attendance at the REALSCHULE could not alter my way of spending my time. But
378I had now another battle to fight.
379So long as the paternal plan to make a State functionary contradicted my own
380inclinations only in the abstract, the conflict was easy to bear. I could be discreet about
381expressing my personal views and thus avoid constantly recurrent disputes. My own
382resolution not to become a Government official was sufficient for the time being to put
383my mind completely at rest. I held on to that resolution inexorably. But the situation
384became more difficult once I had a positive plan of my own which I might present to
385my father as a counter-suggestion. This happened when I was twelve years old. How it
386came about I cannot exactly say now; but one day it became clear to me that I would be
387a painter--I mean an artist. That I had an aptitude for drawing was an admitted fact. It
388was even one of the reasons why my father had sent me to the REALSCHULE; but he
389had never thought of having that talent developed in such a way that I could take up
390painting as a professional career. Quite the contrary. When, as a result of my renewed
391refusal to adopt his favourite plan, my father asked me for the first time what I myself
392really wished to be, the resolution that I had already formed expressed itself almost
393automatically. For a while my father was speechless. "A painter? An artist-painter?" he
394exclaimed.
395He wondered whether I was in a sound state of mind. He thought that he might not
396have caught my words rightly, or that he had misunderstood what I meant. But when I
397had explained my ideas to him and he saw how seriously I took them, he opposed them
398with that full determination which was characteristic of him. His decision was
399exceedingly simple and could not be deflected from its course by any consideration of
400what my own natural qualifications really were.
401"Artist! Not as long as I live, never." As the son had inherited some of the father's
402obstinacy, besides having other qualities of his own, my reply was equally energetic.
403But it stated something quite the contrary.
404At that our struggle became stalemate. The father would not abandon his 'Never', and I
405became all the more consolidated in my 'Nevertheless'.
406Naturally the resulting situation was not pleasant. The old gentleman was bitterly
407annoyed; and indeed so was I, although I really loved him. My father forbade me to
408entertain any hopes of taking up the art of painting as a profession. I went a step further
409and declared that I would not study anything else. With such declarations the situation 
410became still more strained, so that the old gentleman irrevocably decided to assert his
411parental authority at all costs. That led me to adopt an attitude of circumspect silence,
412but I put my threat into execution. I thought that, once it became clear to my father that
413I was making no progress at the REALSCHULE, for weal or for woe, he would be
414forced to allow me to follow the happy career I had dreamed of.
415I do not know whether I calculated rightly or not. Certainly my failure to make progress
416became quite visible in the school. I studied just the subjects that appealed to me,
417especially those which I thought might be of advantage to me later on as a painter.
418What did not appear to have any importance from this point of view, or what did not
419otherwise appeal to me favourably, I completely sabotaged. My school reports of that
420time were always in the extremes of good or bad, according to the subject and the
421interest it had for me. In one column my qualification read 'very good' or 'excellent'. In
422another it read 'average' or even 'below average'. By far my best subjects were
423geography and, even more so, general history. These were my two favourite subjects,
424and I led the class in them.
425When I look back over so many years and try to judge the results of that experience I
426find two very significant facts standing out clearly before my mind.
427First, I became a nationalist.
428Second, I learned to understand and grasp the true meaning of history.
429The old Austria was a multi-national State. In those days at least the citizens of the
430German Empire, taken through and through, could not understand what that fact
431meant in the everyday life of the individuals within such a State. After the magnificent
432triumphant march of the victorious armies in the Franco-German War the Germans in
433the REICH became steadily more and more estranged from the Germans beyond their
434frontiers, partly because they did not deign to appreciate those other Germans at their
435true value or simply because they were incapable of doing so.
436The Germans of the REICH did not realize that if the Germans in Austria had not been
437of the best racial stock they could never have given the stamp of their own character to
438an Empire of 52 millions, so definitely that in Germany itself the idea arose--though
439quite an erroneous one--that Austria was a German State. That was an error which led
440to dire consequences; but all the same it was a magnificent testimony to the character of
441the ten million Germans in that East Mark. (Note 3) Only very few of the Germans in
442the REICH itself had an idea of the bitter struggle which those Eastern Germans had to
443carry on daily for the preservation of their German language, their German schools and
444their German character. Only to-day, when a tragic fate has torn several millions of our
445kinsfolk away from the REICH and has forced them to live under the rule of the
446stranger, dreaming of that common fatherland towards which all their yearnings are 
447directed and struggling to uphold at least the sacred right of using their mother tongue-only
448now have the wider circles of the German population come to realize what it
449means to have to fight for the traditions of one's race. And so at last perhaps there are
450people here and there who can assess the greatness of that German spirit which
451animated the old East Mark and enabled those people, left entirely dependent on their
452own resources, to defend the Empire against the Orient for several centuries and
453subsequently to hold fast the frontiers of the German language through a guerilla
454warfare of attrition, at a time when the German Empire was sedulously cultivating an
455interest for colonies but not for its own flesh and blood before the threshold of its own
456door.
457What has happened always and everywhere, in every kind of struggle, happened also
458in the language fight which was carried on in the old Austria. There were three groups--
459the fighters, the hedgers and the traitors. Even in the schools this sifting already began
460to take place. And it is worth noting that the struggle for the language was waged
461perhaps in its bitterest form around the school; because this was the nursery where the
462seeds had to be watered which were to spring up and form the future generation. The
463tactical objective of the fight was the winning over of the child, and it was to the child
464that the first rallying cry was addressed:
465"German youth, do not forget that you are a German," and "Remember, little girl, that
466one day you must be a German mother."
467Those who know something of the juvenile spirit can understand how youth will
468always lend a glad ear to such a rallying cry. Under many forms the young people led
469the struggle, fighting in their own way and with their own weapons. They refused to
470sing non-German songs. The greater the efforts made to win them away from their
471German allegiance, the more they exalted the glory of their German heroes. They
472stinted themselves in buying things to eat, so that they might spare their pennies to help
473the war chest of their elders. They were incredibly alert in the significance of what the
474non-German teachers said and they contradicted in unison. They wore the forbidden
475emblems of their own kinsfolk and were happy when penalised for doing so, or even
476physically punished. In miniature they were mirrors of loyalty from which the older
477people might learn a lesson.
478And thus it was that at a comparatively early age I took part in the struggle which the
479nationalities were waging against one another in the old Austria. When meetings were
480held for the South Mark German League and the School League we wore cornflowers
481and black-red-gold colours to express our loyalty. We greeted one another with HEIL!
482and instead of the Austrian anthem we sang our own DEUTSCHLAND ÃœBER ALLES,
483despite warnings and penalties. Thus the youth were educated politically at a time
484when the citizens of a so-called national State for the most part knew little of their own
485nationality except the language. Of course, I did not belong to the hedgers. Within a 
486little while I had become an ardent 'German National', which has a different meaning
487from the party significance attached to that phrase to-day.
488I developed very rapidly in the nationalist direction, and by the time I was 15 years old
489I had come to understand the distinction between dynastic patriotism and nationalism
490based on the concept of folk, or people, my inclination being entirely in favour of the
491latter.
492Such a preference may not perhaps be clearly intelligible to those who have never taken
493the trouble to study the internal conditions that prevailed under the Habsburg
494Monarchy.
495Among historical studies universal history was the subject almost exclusively taught in
496the Austrian schools, for of specific Austrian history there was only very little. The fate
497of this State was closely bound up with the existence and development of Germany as a
498whole; so a division of history into German history and Austrian history would be
499practically inconceivable. And indeed it was only when the German people came to be
500divided between two States that this division of German history began to take place.
501The insignia (Note 4) of a former imperial sovereignty which were still preserved in
502Vienna appeared to act as magical relics rather than as the visible guarantee of an
503everlasting bond of union.
504When the Habsburg State crumbled to pieces in 1918 the Austrian Germans
505instinctively raised an outcry for union with their German fatherland. That was the
506voice of a unanimous yearning in the hearts of the whole people for a return to the
507unforgotten home of their fathers. But such a general yearning could not be explained
508except by attributing the cause of it to the historical training through which the
509individual Austrian Germans had passed. Therein lay a spring that never dried up.
510Especially in times of distraction and forgetfulness its quiet voice was a reminder of the
511past, bidding the people to look out beyond the mere welfare of the moment to a new
512future.
513The teaching of universal history in what are called the middle schools is still very
514unsatisfactory. Few teachers realize that the purpose of teaching history is not the
515memorizing of some dates and facts, that the student is not interested in knowing the
516exact date of a battle or the birthday of some marshal or other, and not at all--or at least
517only very insignificantly--interested in knowing when the crown of his fathers was
518placed on the brow of some monarch. These are certainly not looked upon as important
519matters. 
520To study history means to search for and discover the forces that are the causes of those
521results which appear before our eyes as historical events. The art of reading and
522studying consists in remembering the essentials and forgetting what is not essential.
523Probably my whole future life was determined by the fact that I had a professor of
524history who understood, as few others understand, how to make this viewpoint prevail
525in teaching and in examining. This teacher was Dr. Leopold Poetsch, of the
526REALSCHULE at Linz. He was the ideal personification of the qualities necessary to a
527teacher of history in the sense I have mentioned above. An elderly gentleman with a
528decisive manner but a kindly heart, he was a very attractive speaker and was able to
529inspire us with his own enthusiasm. Even to-day I cannot recall without emotion that
530venerable personality whose enthusiastic exposition of history so often made us entirely
531forget the present and allow ourselves to be transported as if by magic into the past. He
532penetrated through the dim mist of thousands of years and transformed the historical
533memory of the dead past into a living reality. When we listened to him we became afire
534with enthusiasm and we were sometimes moved even to tears.
535It was still more fortunate that this professor was able not only to illustrate the past by
536examples from the present but from the past he was also able to draw a lesson for the
537present. He understood better than any other the everyday problems that were then
538agitating our minds. The national fervour which we felt in our own small way was
539utilized by him as an instrument of our education, inasmuch as he often appealed to our
540national sense of honour; for in that way he maintained order and held our attention
541much more easily than he could have done by any other means. It was because I had
542such a professor that history became my favourite subject. As a natural consequence,
543but without the conscious connivance of my professor, I then and there became a young
544rebel. But who could have studied German history under such a teacher and not
545become an enemy of that State whose rulers exercised such a disastrous influence on the
546destinies of the German nation? Finally, how could one remain the faithful subject of
547the House of Habsburg, whose past history and present conduct proved it to be ready
548ever and always to betray the interests of the German people for the sake of paltry
549personal interests? Did not we as youngsters fully realize that the House of Habsburg
550did not, and could not, have any love for us Germans?
551What history taught us about the policy followed by the House of Habsburg was
552corroborated by our own everyday experiences. In the north and in the south the poison
553of foreign races was eating into the body of our people, and even Vienna was steadily
554becoming more and more a non-German city. The 'Imperial House' favoured the Czechs
555on every possible occasion. Indeed it was the hand of the goddess of eternal justice and
556inexorable retribution that caused the most deadly enemy of Germanism in Austria, the
557Archduke Franz Ferdinand, to fall by the very bullets which he himself had helped to
558cast. Working from above downwards, he was the chief patron of the movement to
559make Austria a Slav State. 
560The burdens laid on the shoulders of the German people were enormous and the
561sacrifices of money and blood which they had to make were incredibly heavy.
562Yet anybody who was not quite blind must have seen that it was all in vain. What
563affected us most bitterly was the consciousness of the fact that this whole system was
564morally shielded by the alliance with Germany, whereby the slow extirpation of
565Germanism in the old Austrian Monarchy seemed in some way to be more or less
566sanctioned by Germany herself. Habsburg hypocrisy, which endeavoured outwardly to
567make the people believe that Austria still remained a German State, increased the
568feeling of hatred against the Imperial House and at the same time aroused a spirit of
569rebellion and contempt.
570But in the German Empire itself those who were then its rulers saw nothing of what all
571this meant. As if struck blind, they stood beside a corpse and in the very symptoms of
572decomposition they believed that they recognized the signs of a renewed vitality. In
573that unhappy alliance between the young German Empire and the illusory Austrian
574State lay the germ of the World War and also of the final collapse.
575In the subsequent pages of this book I shall go to the root of the problem. Suffice it to
576say here that in the very early years of my youth I came to certain conclusions which I
577have never abandoned. Indeed I became more profoundly convinced of them as the
578years passed. They were: That the dissolution of the Austrian Empire is a preliminary
579condition for the defence of Germany; further, that national feeling is by no means
580identical with dynastic patriotism; finally, and above all, that the House of Habsburg
581was destined to bring misfortune to the German nation.
582As a logical consequence of these convictions, there arose in me a feeling of intense love
583for my German-Austrian home and a profound hatred for the Austrian State.
584That kind of historical thinking which was developed in me through my study of
585history at school never left me afterwards. World history became more and more an
586inexhaustible source for the understanding of contemporary historical events, which
587means politics. Therefore I will not "learn" politics but let politics teach me.
588A precocious revolutionary in politics I was no less a precocious revolutionary in art. At
589that time the provincial capital of Upper Austria had a theatre which, relatively
590speaking, was not bad. Almost everything was played there. When I was twelve years
591old I saw William Tell performed. That was my first experience of the theatre. Some
592months later I attended a performance of LOHENGRIN, the first opera I had ever
593heard. I was fascinated at once. My youthful enthusiasm for the Bayreuth Master knew
594no limits. Again and again I was drawn to hear his operas; and to-day I consider it a 
595great piece of luck that these modest productions in the little provincial city prepared
596the way and made it possible for me to appreciate the better productions later on.
597But all this helped to intensify my profound aversion for the career that my father had
598chosen for me; and this dislike became especially strong as the rough corners of
599youthful boorishness became worn off, a process which in my case caused a good deal
600of pain. I became more and more convinced that I should never be happy as a State
601official. And now that the REALSCHULE had recognized and acknowledged my
602aptitude for drawing, my own resolution became all the stronger. Imprecations and
603threats had no longer any chance of changing it. I wanted to become a painter and no
604power in the world could force me to become a civil servant. The only peculiar feature
605of the situation now was that as I grew bigger I became more and more interested in
606architecture. I considered this fact as a natural development of my flair for painting and
607I rejoiced inwardly that the sphere of my artistic interests was thus enlarged. I had no
608notion that one day it would have to be otherwise.
609The question of my career was decided much sooner than I could have expected.
610When I was in my thirteenth year my father was suddenly taken from us. He was still
611in robust health when a stroke of apoplexy painlessly ended his earthly wanderings and
612left us all deeply bereaved. His most ardent longing was to be able to help his son to
613advance in a career and thus save me from the harsh ordeal that he himself had to go
614through. But it appeared to him then as if that longing were all in vain. And yet, though
615he himself was not conscious of it, he had sown the seeds of a future which neither of us
616foresaw at that time.
617At first nothing changed outwardly.
618My mother felt it her duty to continue my education in accordance with my father's
619wishes, which meant that she would have me study for the civil service. For my own
620part I was even more firmly determined than ever before that under no circumstances
621would I become an official of the State. The curriculum and teaching methods followed
622in the middle school were so far removed from my ideals that I became profoundly
623indifferent. Illness suddenly came to my assistance. Within a few weeks it decided my
624future and put an end to the long-standing family conflict. My lungs became so
625seriously affected that the doctor advised my mother very strongly not under any
626circumstances to allow me to take up a career which would necessitate working in an
627office. He ordered that I should give up attendance at the REALSCHULE for a year at
628least. What I had secretly desired for such a long time, and had persistently fought for,
629now became a reality almost at one stroke.
630Influenced by my illness, my mother agreed that I should leave the REALSCHULE and
631attend the Academy. 
632Those were happy days, which appeared to me almost as a dream; but they were bound
633to remain only a dream. Two years later my mother's death put a brutal end to all my
634fine projects. She succumbed to a long and painful illness which from the very
635beginning permitted little hope of recovery. Though expected, her death came as a
636terrible blow to me. I respected my father, but I loved my mother.
637Poverty and stern reality forced me to decide promptly.
638The meagre resources of the family had been almost entirely used up through my
639mother's severe illness. The allowance which came to me as an orphan was not enough
640for the bare necessities of life. Somehow or other I would have to earn my own bread.
641With my clothes and linen packed in a valise and with an indomitable resolution in my
642heart, I left for Vienna. I hoped to forestall fate, as my father had done fifty years before.
643I was determined to become 'something'--but certainly not a civil servant. 
644[Note 1. In order to understand the reference here, and similar references in later
645portions of MEIN KAMPF, the following must be borne in mind:
646From 1792 to 1814 the French Revolutionary Armies overran Germany. In 1800 Bavaria
647shared in the Austrian defeat at Hohenlinden and the French occupied Munich. In 1805
648the Bavarian Elector was made King of Bavaria by Napoleon and stipulated to back up
649Napoleon in all his wars with a force of 30,000 men. Thus Bavaria became the absolute
650vassal of the French. This was 'TheTime of Germany's Deepest Humiliation', Which is
651referred to again and again by Hitler.
652In 1806 a pamphlet entitled 'Germany's Deepest Humiliation' was published in South
653Germany. Amnng those who helped to circulate the pamphlet was the Nürnberg
654bookseller, Johannes Philipp Palm. He was denounced to the French by a Bavarian
655police agent. At his trial he refused to disclose thename of the author. By Napoleon's
656orders, he was shot at Braunau-on-the-Innon August 26th, 1806. A monument erected
657to him on the site of the executionwas one of the first public objects that made an
658impression on Hitler asa little boy.
659Leo Schlageter's case was in many respects parallel to that of Johannes Palm. Schlageter
660was a German theological student who volunteered for service in 1914. He became an
661artillery officer and won the Iron Cross of both classes. When the French occupied the
662Ruhr in 1923 Schlageter helped to organize the passive resistance on the German side.
663He and his companions blew up a railway bridge for the purpose of making the
664transport of coal to France more difficult.
665Those who took part in the affair were denounced to the French by a German informer.
666Schlageter took the whole responsibility on his own shoulders and was condemned to
667death, his companions being sentenced to various terms of imprisonment and penal
668servitude by the French Court. Schlageter refused to disclose the identity of those who
669issued the order to blow up the railway bridge and he would not plead for mercy before
670a French Court. He was shot by a French firing-squad on May 26th, 1923. Severing was
671at that time German Minister of the Interior. It is said that representations were made,
672to himon Schlageter's behalf and that he refused to interfere.
673Schlageter has become the chief martyr of the German resistancc to the French
674occupation of the Ruhr and also one of the great heroes of the National Socialist
675Movement. He had joined the Movement at a very early stage, his card of membership
676bearing the number 61.] 
677[Note 2. Non-classical secondary school. The Lyceum and GYMNASIUM were classical
678or semi-classical secondary schools.]
679[Note 3. See Translator's Introduction.]
680[Note 4. When Francis II had laid down his title as Emperor of the Holy Roman
681Empireof the German Nation, which he did at the command of Napoleon, the
682Crownand Mace, as the Imperial Insignia, were kept in Vienna. After the German
683Empire was refounded, in 1871, under William I, there were many demands tohave the
684Insignia transferred to Berlin. But these went unheeded. Hitler had them brought to
685Germany after the Austrian Anschluss and displayed at Nuremberg during the Party
686Congress in September 1938.] 
687Chapter 2
688Years Of Study And Suffering In Vienna
689WHEN MY mother died my fate had already been decided in one respect. During the
690last months of her illness I went to Vienna to take the entrance examination for the
691Academy of Fine Arts. Armed with a bulky packet of sketches, I felt convinced that I
692should pass the examination quite easily. At the REALSCHULE I was by far the best
693student in the drawing class, and since that time I had made more than ordinary
694progress in the practice of drawing. Therefore I was pleased with myself and was proud
695and happy at the prospect of what I considered an assured success.
696But there was one misgiving: It seemed to me that I was better qualified for drawing
697than for painting, especially in the various branches of architectural drawing. At the
698same time my interest in architecture was constantly increasing. And I advanced in this
699direction at a still more rapid pace after my first visit to Vienna, which lasted two
700weeks. I was not yet sixteen years old. I went to the Hof Museum to study the paintings
701in the art gallery there; but the building itself captured almost all my interest, from early
702morning until late at night I spent all my time visiting the various public buildings. And
703it was the buildings themselves that were always the principal attraction for me. For
704hours and hours I could stand in wonderment before the Opera and the Parliament. The
705whole Ring Strasse had a magic effect upon me, as if it were a scene from the Thousandand-one-Nights.
706
707And now I was here for the second time in this beautiful city, impatiently waiting to
708hear the result of the entrance examination but proudly confident that I had got
709through. I was so convinced of my success that when the news that I had failed to pass
710was brought to me it struck me like a bolt from the skies. Yet the fact was that I had
711failed. I went to see the Rector and asked him to explain the reasons why they refused
712to accept me as a student in the general School of Painting, which was part of the
713Academy. He said that the sketches which I had brought with me unquestionably
714showed that painting was not what I was suited for but that the same sketches gave
715clear indications of my aptitude for architectural designing. Therefore the School of
716Painting did not come into question for me but rather the School of Architecture, which
717also formed part of the Academy. At first it was impossible to understand how this
718could be so, seeing that I had never been to a school for architecture and had never
719received any instruction in architectural designing. 
720When I left the Hansen Palace, on the SCHILLER PLATZ, I was quite crestfallen. I felt
721out of sorts with myself for the first time in my young life. For what I had heard about
722my capabilities now appeared to me as a lightning flash which clearly revealed a
723dualism under which I had been suffering for a long time, but hitherto I could give no
724clear account whatsoever of the why and wherefore.
725Within a few days I myself also knew that I ought to become an architect. But of course
726the way was very difficult. I was now forced bitterly to rue my former conduct in
727neglecting and despising certain subjects at the REALSCHULE. Before taking up the
728courses at the School of Architecture in the Academy it was necessary to attend the
729Technical Building School; but a necessary qualification for entrance into this school
730was a Leaving Certificate from the Middle School. And this I simply did not have.
731According to the human measure of things my dream of following an artistic calling
732seemed beyond the limits of possibility.
733After the death of my mother I came to Vienna for the third time. This visit was
734destined to last several years. Since I had been there before I had recovered my old calm
735and resoluteness. The former self-assurance had come back, and I had my eyes steadily
736fixed on the goal. I would be an architect. Obstacles are placed across our path in life,
737not to be boggled at but to be surmounted. And I was fully determined to surmount
738these obstacles, having the picture of my father constantly before my mind, who had
739raised himself by his own efforts to the position of a civil servant though he was the
740poor son of a village shoemaker. I had a better start, and the possibilities of struggling
741through were better. At that time my lot in life seemed to me a harsh one; but to-day I
742see in it the wise workings of Providence. The Goddess of Fate clutched me in her
743hands and often threatened to smash me; but the will grew stronger as the obstacles
744increased, and finally the will triumphed.
745I am thankful for that period of my life, because it hardened me and enabled me to be as
746tough as I now am. And I am even more thankful because I appreciate the fact that I
747was thus saved from the emptiness of a life of ease and that a mother's darling was
748taken from tender arms and handed over to Adversity as to a new mother. Though I
749then rebelled against it as too hard a fate, I am grateful that I was thrown into a world
750of misery and poverty and thus came to know the people for whom I was afterwards to
751fight.
752It was during this period that my eyes were opened to two perils, the names of which I
753scarcely knew hitherto and had no notion whatsoever of their terrible significance for
754the existence of the German people. These two perils were Marxism and Judaism.
755For many people the name of Vienna signifies innocent jollity, a festive place for happy
756mortals. For me, alas, it is a living memory of the saddest period in my life. Even to-day 
757the mention of that city arouses only gloomy thoughts in my mind. Five years of
758poverty in that Phaecian (Note 5) town. Five years in which, first as a casual labourer
759and then as a painter of little trifles, I had to earn my daily bread. And a meagre morsel
760indeed it was, not even sufficient to still the hunger which I constantly felt. That hunger
761was the faithful guardian which never left me but took part in everything I did. Every
762book that I bought meant renewed hunger, and every visit I paid to the opera meant the
763intrusion of that inalienabl companion during the following days. I was always
764struggling with my unsympathic friend. And yet during that time I learned more than I
765had ever learned before. Outside my architectural studies and rare visits to the opera,
766for which I had to deny myself food, I had no other pleasure in life except my books.
767I read a great deal then, and I pondered deeply over what I read. All the free time after
768work was devoted exclusively to study. Thus within a few years I was able to acquire a
769stock of knowledge which I find useful even to-day.
770But more than that. During those years a view of life and a definite outlook on the
771world took shape in my mind. These became the granite basis of my conduct at that
772time. Since then I have extended that foundation only very little, and I have changed
773nothing in it.
774On the contrary: I am firmly convinced to-day that, generally speaking, it is in youth
775that men lay the essential groundwork of their creative thought, wherever that creative
776thought exists. I make a distinction between the wisdom of age--which can only arise
777from the greater profundity and foresight that are based on the experiences of a long
778life--and the creative genius of youth, which blossoms out in thought and ideas with
779inexhaustible fertility, without being able to put these into practice immediately,
780because of their very superabundance. These furnish the building materials and plans
781for the future; and it is from them that age takes the stones and builds the edifice, unless
782the so-called wisdom of the years may have smothered the creative genius of youth.
783The life which I had hitherto led at home with my parents differed in little or nothing
784from that of all the others. I looked forward without apprehension to the morrow, and
785there was no such thing as a social problem to be faced. Those among whom I passed
786my young days belonged to the small bourgeois class. Therefore it was a world that had
787very little contact with the world of genuine manual labourers. For, though at first this
788may appear astonishing, the ditch which separates that class, which is by no means
789economically well-off; from the manual labouring class is often deeper than people
790think. The reason for this division, which we may almost call enmity, lies in the fear that
791dominates a social group which has only just risen above the level of the manual
792labourer--a fear lest it may fall back into its old condition or at least be classed with the
793labourers. Moreover, there is something repulsive in remembering the cultural
794indigence of that lower class and their rough manners with one another; so that people
795who are only on the first rung of the social ladder find it unbearable to be forced to have 
796any contact with the cultural level and standard of living out of which they have
797passed.
798And so it happens that very often those who belong to what can really be called the
799upper classes find it much easier than do the upstarts to descend to and intermingle
800with their fellow beings on the lowest social level. For by the word upstart I mean
801everyone who has raised himself through his own efforts to a social level higher than
802that to which he formerly belonged. In the case of such a person the hard struggle
803through which he passes often destroys his normal human sympathy. His own fight for
804existence kills his sensibility for the misery of those who have been left behind.
805From this point of view fate had been kind to me. Circumstances forced me to return to
806that world of poverty and economic insecurity above which my father had raised
807himself in his early days; and thus the blinkers of a narrow PETIT BOURGEOIS
808education were torn from my eyes. Now for the first time I learned to know men and I
809learned to distinguish between empty appearances or brutal manners and the real inner
810nature of the people who outwardly appeared thus.
811At the beginning of the century Vienna had already taken rank among those cities
812where social conditions are iniquitous. Dazzling riches and loathsome destitution were
813intermingled in violent contrast. In the centre and in the Inner City one felt the pulsebeat
814of an Empire which had a population of fifty-two millions, with all the perilous
815charm of a State made up of multiple nationalities. The dazzling splendour of the Court
816acted like a magnet on the wealth and intelligence of the whole Empire. And this
817attraction was further strengthened by the dynastic policy of the Habsburg Monarchy in
818centralizing everything in itself and for itself.
819This centralizing policy was necessary in order to hold together that hotchpotch of
820heterogeneous nationalities. But the result of it was an extraordinary concentration of
821higher officials in the city, which was at one and the same time the metropolis and
822imperial residence.
823But Vienna was not merely the political and intellectual centre of the Danubian
824Monarchy; it was also the commercial centre. Besides the horde of military officers of
825high rank, State officials, artists and scientists, there was the still vaster horde of
826workers. Abject poverty confronted the wealth of the aristocracy and the merchant class
827face to face. Thousands of unemployed loitered in front of the palaces on the Ring
828Strasse; and below that VIA TRIUMPHALIS of the old Austria the homeless huddled
829together in the murk and filth of the canals.
830There was hardly any other German city in which the social problem could be studied
831better than in Vienna. But here I must utter a warning against the illusion that this
832problem can be 'studied' from above downwards. The man who has never been in the 
833clutches of that crushing viper can never know what its poison is. An attempt to study
834it in any other way will result only in superficial talk and sentimental delusions. Both
835are harmful. The first because it can never go to the root of the question, the second
836because it evades the question entirely. I do not know which is the more nefarious: to
837ignore social distress, as do the majority of those who have been favoured by fortune
838and those who have risen in the social scale through their own routine labour, or the
839equally supercilious and often tactless but always genteel condescension displayed by
840people who make a fad of being charitable and who plume themselves on
841'sympathising with the people.' Of course such persons sin more than they can imagine
842from lack of instinctive understanding. And thus they are astonished to find that the
843'social conscience' on which they pride themselves never produces any results, but often
844causes their good intentions to be resented; and then they talk of the ingratitude of the
845people.
846Such persons are slow to learn that here there is no place for merely social activities and
847that there can be no expectation of gratitude; for in this connection there is no question
848at all of distributing favours but essentially a matter of retributive justice. I was
849protected against the temptation to study the social question in the way just mentioned,
850for the simple reason that I was forced to live in the midst of poverty-stricken people.
851Therefore it was not a question of studying the problem objectively, but rather one of
852testing its effects on myself. Though the rabbit came through the ordeal of the
853experiment, this must not be taken as evidence of its harmlessness.
854When I try to-day to recall the succession of impressions received during that time I
855find that I can do so only with approximate completeness. Here I shall describe only the
856more essential impressions and those which personally affected me and often staggered
857me. And I shall mention the few lessons I then learned from this experience.
858At that time it was for the most part not very difficult to find work, because I had to
859seek work not as a skilled tradesman but as a so-called extra-hand ready to take any job
860that turned up by chance, just for the sake of earning my daily bread.
861Thus I found myself in the same situation as all those emigrants who shake the dust of
862Europe from their feet, with the cast-iron determination to lay the foundations of a new
863existence in the New World and acquire for themselves a new home. Liberated from all
864the paralysing prejudices of class and calling, environment and tradition, they enter any
865service that opens its doors to them, accepting any work that comes their way, filled
866more and more with the idea that honest work never disgraced anybody, no matter
867what kind it may be. And so I was resolved to set both feet in what was for me a new
868world and push forward on my own road.
869I soon found out that there was some kind of work always to be got, but I also learned
870that it could just as quickly and easily be lost. The uncertainty of being able to earn a 
871regular daily livelihood soon appeared to me as the gloomiest feature in this new life
872that I had entered.
873Although the skilled worker was not so frequently thrown idle on the streets as the
874unskilled worker, yet the former was by no means protected against the same fate;
875because though he may not have to face hunger as a result of unemployment due to the
876lack of demand in the labour market, the lock-out and the strike deprived the skilled
877worker of the chance to earn his bread. Here the element of uncertainty in steadily
878earning one's daily bread was the bitterest feature of the whole social-economic system
879itself.
880The country lad who migrates to the big city feels attracted by what has been described
881as easy work--which it may be in reality--and few working hours. He is especially
882entranced by the magic glimmer spread over the big cities. Accustomed in the country
883to earn a steady wage, he has been taught not to quit his former post until a new one is
884at least in sight. As there is a great scarcity of agricultural labour, the probability of long
885unemployment in the country has been very small. It is a mistake to presume that the
886lad who leaves the countryside for the town is not made of such sound material as those
887who remain at home to work on the land. On the contrary, experience shows that it is
888the more healthy and more vigorous that emigrate, and not the reverse. Among these
889emigrants I include not merely those who emigrate to America, but also the servant boy
890in the country who decides to leave his native village and migrate to the big city where
891he will be a stranger. He is ready to take the risk of an uncertain fate. In most cases he
892comes to town with a little money in his pocket and for the first few days he is not
893discouraged if he should not have the good fortune to find work. But if he finds a job
894and then loses it in a little while, the case is much worse. To find work anew, especially
895in winter, is often difficult and indeed sometimes impossible. For the first few weeks
896life is still bearable He receives his out-of-work money from his trade union and is thus
897enabled to carry on. But when the last of his own money is gone and his trade union
898ceases to pay out because of the prolonged unemployment, then comes the real distress.
899He now loiters about and is hungry. Often he pawns or sells the last of his belongings.
900His clothes begin to get shabby and with the increasing poverty of his outward
901appearance he descends to a lower social level and mixes up with a class of human
902beings through whom his mind is now poisoned, in addition to his physical misery.
903Then he has nowhere to sleep and if that happens in winter, which is very often the
904case, he is in dire distress. Finally he gets work. But the old story repeats itself. A second
905time the same thing happens. Then a third time; and now it is probably much worse.
906Little by little he becomes indifferent to this everlasting insecurity. Finally he grows
907used to the repetition. Thus even a man who is normally of industrious habits grows
908careless in his whole attitude towards life and gradually becomes an instrument in the
909hands of unscrupulous people who exploit him for the sake of their own ignoble aims.
910He has been so often thrown out of employment through no fault of his own that he is
911now more or less indifferent whether the strike in which he takes part be for the 
912purpose of securing his economic rights or be aimed at the destruction of the State, the
913whole social order and even civilization itself. Though the idea of going on strike may
914not be to his natural liking, yet he joins in it out of sheer indifference.
915I saw this process exemplified before my eyes in thousands of cases. And the longer I
916observed it the greater became my dislike for that mammoth city which greedily
917attracts men to its bosom, in order to break them mercilessly in the end. When they
918came they still felt themselves in communion with their own people at home; if they
919remained that tie was broken.
920I was thrown about so much in the life of the metropolis that I experienced the
921workings of this fate in my own person and felt the effects of it in my own soul. One
922thing stood out clearly before my eyes: It was the sudden changes from work to
923idleness and vice versa; so that the constant fluctuations thus caused by earnings and
924expenditure finally destroyed the 'sense of thrift for many people and also the habit of
925regulating expenditure in an intelligent way. The body appeared to grow accustomed to
926the vicissitudes of food and hunger, eating heartily in good times and going hungry in
927bad. Indeed hunger shatters all plans for rationing expenditure on a regular scale in
928better times when employment is again found. The reason for this is that the
929deprivations which the unemployed worker has to endure must be compensated for
930psychologically by a persistent mental mirage in which he imagines himself eating
931heartily once again. And this dream develops into such a longing that it turns into a
932morbid impulse to cast off all self-restraint when work and wages turn up again.
933Therefore the moment work is found anew he forgets to regulate the expenditure of his
934earnings but spends them to the full without thinking of to-morrow. This leads to
935confusion in the little weekly housekeeping budget, because the expenditure is not
936rationally planned. When the phenomenon which I have mentioned first happens, the
937earnings will last perhaps for five days instead of seven; on subsequent occasions they
938will last only for three days; as the habit recurs, the earnings will last scarcely for a day;
939and finally they will disappear in one night of feasting.
940Often there are wife and children at home. And in many cases it happens that these
941become infected by such a way of living, especially if the husband is good to them and
942wants to do the best he can for them and loves them in his own way and according to
943his own lights. Then the week's earnings are spent in common at home within two or
944three days. The family eat and drink together as long as the money lasts and at the end
945of the week they hunger together. Then the wife wanders about furtively in the
946neighbourhood, borrows a little, and runs up small debts with the shopkeepers in an
947effort to pull through the lean days towards the end of the week. They sit down
948together to the midday meal with only meagre fare on the table, and often even nothing
949to eat. They wait for the coming payday, talking of it and making plans; and while they
950are thus hungry they dream of the plenty that is to come. And so the little children
951become acquainted with misery in their early years. 
952But the evil culminates when the husband goes his own way from the beginning of the
953week and the wife protests, simply out of love for the children. Then there are quarrels
954and bad feeling and the husband takes to drink according as he becomes estranged
955from his wife. He now becomes drunk every Saturday. Fighting for her own existence
956and that of the children, the wife has to hound him along the road from the factory to
957the tavern in order to get a few shillings from him on payday. Then when he finally
958comes home, maybe on the Sunday or the Monday, having parted with his last shillings
959and pence, pitiable scenes follow, scenes that cry out for God's mercy.
960I have had actual experience of all this in hundreds of cases. At first I was disgusted and
961indignant; but later on I came to recognize the whole tragedy of their misfortune and to
962understand the profound causes of it. They were the unhappy victims of evil
963circumstances.
964Housing conditions were very bad at that time. The Vienna manual labourers lived in
965surroundings of appalling misery. I shudder even to-day when I think of the woeful
966dens in which people dwelt, the night shelters and the slums, and all the tenebrous
967spectacles of ordure, loathsome filth and wickedness.
968What will happen one day when hordes of emancipated slaves come forth from these
969dens of misery to swoop down on their unsuspecting fellow men? For this other world
970does not think about such a possibility. They have allowed these things to go on
971without caring and even without suspecting--in their total lack of instinctive
972understanding--that sooner or later destiny will take its vengeance unless it will have
973been appeased in time.
974To-day I fervidly thank Providence for having sent me to such a school. There I could
975not refuse to take an interest in matters that did not please me. This school soon taught
976me a profound lesson.
977In order not to despair completely of the people among whom I then lived I had to set
978on one side the outward appearances of their lives and on the other the reasons why
979they had developed in that way. Then I could hear everything without discouragement;
980for those who emerged from all this misfortune and misery, from this filth and outward
981degradation, were not human beings as such but rather lamentable results of
982lamentable laws. In my own life similar hardships prevented me from giving way to a
983pitying sentimentality at the sight of these degraded products which had finally
984resulted from the pressure of circumstances. No, the sentimental attitude would be the
985wrong one to adopt.
986Even in those days I already saw that there was a two-fold method by which alone it
987would be possible to bring about an amelioration of these conditions. This method is: 
988first, to create better fundamental conditions of social development by establishing a
989profound feeling for social responsibilities among the public; second, to combine this
990feeling for social responsibilities with a ruthless determination to prune away all
991excrescences which are incapable of being improved.
992Just as Nature concentrates its greatest attention, not to the maintenance of what
993already exists but on the selective breeding of offspring in order to carry on the species,
994so in human life also it is less a matter of artificially improving the existing generation--
995which, owing to human characteristics, is impossible in ninety-nine cases out of a
996hundred--and more a matter of securing from the very start a better road for future
997development.
998During my struggle for existence in Vienna I perceived very clearly that the aim of all
999social activity must never be merely charitable relief, which is ridiculous and useless,
1000but it must rather be a means to find a way of eliminating the fundamental deficiencies
1001in our economic and cultural life--deficiencies which necessarily bring about the
1002degradation of the individual or at least lead him towards such degradation. The
1003difficulty of employing every means, even the most drastic, to eradicate the hostility
1004prevailing among the working classes towards the State is largely due to an attitude of
1005uncertainty in deciding upon the inner motives and causes of this contemporary
1006phenomenon. The grounds of this uncertainty are to be found exclusively in the sense
1007of guilt which each individual feels for having permitted this tragedy of degradation.
1008For that feeling paralyses every effort at making a serious and firm decision to act. And
1009thus because the people whom it concerns are vacillating they are timid and halfhearted
1010in putting into effect even the measures which are indispensable for selfpreservation.
1011When the individual is no longer burdened with his own consciousness of
1012blame in this regard, then and only then will he have that inner tranquillity and outer
1013force to cut off drastically and ruthlessly all the parasite growth and root out the weeds.
1014But because the Austrian State had almost no sense of social rights or social legislation
1015its inability to abolish those evil excrescences was manifest.
1016I do not know what it was that appalled me most at that time: the economic misery of
1017those who were then my companions, their crude customs and morals, or the low level
1018of their intellectual culture.
1019How often our bourgeoisie rises up in moral indignation on hearing from the mouth of
1020some pitiable tramp that it is all the same to him whether he be a German or not and
1021that he will find himself at home wherever he can get enough to keep body and soul
1022together. They protest sternly against such a lack of 'national pride' and strongly
1023express their horror at such sentiments. 
1024But how many people really ask themselves why it is that their own sentiments are
1025better? How many of them understand that their natural pride in being members of so
1026favoured a nation arises from the innumerable succession of instances they have
1027encountered which remind them of the greatness of the Fatherland and the Nation in all
1028spheres of artistic and cultural life? How many of them realize that pride in the
1029Fatherland is largely dependent on knowledge of its greatness in all those spheres? Do
1030our bourgeois circles ever think what a ridiculously meagre share the people have in
1031that knowledge which is a necessary prerequisite for the feeling of pride in one's
1032fatherland?
1033It cannot be objected here that in other countries similar conditions exist and that
1034nevertheless the working classes in those countries have remained patriotic. Even if that
1035were so, it would be no excuse for our negligent attitude. But it is not so. What we call
1036chauvinistic education--in the case of the French people, for example--is only the
1037excessive exaltation of the greatness of France in all spheres of culture or, as the French
1038say, civilization. The French boy is not educated on purely objective principles.
1039Wherever the importance of the political and cultural greatness of his country is
1040concerned he is taught in the most subjective way that one can imagine.
1041This education will always have to be confined to general ideas in a large perspective
1042and these ought to be deeply engraven, by constant repetition if necessary, on the
1043memories and feelings of the people.
1044In our case, however, we are not merely guilty of negative sins of omission but also of
1045positively perverting the little which some individuals had the luck to learn at school.
1046The rats that poison our body-politic gnaw from the hearts and memories of the broad
1047masses even that little which distress and misery have left.
1048Let the reader try to picture the following:
1049There is a lodging in a cellar and this lodging consists of two damp rooms. In these
1050rooms a workman and his family live--seven people in all. Let us assume that one of the
1051children is a boy of three years. That is the age at which children first become conscious
1052of the impressions which they receive. In the case of highly gifted people traces of the
1053impressions received in those early years last in the memory up to an advanced age.
1054Now the narrowness and congestion of those living quarters do not conduce to pleasant
1055inter-relations. Thus quarrels and fits of mutual anger arise. These people can hardly be
1056said to live with one another, but rather down on top of one another. The small
1057misunderstandings which disappear of themselves in a home where there is enough
1058space for people to go apart from one another for a while, here become the source of
1059chronic disputes. As far as the children are concerned the situation is tolerable from this
1060point of view. In such conditions they are constantly quarrelling with one another, but
1061the quarrels are quickly and entirely forgotten. But when the parents fall out with one 
1062another these daily bickerings often descend to rudeness such as cannot be adequately
1063imagined. The results of such experiences must become apparent later on in the
1064children. One must have practical experience of such a MILIEU so as to be able to
1065picture the state of affairs that arises from these mutual recriminations when the father
1066physically assaults the mother and maltreats her in a fit of drunken rage. At the age of
1067six the child can no longer ignore those sordid details which even an adult would find
1068revolting. Infected with moral poison, bodily undernourished, and the poor little head
1069filled with vermin, the young 'citizen' goes to the primary school. With difficulty he
1070barely learns to read and write. There is no possibility of learning any lessons at home.
1071Quite the contrary. The father and mother themselves talk before the children in the
1072most disparaging way about the teacher and the school and they are much more
1073inclined to insult the teachers than to put their offspring across the knee and knock
1074sound reason into him. What the little fellow hears at home does not tend to increase
1075respect for his human surroundings. Here nothing good is said of human nature as a
1076whole and every institution, from the school to the government, is reviled. Whether
1077religion and morals are concerned or the State and the social order, it is all the same;
1078they are all scoffed at. When the young lad leaves school, at the age of fourteen, it
1079would be difficult to say what are the most striking features of his character, incredible
1080ignorance in so far as real knowledge is concerned or cynical impudence combined with
1081an attitude towards morality which is really startling at so young an age.
1082What station in life can such a person fill, to whom nothing is sacred, who has never
1083experienced anything noble but, on the contrary, has been intimately acquainted with
1084the lowest kind of human existence? This child of three has got into the habit of reviling
1085all authority by the time he is fifteen. He has been acquainted only with moral filth and
1086vileness, everything being excluded that might stimulate his thought towards higher
1087things. And now this young specimen of humanity enters the school of life.
1088He leads the same kind of life which was exemplified for him by his father during his
1089childhood. He loiters about and comes home at all hours. He now even black-guards
1090that broken-hearted being who gave him birth. He curses God and the world and
1091finally ends up in a House of Correction for young people. There he gets the final
1092polish.
1093And his bourgeois contemporaries are astonished at the lack of 'patriotic enthusiasm'
1094which this young 'citizen' manifests.
1095Day after day the bourgeois world are witnesses to the phenomenon of spreading
1096poison among the people through the instrumentality of the theatre and the cinema,
1097gutter journalism and obscene books; and yet they are astonished at the deplorable
1098'moral standards' and 'national indifference' of the masses. As if the cinema bilge and
1099the gutter press and suchlike could inculcate knowledge of the greatness of one's
1100country, apart entirely from the earlier education of the individual. 
1101I then came to understand, quickly and thoroughly, what I had never been aware of
1102before. It was the following:
1103The question of 'nationalizing' a people is first and foremost one of establishing healthy
1104social conditions which will furnish the grounds that are necessary for the education of
1105the individual. For only when family upbringing and school education have inculcated
1106in the individual a knowledge of the cultural and economic and, above all, the political
1107greatness of his own country--then, and then only, will it be possible for him to feel
1108proud of being a citizen of such a country. I can fight only for something that I love. I
1109can love only what I respect. And in order to respect a thing I must at least have some
1110knowledge of it.
1111As soon as my interest in social questions was once awakened I began to study them in
1112a fundamental way. A new and hitherto unknown world was thus revealed to me.
1113In the years 1909-10 I had so far improved my, position that I no longer had to earn my
1114daily bread as a manual labourer. I was now working independently as draughtsman,
1115and painter in water colours. This MÉTIER was a poor one indeed as far as earnings
1116were concerned; for these were only sufficient to meet the bare exigencies of life. Yet it
1117had an interest for me in view of the profession to which I aspired. Moreover, when I
1118came home in the evenings I was now no longer dead-tired as formerly, when I used to
1119be unable to look into a book without falling asleep almost immediately. My present
1120occupation therefore was in line with the profession I aimed at for the future. Moreover,
1121I was master of my own time and could distribute my working-hours now better than
1122formerly. I painted in order to earn my bread, and I studied because I liked it.
1123Thus I was able to acquire that theoretical knowledge of the social problem which was a
1124necessary complement to what I was learning through actual experience. I studied all
1125the books which I could find that dealt with this question and I thought deeply on what
1126I read. I think that the MILIEU in which I then lived considered me an eccentric person.
1127Besides my interest in the social question I naturally devoted myself with enthusiasm to
1128the study of architecture. Side by side with music, I considered it queen of the arts. To
1129study it was for me not work but pleasure. I could read or draw until the small hours of
1130the morning without ever getting tired. And I became more and more confident that my
1131dream of a brilliant future would become true, even though I should have to wait long
1132years for its fulfilment. I was firmly convinced that one day I should make a name for
1133myself as an architect.
1134The fact that, side by side with my professional studies, I took the greatest interest in
1135everything that had to do with politics did not seem to me to signify anything of great
1136importance. On the contrary: I looked upon this practical interest in politics merely as 
1137part of an elementary obligation that devolves on every thinking man. Those who have
1138no understanding of the political world around them have no right to criticize or
1139complain. On political questions therefore I still continued to read and study a great
1140deal. But reading had probably a different significance for me from that which it has for
1141the average run of our so-called 'intellectuals'.
1142I know people who read interminably, book after book, from page to page, and yet I
1143should not call them 'well-read people'. Of course they 'know' an immense amount; but
1144their brain seems incapable of assorting and classifying the material which they have
1145gathered from books. They have not the faculty of distinguishing between what is
1146useful and useless in a book; so that they may retain the former in their minds and if
1147possible skip over the latter while reading it, if that be not possible, then--when once
1148read--throw it overboard as useless ballast. Reading is not an end in itself, but a means
1149to an end. Its chief purpose is to help towards filling in the framework which is made
1150up of the talents and capabilities that each individual possesses. Thus each one procures
1151for himself the implements and materials necessary for the fulfilment of his calling in
1152life, no matter whether this be the elementary task of earning one's daily bread or a
1153calling that responds to higher human aspirations. Such is the first purpose of reading.
1154And the second purpose is to give a general knowledge of the world in which we live.
1155In both cases, however, the material which one has acquired through reading must not
1156be stored up in the memory on a plan that corresponds to the successive chapters of the
1157book; but each little piece of knowledge thus gained must be treated as if it were a little
1158stone to be inserted into a mosaic, so that it finds its proper place among all the other
1159pieces and particles that help to form a general world-picture in the brain of the reader.
1160Otherwise only a confused jumble of chaotic notions will result from all this reading.
1161That jumble is not merely useless, but it also tends to make the unfortunate possessor of
1162it conceited. For he seriously considers himself a well-educated person and thinks that
1163he understands something of life. He believes that he has acquired knowledge, whereas
1164the truth is that every increase in such 'knowledge' draws him more and more away
1165from real life, until he finally ends up in some sanatorium or takes to politics and
1166becomes a parliamentary deputy.
1167Such a person never succeeds in turning his knowledge to practical account when the
1168opportune moment arrives; for his mental equipment is not ordered with a view to
1169meeting the demands of everyday life. His knowledge is stored in his brain as a literal
1170transcript of the books he has read and the order of succession in which he has read
1171them. And if Fate should one day call upon him to use some of his book-knowledge for
1172certain practical ends in life that very call will have to name the book and give the
1173number of the page; for the poor noodle himself would never be able to find the spot
1174where he gathered the information now called for. But if the page is not mentioned at
1175the critical moment the widely-read intellectual will find himself in a state of hopeless
1176embarrassment. In a high state of agitation he searches for analogous cases and it is
1177almost a dead certainty that he will finally deliver the wrong prescription. 
1178If that is not a correct description, then how can we explain the political achievements
1179of our Parliamentary heroes who hold the highest positions in the government of the
1180country? Otherwise we should have to attribute the doings of such political leaders, not
1181to pathological conditions but simply to malice and chicanery.
1182On the other hand, one who has cultivated the art of reading will instantly discern, in a
1183book or journal or pamphlet, what ought to be remembered because it meets one's
1184personal needs or is of value as general knowledge. What he thus learns is incorporated
1185in his mental analogue of this or that problem or thing, further correcting the mental
1186picture or enlarging it so that it becomes more exact and precise. Should some practical
1187problem suddenly demand examination or solution, memory will immediately select
1188the opportune information from the mass that has been acquired through years of
1189reading and will place this information at the service of one's powers of judgment so as
1190to get a new and clearer view of the problem in question or produce a definitive
1191solution.
1192Only thus can reading have any meaning or be worth while.
1193The speaker, for example, who has not the sources of information ready to hand which
1194are necessary to a proper treatment of his subject is unable to defend his opinions
1195against an opponent, even though those opinions be perfectly sound and true. In every
1196discussion his memory will leave him shamefully in the lurch. He cannot summon up
1197arguments to support his statements or to refute his opponent. So long as the speaker
1198has only to defend himself on his own personal account, the situation is not serious; but
1199the evil comes when Chance places at the head of public affairs such a soi-disant knowit-all,
1200who in reality knows nothing.
1201From early youth I endeavoured to read books in the right way and I was fortunate in
1202having a good memory and intelligence to assist me. From that point of view my
1203sojourn in Vienna was particularly useful and profitable. My experiences of everyday
1204life there were a constant stimulus to study the most diverse problems from new angles.
1205Inasmuch as I was in a position to put theory to the test of reality and reality to the test
1206of theory, I was safe from the danger of pedantic theorizing on the one hand and, on the
1207other, from being too impressed by the superficial aspects of reality.
1208The experience of everyday life at that time determined me to make a fundamental
1209theoretical study of two most important questions outside of the social question.
1210It is impossible to say when I might have started to make a thorough study of the
1211doctrine and characteristics of Marxism were it not for the fact that I then literally ran
1212head foremost into the problem. 
1213What I knew of Social Democracy in my youth was precious little and that little was for
1214the most part wrong. The fact that it led the struggle for universal suffrage and the
1215secret ballot gave me an inner satisfaction; for my reason then told me that this would
1216weaken the Habsburg regime, which I so thoroughly detested. I was convinced that
1217even if it should sacrifice the German element the Danubian State could not continue to
1218exist. Even at the price of a long and slow Slaviz-ation of the Austrian Germans the
1219State would secure no guarantee of a really durable Empire; because it was very
1220questionable if and how far the Slavs possessed the necessary capacity for constructive
1221politics. Therefore I welcomed every movement that might lead towards the final
1222disruption of that impossible State which had decreed that it would stamp out the
1223German character in ten millions of people. The more this babel of tongues wrought
1224discord and disruption, even in the Parliament, the nearer the hour approached for the
1225dissolution of this Babylonian Empire. That would mean the liberation of my German
1226Austrian people, and only then would it become possible for them to be re-united to the
1227Motherland.
1228Accordingly I had no feelings of antipathy towards the actual policy of the Social
1229Democrats. That its avowed purpose was to raise the level of the working classes--
1230which in my ignorance I then foolishly believed--was a further reason why I should
1231speak in favour of Social Democracy rather than against it. But the features that
1232contributed most to estrange me from the Social Democratic movement was its hostile
1233attitude towards the struggle for the conservation of Germanism in Austria, its
1234lamentable cocotting with the Slav 'comrades', who received these approaches
1235favourably as long as any practical advantages were forthcoming but otherwise
1236maintained a haughty reserve, thus giving the importunate mendicants the sort of
1237answer their behaviour deserved.
1238And so at the age of seventeen the word 'Marxism' was very little known to me, while I
1239looked on 'Social Democracy' and 'Socialism' as synonymous expressions. It was only as
1240the result of a sudden blow from the rough hand of Fate that my eyes were opened to
1241the nature of this unparalleled system for duping the public.
1242Hitherto my acquaintance with the Social Democratic Party was only that of a mere
1243spectator at some of their mass meetings. I had not the slightest idea of the socialdemocratic
1244teaching or the mentality of its partisans. All of a sudden I was brought face
1245to face with the products of their teaching and what they called their
1246WELTANSCHAUUNG. In this way a few months sufficed for me to learn something
1247which under other circumstances might have necessitated decades of study--namely,
1248that under the cloak of social virtue and love of one's neighbour a veritable pestilence
1249was spreading abroad and that if this pestilence be not stamped out of the world
1250without delay it may eventually succeed in exterminating the human race.
1251I first came into contact with the Social Democrats while working in the building trade. 
1252From the very time that I started work the situation was not very pleasant for me. My
1253clothes were still rather decent. I was careful of my speech and I was reserved in
1254manner. I was so occupied with thinking of my own present lot and future possibilities
1255that I did not take much of an interest in my immediate surroundings. I had sought
1256work so that I shouldn't starve and at the same time so as to be able to make further
1257headway with my studies, though this headway might be slow. Possibly I should not
1258have bothered to be interested in my companions were it not that on the third or fourth
1259day an event occurred which forced me to take a definite stand. I was ordered to join
1260the trade union.
1261At that time I knew nothing about the trades unions. I had had no opportunity of
1262forming an opinion on their utility or inutility, as the case might be. But when I was told
1263that I must join the union I refused. The grounds which I gave for my refusal were
1264simply that I knew nothing about the matter and that anyhow I would not allow myself
1265to be forced into anything. Probably the former reason saved me from being thrown out
1266right away. They probably thought that within a few days I might be converted' and
1267become more docile. But if they thought that they were profoundly mistaken. After two
1268weeks I found it utterly impossible for me to take such a step, even if I had been willing
1269to take it at first. During those fourteen days I came to know my fellow workmen better,
1270and no power in the world could have moved me to join an organization whose
1271representatives had meanwhile shown themselves in a light which I found so
1272unfavourable.
1273During the first days my resentment was aroused.
1274At midday some of my fellow workers used to adjourn to the nearest tavern, while the
1275others remained on the building premises and there ate their midday meal, which in
1276most cases was a very scanty one. These were married men. Their wives brought them
1277the midday soup in dilapidated vessels. Towards the end of the week there was a
1278gradual increase in the number of those who remained to eat their midday meal on the
1279building premises. I understood the reason for this afterwards. They now talked
1280politics.
1281I drank my bottle of milk and ate my morsel of bread somewhere on the outskirts, while
1282I circumspectly studied my environment or else fell to meditating on my own harsh lot.
1283Yet I heard more than enough. And I often thought that some of what they said was
1284meant for my ears, in the hope of bringing me to a decision. But all that I heard had the
1285effect of arousing the strongest antagonism in me. Everything was disparaged--the
1286nation, because it was held to be an invention of the 'capitalist' class (how often I had to
1287listen to that phrase!); the Fatherland, because it was held to be an instrument in the
1288hands of the bourgeoisie for the exploitation of' the working masses; the authority of the
1289law, because that was a means of holding down the proletariat; religion, as a means of 
1290doping the people, so as to exploit them afterwards; morality, as a badge of stupid and
1291sheepish docility. There was nothing that they did not drag in the mud.
1292At first I remained silent; but that could not last very long. Then I began to take part in
1293the discussion and to reply to their statements. I had to recognize, however, that this
1294was bound to be entirely fruitless, as long as I did not have at least a certain amount of
1295definite information about the questions that were discussed. So I decided to consult the
1296source from which my interlocutors claimed to have drawn their so-called wisdom. I
1297devoured book after book, pamphlet after pamphlet.
1298Meanwhile, we argued with one another on the building premises. From day to day I
1299was becoming better informed than my companions in the subjects on which they
1300claimed to be experts. Then a day came when the more redoubtable of my adversaries
1301resorted to the most effective weapon they had to replace the force of reason. This was
1302intimidation and physical force. Some of the leaders among my adversaries ordered me
1303to leave the building or else get flung down from the scaffolding. As I was quite alone I
1304could not put up any physical resistance; so I chose the first alternative and departed,
1305richer however by an experience.
1306I went away full of disgust; but at the same time so deeply moved that it was quite
1307impossible for me to turn my back on the whole situation and think no more about it.
1308When my anger began to calm down the spirit of obstinacy got the upper hand and I
1309decided that at all costs I would get back to work again in the building trade. This
1310decision became all the stronger a few weeks later, when my little savings had entirely
1311run out and hunger clutched me once again in its merciless arms. No alternative was
1312left to me. I got work again and had to leave it for the same reasons as before.
1313Then I asked myself: Are these men worthy of belonging to a great people? The
1314question was profoundly disturbing; for if the answer were 'Yes', then the struggle to
1315defend one's nationality is no longer worth all the trouble and sacrifice we demand of
1316our best elements if it be in the interests of such a rabble. On the other hand, if the
1317answer had to be 'No--these men are not worthy of the nation', then our nation is poor
1318indeed in men. During those days of mental anguish and deep meditation I saw before
1319my mind the ever-increasing and menacing army of people who could no longer be
1320reckoned as belonging to their own nation.
1321It was with quite a different feeling, some days later, that I gazed on the interminable
1322ranks, four abreast, of Viennese workmen parading at a mass demonstration. I stood
1323dumbfounded for almost two hours, watching that enormous human dragon which
1324slowly uncoiled itself there before me. When I finally left the square and wandered in
1325the direction of my lodgings I felt dismayed and depressed. On my way I noticed the
1326ARBEITERZEITUNG (The Workman's Journal) in a tobacco shop. This was the chief
1327press-organ of the old Austrian Social Democracy. In a cheap café, where the common 
1328people used to foregather and where I often went to read the papers, the
1329ARBEITERZEITUNG was also displayed. But hitherto I could not bring myself to do
1330more than glance at the wretched thing for a couple of minutes: for its whole tone was a
1331sort of mental vitriol to me. Under the depressing influence of the demonstration I had
1332witnessed, some interior voice urged me to buy the paper in that tobacco shop and read
1333it through. So I brought it home with me and spent the whole evening reading it,
1334despite the steadily mounting rage provoked by this ceaseless outpouring of
1335falsehoods.
1336I now found that in the social democratic daily papers I could study the inner character
1337of this politico-philosophic system much better than in all their theoretical literature.
1338For there was a striking discrepancy between the two. In the literary effusions which
1339dealt with the theory of Social Democracy there was a display of high-sounding
1340phraseology about liberty and human dignity and beauty, all promulgated with an air
1341of profound wisdom and serene prophetic assurance; a meticulously-woven glitter of
1342words to dazzle and mislead the reader. On the other hand, the daily Press inculcated
1343this new doctrine of human redemption in the most brutal fashion. No means were too
1344base, provided they could be exploited in the campaign of slander. These journalists
1345were real virtuosos in the art of twisting facts and presenting them in a deceptive form.
1346The theoretical literature was intended for the simpletons of the soi-disant intellectuals
1347belonging to the middle and, naturally, the upper classes. The newspaper propaganda
1348was intended for the masses.
1349This probing into books and newspapers and studying the teachings of Social
1350Democracy reawakened my love for my own people. And thus what at first seemed an
1351impassable chasm became the occasion of a closer affection.
1352Having once understood the working of the colossal system for poisoning the popular
1353mind, only a fool could blame the victims of it. During the years that followed I became
1354more independent and, as I did so, I became better able to understand the inner cause of
1355the success achieved by this Social Democratic gospel. I now realized the meaning and
1356purpose of those brutal orders which prohibited the reading of all books and
1357newspapers that were not 'red' and at the same time demanded that only the 'red'
1358meetings should be attended. In the clear light of brutal reality I was able to see what
1359must have been the inevitable consequences of that intolerant teaching.
1360The PSYCHE of the broad masses is accessible only to what is strong and
1361uncompromising. Like a woman whose inner sensibilities are not so much under the
1362sway of abstract reasoning but are always subject to the influence of a vague emotional
1363longing for the strength that completes her being, and who would rather bow to the
1364strong man than dominate the weakling--in like manner the masses of the people prefer
1365the ruler to the suppliant and are filled with a stronger sense of mental security by a 
1366teaching that brooks no rival than by a teaching which offers them a liberal choice. They
1367have very little idea of how to make such a choice and thus they are prone to feel that
1368they have been abandoned. They feel very little shame at being terrorized intellectually
1369and they are scarcely conscious of the fact that their freedom as human beings is
1370impudently abused; and thus they have not the slightest suspicion of the intrinsic
1371fallacy of the whole doctrine. They see only the ruthless force and brutality of its
1372determined utterances, to which they always submit.
1373IF SOCIAL DEMOCRACY SHOULD BE OPPOSED BY A MORE TRUTHFUL
1374TEACHING, THEN EVEN, THOUGH THE STRUGGLE BE OF THE BITTEREST KIND,
1375THIS TRUTHFUL TEACHING WILL FINALLY PREVAIL PROVIDED IT BE
1376ENFORCED WITH EQUAL RUTHLESSNESS.
1377Within less than two years I had gained a clear understanding of Social Democracy, in
1378its teaching and the technique of its operations.
1379I recognized the infamy of that technique whereby the movement carried on a
1380campaign of mental terrorism against the bourgeoisie, who are neither morally nor
1381spiritually equipped to withstand such attacks. The tactics of Social Democracy
1382consisted in opening, at a given signal, a veritable drum-fire of lies and calumnies
1383against the man whom they believed to be the most redoubtable of their adversaries,
1384until the nerves of the latter gave way and they sacrificed the man who was attacked,
1385simply in the hope of being allowed to live in peace. But the hope proved always to be a
1386foolish one, for they were never left in peace.
1387The same tactics are repeated again and again, until fear of these mad dogs exercises,
1388through suggestion, a paralysing effect on their Victims.
1389Through its own experience Social Democracy learned the value of strength, and for
1390that reason it attacks mostly those in whom it scents stuff of the more stalwart kind,
1391which is indeed a very rare possession. On the other hand it praises every weakling
1392among its adversaries, more or less cautiously, according to the measure of his mental
1393qualities known or presumed. They have less fear of a man of genius who lacks willpower
1394than of a vigorous character with mediocre intelligence and at the same time
1395they highly commend those who are devoid of intelligence and will-power.
1396The Social Democrats know how to create the impression that they alone are the
1397protectors of peace. In this way, acting very circumspectly but never losing sight of their
1398ultimate goal, they conquer one position after another, at one time by methods of quiet
1399intimidation and at another time by sheer daylight robbery, employing these latter
1400tactics at those moments when public attention is turned towards other matters from
1401which it does not wish to be diverted, or when the public considers an incident too
1402trivial to create a scandal about it and thus provoke the anger of a malignant opponent. 
1403These tactics are based on an accurate estimation of human frailties and must lead to
1404success, with almost mathematical certainty, unless the other side also learns how to
1405fight poison gas with poison gas. The weaker natures must be told that here it is a case
1406of to be or not to be.
1407I also came to understand that physical intimidation has its significance for the mass as
1408well as for the individual. Here again the Socialists had calculated accurately on the
1409psychological effect.
1410Intimidation in workshops and in factories, in assembly halls and at mass
1411demonstrations, will always meet with success as long as it does not have to encounter
1412the same kind of terror in a stronger form.
1413Then of course the Party will raise a horrified outcry, yelling blue murder and
1414appealing to the authority of the State, which they have just repudiated. In doing this
1415their aim generally is to add to the general confusion, so that they may have a better
1416opportunity of reaching their own goal unobserved. Their idea is to find among the
1417higher government officials some bovine creature who, in the stupid hope that he may
1418win the good graces of these awe-inspiring opponents so that they may remember him
1419in case of future eventualities, will help them now to break all those who may oppose
1420this world pest.
1421The impression which such successful tactics make on the minds of the broad masses,
1422whether they be adherents or opponents, can be estimated only by one who knows the
1423popular mind, not from books but from practical life. For the successes which are thus
1424obtained are taken by the adherents of Social Democracy as a triumphant symbol of the
1425righteousness of their own cause; on the other hand the beaten opponent very often
1426loses faith in the effectiveness of any further resistance.
1427The more I understood the methods of physical intimidation that were employed, the
1428more sympathy I had for the multitude that had succumbed to it.
1429I am thankful now for the ordeal which I had to go through at that time; for it was the
1430means of bringing me to think kindly again of my own people, inasmuch as the
1431experience enabled me to distinguish between the false leaders and the victims who
1432have been led astray.
1433We must look upon the latter simply as victims. I have just now tried to depict a few
1434traits which express the mentality of those on the lowest rung of the social ladder; but
1435my picture would be disproportionate if I do not add that amid the social depths I still
1436found light; for I experienced a rare spirit of self-sacrifice and loyal comradeship among
1437those men, who demanded little from life and were content amid their modest 
1438surroundings. This was true especially of the older generation of workmen. And
1439although these qualities were disappearing more and more in the younger generation,
1440owing to the all-pervading influence of the big city, yet among the younger generation
1441also there were many who were sound at the core and who were able to maintain
1442themselves uncontaminated amid the sordid surroundings of their everyday existence.
1443If these men, who in many cases meant well and were upright in themselves, gave the
1444support to the political activities carried on by the common enemies of our people, that
1445was because those decent workpeople did not and could not grasp the downright
1446infamy of the doctrine taught by the socialist agitators. Furthermore, it was because no
1447other section of the community bothered itself about the lot of the working classes.
1448Finally, the social conditions became such that men who otherwise would have acted
1449differently were forced to submit to them, even though unwillingly at first. A day came
1450when poverty gained the upper hand and drove those workmen into the Social
1451Democratic ranks.
1452On innumerable occasions the bourgeoisie took a definite stand against even the most
1453legitimate human demands of the working classes. That conduct was ill-judged and
1454indeed immoral and could bring no gain whatsoever to the bourgeois class. The result
1455was that the honest workman abandoned the original concept of the trades union
1456organization and was dragged into politics.
1457There were millions and millions of workmen who began by being hostile to the Social
1458Democratic Party; but their defences were repeatedly stormed and finally they had to
1459surrender. Yet this defeat was due to the stupidity of the bourgeois parties, who had
1460opposed every social demand put forward by the working class. The short-sighted
1461refusal to make an effort towards improving labour conditions, the refusal to adopt
1462measures which would insure the workman in case of accidents in the factories, the
1463refusal to forbid child labour, the refusal to consider protective measures for female
1464workers, especially expectant mothers--all this was of assistance to the Social
1465Democratic leaders, who were thankful for every opportunity which they could exploit
1466for forcing the masses into their net. Our bourgeois parties can never repair the damage
1467that resulted from the mistake they then made. For they sowed the seeds of hatred
1468when they opposed all efforts at social reform. And thus they gave, at least, apparent
1469grounds to justify the claim put forward by the Social Democrats--namely, that they
1470alone stand up for the interests of the working class.
1471And this became the principal ground for the moral justification of the actual existence
1472of the Trades Unions, so that the labour organization became from that time onwards
1473the chief political recruiting ground to swell the ranks of the Social Democratic Party.
1474While thus studying the social conditions around me I was forced, whether I liked it or
1475not, to decide on the attitude I should take towards the Trades Unions. Because I looked
1476upon them as inseparable from the Social Democratic Party, my decision was hasty--
1477and mistaken. I repudiated them as a matter of course. But on this essential question
1478also Fate intervened and gave me a lesson, with the result that I changed the opinion
1479which I had first formed.
1480When I was twenty years old I had learned to distinguish between the Trades Union as
1481a means of defending the social rights of the employees and fighting for better living
1482conditions for them and, on the other hand, the Trades Union as a political instrument
1483used by the Party in the class struggle.
1484The Social Democrats understood the enormous importance of the Trades Union
1485movement. They appropriated it as an instrument and used it with success, while the
1486bourgeois parties failed to understand it and thus lost their political prestige. They
1487thought that their own arrogant VETO would arrest the logical development of the
1488movement and force it into an illogical position. But it is absurd and also untrue to say
1489that the Trades Union movement is in itself hostile to the nation. The opposite is the
1490more correct view. If the activities of the Trades Union are directed towards improving
1491the condition of a class, and succeed in doing so, such activities are not against the
1492Fatherland or the State but are, in the truest sense of the word, national. In that way the
1493trades union organization helps to create the social conditions which are indispensable
1494in a general system of national education. It deserves high recognition when it destroys
1495the psychological and physical germs of social disease and thus fosters the general
1496welfare of the nation.
1497It is superfluous to ask whether the Trades Union is indispensable.
1498So long as there are employers who attack social understanding and have wrong ideas
1499of justice and fair play it is not only the right but also the duty of their employees--who
1500are, after all, an integral part of our people--to protect the general interests against the
1501greed and unreason of the individual. For to safeguard the loyalty and confidence of the
1502people is as much in the interests of the nation as to safeguard public health.
1503Both are seriously menaced by dishonourable employers who are not conscious of their
1504duty as members of the national community. Their personal avidity or irresponsibility
1505sows the seeds of future trouble. To eliminate the causes of such a development is an
1506action that surely deserves well of the country.
1507It must not be answered here that the individual workman is free at any time to escape
1508from the consequences of an injustice which he has actually suffered at the hands of an
1509employer, or which he thinks he has suffered--in other words, he can leave. No. That
1510argument is only a ruse to detract attention from the question at issue. Is it, or is it not,
1511in the interests of the nation to remove the causes of social unrest? If it is, then the fight
1512must be carried on with the only weapons that promise success. But the individual
1513workman is never in a position to stand up against the might of the big employer; for 
1514the question here is not one that concerns the triumph of right. If in such a relation right
1515had been recognized as the guiding principle, then the conflict could not have arisen at
1516all. But here it is a question of who is the stronger. If the case were otherwise, the
1517sentiment of justice alone would solve the dispute in an honourable way; or, to put the
1518case more correctly, matters would not have come to such a dispute at all.
1519No. If unsocial and dishonourable treatment of men provokes resistance, then the
1520stronger party can impose its decision in the conflict until the constitutional legislative
1521authorities do away with the evil through legislation. Therefore it is evident that if the
1522individual workman is to have any chance at all of winning through in the struggle he
1523must be grouped with his fellow workmen and present a united front before the
1524individual employer, who incorporates in his own person the massed strength of the
1525vested interests in the industrial or commercial undertaking which he conducts.
1526Thus the trades unions can hope to inculcate and strengthen a sense of social
1527responsibility in workaday life and open the road to practical results. In doing this they
1528tend to remove those causes of friction which are a continual source of discontent and
1529complaint.
1530Blame for the fact that the trades unions do not fulfil this much-desired function must
1531be laid at the doors of those who barred the road to legislative social reform, or
1532rendered such a reform ineffective by sabotaging it through their political influence.
1533The political bourgeoisie failed to understand--or, rather, they did not wish to
1534understand--the importance of the trades union movement. The Social Democrats
1535accordingly seized the advantage offered them by this mistaken policy and took the
1536labour movement under their exclusive protection, without any protest from the other
1537side. In this way they established for themselves a solid bulwark behind which they
1538could safely retire whenever the struggle assumed a critical aspect. Thus the genuine
1539purpose of the movement gradually fell into oblivion, and was replaced by new
1540objectives. For the Social Democrats never troubled themselves to respect and uphold
1541the original purpose for which the trade unionist movement was founded. They simply
1542took over the Movement, lock, stock and barrel, to serve their own political ends.
1543Within a few decades the Trades Union Movement was transformed, by the expert
1544hand of Social Democracy, from an instrument which had been originally fashioned for
1545the defence of human rights into an instrument for the destruction of the national
1546economic structure. The interests of the working class were not allowed for a moment
1547to cross the path of this purpose; for in politics the application of economic pressure is
1548always possible if the one side be sufficiently unscrupulous and the other sufficiently
1549inert and docile. In this case both conditions were fulfilled. 
1550By the beginning of the present century the Trades Unionist Movement had already
1551ceased to recognize the purpose for which it had been founded. From year to year it fell
1552more and more under the political control of the Social Democrats, until it finally came
1553to be used as a battering-ram in the class struggle. The plan was to shatter, by means of
1554constantly repeated blows, the economic edifice in the building of which so much time
1555and care had been expended. Once this objective had been reached, the destruction of
1556the State would become a matter of course, because the State would already have been
1557deprived of its economic foundations. Attention to the real interests of the workingclasses,
1558on the part of the Social Democrats, steadily decreased until the cunning leaders
1559saw that it would be in their immediate political interests if the social and cultural
1560demands of the broad masses remained unheeded; for there was a danger that if these
1561masses once felt content they could no longer be employed as mere passive material in
1562the political struggle.
1563The gloomy prospect which presented itself to the eyes of the CONDOTTIERI of the
1564class warfare, if the discontent of the masses were no longer available as a war weapon,
1565created so much anxiety among them that they suppressed and opposed even the most
1566elementary measures of social reform. And conditions were such that those leaders did
1567not have to trouble about attempting to justify such an illogical policy.
1568As the masses were taught to increase and heighten their demands the possibility of
1569satisfying them dwindled and whatever ameliorative measures were taken became less
1570and less significant; so that it was at that time possible to persuade the masses that this
1571ridiculous measure in which the most sacred claims of the working-classes were being
1572granted represented a diabolical plan to weaken their fighting power in this easy way
1573and, if possible, to paralyse it. One will not be astonished at the success of these
1574allegations if one remembers what a small measure of thinking power the broad masses
1575possess.
1576In the bourgeois camp there was high indignation over the bad faith of the Social
1577Democratic tactics; but nothing was done to draw a practical conclusion and organize a
1578counter attack from the bourgeois side. The fear of the Social Democrats, to improve the
1579miserable conditions of the working-classes ought to have induced the bourgeois
1580parties to make the most energetic efforts in this direction and thus snatch from the
1581hands of the class-warfare leaders their most important weapon; but nothing of this
1582kind happened.
1583Instead of attacking the position of their adversaries the bourgeoisie allowed itself to be
1584pressed and harried. Finally it adopted means that were so tardy and so insignificant
1585that they were ineffective and were repudiated. So the whole situation remained just as
1586it had been before the bourgeois intervention; but the discontent had thereby become
1587more serious. 
1588Like a threatening storm, the 'Free Trades Union' hovered above the political horizon
1589and above the life of each individual. It was one of the most frightful instruments of
1590terror that threatened the security and independence of the national economic structure,
1591the foundations of the State and the liberty of the individual. Above all, it was the 'Free
1592Trades Union' that turned democracy into a ridiculous and scorned phrase, insulted the
1593ideal of liberty and stigmatized that of fraternity with the slogan 'If you will not become
1594our comrade we shall crack your skull'.
1595It was thus that I then came to know this friend of humanity. During the years that
1596followed my knowledge of it became wider and deeper; but I have never changed
1597anything in that regard.
1598The more I became acquainted with the external forms of Social Democracy, the greater
1599became my desire to understand the inner nature of its doctrines.
1600For this purpose the official literature of the Party could not help very much. In
1601discussing economic questions its statements were false and its proofs unsound. In
1602treating of political aims its attitude was insincere. Furthermore, its modern methods of
1603chicanery in the presentation of its arguments were profoundly repugnant to me. Its
1604flamboyant sentences, its obscure and incomprehensible phrases, pretended to contain
1605great thoughts, but they were devoid of thought, and meaningless. One would have to
1606be a decadent Bohemian in one of our modern cities in order to feel at home in that
1607labyrinth of mental aberration, so that he might discover 'intimate experiences' amid the
1608stinking fumes of this literary Dadism. These writers were obviously counting on the
1609proverbial humility of a certain section of our people, who believe that a person who is
1610incomprehensible must be profoundly wise.
1611In confronting the theoretical falsity and absurdity of that doctrine with the reality of its
1612external manifestations, I gradually came to have a clear idea of the ends at which it
1613aimed.
1614During such moments I had dark presentiments and feared something evil. I had before
1615me a teaching inspired by egoism and hatred, mathematically calculated to win its
1616victory, but the triumph of which would be a mortal blow to humanity.
1617Meanwhile I had discovered the relations existing between this destructive teaching
1618and the specific character of a people, who up to that time had been to me almost
1619unknown.
1620Knowledge of the Jews is the only key whereby one may understand the inner nature
1621and therefore the real aims of Social Democracy. 
1622The man who has come to know this race has succeeded in removing from his eyes the
1623veil through which he had seen the aims and meaning of his Party in a false light; and
1624then, out of the murk and fog of social phrases rises the grimacing figure of Marxism.
1625To-day it is hard and almost impossible for me to say when the word 'Jew' first began to
1626raise any particular thought in my mind. I do not remember even having heard the
1627word at home during my father's lifetime. If this name were mentioned in a derogatory
1628sense I think the old gentleman would just have considered those who used it in this
1629way as being uneducated reactionaries. In the course of his career he had come to be
1630more or less a cosmopolitan, with strong views on nationalism, which had its effect on
1631me as well. In school, too, I found no reason to alter the picture of things I had formed
1632at home.
1633At the REALSCHULE I knew one Jewish boy. We were all on our guard in our relations
1634with him, but only because his reticence and certain actions of his warned us to be
1635discreet. Beyond that my companions and myself formed no particular opinions in
1636regard to him.
1637It was not until I was fourteen or fifteen years old that I frequently ran up against the
1638word 'Jew', partly in connection with political controversies. These references aroused a
1639slight aversion in me, and I could not avoid an uncomfortable feeling which always
1640came over me when I had to listen to religious disputes. But at that time I had no other
1641feelings about the Jewish question.
1642There were very few Jews in Linz. In the course of centuries the Jews who lived there
1643had become Europeanized in external appearance and were so much like other human
1644beings that I even looked upon them as Germans. The reason why I did not then
1645perceive the absurdity of such an illusion was that the only external mark which I
1646recognized as distinguishing them from us was the practice of their strange religion. As
1647I thought that they were persecuted on account of their Faith my aversion to hearing
1648remarks against them grew almost into a feeling of abhorrence. I did not in the least
1649suspect that there could be such a thing as a systematic anti-Semitism.
1650Then I came to Vienna.
1651Confused by the mass of impressions I received from the architectural surroundings
1652and depressed by my own troubles, I did not at first distinguish between the different
1653social strata of which the population of that mammoth city was composed. Although
1654Vienna then had about two hundred thousand Jews among its population of two
1655millions, I did not notice them. During the first weeks of my sojourn my eyes and my
1656mind were unable to cope with the onrush of new ideas and values. Not until I
1657gradually settled down to my surroundings, and the confused picture began to grow 
1658clearer, did I acquire a more discriminating view of my new world. And with that I
1659came up against the Jewish problem.
1660I will not say that the manner in which I first became acquainted with it was
1661particularly unpleasant for me. In the Jew I still saw only a man who was of a different
1662religion, and therefore, on grounds of human tolerance, I was against the idea that he
1663should be attacked because he had a different faith. And so I considered that the tone
1664adopted by the anti-Semitic Press in Vienna was unworthy of the cultural traditions of a
1665great people. The memory of certain events which happened in the middle ages came
1666into my mind, and I felt that I should not like to see them repeated. Generally speaking,
1667these anti-Semitic newspapers did not belong to the first rank--but I did not then
1668understand the reason of this--and so I regarded them more as the products of jealousy
1669and envy rather than the expression of a sincere, though wrong-headed, feeling.
1670My own opinions were confirmed by what I considered to be the infinitely more
1671dignified manner in which the really great Press replied to those attacks or simply
1672ignored them, which latter seemed to me the most respectable way.
1673I diligently read what was generally called the World Press--NEUE FREIE PRESSE,
1674WIENER TAGEBLATT, etc.--and I was astonished by the abundance of information
1675they gave their readers and the impartial way in which they presented particular
1676problems. I appreciated their dignified tone; but sometimes the flamboyancy of the style
1677was unconvincing, and I did not like it. But I attributed all this to the overpowering
1678influence of the world metropolis.
1679Since I considered Vienna at that time as such a world metropolis, I thought this
1680constituted sufficient grounds to excuse these shortcomings of the Press. But I was
1681frequently disgusted by the grovelling way in which the Vienna Press played lackey to
1682the Court. Scarcely a move took place at the Hofburg which was not presented in
1683glorified colours to the readers. It was a foolish practice, which, especially when it had
1684to do with 'The Wisest Monarch of all Times', reminded one almost of the dance which
1685the mountain cock performs at pairing time to woo his mate. It was all empty nonsense.
1686And I thought that such a policy was a stain on the ideal of liberal democracy. I thought
1687that this way of currying favour at the Court was unworthy of the people. And that was
1688the first blot that fell on my appreciation of the great Vienna Press.
1689While in Vienna I continued to follow with a vivid interest all the events that were
1690taking place in Germany, whether connected with political or cultural question. I had a
1691feeling of pride and admiration when I compared the rise of the young German Empire
1692with the decline of the Austrian State. But, although the foreign policy of that Empire
1693was a source of real pleasure on the whole, the internal political happenings were not
1694always so satisfactory. I did not approve of the campaign which at that time was being
1695carried on against William II. I looked upon him not only as the German Emperor but, 
1696above all, as the creator of the German Navy. The fact that the Emperor was prohibited
1697from speaking in the Reichstag made me very angry, because the prohibition came from
1698a side which in my eyes had no authority to make it. For at a single sitting those same
1699parliamentary ganders did more cackling together than the whole dynasty of Emperors,
1700comprising even the weakest, had done in the course of centuries.
1701It annoyed me to have to acknowledge that in a nation where any half-witted fellow
1702could claim for himself the right to criticize and might even be let loose on the people as
1703a 'Legislator' in the Reichstag, the bearer of the Imperial Crown could be the subject of a
1704'reprimand' on the part of the most miserable assembly of drivellers that had ever
1705existed.
1706I was even more disgusted at the way in which this same Vienna Press salaamed
1707obsequiously before the meanest steed belonging to the Habsburg royal equipage and
1708went off into wild ecstacies of delight if the nag wagged its tail in response. And at the
1709same time these newspapers took up an attitude of anxiety in matters that concerned
1710the German Emperor, trying to cloak their enmity by the serious air they gave
1711themselves. But in my eyes that enmity appeared to be only poorly cloaked. Naturally
1712they protested that they had no intention of mixing in Germany's internal affairs--God
1713forbid! They pretended that by touching a delicate spot in such a friendly way they
1714were fulfilling a duty that devolved upon them by reason of the mutual alliance
1715between the two countries and at the same time discharging their obligations of
1716journalistic truthfulness. Having thus excused themselves about tenderly touching a
1717sore spot, they bored with the finger ruthlessly into the wound.
1718That sort of thing made my blood boil. And now I began to be more and more on my
1719guard when reading the great Vienna Press.
1720I had to acknowledge, however, that on such subjects one of the anti-Semitic papers--
1721the DEUTSCHE VOLKSBLATT--acted more decently.
1722What got still more on my nerves was the repugnant manner in which the big
1723newspapers cultivated admiration for France. One really had to feel ashamed of being a
1724German when confronted by those mellifluous hymns of praise for 'the great culturenation'.
1725This wretched Gallomania more often than once made me throw away one of
1726those 'world newspapers'. I now often turned to the VOLKSBLATT, which was much
1727smaller in size but which treated such subjects more decently. I was not in accord with
1728its sharp anti-Semitic tone; but again and again I found that its arguments gave me
1729grounds for serious thought.
1730Anyhow, it was as a result of such reading that I came to know the man and the
1731movement which then determined the fate of Vienna. These were Dr. Karl Lueger and 
1732the Christian Socialist Movement. At the time I came to Vienna I felt opposed to both. I
1733looked on the man and the movement as 'reactionary'.
1734But even an elementary sense of justice enforced me to change my opinion when I had
1735the opportunity of knowing the man and his work, and slowly that opinion grew into
1736outspoken admiration when I had better grounds for forming a judgment. To-day, as
1737well as then, I hold Dr. Karl Lueger as the most eminent type of German Burgermeister.
1738How many prejudices were thrown over through such a change in my attitude towards
1739the Christian-Socialist Movement!
1740My ideas about anti-Semitism changed also in the course of time, but that was the
1741change which I found most difficult. It cost me a greater internal conflict with myself,
1742and it was only after a struggle between reason and sentiment that victory began to be
1743decided in favour of the former. Two years later sentiment rallied to the side of reasons
1744and became a faithful guardian and counsellor.
1745At the time of this bitter struggle, between calm reason and the sentiments in which I
1746had been brought up, the lessons that I learned on the streets of Vienna rendered me
1747invaluable assistance. A time came when I no longer passed blindly along the street of
1748the mighty city, as I had done in the early days, but now with my eyes open not only to
1749study the buildings but also the human beings.
1750Once, when passing through the inner City, I suddenly encountered a phenomenon in a
1751long caftan and wearing black side-locks. My first thought was: Is this a Jew? They
1752certainly did not have this appearance in Linz. I watched the man stealthily and
1753cautiously; but the longer I gazed at the strange countenance and examined it feature by
1754feature, the more the question shaped itself in my brain: Is this a German?
1755As was always my habit with such experiences, I turned to books for help in removing
1756my doubts. For the first time in my life I bought myself some anti-Semitic pamphlets for
1757a few pence. But unfortunately they all began with the assumption that in principle the
1758reader had at least a certain degree of information on the Jewish question or was even
1759familiar with it. Moreover, the tone of most of these pamphlets was such that I became
1760doubtful again, because the statements made were partly superficial and the proofs
1761extraordinarily unscientific. For weeks, and indeed for months, I returned to my old
1762way of thinking. The subject appeared so enormous and the accusations were so farreaching
1763that I was afraid of dealing with it unjustly and so I became again anxious and
1764uncertain.
1765Naturally I could no longer doubt that here there was not a question of Germans who
1766happened to be of a different religion but rather that there was question of an entirely
1767different people. For as soon as I began to investigate the matter and observe the Jews,
1768then Vienna appeared to me in a different light. Wherever I now went I saw Jews, and 
1769the more I saw of them the more strikingly and clearly they stood out as a different
1770people from the other citizens. Especially the Inner City and the district northwards
1771from the Danube Canal swarmed with a people who, even in outer appearance, bore no
1772similarity to the Germans.
1773But any indecision which I may still have felt about that point was finally removed by
1774the activities of a certain section of the Jews themselves. A great movement, called
1775Zionism, arose among them. Its aim was to assert the national character of Judaism, and
1776the movement was strongly represented in Vienna.
1777To outward appearances it seemed as if only one group of Jews championed this
1778movement, while the great majority disapproved of it, or even repudiated it. But an
1779investigation of the situation showed that those outward appearances were purposely
1780misleading. These outward appearances emerged from a mist of theories which had
1781been produced for reasons of expediency, if not for purposes of downright deception.
1782For that part of Jewry which was styled Liberal did not disown the Zionists as if they
1783were not members of their race but rather as brother Jews who publicly professed their
1784faith in an unpractical way, so as to create a danger for Jewry itself.
1785Thus there was no real rift in their internal solidarity.
1786This fictitious conflict between the Zionists and the Liberal Jews soon disgusted me; for
1787it was false through and through and in direct contradiction to the moral dignity and
1788immaculate character on which that race had always prided itself.
1789Cleanliness, whether moral or of another kind, had its own peculiar meaning for these
1790people. That they were water-shy was obvious on looking at them and, unfortunately,
1791very often also when not looking at them at all. The odour of those people in caftans
1792often used to make me feel ill. Beyond that there were the unkempt clothes and the
1793ignoble exterior.
1794All these details were certainly not attractive; but the revolting feature was that beneath
1795their unclean exterior one suddenly perceived the moral mildew of the chosen race.
1796What soon gave me cause for very serious consideration were the activities of the Jews
1797in certain branches of life, into the mystery of which I penetrated little by little. Was
1798there any shady undertaking, any form of foulness, especially in cultural life, in which
1799at least one Jew did not participate? On putting the probing knife carefully to that kind
1800of abscess one immediately discovered, like a maggot in a putrescent body, a little Jew
1801who was often blinded by the sudden light.
1802In my eyes the charge against Judaism became a grave one the moment I discovered the
1803Jewish activities in the Press, in art, in literature and the theatre. All unctuous protests 
1804were now more or less futile. One needed only to look at the posters announcing the
1805hideous productions of the cinema and theatre, and study the names of the authors who
1806were highly lauded there in order to become permanently adamant on Jewish
1807questions. Here was a pestilence, a moral pestilence, with which the public was being
1808infected. It was worse than the Black Plague of long ago. And in what mighty doses this
1809poison was manufactured and distributed. Naturally, the lower the moral and
1810intellectual level of such an author of artistic products the more inexhaustible his
1811fecundity. Sometimes it went so far that one of these fellows, acting like a sewage
1812pump, would shoot his filth directly in the face of other members of the human race. In
1813this connection we must remember there is no limit to the number of such people. One
1814ought to realize that for one, Goethe, Nature may bring into existence ten thousand
1815such despoilers who act as the worst kind of germ-carriers in poisoning human souls. It
1816was a terrible thought, and yet it could not be avoided, that the greater number of the
1817Jews seemed specially destined by Nature to play this shameful part.
1818And is it for this reason that they can be called the chosen people?
1819I began then to investigate carefully the names of all the fabricators of these unclean
1820products in public cultural life. The result of that inquiry was still more disfavourable to
1821the attitude which I had hitherto held in regard to the Jews. Though my feelings might
1822rebel a thousand time, reason now had to draw its own conclusions.
1823The fact that nine-tenths of all the smutty literature, artistic tripe and theatrical
1824banalities, had to be charged to the account of people who formed scarcely one per cent.
1825of the nation--that fact could not be gainsaid. It was there, and had to be admitted. Then
1826I began to examine my favourite 'World Press', with that fact before my mind.
1827The deeper my soundings went the lesser grew my respect for that Press which I
1828formerly admired. Its style became still more repellent and I was forced to reject its
1829ideas as entirely shallow and superficial. To claim that in the presentation of facts and
1830views its attitude was impartial seemed to me to contain more falsehood than truth. The
1831writers were--Jews.
1832Thousands of details that I had scarcely noticed before seemed to me now to deserve
1833attention. I began to grasp and understand things which I had formerly looked at in a
1834different light.
1835I saw the Liberal policy of that Press in another light. Its dignified tone in replying to
1836the attacks of its adversaries and its dead silence in other cases now became clear to me
1837as part of a cunning and despicable way of deceiving the readers. Its brilliant theatrical
1838criticisms always praised the Jewish authors and its adverse, criticism was reserved
1839exclusively for the Germans. 
1840The light pin-pricks against William II showed the persistency of its policy, just as did
1841its systematic commendation of French culture and civilization. The subject matter of
1842the feuilletons was trivial and often pornographic. The language of this Press as a whole
1843had the accent of a foreign people. The general tone was openly derogatory to the
1844Germans and this must have been definitely intentional.
1845What were the interests that urged the Vienna Press to adopt such a policy? Or did they
1846do so merely by chance? In attempting to find an answer to those questions I gradually
1847became more and more dubious.
1848Then something happened which helped me to come to an early decision. I began to see
1849through the meaning of a whole series of events that were taking place in other
1850branches of Viennese life. All these were inspired by a general concept of manners and
1851morals which was openly put into practice by a large section of the Jews and could be
1852established as attributable to them. Here, again, the life which I observed on the streets
1853taught me what evil really is.
1854The part which the Jews played in the social phenomenon of prostitution, and more
1855especially in the white slave traffic, could be studied here better than in any other WestEuropean
1856city, with the possible exception of certain ports in Southern France. Walking
1857by night along the streets of the Leopoldstadt, almost at every turn whether one wished
1858it or not, one witnessed certain happenings of whose existence the Germans knew
1859nothing until the War made it possible and indeed inevitable for the soldiers to see such
1860things on the Eastern front.
1861A cold shiver ran down my spine when I first ascertained that it was the same kind of
1862cold-blooded, thick-skinned and shameless Jew who showed his consummate skill in
1863conducting that revolting exploitation of the dregs of the big city. Then I became fired
1864with wrath.
1865I had now no more hesitation about bringing the Jewish problem to light in all its
1866details. No. Henceforth I was determined to do so. But as I learned to track down the
1867Jew in all the different spheres of cultural and artistic life, and in the various
1868manifestations of this life everywhere, I suddenly came upon him in a position where I
1869had least expected to find him. I now realized that the Jews were the leaders of Social
1870Democracy. In face of that revelation the scales fell from my eyes. My long inner
1871struggle was at an end.
1872In my relations with my fellow workmen I was often astonished to find how easily and
1873often they changed their opinions on the same questions, sometimes within a few days
1874and sometimes even within the course of a few hours. I found it difficult to understand
1875how men who always had reasonable ideas when they spoke as individuals with one
1876another suddenly lost this reasonableness the moment they acted in the mass. That 
1877phenomenon often tempted one almost to despair. I used to dispute with them for
1878hours and when I succeeded in bringing them to what I considered a reasonable way of
1879thinking I rejoiced at my success. But next day I would find that it had been all in vain.
1880It was saddening to think I had to begin it all over again. Like a pendulum in its eternal
1881sway, they would fall back into their absurd opinions.
1882I was able to understand their position fully. They were dissatisfied with their lot and
1883cursed the fate which had hit them so hard. They hated their employers, whom they
1884looked upon as the heartless administrators of their cruel destiny. Often they used
1885abusive language against the public officials, whom they accused of having no
1886sympathy with the situation of the working people. They made public protests against
1887the cost of living and paraded through the streets in defence of their claims. At least all
1888this could be explained on reasonable grounds. But what was impossible to understand
1889was the boundless hatred they expressed against their own fellow citizens, how they
1890disparaged their own nation, mocked at its greatness, reviled its history and dragged
1891the names of its most illustrious men in the gutter.
1892This hostility towards their own kith and kin, their own native land and home was as
1893irrational as it was incomprehensible. It was against Nature.
1894One could cure that malady temporarily, but only for some days or at least some weeks.
1895But on meeting those whom one believed to have been converted one found that they
1896had become as they were before. That malady against Nature held them once again in
1897its clutches.
1898I gradually discovered that the Social Democratic Press was predominantly controlled
1899by Jews. But I did not attach special importance to this circumstance, for the same state
1900of affairs existed also in other newspapers. But there was one striking fact in this
1901connection. It was that there was not a single newspaper with which Jews were
1902connected that could be spoken of as National, in the meaning that my education and
1903convictions attached to that word.
1904Making an effort to overcome my natural reluctance, I tried to read articles of this
1905nature published in the Marxist Press; but in doing so my aversion increased all the
1906more. And then I set about learning something of the people who wrote and published
1907this mischievous stuff. From the publisher downwards, all of them were Jews. I recalled
1908to mind the names of the public leaders of Marxism, and then I realized that most of
1909them belonged to the Chosen Race--the Social Democratic representatives in the
1910Imperial Cabinet as well as the secretaries of the Trades Unions and the street agitators.
1911Everywhere the same sinister picture presented itself. I shall never forget the row of
1912names--Austerlitz, David, Adler, Ellenbogen, and others. One fact became quite evident
1913to me. It was that this alien race held in its hands the leadership of that Social 
1914Democratic Party with whose minor representatives I had been disputing for months
1915past. I was happy at last to know for certain that the Jew is not a German.
1916Thus I finally discovered who were the evil spirits leading our people astray. The
1917sojourn in Vienna for one year had proved long enough to convince me that no worker
1918is so rooted in his preconceived notions that he will not surrender them in face of better
1919and clearer arguments and explanations. Gradually I became an expert in the doctrine
1920of the Marxists and used this knowledge as an instrument to drive home my own firm
1921convictions. I was successful in nearly every case. The great masses can be rescued, but
1922a lot of time and a large share of human patience must be devoted to such work.
1923But a Jew can never be rescued from his fixed notions.
1924It was then simple enough to attempt to show them the absurdity of their teaching.
1925Within my small circle I talked to them until my throat ached and my voice grew
1926hoarse. I believed that I could finally convince them of the danger inherent in the
1927Marxist follies. But I only achieved the contrary result. It seemed to me that
1928immediately the disastrous effects of the Marxist Theory and its application in practice
1929became evident, the stronger became their obstinacy.
1930The more I debated with them the more familiar I became with their argumentative
1931tactics. At the outset they counted upon the stupidity of their opponents, but when they
1932got so entangled that they could not find a way out they played the trick of acting as
1933innocent simpletons. Should they fail, in spite of their tricks of logic, they acted as if
1934they could not understand the counter arguments and bolted away to another field of
1935discussion. They would lay down truisms and platitudes; and, if you accepted these,
1936then they were applied to other problems and matters of an essentially different nature
1937from the original theme. If you faced them with this point they would escape again, and
1938you could not bring them to make any precise statement. Whenever one tried to get a
1939firm grip on any of these apostles one's hand grasped only jelly and slime which
1940slipped through the fingers and combined again into a solid mass a moment afterwards.
1941If your adversary felt forced to give in to your argument, on account of the observers
1942present, and if you then thought that at last you had gained ground, a surprise was in
1943store for you on the following day. The Jew would be utterly oblivious to what had
1944happened the day before, and he would start once again by repeating his former
1945absurdities, as if nothing had happened. Should you become indignant and remind him
1946of yesterday's defeat, he pretended astonishment and could not remember anything,
1947except that on the previous day he had proved that his statements were correct.
1948Sometimes I was dumbfounded. I do not know what amazed me the more--the
1949abundance of their verbiage or the artful way in which they dressed up their
1950falsehoods. I gradually came to hate them. 
1951Yet all this had its good side; because the more I came to know the individual leaders,
1952or at least the propagandists, of Social Democracy, my love for my own people
1953increased correspondingly. Considering the Satanic skill which these evil counsellors
1954displayed, how could their unfortunate victims be blamed? Indeed, I found it extremely
1955difficult myself to be a match for the dialectical perfidy of that race. How futile it was to
1956try to win over such people with argument, seeing that their very mouths distorted the
1957truth, disowning the very words they had just used and adopting them again a few
1958moments afterwards to serve their own ends in the argument! No. The more I came to
1959know the Jew, the easier it was to excuse the workers.
1960In my opinion the most culpable were not to be found among the workers but rather
1961among those who did not think it worth while to take the trouble to sympathize with
1962their own kinsfolk and give to the hard-working son of the national family what was his
1963by the iron logic of justice, while at the same time placing his seducer and corrupter
1964against the wall.
1965Urged by my own daily experiences, I now began to investigate more thoroughly the
1966sources of the Marxist teaching itself. Its effects were well known to me in detail. As a
1967result of careful observation, its daily progress had become obvious to me. And one
1968needed only a little imagination in order to be able to forecast the consequences which
1969must result from it. The only question now was: Did the founders foresee the effects of
1970their work in the form which those effects have shown themselves to-day, or were the
1971founders themselves the victims of an error? To my mind both alternatives were
1972possible.
1973If the second question must be answered in the affirmative, then it was the duty of
1974every thinking person to oppose this sinister movement with a view to preventing it
1975from producing its worst results. But if the first question must be answered in the
1976affirmative, then it must be admitted that the original authors of this evil which has
1977infected the nations were devils incarnate. For only in the brain of a monster, and not
1978that of a man, could the plan of this organization take shape whose workings must
1979finally bring about the collapse of human civilization and turn this world into a desert
1980waste.
1981Such being the case the only alternative left was to fight, and in that fight to employ all
1982the weapons which the human spirit and intellect and will could furnish leaving it to
1983Fate to decide in whose favour the balance should fall.
1984And so I began to gather information about the authors of this teaching, with a view to
1985studying the principles of the movement. The fact that I attained my object sooner than
1986I could have anticipated was due to the deeper insight into the Jewish question which I
1987then gained, my knowledge of this question being hitherto rather superficial. This
1988newly acquired knowledge alone enabled me to make a practical comparison between 
1989the real content and the theoretical pretentiousness of the teaching laid down by the
1990apostolic founders of Social Democracy; because I now understood the language of the
1991Jew. I realized that the Jew uses language for the purpose of dissimulating his thought
1992or at least veiling it, so that his real aim cannot be discovered by what he says but rather
1993by reading between the lines. This knowledge was the occasion of the greatest inner
1994revolution that I had yet experienced. From being a soft-hearted cosmopolitan I became
1995an out-and-out anti-Semite.
1996Only on one further occasion, and that for the last time, did I give way to oppressing
1997thoughts which caused me some moments of profound anxiety.
1998As I critically reviewed the activities of the Jewish people throughout long periods of
1999history I became anxious and asked myself whether for some inscrutable reasons
2000beyond the comprehension of poor mortals such as ourselves, Destiny may not have
2001irrevocably decreed that the final victory must go to this small nation? May it not be
2002that this people which has lived only for the earth has been promised the earth as a
2003recompense? is our right to struggle for our own self-preservation based on reality, or is
2004it a merely subjective thing? Fate answered the question for me inasmuch as it led me to
2005make a detached and exhaustive inquiry into the Marxist teaching and the activities of
2006the Jewish people in connection with it.
2007The Jewish doctrine of Marxism repudiates the aristocratic principle of Nature and
2008substitutes for it the eternal privilege of force and energy, numerical mass and its dead
2009weight. Thus it denies the individual worth of the human personality, impugns the
2010teaching that nationhood and race have a primary significance, and by doing this it
2011takes away the very foundations of human existence and human civilization. If the
2012Marxist teaching were to be accepted as the foundation of the life of the universe, it
2013would lead to the disappearance of all order that is conceivable to the human mind.
2014And thus the adoption of such a law would provoke chaos in the structure of the
2015greatest organism that we know, with the result that the inhabitants of this earthly
2016planet would finally disappear.
2017Should the Jew, with the aid of his Marxist creed, triumph over the people of this world,
2018his Crown will be the funeral wreath of mankind, and this planet will once again follow
2019its orbit through ether, without any human life on its surface, as it did millions of years
2020ago.
2021And so I believe to-day that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty
2022Creator. In standing guard against the Jew I am defending the handiwork of the Lord. 
2023[Note 5. The Phaecians were a legendary people, mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. They
2024were supposed to live on some unknown island in the Eastern Mediterranean,
2025sometimes suggested to be Corcyra, the modern Corfu. They loved good living more
2026than work, and so the name Phaecian has come to be a synonym for parasite.] 
2027Chapter 3
2028Political Reflections Arising Out Of My Sojourn In Vienna
2029GENERALLY SPEAKING a man should not publicly take part in politics before he has
2030reached the age of thirty, though, of course, exceptions must be made in the case of
2031those who are naturally gifted with extraordinary political abilities. That at least is my
2032opinion to-day. And the reason for it is that until he reaches his thirtieth year or
2033thereabouts a man's mental development will mostly consist in acquiring and sifting
2034such knowledge as is necessary for the groundwork of a general platform from which
2035he can examine the different political problems that arise from day to day and be able to
2036adopt a definite attitude towards each. A man must first acquire a fund of general ideas
2037and fit them together so as to form an organic structure of personal thought or outlook
2038on life--a WELTANSCHAUUNG. Then he will have that mental equipment without
2039which he cannot form his own judgments on particular questions of the day, and he will
2040have acquired those qualities that are necessary for consistency and steadfastness in the
2041formation of political opinions. Such a man is now qualified, at least subjectively, to
2042take his part in the political conduct of public affairs.
2043If these pre-requisite conditions are not fulfilled, and if a man should enter political life
2044without this equipment, he will run a twofold risk. In the first place, he may find during
2045the course of events that the stand which he originally took in regard to some essential
2046question was wrong. He will now have to abandon his former position or else stick to it
2047against his better knowledge and riper wisdom and after his reason and convictions
2048have already proved it untenable. If he adopt the former line of action he will find
2049himself in a difficult personal situation; because in giving up a position hitherto
2050maintained he will appear inconsistent and will have no right to expect his followers to
2051remain as loyal to his leadership as they were before. And, as regards the followers
2052themselves, they may easily look upon their leader's change of policy as showing a lack
2053of judgment inherent in his character. Moreover, the change must cause in them a
2054certain feeling of discomfiture VIS-À-VIS those whom the leader formerly opposed.
2055If he adopts the second alternative--which so very frequently happens to-day--then
2056public pronouncements of the leader have no longer his personal persuasion to support
2057them. And the more that is the case the defence of his cause will be all the more hollow
2058and superficial. He now descends to the adoption of vulgar means in his defence. While
2059he himself no longer dreams seriously of standing by his political protestations to the 
2060last--for no man will die in defence of something in which he does not believe--he
2061makes increasing demands on his followers. Indeed, the greater be the measure of his
2062own insincerity, the more unfortunate and inconsiderate become his claims on his party
2063adherents. Finally, he throws aside the last vestiges of true leadership and begins to
2064play politics. This means that he becomes one of those whose only consistency is their
2065inconsistency, associated with overbearing insolence and oftentimes an artful
2066mendacity developed to a shamelessly high degree.
2067Should such a person, to the misfortune of all decent people, succeed in becoming a
2068parliamentary deputy it will be clear from the outset that for him the essence of political
2069activity consists in a heroic struggle to keep permanent hold on this milk-bottle as a
2070source of livelihood for himself and his family. The more his wife and children are
2071dependent on him, the more stubbornly will he fight to maintain for himself the
2072representation of his parliamentary constituency. For that reason any other person who
2073gives evidence of political capacity is his personal enemy. In every new movement he
2074will apprehend the possible beginning of his own downfall. And everyone who is a
2075better man than himself will appear to him in the light of a menace.
2076I shall subsequently deal more fully with the problem to which this kind of
2077parliamentary vermin give rise.
2078When a man has reached his thirtieth year he has still a great deal to learn. That is
2079obvious. But henceforward what he learns will principally be an amplification of his
2080basic ideas; it will be fitted in with them organically so as to fill up the framework of the
2081fundamental WELTANSCHAUUNG which he already possesses. What he learns anew
2082will not imply the abandonment of principles already held, but rather a deeper
2083knowledge of those principles. And thus his colleagues will never have the
2084discomforting feeling that they have been hitherto falsely led by him. On the contrary,
2085their confidence is increased when they perceive that their leader's qualities are steadily
2086developing along the lines of an organic growth which results from the constant
2087assimilation of new ideas; so that the followers look upon this process as signifying an
2088enrichment of the doctrines in which they themselves believe, in their eyes every such
2089development is a new witness to the correctness of that whole body of opinion which
2090has hitherto been held.
2091A leader who has to abandon the platform founded on his general principles, because
2092he recognizes the foundation as false, can act with honour only when he declares his
2093readiness to accept the final consequences of his erroneous views. In such a case he
2094ought to refrain from taking public part in any further political activity. Having once
2095gone astray on essential things he may possibly go astray a second time. But, anyhow,
2096he has no right whatsoever to expect or demand that his fellow citizens should continue
2097to give him their support. 
2098How little such a line of conduct commends itself to our public leaders nowadays is
2099proved by the general corruption prevalent among the cabal which at the present
2100moment feels itself called to political leadership. In the whole cabal there is scarcely one
2101who is properly equipped for this task.
2102Although in those days I used to give more time than most others to the consideration
2103of political question, yet I carefully refrained from taking an open part in politics. Only
2104to a small circle did I speak of those things which agitated my mind or were the cause of
2105constant preoccupation for me. The habit of discussing matters within such a restricted
2106group had many advantages in itself. Rather than talk at them, I learned to feel my way
2107into the modes of thought and views of those men around me. Oftentimes such ways of
2108thinking and such views were quite primitive. Thus I took every possible occasion to
2109increase my knowledge of men.
2110Nowhere among the German people was the opportunity for making such a study so
2111favourable as in Vienna.
2112In the old Danubian Monarchy political thought was wider in its range and had a richer
2113variety of interests than in the Germany of that epoch--excepting certain parts of
2114Prussia, Hamburg and the districts bordering on the North Sea. When I speak of
2115Austria here I mean that part of the great Habsburg Empire which, by reason of its
2116German population, furnished not only the historic basis for the formation of this State
2117but whose population was for several centuries also the exclusive source of cultural life
2118in that political system whose structure was so artificial. As time went on the stability of
2119the Austrian State and the guarantee of its continued existence depended more and
2120more on the maintenance of this germ-cell of that Habsburg Empire.
2121The hereditary imperial provinces constituted the heart of the Empire. And it was this
2122heart that constantly sent the blood of life pulsating through the whole political and
2123cultural system. Corresponding to the heart of the Empire, Vienna signified the brain
2124and the will. At that time Vienna presented an appearance which made one think of her
2125as an enthroned queen whose authoritative sway united the conglomeration of
2126heterogenous nationalities that lived under the Habsburg sceptre. The radiant beauty of
2127the capital city made one forget the sad symptoms of senile decay which the State
2128manifested as a whole.
2129Though the Empire was internally rickety because of the terrific conflict going on
2130between the various nationalities, the outside world--and Germany in particular--saw
2131only that lovely picture of the city. The illusion was all the greater because at that time
2132Vienna seemed to have risen to its highest pitch of splendour. Under a Mayor, who had
2133the true stamp of administrative genius, the venerable residential City of the Emperors
2134of the old Empire seemed to have the glory of its youth renewed. The last great German
2135who sprang from the ranks of the people that had colonized the East Mark was not a 
2136'statesman', in the official sense. This Dr. Luegar, however, in his rôle as Mayor of 'the
2137Imperial Capital and Residential City', had achieved so much in almost all spheres of
2138municipal activity, whether economic or cultural, that the heart of the whole Empire
2139throbbed with renewed vigour. He thus proved himself a much greater statesman than
2140the so-called 'diplomats' of that period.
2141The fact that this political system of heterogeneous races called AUSTRIA, finally broke
2142down is no evidence whatsoever of political incapacity on the part of the German
2143element in the old East Mark. The collapse was the inevitable result of an impossible
2144situation. Ten million people cannot permanently hold together a State of fifty millions,
2145composed of different and convicting nationalities, unless certain definite pre-requisite
2146conditions are at hand while there is still time to avail of them.
2147The German-Austrian had very big ways of thinking. Accustomed to live in a great
2148Empire, he had a keen sense of the obligations incumbent on him in such a situation. He
2149was the only member of the Austrian State who looked beyond the borders of the
2150narrow lands belonging to the Crown and took in all the frontiers of the Empire in the
2151sweep of his mind. Indeed when destiny severed him from the common Fatherland he
2152tried to master the tremendous task which was set before him as a consequence. This
2153task was to maintain for the German-Austrians that patrimony which, through
2154innumerable struggles, their ancestors had originally wrested from the East. It must be
2155remembered that the German-Austrians could not put their undivided strength into this
2156effort, because the hearts and minds of the best among them were constantly turning
2157back towards their kinsfolk in the Motherland, so that only a fraction of their energy
2158remained to be employed at home.
2159The mental horizon of the German-Austrian was comparatively broad. His commercial
2160interests comprised almost every section of the heterogeneous Empire. The conduct of
2161almost all important undertakings was in his hands. He provided the State, for the most
2162part, with its leading technical experts and civil servants. He was responsible for
2163carrying on the foreign trade of the country, as far as that sphere of activity was not
2164under Jewish control, The German-Austrian exclusively represented the political
2165cement that held the State together. His military duties carried him far beyond the
2166narrow frontiers of his homeland. Though the recruit might join a regiment made up of
2167the German element, the regiment itself might be stationed in Herzegovina as well as in
2168Vienna or Galicia. The officers in the Habsburg armies were still Germans and so was
2169the predominating element in the higher branches of the civil service. Art and science
2170were in German hands. Apart from the new artistic trash, which might easily have been
2171produced by a negro tribe, all genuine artistic inspiration came from the German
2172section of the population. In music, architecture, sculpture and painting, Vienna
2173abundantly supplied the entire Dual Monarchy. And the source never seemed to show
2174signs of a possible exhaustion. Finally, it was the German element that determined the 
2175conduct of foreign policy, though a small number of Hungarians were also active in that
2176field.
2177All efforts, however, to save the unity of the State were doomed to end in failure,
2178because the essential pre-requisites were missing.
2179There was only one possible way to control and hold in check the centrifugal forces of
2180the different and differing nationalities. This way was: to govern the Austrian State and
2181organize it internally on the principle of centralization. In no other way imaginable
2182could the existence of that State be assured.
2183Now and again there were lucid intervals in the higher ruling quarters when this truth
2184was recognized. But it was soon forgotten again, or else deliberately ignored, because of
2185the difficulties to be overcome in putting it into practice. Every project which aimed at
2186giving the Empire a more federal shape was bound to be ineffective because there was
2187no strong central authority which could exercise sufficient power within the State to
2188hold the federal elements together. It must be remembered in this connection that
2189conditions in Austria were quite different from those which characterized the German
2190State as founded by Bismarck. Germany was faced with only one difficulty, which was
2191that of transforming the purely political traditions, because throughout the whole of
2192Bismarck's Germany there was a common cultural basis. The German Empire contained
2193only members of one and the same racial or national stock, with the exception of a few
2194minor foreign fragments.
2195Demographic conditions in Austria were quite the reverse. With the exception of
2196Hungary there was no political tradition, coming down from a great past, in any of the
2197various affiliated countries. If there had been, time had either wiped out all traces of it,
2198or at least, rendered them obscure. Moreover, this was the epoch when the principle of
2199nationality began to be in ascendant; and that phenomenon awakened the national
2200instincts in the various countries affiliated under the Habsburg sceptre. It was difficult
2201to control the action of these newly awakened national forces; because, adjacent to the
2202frontiers of the Dual Monarchy, new national States were springing up whose people
2203were of the same or kindred racial stock as the respective nationalities that constituted
2204the Habsburg Empire. These new States were able to exercise a greater influence than
2205the German element.
2206Even Vienna could not hold out for a lengthy period in this conflict. When Budapest
2207had developed into a metropolis a rival had grown up whose mission was, not to help
2208in holding together the various divergent parts of the Empire, but rather to strengthen
2209one part. Within a short time Prague followed the example of Budapest; and later on
2210came Lemberg, Laibach and others. By raising these places which had formerly been
2211provincial towns to the rank of national cities, rallying centres were provided for an
2212independent cultural life. Through this the local national instincts acquired a spiritual 
2213foundation and therewith gained a more profound hold on the people. The time was
2214bound to come when the particularist interests of those various countries would
2215become stronger than their common imperial interests. Once that stage had been
2216reached, Austria's doom was sealed.
2217The course of this development was clearly perceptible since the death of Joseph II. Its
2218rapidity depended on a number of factors, some of which had their source in the
2219Monarchy itself; while others resulted from the position which the Empire had taken in
2220foreign politics.
2221It was impossible to make anything like a successful effort for the permanent
2222consolidation of the Austrian State unless a firm and persistent policy of centralization
2223were put into force. Before everything else the principle should have been adopted that
2224only one common language could be used as the official language of the State. Thus it
2225would be possible to emphasize the formal unity of that imperial commonwealth. And
2226thus the administration would have in its hands a technical instrument without which
2227the State could not endure as a political unity. In the same way the school and other
2228forms of education should have been used to inculcate a feeling of common citizenship.
2229Such an objective could not be reached within ten or twenty years. The effort would
2230have to be envisaged in terms of centuries; just as in all problems of colonization, steady
2231perseverance is a far more important element than the output of energetic effort at the
2232moment.
2233It goes without saying that in such circumstances the country must be governed and
2234administered by strictly adhering to the principle of uniformity.
2235For me it was quite instructive to discover why this did not take place, or rather why it
2236was not done. Those who were guilty of the omission must be held responsible for the
2237break-up of the Habsburg Empire.
2238More than any other State, the existence of the old Austria depended on a strong and
2239capable Government. The Habsburg Empire lacked ethnical uniformity, which
2240constitutes the fundamental basis of a national State and will preserve the existence of
2241such a State even though the ruling power should be grossly inefficient. When a State is
2242composed of a homogeneous population, the natural inertia of such a population will
2243hold the Stage together and maintain its existence through astonishingly long periods of
2244misgovernment and maladministration. It may often seem as if the principle of life had
2245died out in such a body-politic; but a time comes when the apparent corpse rises up and
2246displays before the world an astonishing manifestation of its indestructible vitality.
2247But the situation is utterly different in a country where the population is not
2248homogeneous, where there is no bond of common blood but only that of one ruling
2249hand. Should the ruling hand show signs of weakness in such a State the result will not 
2250be to cause a kind of hibernation of the State but rather to awaken the individualist
2251instincts which are slumbering in the ethnological groups. These instincts do not make
2252themselves felt as long as these groups are dominated by a strong central will-togovern.
2253The danger which exists in these slumbering separatist instincts can be
2254rendered more or less innocuous only through centuries of common education,
2255common traditions and common interests. The younger such States are, the more their
2256existence will depend on the ability and strength of the central government. If their
2257foundation was due only to the work of a strong personality or a leader who is a man of
2258genius, in many cases they will break up as soon as the founder disappears; because,
2259though great, he stood alone. But even after centuries of a common education and
2260experiences these separatist instincts I have spoken of are not always completely
2261overcome. They may be only dormant and may suddenly awaken when the central
2262government shows weakness and the force of a common education as well as the
2263prestige of a common tradition prove unable to withstand the vital energies of
2264separatist nationalities forging ahead towards the shaping of their own individual
2265existence.
2266The failure to see the truth of all this constituted what may be called the tragic crime of
2267the Habsburg rulers.
2268Only before the eyes of one Habsburg ruler, and that for the last time, did the hand of
2269Destiny hold aloft the torch that threw light on the future of his country. But the torch
2270was then extinguished for ever.
2271Joseph II, Roman Emperor of the German nation, was filled with a growing anxiety
2272when he realized the fact that his House was removed to an outlying frontier of his
2273Empire and that the time would soon be at hand when it would be overturned and
2274engulfed in the whirlpool caused by that Babylon of nationalities, unless something was
2275done at the eleventh hour to overcome the dire consequences resulting from the
2276negligence of his ancestors. With superhuman energy this 'Friend of Mankind' made
2277every possible effort to counteract the effects of the carelessness and thoughtlessness of
2278his predecessors. Within one decade he strove to repair the damage that had been done
2279through centuries. If Destiny had only granted him forty years for his labours, and if
2280only two generations had carried on the work which he had started, the miracle might
2281have been performed. But when he died, broken in body and spirit after ten years of
2282rulership, his work sank with him into the grave and rests with him there in the
2283Capucin Crypt, sleeping its eternal sleep, having never again showed signs of
2284awakening.
2285His successors had neither the ability nor the will-power necessary for the task they had
2286to face. 
2287When the first signs of a new revolutionary epoch appeared in Europe they gradually
2288scattered the fire throughout Austria. And when the fire began to glow steadily it was
2289fed and fanned not by the social or political conditions but by forces that had their
2290origin in the nationalist yearnings of the various ethnic groups.
2291The European revolutionary movement of 1848 primarily took the form of a class
2292conflict in almost every other country, but in Austria it took the form of a new racial
2293struggle. In so far as the German-Austrians there forgot the origins of the movement, or
2294perhaps had failed to recognize them at the start and consequently took part in the
2295revolutionary uprising, they sealed their own fate. For they thus helped to awaken the
2296spirit of Western Democracy which, within a short while, shattered the foundations of
2297their own existence.
2298The setting up of a representative parliamentary body, without insisting on the
2299preliminary that only one language should be used in all public intercourse under the
2300State, was the first great blow to the predominance of the German element in the Dual
2301Monarchy. From that moment the State was also doomed to collapse sooner or later. All
2302that followed was nothing but the historical liquidation of an Empire.
2303To watch that process of progressive disintegration was a tragic and at the same time an
2304instructive experience. The execution of history's decree was carried out in thousands of
2305details. The fact that great numbers of people went about blindfolded amid the manifest
2306signs of dissolution only proves that the gods had decreed the destruction of Austria.
2307I do not wish to dwell on details because that would lie outside the scope of this book. I
2308want to treat in detail only those events which are typical among the causes that lead to
2309the decline of nations and States and which are therefore of importance to our present
2310age. Moreover, the study of these events helped to furnish the basis of my own political
2311outlook.
2312Among the institutions which most clearly manifested unmistakable signs of decay,
2313even to the weak-sighted Philistine, was that which, of all the institutions of State, ought
2314to have been the most firmly founded--I mean the Parliament, or the Reichsrat (Imperial
2315Council) as it was called in Austria.
2316The pattern for this corporate body was obviously that which existed in England, the
2317land of classic democracy. The whole of that excellent organization was bodily
2318transferred to Austria with as little alteration as possible.
2319As the Austrian counterpart to the British two-chamber system a Chamber of Deputies
2320and a House of Lords (HERRENHAUS) were established in Vienna. The Houses
2321themselves, considered as buildings were somewhat different. When Barry built his
2322palaces, or, as we say the Houses of Parliament, on the shore of the Thames, he could 
2323look to the history of the British Empire for the inspiration of his work. In that history
2324he found sufficient material to fill and decorate the 1,200 niches, brackets, and pillars of
2325his magnificent edifice. His statues and paintings made the House of Lords and the
2326House of Commons temples dedicated to the glory of the nation.
2327There it was that Vienna encountered the first difficulty. When Hansen, the Danish
2328architect, had completed the last gable of the marble palace in which the new body of
2329popular representatives was to be housed he had to turn to the ancient classical world
2330for subjects to fill out his decorative plan. This theatrical shrine of 'Western Democracy'
2331was adorned with the statues and portraits of Greek and Roman statesmen and
2332philosophers. As if it were meant for a symbol of irony, the horses of the quadriga that
2333surmounts the two Houses are pulling apart from one another towards all four quarters
2334of the globe. There could be no better symbol for the kind of activity going on within
2335the walls of that same building.
2336The 'nationalities' were opposed to any kind of glorification of Austrian history in the
2337decoration of this building, insisting that such would constitute an offence to them and
2338a provocation. Much the same happened in Germany, where the Reich-stag, built by
2339Wallot, was not dedicated to the German people until the cannons were thundering in
2340the World War. And then it was dedicated by an inscription.
2341I was not yet twenty years of age when I first entered the Palace on the Franzens-ring to
2342watch and listen in the Chamber of Deputies. That first experience aroused in me a
2343profound feeling of repugnance.
2344I had always hated the Parliament, but not as an institution in itself. Quite the contrary.
2345As one who cherished ideals of political freedom I could not even imagine any other
2346form of government. In the light of my attitude towards the House of Habsburg I
2347should then have considered it a crime against liberty and reason to think of any kind of
2348dictatorship as a possible form of government.
2349A certain admiration which I had for the British Parliament contributed towards the
2350formation of this opinion. I became imbued with that feeling of admiration almost
2351without my being conscious of the effect of it through so much reading of newspapers
2352while I was yet quite young. I could not discard that admiration all in a moment. The
2353dignified way in which the British House of Commons fulfilled its function impressed
2354me greatly, thanks largely to the glowing terms in which the Austrian Press reported
2355these events. I used to ask myself whether there could be any nobler form of
2356government than self-government by the people.
2357But these considerations furnished the very motives of my hostility to the Austrian
2358Parliament. The form in which parliamentary government was here represented 
2359seemed unworthy of its great prototype. The following considerations also influenced
2360my attitude:
2361The fate of the German element in the Austrian State depended on its position in
2362Parliament. Up to the time that universal suffrage by secret ballot was introduced the
2363German representatives had a majority in the Parliament, though that majority was not
2364a very substantial one. This situation gave cause for anxiety because the SocialDemocratic
2365fraction of the German element could not be relied upon when national
2366questions were at stake. In matters that were of critical concern for the German element,
2367the Social-Democrats always took up an anti-German stand because they were afraid of
2368losing their followers among the other national groups. Already at that time--before the
2369introduction of universal suffrage--the Social-Democratic Party could no longer be
2370considered as a German Party. The introduction of universal suffrage put an end even
2371to the purely numerical predominance of the German element. The way was now clear
2372for the further 'de-Germanization' of the Austrian State.
2373The national instinct of self-preservation made it impossible for me to welcome a
2374representative system in which the German element was not really represented as such,
2375but always betrayed by the Social-Democratic fraction. Yet all these, and many others,
2376were defects which could not be attributed to the parliamentary system as such, but
2377rather to the Austrian State in particular. I still believed that if the German majority
2378could be restored in the representative body there would be no occasion to oppose such
2379a system as long as the old Austrian State continued to exist.
2380Such was my general attitude at the time when I first entered those sacred and
2381contentious halls. For me they were sacred only because of the radiant beauty of that
2382majestic edifice. A Greek wonder on German soil.
2383But I soon became enraged by the hideous spectacle that met my eyes. Several hundred
2384representatives were there to discuss a problem of great economical importance and
2385each representative had the right to have his say.
2386That experience of a day was enough to supply me with food for thought during
2387several weeks afterwards.
2388The intellectual level of the debate was quite low. Some times the debaters did not make
2389themselves intelligible at all. Several of those present did not speak German but only
2390their Slav vernaculars or dialects. Thus I had the opportunity of hearing with my own
2391ears what I had been hitherto acquainted with only through reading the newspapers. A
2392turbulent mass of people, all gesticulating and bawling against one another, with a
2393pathetic old man shaking his bell and making frantic efforts to call the House to a sense
2394of its dignity by friendly appeals, exhortations, and grave warnings. 
2395I could not refrain from laughing.
2396Several weeks later I paid a second visit. This time the House presented an entirely
2397different picture, so much so that one could hardly recognize it as the same place. The
2398hall was practically empty. They were sleeping in the other rooms below. Only a few
2399deputies were in their places, yawning in each other's faces. One was speechifying. A
2400deputy speaker was in the chair. When he looked round it was quite plain that he felt
2401bored.
2402Then I began to reflect seriously on the whole thing. I went to the Parliament whenever
2403I had any time to spare and watched the spectacle silently but attentively. I listened to
2404the debates, as far as they could be understood, and I studied the more or less
2405intelligent features of those 'elect' representatives of the various nationalities which
2406composed that motley State. Gradually I formed my own ideas about what I saw.
2407A year of such quiet observation was sufficient to transform or completely destroy my
2408former convictions as to the character of this parliamentary institution. I no longer
2409opposed merely the perverted form which the principle of parliamentary representation
2410had assumed in Austria. No. It had become impossible for me to accept the system in
2411itself. Up to that time I had believed that the disastrous deficiencies of the Austrian
2412Parliament were due to the lack of a German majority, but now I recognized that the
2413institution itself was wrong in its very essence and form.
2414A number of problems presented themselves before my mind. I studied more closely
2415the democratic principle of 'decision by the majority vote', and I scrutinized no less
2416carefully the intellectual and moral worth of the gentlemen who, as the chosen
2417representatives of the nation, were entrusted with the task of making this institution
2418function.
2419Thus it happened that at one and the same time I came to know the institution itself and
2420those of whom it was composed. And it was thus that, within the course of a few years,
2421I came to form a clear and vivid picture of the average type of that most lightly
2422worshipped phenomenon of our time--the parliamentary deputy. The picture of him
2423which I then formed became deeply engraved on my mind and I have never altered it
2424since, at least as far as essentials go.
2425Once again these object-lessons taken from real life saved me from getting firmly
2426entangled by a theory which at first sight seems so alluring to many people, though that
2427theory itself is a symptom of human decadence.
2428Democracy, as practised in Western Europe to-day, is the fore-runner of Marxism. In
2429fact, the latter would not be conceivable without the former. Democracy is the breedingground
2430in which the bacilli of the Marxist world pest can grow and spread. By the 
2431introduction of parliamentarianism, democracy produced an abortion of filth and fire
2432(Note 6), the creative fire of which, however, seems to have died out.
2433I am more than grateful to Fate that this problem came to my notice when I was still in
2434Vienna; for if I had been in Germany at that time I might easily have found only a
2435superficial solution. If I had been in Berlin when I first discovered what an illogical
2436thing this institution is which we call Parliament, I might easily have gone to the other
2437extreme and believed--as many people believed, and apparently not without good
2438reason--that the salvation of the people and the Empire could be secured only by
2439restrengthening the principle of imperial authority. Those who had this belief did not
2440discern the tendencies of their time and were blind to the aspirations of the people.
2441In Austria one could not be so easily misled. There it was impossible to fall from one
2442error into another. If the Parliament were worthless, the Habsburgs were worse; or at
2443least not in the slightest degree better. The problem was not solved by rejecting the
2444parliamentary system. Immediately the question arose: What then? To repudiate and
2445abolish the Vienna Parliament would have resulted in leaving all power in the hands of
2446the Habsburgs. For me, especially, that idea was impossible.
2447Since this problem was specially difficult in regard to Austria, I was forced while still
2448quite young to go into the essentials of the whole question more thoroughly than I
2449otherwise should have done.
2450The aspect of the situation that first made the most striking impression on me and gave
2451me grounds for serious reflection was the manifest lack of any individual responsibility
2452in the representative body.
2453The parliament passes some acts or decree which may have the most devastating
2454consequences, yet nobody bears the responsibility for it. Nobody can be called to
2455account. For surely one cannot say that a Cabinet discharges its responsibility when it
2456retires after having brought about a catastrophe. Or can we say that the responsibility is
2457fully discharged when a new coalition is formed or parliament dissolved? Can the
2458principle of responsibility mean anything else than the responsibility of a definite
2459person?
2460Is it at all possible actually to call to account the leaders of a parliamentary government
2461for any kind of action which originated in the wishes of the whole multitude of deputies
2462and was carried out under their orders or sanction? Instead of developing constructive
2463ideas and plans, does the business of a statesman consist in the art of making a whole
2464pack of blockheads understand his projects? Is it his business to entreat and coach them
2465so that they will grant him their generous consent? 
2466Is it an indispensable quality in a statesman that he should possess a gift of persuasion
2467commensurate with the statesman's ability to conceive great political measures and
2468carry them through into practice?
2469Does it really prove that a statesman is incompetent if he should fail to win over a
2470majority of votes to support his policy in an assembly which has been called together as
2471the chance result of an electoral system that is not always honestly administered.
2472Has there ever been a case where such an assembly has worthily appraised a great
2473political concept before that concept was put into practice and its greatness openly
2474demonstrated through its success?
2475In this world is not the creative act of the genius always a protest against the inertia of
2476the mass?
2477What shall the statesman do if he does not succeed in coaxing the parliamentary
2478multitude to give its consent to his policy? Shall he purchase that consent for some sort
2479of consideration?
2480Or, when confronted with the obstinate stupidity of his fellow citizens, should he then
2481refrain from pushing forward the measures which he deems to be of vital necessity to
2482the life of the nation? Should he retire or remain in power?
2483In such circumstances does not a man of character find himself face to face with an
2484insoluble contradiction between his own political insight on the one hand and, on the
2485other, his moral integrity, or, better still, his sense of honesty?
2486Where can we draw the line between public duty and personal honour?
2487Must not every genuine leader renounce the idea of degrading himself to the level of a
2488political jobber?
2489And, on the other hand, does not every jobber feel the itch to 'play politics', seeing that
2490the final responsibility will never rest with him personally but with an anonymous
2491mass which can never be called to account for their deeds?
2492Must not our parliamentary principle of government by numerical majority necessarily
2493lead to the destruction of the principle of leadership?
2494Does anybody honestly believe that human progress originates in the composite brain
2495of the majority and not in the brain of the individual personality? 
2496Or may it be presumed that for the future human civilization will be able to dispense
2497with this as a condition of its existence?
2498But may it not be that, to-day, more than ever before, the creative brain of the
2499individual is indispensable?
2500The parliamentary principle of vesting legislative power in the decision of the majority
2501rejects the authority of the individual and puts a numerical quota of anonymous heads
2502in its place. In doing so it contradicts the aristrocratic principle, which is a fundamental
2503law of nature; but, of course, we must remember that in this decadent era of ours the
2504aristrocratic principle need not be thought of as incorporated in the upper ten thousand.
2505The devastating influence of this parliamentary institution might not easily be
2506recognized by those who read the Jewish Press, unless the reader has learned how to
2507think independently and examine the facts for himself. This institution is primarily
2508responsible for the crowded inrush of mediocre people into the field of politics.
2509Confronted with such a phenomenon, a man who is endowed with real qualities of
2510leadership will be tempted to refrain from taking part in political life; because under
2511these circumstances the situation does not call for a man who has a capacity for
2512constructive statesmanship but rather for a man who is capable of bargaining for the
2513favour of the majority. Thus the situation will appeal to small minds and will attract
2514them accordingly.
2515The narrower the mental outlook and the more meagre the amount of knowledge in a
2516political jobber, the more accurate is his estimate of his own political stock, and thus he
2517will be all the more inclined to appreciate a system which does not demand creative
2518genius or even high-class talent; but rather that crafty kind of sagacity which makes an
2519efficient town clerk. Indeed, he values this kind of small craftiness more than the
2520political genius of a Pericles. Such a mediocrity does not even have to worry about
2521responsibility for what he does. From the beginning he knows that whatever be the
2522results of his 'statesmanship' his end is already prescribed by the stars; he will one day
2523have to clear out and make room for another who is of similar mental calibre. For it is
2524another sign of our decadent times that the number of eminent statesmen grows
2525according as the calibre of individual personality dwindles. That calibre will become
2526smaller and smaller the more the individual politician has to depend upon
2527parliamentary majorities. A man of real political ability will refuse to be the beadle for a
2528bevy of footling cacklers; and they in their turn, being the representatives of the
2529majority--which means the dunder-headed multitude--hate nothing so much as a
2530superior brain.
2531For footling deputies it is always quite a consolation to be led by a person whose
2532intellectual stature is on a level with their own. Thus each one may have the 
2533opportunity to shine in debate among such compeers and, above all, each one feels that
2534he may one day rise to the top. If Peter be boss to-day, then why not Paul tomorrow?
2535This new invention of democracy is very closely connected with a peculiar
2536phenomenon which has recently spread to a pernicious extent, namely the cowardice of
2537a large section of our so-called political leaders. Whenever important decisions have to
2538be made they always find themselves fortunate in being able to hide behind the backs of
2539what they call the majority.
2540In observing one of these political manipulators one notices how he wheedles the
2541majority in order to get their sanction for whatever action he takes. He has to have
2542accomplices in order to be able to shift responsibility to other shoulders whenever it is
2543opportune to do so. That is the main reason why this kind of political activity is
2544abhorrent to men of character and courage, while at the same time it attracts inferior
2545types; for a person who is not willing to accept responsibility for his own actions, but is
2546always seeking to be covered by something, must be classed among the knaves and the
2547rascals. If a national leader should come from that lower class of politicians the evil
2548consequences will soon manifest themselves. Nobody will then have the courage to take
2549a decisive step. They will submit to abuse and defamation rather than pluck up courage
2550to take a definite stand. And thus nobody is left who is willing to risk his position and
2551his career, if needs be, in support of a determined line of policy.
2552One truth which must always be borne in mind is that the majority can never replace
2553the man. The majority represents not only ignorance but also cowardice. And just as a
2554hundred blockheads do not equal one man of wisdom, so a hundred poltroons are
2555incapable of any political line of action that requires moral strength and fortitude.
2556The lighter the burden of responsibility on each individual leader, the greater will be
2557the number of those who, in spite of their sorry mediocrity, will feel the call to place
2558their immortal energies at the disposal of the nation. They are so much on the tip-toe of
2559expectation that they find it hard to wait their turn. They stand in a long queue,
2560painfully and sadly counting the number of those ahead of them and calculating the
2561hours until they may eventually come forward. They watch every change that takes
2562place in the personnel of the office towards which their hopes are directed, and they are
2563grateful for every scandal which removes one of the aspirants waiting ahead of them in
2564the queue. If somebody sticks too long to his office stool they consider this as almost a
2565breach of a sacred understanding based on their mutual solidarity. They grow furious
2566and give no peace until that inconsiderate person is finally driven out and forced to
2567hand over his cosy berth for public disposal. After that he will have little chance of
2568getting another opportunity. Usually those placemen who have been forced to give up
2569their posts push themselves again into the waiting queue unless they are hounded away
2570by the protestations of the other aspirants. 
2571The result of all this is that, in such a State, the succession of sudden changes in public
2572positions and public offices has a very disquieting effect in general, which may easily
2573lead to disaster when an adverse crisis arises. It is not only the ignorant and the
2574incompetent person who may fall victim to those parliamentary conditions, for the
2575genuine leader may be affected just as much as the others, if not more so, whenever Fate
2576has chanced to place a capable man in the position of leader. Let the superior quality of
2577such a leader be once recognized and the result will be that a joint front will be
2578organized against him, particularly if that leader, though not coming from their ranks,
2579should fall into the habit of intermingling with these illustrious nincompoops on their
2580own level. They want to have only their own company and will quickly take a hostile
2581attitude towards any man who might show himself obviously above and beyond them
2582when he mingles in their ranks. Their instinct, which is so blind in other directions, is
2583very sharp in this particular.
2584The inevitable result is that the intellectual level of the ruling class sinks steadily. One
2585can easily forecast how much the nation and State are bound to suffer from such a
2586condition of affairs, provided one does not belong to that same class of 'leaders'.
2587The parliamentary régime in the old Austria was the very archetype of the institution as
2588I have described it.
2589Though the Austrian Prime Minister was appointed by the King-Emperor, this act of
2590appointment merely gave practical effect to the will of the parliament. The huckstering
2591and bargaining that went on in regard to every ministerial position showed all the
2592typical marks of Western Democracy. The results that followed were in keeping with
2593the principles applied. The intervals between the replacement of one person by another
2594gradually became shorter, finally ending up in a wild relay chase. With each change the
2595quality of the 'statesman' in question deteriorated, until finally only the petty type of
2596political huckster remained. In such people the qualities of statesmanship were
2597measured and valued according to the adroitness with which they pieced together one
2598coalition after another; in other words, their craftiness in manipulating the pettiest
2599political transactions, which is the only kind of practical activity suited to the aptitudes
2600of these representatives.
2601In this sphere Vienna was the school which offered the most impressive examples.
2602Another feature that engaged my attention quite as much as the features I have already
2603spoken of was the contrast between the talents and knowledge of these representatives
2604of the people on the one hand and, on the other, the nature of the tasks they had to face.
2605Willingly or unwillingly, one could not help thinking seriously of the narrow
2606intellectual outlook of these chosen representatives of the various constituent
2607nationalities, and one could not avoid pondering on the methods through which these
2608noble figures in our public life were first discovered. 
2609It was worth while to make a thorough study and examination of the way in which the
2610real talents of these gentlemen were devoted to the service of their country; in other
2611words, to analyse thoroughly the technical procedure of their activities.
2612The whole spectacle of parliamentary life became more and more desolate the more one
2613penetrated into its intimate structure and studied the persons and principles of the
2614system in a spirit of ruthless objectivity. Indeed, it is very necessary to be strictly
2615objective in the study of the institution whose sponsors talk of 'objectivity' in every
2616other sentence as the only fair basis of examination and judgment. If one studied these
2617gentlemen and the laws of their strenuous existence the results were surprising.
2618There is no other principle which turns out to be quite so ill-conceived as the
2619parliamentary principle, if we examine it objectively.
2620In our examination of it we may pass over the methods according to which the election
2621of the representatives takes place, as well as the ways which bring them into office and
2622bestow new titles on them. It is quite evident that only to a tiny degree are public
2623wishes or public necessities satisfied by the manner in which an election takes place; for
2624everybody who properly estimates the political intelligence of the masses can easily see
2625that this is not sufficiently developed to enable them to form general political
2626judgments on their own account, or to select the men who might be competent to carry
2627out their ideas in practice.
2628Whatever definition we may give of the term 'public opinion', only a very small part of
2629it originates from personal experience or individual insight. The greater portion of it
2630results from the manner in which public matters have been presented to the people
2631through an overwhelmingly impressive and persistent system of 'information'.
2632In the religious sphere the profession of a denominational belief is largely the result of
2633education, while the religious yearning itself slumbers in the soul; so too the political
2634opinions of the masses are the final result of influences systematically operating on
2635human sentiment and intelligence in virtue of a method which is applied sometimes
2636with almost-incredible thoroughness and perseverance.
2637By far the most effective branch of political education, which in this connection is best
2638expressed by the word 'propaganda', is carried on by the Press. The Press is the chief
2639means employed in the process of political 'enlightenment'. It represents a kind of
2640school for adults. This educational activity, however, is not in the hands of the State but
2641in the clutches of powers which are partly of a very inferior character. While still a
2642young man in Vienna I had excellent opportunities for coming to know the men who
2643owned this machine for mass instruction, as well as those who supplied it with the
2644ideas it distributed. At first I was quite surprised when I realized how little time was 
2645necessary for this dangerous Great Power within the State to produce a certain belief
2646among the public; and in doing so the genuine will and convictions of the public were
2647often completely misconstrued. It took the Press only a few days to transform some
2648ridiculously trivial matter into an issue of national importance, while vital problems
2649were completely ignored or filched and hidden away from public attention.
2650The Press succeeded in the magical art of producing names from nowhere within the
2651course of a few weeks. They made it appear that the great hopes of the masses were
2652bound up with those names. And so they made those names more popular than any
2653man of real ability could ever hope to be in a long lifetime. All this was done, despite
2654the fact that such names were utterly unknown and indeed had never been heard of
2655even up to a month before the Press publicly emblazoned them. At the same time old
2656and tried figures in the political and other spheres of life quickly faded from the public
2657memory and were forgotten as if they were dead, though still healthy and in the
2658enjoyment of their full viguour. Or sometimes such men were so vilely abused that it
2659looked as if their names would soon stand as permanent symbols of the worst kind of
2660baseness. In order to estimate properly the really pernicious influence which the Press
2661can exercise one had to study this infamous Jewish method whereby honourable and
2662decent people were besmirched with mud and filth, in the form of low abuse and
2663slander, from hundreds and hundreds of quarters simultaneously, as if commanded by
2664some magic formula.
2665These highway robbers would grab at anything which might serve their evil ends.
2666They would poke their noses into the most intimate family affairs and would not rest
2667until they had sniffed out some petty item which could be used to destroy the
2668reputation of their victim. But if the result of all this sniffing should be that nothing
2669derogatory was discovered in the private or public life of the victim, they continued to
2670hurl abuse at him, in the belief that some of their animadversions would stick even
2671though refuted a thousand times. In most cases it finally turned out impossible for the
2672victim to continue his defence, because the accuser worked together with so many
2673accomplices that his slanders were re-echoed interminably. But these slanderers would
2674never own that they were acting from motives which influence the common run of
2675humanity or are understood by them. Oh, no. The scoundrel who defamed his
2676contemporaries in this villainous way would crown himself with a halo of heroic
2677probity fashioned of unctuous phraseology and twaddle about his 'duties as a
2678journalist' and other mouldy nonsense of that kind. When these cuttle-fishes gathered
2679together in large shoals at meetings and congresses they would give out a lot of slimy
2680talk about a special kind of honour which they called the professional honour of the
2681journalist. Then the assembled species would bow their respects to one another.
2682These are the kind of beings that fabricate more than two-thirds of what is called public
2683opinion, from the foam of which the parliamentary Aphrodite eventually arises. 
2684Several volumes would be needed if one were to give an adequate account of the whole
2685procedure and fully describe all its hollow fallacies. But if we pass over the details and
2686look at the product itself while it is in operation I think this alone will be sufficient to
2687open the eyes of even the most innocent and credulous person, so that he may
2688recognize the absurdity of this institution by looking at it objectively.
2689In order to realize how this human aberration is as harmful as it is absurd, the test and
2690easiest method is to compare democratic parliamentarianism with a genuine German
2691democracy.
2692The remarkable characteristic of the parliamentary form of democracy is the fact that a
2693number of persons, let us say five hundred--including, in recent time, women also--are
2694elected to parliament and invested with authority to give final judgment on anything
2695and everything. In practice they alone are the governing body; for although they may
2696appoint a Cabinet, which seems outwardly to direct the affairs of state, this Cabinet has
2697not a real existence of its own. In reality the so-called Government cannot do anything
2698against the will of the assembly. It can never be called to account for anything, since the
2699right of decision is not vested in the Cabinet but in the parliamentary majority. The
2700Cabinet always functions only as the executor of the will of the majority. Its political
2701ability can be judged only according to how far it succeeds in adjusting itself to the will
2702of the majority or in persuading the majority to agree to its proposals. But this means
2703that it must descend from the level of a real governing power to that of a mendicant
2704who has to beg the approval of a majority that may be got together for the time being.
2705Indeed, the chief preoccupation of the Cabinet must be to secure for itself, in the case of'
2706each individual measure, the favour of the majority then in power or, failing that, to
2707form a new majority that will be more favourably disposed. If it should succeed in
2708either of these efforts it may go on 'governing' for a little while. If it should fail to win or
2709form a majority it must retire. The question whether its policy as such has been right or
2710wrong does not matter at all.
2711Thereby all responsibility is abolished in practice. To what consequences such a state of
2712affairs can lead may easily be understood from the following simple considerations:
2713Those five hundred deputies who have been elected by the people come from various
2714dissimilar callings in life and show very varying degrees of political capacity, with the
2715result that the whole combination is disjointed and sometimes presents quite a sorry
2716picture. Surely nobody believes that these chosen representatives of the nation are the
2717choice spirits or first-class intellects. Nobody, I hope, is foolish enough to pretend that
2718hundreds of statesmen can emerge from papers placed in the ballot box by electors who
2719are anything else but averagely intelligent. The absurd notion that men of genius are
2720born out of universal suffrage cannot be too strongly repudiated. In the first place, those
2721times may be really called blessed when one genuine statesman makes his appearance 
2722among a people. Such statesmen do not appear all at once in hundreds or more.
2723Secondly, among the broad masses there is instinctively a definite antipathy towards
2724every outstanding genius. There is a better chance of seeing a camel pass through the
2725eye of a needle than of seeing a really great man 'discovered' through an election.
2726Whatever has happened in history above the level of the average of the broad public
2727has mostly been due to the driving force of an individual personality.
2728But here five hundred persons of less than modest intellectual qualities pass judgment
2729on the most important problems affecting the nation. They form governments which in
2730turn learn to win the approval of the illustrious assembly for every legislative step that
2731may be taken, which means that the policy to be carried out is actually the policy of the
2732five hundred.
2733And indeed, generally speaking, the policy bears the stamp of its origin.
2734But let us pass over the intellectual qualities of these representatives and ask what is the
2735nature of the task set before them. If we consider the fact that the problems which have
2736to be discussed and solved belong to the most varied and diverse fields we can very
2737well realize how inefficient a governing system must be which entrusts the right of
2738decision to a mass assembly in which only very few possess the knowledge and
2739experience such as would qualify them to deal with the matters that have to be settled.
2740The most important economic measures are submitted to a tribunal in which not more
2741than one-tenth of the members have studied the elements of economics. This means that
2742final authority is vested in men who are utterly devoid of any preparatory training
2743which might make them competent to decide on the questions at issue.
2744The same holds true of every other problem. It is always a majority of ignorant and
2745incompetent people who decide on each measure; for the composition of the institution
2746does not vary, while the problems to be dealt with come from the most varied spheres
2747of public life. An intelligent judgment would be possible only if different deputies had
2748the authority to deal with different issues. It is out of the question to think that the same
2749people are fitted to decide on transport questions as well as, let us say, on questions of
2750foreign policy, unless each of them be a universal genius. But scarcely more than one
2751genius appears in a century. Here we are scarcely ever dealing with real brains, but only
2752with dilettanti who are as narrow-minded as they are conceited and arrogant,
2753intellectual DEMI-MONDES of the worst kind. This is why these honourable gentlemen
2754show such astonishing levity in discussing and deciding on matters that would demand
2755the most painstaking consideration even from great minds. Measures of momentous
2756importance for the future existence of the State are framed and discussed in an
2757atmosphere more suited to the card-table. Indeed the latter suggests a much more
2758fitting occupation for these gentlemen than that of deciding the destinies of a people. 
2759Of course it would be unfair to assume that each member in such a parliament was
2760endowed by nature with such a small sense of responsibility. That is out of the question.
2761But this system, by forcing the individual to pass judgment on questions for which he is
2762not competent gradually debases his moral character. Nobody will have the courage to
2763say: "Gentlemen, I am afraid we know nothing about what we are talking about. I for
2764one have no competency in the matter at all." Anyhow if such a declaration were made
2765it would not change matters very much; for such outspoken honesty would not be
2766understood. The person who made the declaration would be deemed an honourable ass
2767who ought not to be allowed to spoil the game. Those who have a knowledge of human
2768nature know that nobody likes to be considered a fool among his associates; and in
2769certain circles honesty is taken as an index of stupidity.
2770Thus it happens that a naturally upright man, once he finds himself elected to
2771parliament, may eventually be induced by the force of circumstances to acquiesce in a
2772general line of conduct which is base in itself and amounts to a betrayal of the public
2773trust. That feeling that if the individual refrained from taking part in a certain decision
2774his attitude would not alter the situation in the least, destroys every real sense of
2775honour which might occasionally arouse the conscience of one person or another.
2776Finally, the otherwise upright deputy will succeed in persuading himself that he is by
2777no means the worst of the lot and that by taking part in a certain line of action he may
2778prevent something worse from happening.
2779A counter argument may be put forward here. It may be said that of course the
2780individual member may not have the knowledge which is requisite for the treatment of
2781this or that question, yet his attitude towards it is taken on the advice of his Party as the
2782guiding authority in each political matter; and it may further be said that the Party sets
2783up special committees of experts who have even more than the requisite knowledge for
2784dealing with the questions placed before them.
2785At first sight, that argument seems sound. But then another question arises--namely,
2786why are five hundred persons elected if only a few have the wisdom which is required
2787to deal with the more important problems?
2788It is not the aim of our modern democratic parliamentary system to bring together an
2789assembly of intelligent and well-informed deputies. Not at all. The aim rather is to bring
2790together a group of nonentities who are dependent on others for their views and who
2791can be all the more easily led, the narrower the mental outlook of each individual is.
2792That is the only way in which a party policy, according to the evil meaning it has today,
2793can be put into effect. And by this method alone it is possible for the wirepuller,
2794who exercises the real control, to remain in the dark, so that personally he can never be
2795brought to account for his actions. For under such circumstances none of the decisions
2796taken, no matter how disastrous they may turn out for the nation as a whole, can be laid 
2797at the door of the individual whom everybody knows to be the evil genius responsible
2798for the whole affair. All responsibility is shifted to the shoulders of the Party as a whole.
2799In practice no actual responsibility remains. For responsibility arises only from personal
2800duty and not from the obligations that rest with a parliamentary assembly of empty
2801talkers.
2802The parliamentary institution attracts people of the badger type, who do not like the
2803open light. No upright man, who is ready to accept personal responsibility for his acts,
2804will be attracted to such an institution.
2805That is the reason why this brand of democracy has become a tool in the hand of that
2806race which, because of the inner purposes it wishes to attain, must shun the open light,
2807as it has always done and always will do. Only a Jew can praise an institution which is
2808as corrupt and false as himself.
2809As a contrast to this kind of democracy we have the German democracy, which is a true
2810democracy; for here the leader is freely chosen and is obliged to accept full
2811responsibility for all his actions and omissions. The problems to be dealt with are not
2812put to the vote of the majority; but they are decided upon by the individual, and as a
2813guarantee of responsibility for those decisions he pledges all he has in the world and
2814even his life.
2815The objection may be raised here that under such conditions it would be very difficult
2816to find a man who would be ready to devote himself to so fateful a task. The answer to
2817that objection is as follows:
2818We thank God that the inner spirit of our German democracy will of itself prevent the
2819chance careerist, who may be intellectually worthless and a moral twister, from coming
2820by devious ways to a position in which he may govern his fellow-citizens. The fear of
2821undertaking such far-reaching responsibilities, under German democracy, will scare off
2822the ignorant and the feckless.
2823But should it happen that such a person might creep in surreptitiously it will be easy
2824enough to identify him and apostrophize him ruthlessly. somewhat thus: "Be off, you
2825scoundrel. Don't soil these steps with your feet; because these are the steps that lead to
2826the portals of the Pantheon of History, and they are not meant for place-hunters but for
2827men of noble character."
2828Such were the views I formed after two years of attendance at the sessions of the
2829Viennese Parliament. Then I went there no more. 
2830The parliamentary regime became one of the causes why the strength of the Habsburg
2831State steadily declined during the last years of its existence. The more the predominance
2832of the German element was whittled away through parliamentary procedure, the more
2833prominent became the system of playing off one of the various constituent nationalities
2834against the other. In the Imperial Parliament it was always the German element that
2835suffered through the system, which meant that the results were detrimental to the
2836Empire as a whole; for at the close of the century even the most simple-minded people
2837could recognize that the cohesive forces within the Dual Monarchy no longer sufficed to
2838counterbalance the separatist tendencies of the provincial nationalities. On the contrary!
2839The measures which the State adopted for its own maintenance became more and more
2840mean spirited and in a like degree the general disrespect for the State increased. Not
2841only Hungary but also the various Slav provinces gradually ceased to identify
2842themselves with the monarchy which embraced them all, and accordingly they did not
2843feel its weakness as in any way detrimental to themselves. They rather welcomed those
2844manifestations of senile decay. They looked forward to the final dissolution of the State,
2845and not to its recovery.
2846The complete collapse was still forestalled in Parliament by the humiliating concessions
2847that were made to every kind of importunate demands, at the cost of the German
2848element. Throughout the country the defence of the State rested on playing off the
2849various nationalities against one another. But the general trend of this development was
2850directed against the Germans. Especially since the right of succession to the throne
2851conferred certain influence on the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the policy of increasing
2852the power of the Czechs was carried out systematically from the upper grades of the
2853administration down to the lower. With all the means at his command the heir to the
2854Dual Monarchy personally furthered the policy that aimed at eliminating the influence
2855of the German element, or at least he acted as protector of that policy. By the use of
2856State officials as tools, purely German districts were gradually but decisively brought
2857within the danger zone of the mixed languages. Even in Lower Austria this process
2858began to make headway with a constantly increasing tempo and Vienna was looked
2859upon by the Czechs as their biggest city.
2860In the family circle of this new Habsburger the Czech language was favoured. The wife
2861of the Archduke had formerly been a Czech Countess and was wedded to the Prince by
2862a morganatic marriage. She came from an environment where hostility to the Germans
2863had been traditional. The leading idea in the mind of the Archduke was to establish a
2864Slav State in Central Europe, which was to be constructed on a purely Catholic basis, so
2865as to serve as a bulwark against Orthodox Russia.
2866As had happened often in Habsburg history, religion was thus exploited to serve a
2867purely political policy, and in this case a fatal policy, at least as far as German interests
2868were concerned. The result was lamentable in many respects. 
2869Neither the House of Habsburg nor the Catholic Church received the reward which
2870they expected. Habsburg lost the throne and the Church lost a great State. By
2871employing religious motives in the service of politics, a spirit was aroused which the
2872instigators of that policy had never thought possible.
2873From the attempt to exterminate Germanism in the old monarchy by every available
2874means arose the Pan-German Movement in Austria, as a response.
2875In the 'eighties of the last century Manchester Liberalism, which was Jewish in its
2876fundamental ideas, had reached the zenith of its influence in the Dual Monarchy, or had
2877already passed that point. The reaction which set in did not arise from social but from
2878nationalistic tendencies, as was always the case in the old Austria. The instinct of selfpreservation
2879drove the German element to defend itself energetically. Economic
2880considerations only slowly began to gain an important influence; but they were of
2881secondary concern. But of the general political chaos two party organizations emerged.
2882The one was more of a national, and the other more of a social, character; but both were
2883highly interesting and instructive for the future.
2884After the war of 1866, which had resulted in the humiliation of Austria, the House of
2885Habsburg contemplated a REVANCHE on the battlefield. Only the tragic end of the
2886Emperor Maximilian of Mexico prevented a still closer collaboration with France. The
2887chief blame for Maximilian's disastrous expedition was attributed to Napoleon III and
2888the fact that the Frenchman left him in the lurch aroused a general feeling of
2889indignation. Yet the Habsburgs were still lying in wait for their opportunity. If the war
2890of 1870-71 had not been such a singular triumph, the Viennese Court might have
2891chanced the game of blood in order to get its revenge for Sadowa. But when the first
2892reports arrived from the Franco-German battlefield, which, though true, seemed
2893miraculous and almost incredible, the 'most wise' of all monarchs recognized that the
2894moment was inopportune and tried to accept the unfavourable situation with as good a
2895grace as possible.
2896The heroic conflict of those two years (1870-71) produced a still greater miracle; for with
2897the Habsburgs the change of attitude never came from an inner heartfelt urge but only
2898from the pressure of circumstances. The German people of the East Mark, however,
2899were entranced by the triumphant glory of the newly established German Empire and
2900were profoundly moved when they saw the dream of their fathers resurgent in a
2901magnificent reality.
2902For--let us make no mistake about it--the true German-Austrian realized from this time
2903onward, that Königgrätz was the tragic, though necessary, pre-condition for the reestablishment
2904of an Empire which should no longer be burdened with the palsy of the
2905old alliance and which indeed had no share in that morbid decay. Above all, the 
2906German-Austrian had come to feel in the very depths of his own being that the
2907historical mission of the House of Habsburg had come to an end and that the new
2908Empire could choose only an Emperor who was of heroic mould and was therefore
2909worthy to wear the 'Crown of the Rhine'. It was right and just that Destiny should be
2910praised for having chosen a scion of that House of which Frederick the Great had in
2911past times given the nation an elevated and resplendent symbol for all time to come.
2912After the great war of 1870-71 the House of Habsburg set to work with all its
2913determination to exterminate the dangerous German element--about whose inner
2914feelings and attitude there could be no doubt--slowly but deliberately. I use the word
2915exterminate, because that alone expresses what must have been the final result of the
2916Slavophile policy. Then it was that the fire of rebellion blazed up among the people
2917whose extermination had been decreed. That fire was such as had never been witnessed
2918in modern German history.
2919For the first time nationalists and patriots were transformed into rebels.
2920Not rebels against the nation or the State as such but rebels against that form of
2921government which they were convinced, would inevitably bring about the ruin of their
2922own people. For the first time in modern history the traditional dynastic patriotism and
2923national love of fatherland and people were in open conflict.
2924It was to the merit of the Pan-German movement in Austria during the closing decade
2925of the last century that it pointed out clearly and unequivocally that a State is entitled to
2926demand respect and protection for its authority only when such authority is
2927administered in accordance with the interests of the nation, or at least not in a manner
2928detrimental to those interests.
2929The authority of the State can never be an end in itself; for, if that were so, any kind of
2930tyranny would be inviolable and sacred.
2931If a government uses the instruments of power in its hands for the purpose of leading a
2932people to ruin, then rebellion is not only the right but also the duty of every individual
2933citizen.
2934The question of whether and when such a situation exists cannot be answered by
2935theoretical dissertations but only by the exercise of force, and it is success that decides
2936the issue.
2937Every government, even though it may be the worst possible and even though it may
2938have betrayed the nation's trust in thousands of ways, will claim that its duty is to
2939uphold the authority of the State. Its adversaries, who are fighting for national selfpreservation,
2940must use the same weapons which the government uses if they are to 
2941prevail against such a rule and secure their own freedom and independence. Therefore
2942the conflict will be fought out with 'legal' means as long as the power which is to be
2943overthrown uses them; but the insurgents will not hesitate to apply illegal means if the
2944oppressor himself employs them.
2945Generally speaking, we must not forget that the highest aim of human existence is not
2946the maintenance of a State of Government but rather the conservation of the race.
2947If the race is in danger of being oppressed or even exterminated the question of legality
2948is only of secondary importance. The established power may in such a case employ only
2949those means which are recognized as 'legal'. yet the instinct of self-preservation on the
2950part of the oppressed will always justify, to the highest degree, the employment of all
2951possible resources.
2952Only on the recognition of this principle was it possible for those struggles to be carried
2953through, of which history furnishes magnificent examples in abundance, against foreign
2954bondage or oppression at home.
2955Human rights are above the rights of the State. But if a people be defeated in the
2956struggle for its human rights this means that its weight has proved too light in the scale
2957of Destiny to have the luck of being able to endure in this terrestrial world.
2958The world is not there to be possessed by the faint-hearted races. Austria affords a
2959very clear and striking example of how easy it is for tyranny to hide its head under the
2960cloak of what is called 'legality'.
2961The legal exercise of power in the Habsburg State was then based on the anti-German
2962attitude of the parliament, with its non-German majorities, and on the dynastic House,
2963which was also hostile to the German element. The whole authority of the State was
2964incorporated in these two factors. To attempt to alter the lot of the German element
2965through these two factors would have been senseless. Those who advised the 'legal'
2966way as the only possible way, and also obedience to the State authority, could offer no
2967resistance; because a policy of resistance could not have been put into effect through
2968legal measures. To follow the advice of the legalist counsellors would have meant the
2969inevitable ruin of the German element within the Monarchy, and this disaster would
2970not have taken long to come. The German element has actually been saved only because
2971the State as such collapsed.
2972The spectacled theorist would have given his life for his doctrine rather than for his
2973people.
2974Because man has made laws he subsequently comes to think that he exists for the sake
2975of the laws. 
2976A great service rendered by the pan-German movement then was that it abolished all
2977such nonsense, though the doctrinaire theorists and other fetish worshippers were
2978shocked.
2979When the Habsburgs attempted to come to close quarters with the German element, by
2980the employment of all the means of attack which they had at their command, the PanGerman
2981Party hit out ruthlessly against the 'illustrious' dynasty. This Party was the first
2982to probe into and expose the corrupt condition of the State; and in doing so they opened
2983the eyes of hundreds of thousands. To have liberated the high ideal of love for one's
2984country from the embrace of this deplorable dynasty was one of the great services
2985rendered by the Pan-German movement.
2986When that Party first made its appearance it secured a large following--indeed, the
2987movement threatened to become almost an avalanche. But the first successes were not
2988maintained. At the time I came to Vienna the pan-German Party had been eclipsed by
2989the Christian-Socialist Party, which had come into power in the meantime. Indeed, the
2990Pan-German Party had sunk to a level of almost complete insignificance.
2991The rise and decline of the Pan-German movement on the one hand and the marvellous
2992progress of the Christian-Socialist Party on the other, became a classic object of study
2993for me, and as such they played an important part in the development of my own
2994views.
2995When I came to Vienna all my sympathies were exclusively with the Pan-German
2996Movement.
2997I was just as much impressed by the fact that they had the courage to shout HEIL
2998HOHENZOLLERN as I rejoiced at their determination to consider themselves an
2999integral part of the German Empire, from which they were separated only
3000provisionally. They never missed an opportunity to explain their attitude in public,
3001which raised my enthusiasm and confidence. To avow one's principles publicly on
3002every problem that concerned Germanism, and never to make any compromises,
3003seemed to me the only way of saving our people. What I could not understand was how
3004this movement broke down so soon after such a magnificent start; and it was no less
3005incomprehensible that the Christian-Socialists should gain such tremendous power
3006within such a short time. They had just reached the pinnacle of their popularity.
3007When I began to compare those two movements Fate placed before me the best means
3008of understanding the causes of this puzzling problem. The action of Fate in this case
3009was hastened by my own straitened circumstances. 
3010I shall begin my analysis with an account of the two men who must be regarded as the
3011founders and leaders of the two movements. These were George von Schönerer and Dr.
3012Karl Lueger.
3013As far as personality goes, both were far above the level and stature of the so-called
3014parliamentary figures. They lived lives of immaculate and irreproachable probity
3015amidst the miasma of all-round political corruption. Personally I first liked the PanGerman
3016representative, Schönerer, and it was only afterwards and gradually that I felt
3017an equal liking for the Christian-Socialist leader.
3018When I compared their respective abilities Schönerer seemed to me a better and more
3019profound thinker on fundamental problems. He foresaw the inevitable downfall of the
3020Austrian State more clearly and accurately than anyone else. If this warning in regard to
3021the Habsburg Empire had been heeded in Germany the disastrous world war, which
3022involved Germany against the whole of Europe, would never have taken place.
3023But though Schönerer succeeded in penetrating to the essentials of a problem he was
3024very often much mistaken in his judgment of men.
3025And herein lay Dr. Lueger's special talent. He had a rare gift of insight into human
3026nature and he was very careful not to take men as something better than they were in
3027reality. He based his plans on the practical possibilities which human life offered him,
3028whereas Schönerer had only little discrimination in that respect. All ideas that this PanGerman
3029had were right in the abstract, but he did not have the forcefulness or
3030understanding necessary to put his ideas across to the broad masses. He was not able to
3031formulate them so that they could be easily grasped by the masses, whose powers of
3032comprehension are limited and will always remain so. Therefore all Schönerer's
3033knowledge was only the wisdom of a prophet and he never could succeed in having it
3034put into practice.
3035This lack of insight into human nature led him to form a wrong estimate of the forces
3036behind certain movements and the inherent strength of old institutions.
3037Schönerer indeed realized that the problems he had to deal with were in the nature of a
3038WELTANSCHAUUNG; but he did not understand that only the broad masses of a
3039nation can make such convictions prevail, which are almost of a religious nature.
3040Unfortunately he understood only very imperfectly how feeble is the fighting spirit of
3041the so-called bourgeoisie. That weakness is due to their business interests, which
3042individuals are too much afraid of risking and which therefore deter them from taking
3043action. And, generally speaking, a WELTANSCHAUUNG can have no prospect of
3044success unless the broad masses declare themselves ready to act as its standard-bearers
3045and to fight on its behalf wherever and to whatever extent that may be necessary. 
3046This failure to understand the importance of the lower strata of the population resulted
3047in a very inadequate concept of the social problem.
3048In all this Dr. Lueger was the opposite of Schönerer. His profound knowledge of human
3049nature enabled him to form a correct estimate of the various social forces and it saved
3050him from under-rating the power of existing institutions. And it was perhaps this very
3051quality which enabled him to utilize those institutions as a means to serve the purposes
3052of his policy.
3053He saw only too clearly that, in our epoch, the political fighting power of the upper
3054classes is quite insignificant and not at all capable of fighting for a great new movement
3055until the triumph of that movement be secured. Thus he devoted the greatest part of his
3056political activity to the task of winning over those sections of the population whose
3057existence was in danger and fostering the militant spirit in them rather than attempting
3058to paralyse it. He was also quick to adopt all available means for winning the support of
3059long-established institutions, so as to be able to derive the greatest possible advantage
3060for his movement from those old sources of power.
3061Thus it was that, first of all, he chose as the social basis of his new Party that middle
3062class which was threatened with extinction. In this way he secured a solid following
3063which was willing to make great sacrifices and had good fighting stamina. His
3064extremely wise attitude towards the Catholic Church rapidly won over the younger
3065clergy in such large numbers that the old Clerical Party was forced to retire from the
3066field of action or else, which was the wiser course, join the new Party, in the hope of
3067gradually winning back one position after another.
3068But it would be a serious injustice to the man if we were to regard this as his essential
3069characteristic. For he possessed the qualities of an able tactician, and had the true genius
3070of a great reformer; but all these were limited by his exact perception of the possibilities
3071at hand and also of his own capabilities.
3072The aims which this really eminent man decided to pursue were intensely practical. He
3073wished to conquer Vienna, the heart of the Monarchy. It was from Vienna that the last
3074pulses of life beat through the diseased and worn-out body of the decrepit Empire. If
3075the heart could be made healthier the others parts of the body were bound to revive.
3076That idea was correct in principle; but the time within which it could be applied in
3077practice was strictly limited. And that was the man's weak point.
3078His achievements as Burgomaster of the City of Vienna are immortal, in the best sense
3079of the word. But all that could not save the Monarchy. It came too late. 
3080His rival, Schönerer, saw this more clearly. What Dr. Lueger undertook to put into
3081practice turned out marvellously successful. But the results which he expected to follow
3082these achievements did not come. Schönerer did not attain the ends he had proposed to
3083himself; but his fears were realized, alas, in a terrible fashion. Thus both these men
3084failed to attain their further objectives. Lueger could not save Austria and Schönerer
3085could not prevent the downfall of the German people in Austria.
3086To study the causes of failure in the case of these two parties is to learn a lesson that is
3087highly instructive for our own epoch. This is specially useful for my friends, because in
3088many points the circumstances of our own day are similar to those of that time.
3089Therefore such a lesson may help us to guard against the mistakes which brought one
3090of those movements to an end and rendered the other barren of results.
3091In my opinion, the wreck of the Pan-German Movement in Austria must be attributed
3092to three causes.
3093The first of these consisted in the fact that the leaders did not have a clear concept of the
3094importance of the social problem, particularly for a new movement which had an
3095essentially revolutionary character. Schönerer and his followers directed their attention
3096principally to the bourgeois classes. For that reason their movement was bound to turn
3097out mediocre and tame. The German bourgeoisie, especially in its upper circles, is
3098pacifist even to the point of complete self-abnegation--though the individual may not be
3099aware of this--wherever the internal affairs of the nation or State are concerned. In good
3100times, which in this case means times of good government, such a psychological
3101attitude makes this social layer extraordinarily valuable to the State. But when there is a
3102bad government, such a quality has a destructive effect. In order to assure the
3103possibility of carrying through a really strenuous struggle, the Pan-German Movement
3104should have devoted its efforts to winning over the masses. The failure to do this left
3105the movement from the very beginning without the elementary impulse which such a
3106wave needs if it is not to ebb within a short while.
3107In failing to see the truth of this principle clearly at the very outset of the movement and
3108in neglecting to put it into practice the new Party made an initial mistake which could
3109not possibly be rectified afterwards. For the numerous moderate bourgeois elements
3110admitted into the movements increasingly determined its internal orientation and thus
3111forestalled all further prospects of gaining any appreciable support among the masses
3112of the people. Under such conditions such a movement could not get beyond mere
3113discussion and criticism. Quasi-religious faith and the spirit of sacrifice were not to be
3114found in the movement any more. Their place was taken by the effort towards 'positive'
3115collaboration, which in this case meant the acknowledgment of the existing state of
3116affairs, gradually whittling away the rough corners of the questions in dispute, and
3117ending up with the making of a dishonourable peace. 
3118Such was the fate of the Pan-German Movement, because at the start the leaders did not
3119realize that the most important condition of success was that they should recruit their
3120following from the broad masses of the people. The Movement thus became bourgeois
3121and respectable and radical only in moderation.
3122From this failure resulted the second cause of its rapid decline.
3123The position of the Germans in Austria was already desperate when Pan-Germanism
3124arose. Year after year Parliament was being used more and more as an instrument for
3125the gradual extinction of the German-Austrian population. The only hope for any
3126eleventh-hour effort to save it lay in the overthrow of the parliamentary system; but
3127there was very little prospect of this happening.
3128Therewith the Pan-German Movement was confronted with a question of primary
3129importance.
3130To overthrow the Parliament, should the Pan-Germanists have entered it 'to undermine
3131it from within', as the current phrase was? Or should they have assailed the institution
3132as such from the outside?
3133They entered the Parliament and came out defeated. But they had found themselves
3134obliged to enter.
3135For in order to wage an effective war against such a power from the outside,
3136indomitable courage and a ready spirit of sacrifice were necessary weapons. In such
3137cases the bull must be seized by the horns. Furious drives may bring the assailant to the
3138ground again and again; but if he has a stout heart he will stand up, even though some
3139bones may be broken, and only after a long and tough struggle will he achieve his
3140triumph. New champions are attracted to a cause by the appeal of great sacrifices made
3141for its sake, until that indomitable spirit is finally crowned with success.
3142For such a result, however, the children of the people from the great masses are
3143necessary. They alone have the requisite determination and tenacity to fight a
3144sanguinary issue through to the end. But the Pan-German Movement did not have these
3145broad masses as its champions, and so no other means of solution could be tried out
3146except that of entering Parliamcnt.
3147It would be a mistake to think that this decision resulted from a long series of internal
3148hesitations of a moral kind, or that it was the outcome of careful calculation. No. They
3149did not even think of another solution. Those who participated in this blunder were
3150actuated by general considerations and vague notions as to what would be the
3151significance and effect of taking part in such a special way in that institution which they
3152had condemned on principle. In general they hoped that they would thus have the 
3153means of expounding their cause to the great masses of the people, because they would
3154be able to speak before 'the forum of the whole nation'. Also, it seemed reasonable to
3155believe that by attacking the evil in the root they would be more effective than if the
3156attack came from outside. They believed that, if protected by the immunity of
3157Parliament, the position of the individual protagonists would be strengthened and that
3158thus the force of their attacks would be enhanced.
3159In reality everything turned out quite otherwise.
3160The Forum before which the Pan-German representatives spoke had not grown greater,
3161but had actually become smaller; for each spoke only to the circle that was ready to
3162listen to him or could read the report of his speech in the newspapers.
3163But the greater forum of immediate listeners is not the parliamentary auditorium: it is
3164the large public meeting. For here alone will there be thousands of men who have come
3165simply to hear what a speaker has to say, whereas in the parliamentary sittings only a
3166few hundred are present; and for the most part these are there only to earn their daily
3167allowance for attendance and not to be enlightened by the wisdom of one or other of the
3168'representatives of the people'.
3169The most important consideration is that the same public is always present and that this
3170public does not wish to learn anything new; because, setting aside the question of its
3171intelligence, it lacks even that modest quantum of will-power which is necessary for the
3172effort of learning.
3173Not one of the representatives of the people will pay homage to a superior truth and
3174devote himself to its service. No. Not one of these gentry will act thus, except he has
3175grounds for hoping that by such a conversion he may be able to retain the
3176representation of his constituency in the coming legislature. Therefore, only when it
3177becomes quite clear that the old party is likely to have a bad time of it at the
3178forthcoming elections--only then will those models of manly virtue set out in search of a
3179new party or a new policy which may have better electoral prospects; but of course this
3180change of position will be accompanied by a veritable deluge of high moral motives to
3181justify it. And thus it always happens that when an existing Party has incurred such
3182general disfavour among the public that it is threatened with the probability of a
3183crushing defeat, then a great migration commences. The parliamentary rats leave the
3184Party ship.
3185All this happens not because the individuals in the case have become better informed
3186on the questions at issue and have resolved to act accordingly. These changes of front
3187are evidence only of that gift of clairvoyance which warns the parliamentary flea at the
3188right moment and enables him to hop into another warm Party bed. 
3189To speak before such a forum signifies casting pearls before certain animals.
3190Verily it does not repay the pains taken; for the result must always be negative.
3191And that is actually what happened. The Pan-German representatives might have
3192talked themselves hoarse, but to no effect whatsoever.
3193The Press either ignored them totally or so mutilated their speeches that the logical
3194consistency was destroyed or the meaning twisted round in such a way that the public
3195got only a very wrong impression regarding the aims of the new movement. What the
3196individual members said was not of importance. The important matter was what people
3197read as coming from them. This consisted of mere extracts which had been torn out of
3198the context of the speeches and gave an impression of incoherent nonsense, which
3199indeed was purposely meant. Thus the only public before which they really spoke
3200consisted merely of five hundred parliamentarians; and that says enough.
3201The worst was the following:
3202The Pan-German Movement could hope for success only if the leaders realized from the
3203very first moment that here there was no question so much of a new Party as of a new
3204WELTANSCHAUUNG. This alone could arouse the inner moral forces that were
3205necessary for such a gigantic struggle. And for this struggle the leaders must be men of
3206first-class brains and indomitable courage. If the struggle on behalf of a
3207WELTANSCHAUUNG is not conducted by men of heroic spirit who are ready to
3208sacrifice, everything, within a short while it will become impossible to find real fighting
3209followers who are ready to lay down their lives for the cause. A man who fights only
3210for his own existence has not much left over for the service of the community.
3211In order to secure the conditions that are necessary for success, everybody concerned
3212must be made to understand that the new movement looks to posterity for its honour
3213and glory but that it has no recompense to offer to the present-day members. If a
3214movement should offer a large number of positions and offices that are easily accessible
3215the number of unworthy candidates admitted to membership will be constantly on the
3216increase and eventually a day will come when there will be such a preponderance of
3217political profiteers among the membership of a successful Party that the combatants
3218who bore the brunt of the battle in the earlier stages of the movement can now scarcely
3219recognize their own Party and may be ejected by the later arrivals as unwanted ballast.
3220Therewith the movement will no longer have a mission to fulfil.
3221Once the Pan-Germanists decided to collaborate with Parliament they were no longer
3222leaders and combatants in a popular movement, but merely parliamentarians. Thus the
3223Movement sank to the common political party level of the day and no longer had the
3224strength to face a hostile fate and defy the risk of martyrdom. Instead of fighting, the 
3225Pan-German leaders fell into the habit of talking and negotiating. The new
3226parliamentarians soon found that it was a more satisfactory, because less risky, way of
3227fulfilling their task if they would defend the new WELTANSCHAUUNG with the
3228spiritual weapon of parliamentary rhetoric rather than take up a fight in which they
3229placed their lives in danger, the outcome of which also was uncertain and even at the
3230best could offer no prospect of personal gain for themselves.
3231When they had taken their seats in Parliament their adherents outside hoped and
3232waited for miracles to happen. Naturally no such miracles happened or could happen.
3233Whereupon the adherents of the movement soon grew impatient, because reports they
3234read about their own deputies did not in the least come up to what had been expected
3235when they voted for these deputies at the elections. The reason for this was not far to
3236seek. It was due to the fact that an unfriendly Press refrained from giving a true account
3237of what the Pan-German representatives of the people were actually doing.
3238According as the new deputies got to like this mild form of 'revolutionary' struggle in
3239Parliament and in the provincial diets they gradually became reluctant to resume the
3240more hazardous work of expounding the principles of the movement before the broad
3241masses of the people.
3242Mass meetings in public became more and more rare, though these are the only means
3243of exercising a really effective influence on the people; because here the influence comes
3244from direct personal contact and in this way the support of large sections of the people
3245can be obtained.
3246When the tables on which the speakers used to stand in the great beer-halls, addressing
3247an assembly of thousands, were deserted for the parliamentary tribune and the
3248speeches were no longer addressed to the people directly but to the so-called 'chosen'
3249representatives, the Pan-German Movement lost its popular character and in a little
3250while degenerated to the level of a more or less serious club where problems of the day
3251are discussed academically.
3252The wrong impression created by the Press was no longer corrected by personal contact
3253with the people through public meetings, whereby the individual representatives might
3254have given a true account of their activities. The final result of this neglect was that the
3255word 'Pan-German' came to have an unpleasant sound in the ears of the masses.
3256The knights of the pen and the literary snobs of to-day should be made to realize that
3257the great transformations which have taken place in this world were never conducted
3258by a goosequill. No. The task of the pen must always be that of presenting the
3259theoretical concepts which motivate such changes. The force which has ever and always
3260set in motion great historical avalanches of religious and political movements is the
3261magic power of the spoken word. 
3262The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to
3263any other force. All great movements are popular movements. They are the volcanic
3264eruptions of human passions and emotions, stirred into activity by the ruthless Goddess
3265of Distress or by the torch of the spoken word cast into the midst of the people. In no
3266case have great movements been set afoot by the syrupy effusions of aesthetic
3267littérateurs and drawing-room heroes.
3268The doom of a nation can be averted only by a storm of glowing passion; but only those
3269who are passionate themselves can arouse passion in others. It is only through the
3270capacity for passionate feeling that chosen leaders can wield the power of the word
3271which, like hammer blows, will open the door to the hearts of the people.
3272He who is not capable of passionate feeling and speech was never chosen by Providence
3273to be the herald of its will. Therefore a writer should stick to his ink-bottle and busy
3274himself with theoretical questions if he has the requisite ability and knowledge. He has
3275not been born or chosen to be a leader.
3276A movement which has great ends to achieve must carefully guard against the danger
3277of losing contact with the masses of the people. Every problem encountered must be
3278examined from this viewpoint first of all and the decision to be made must always be in
3279harmony with this principle.
3280The movement must avoid everything which might lessen or weaken its power of
3281influencing the masses; not from demagogical motives but because of the simple fact
3282that no great idea, no matter how sublime and exalted it may appear, can be realized in
3283practice without the effective power which resides in the popular masses. Stern reality
3284alone must mark the way to the goal. To be unwilling to walk the road of hardship
3285means, only too often in this world, the total renunciation of our aims and purposes,
3286whether that renunciation be consciously willed or not.
3287The moment the Pan-German leaders, in virtue of their acceptance of the parliamentary
3288principle, moved the centre of their activities away from the people and into
3289Parliament, in that moment they sacrificed the future for the sake of a cheap momentary
3290success. They chose the easier way in the struggle and in doing so rendered themselves
3291unworthy of the final victory.
3292While in Vienna I used to ponder seriously over these two questions, and I saw that the
3293main reason for the collapse of the Pan-German Movement lay in the fact that these
3294very questions were not rightly appreciated. To my mind at that time the Movement
3295seemed chosen to take in its hands the leadership of the German element in Austria. 
3296These first two blunders which led to the downfall of the Pan-German Movement were
3297very closely connected with one another. Faulty recognition of the inner driving forces
3298that urge great movements forward led to an inadequate appreciation of the part which
3299the broad masses play in bringing about such changes. The result was that too little
3300attention was given to the social problem and that the attempts made by the movement
3301to capture the minds of the lower classes were too few and too weak. Another result
3302was the acceptance of the parliamentary policy, which had a similar effect in regard to
3303the importance of the masses.
3304If there had been a proper appreciation of the tremendous powers of endurance always
3305shown by the masses in revolutionary movements a different attitude towards the
3306social problem would have been taken, and also a different policy in the matter of
3307propaganda. Then the centre of gravity of the movement would not have been
3308transferred to the Parliament but would have remained in the workshops and in the
3309streets.
3310There was a third mistake, which also had its roots in the failure to understand the
3311worth of the masses. The masses are first set in motion, along a definite direction, by
3312men of superior talents; but then these masses once in motion are like a flywheel
3313inasmuch as they sustain the momentum and steady balance of the offensive.
3314The policy of the Pan-German leaders in deciding to carry through a difficult fight
3315against the Catholic Church can be explained only by attributing it to an inadequate
3316understanding of the spiritual character of the people.
3317The reasons why the new Party engaged in a violent campaign against Rome were as
3318follows:
3319As soon as the House of Habsburg had definitely decided to transform Austria into a
3320Slav State all sorts of means were adopted which seemed in any way serviceable for that
3321purpose. The Habsburg rulers had no scruples of conscience about exploiting even
3322religious institutions in the service of this new 'State Idea'. One of the many methods
3323thus employed was the use of Czech parishes and their clergy as instruments for
3324spreading Slav hegemony throughout Austria. This proceeding was carried out as
3325follows:
3326Parish priests of Czech nationality were appointed in purely German districts.
3327Gradually but steadily pushing forward the interests of the Czech people before those
3328of the Church, the parishes and their priests became generative cells in the process of
3329de-Germanization.
3330Unfortunately the German-Austrian clergy completely failed to counter this procedure.
3331Not only were they incapable of taking a similar initiative on the German side, but they 
3332showed themselves unable to meet the Czech offensive with adequate resistance. The
3333German element was accordingly pushed backwards, slowly but steadily, through the
3334perversion of religious belief for political ends on the one side, and the Jack of proper
3335resistance on the other side. Such were the tactics used in dealing with the smaller
3336problems; but those used in dealing with the larger problems were not very different.
3337The anti-German aims pursued by the Habsburgs, especially through the
3338instrumentality of the higher clergy, did not meet with any vigorous resistance, while
3339the clerical representatives of the German interests withdrew completely to the rear.
3340The general impression created could not be other than that the Catholic clergy as such
3341were grossly neglecting the rights of the German population.
3342Therefore it looked as if the Catholic Church was not in sympathy with the German
3343people but that it unjustly supported their adversaries. The root of the whole evil,
3344especially according to Schönerer's opinion, lay in the fact that the leadership of the
3345Catholic Church was not in Germany, and that this fact alone was sufficient reason for
3346the hostile attitude of the Church towards the demands of our people.
3347The so-called cultural problem receded almost completely into the background, as was
3348generally the case everywhere throughout Austria at that time. In assuming a hostile
3349attitude towards the Catholic Church, the Pan-German leaders were influenced not so
3350much by the Church's position in questions of science but principally by the fact that the
3351Church did not defend German rights, as it should have done, but always supported
3352those who encroached on these rights, especially then Slavs.
3353George Schönerer was not a man who did things by halves. He went into battle against
3354the Church because he was convinced that this was the only way in which the German
3355people could be saved. The LOS-VON-ROM (Away from Rome) Movement seemed the
3356most formidable, but at the same time most difficult, method of attacking and
3357destroying the adversary's citadel. Schönerer believed that if this movement could be
3358carried through successfully the unfortunate division between the two great religious
3359denominations in Germany would be wiped out and that the inner forces of the
3360German Empire and Nation would be enormously enhanced by such a victory.
3361But the premises as well as the conclusions in this case were both erroneous.
3362It was undoubtedly true that the national powers of resistance, in everything
3363concerning Germanism as such, were much weaker among the German Catholic clergy
3364than among their non-German confrères, especially the Czechs. And only an ignorant
3365person could be unaware of the fact that it scarcely ever entered the mind of the
3366German clergy to take the offensive on behalf of German interests. 
3367But at the same time everybody who is not blind to facts must admit that all this should
3368be attributed to a characteristic under which we Germans have all been doomed to
3369suffer. This characteristic shows itself in our objective way of regarding our own
3370nationality, as if it were something that lay outside of us.
3371While the Czech priest adopted a subjective attitude towards his own people and only
3372an objective attitude towards the Church, the German parish priest showed a subjective
3373devotion to his Church and remained objective in regard to his nation. It is a
3374phenomenon which, unfortunately for us, can be observed occurring in exactly the
3375same way in thousands of other cases.
3376It is by no means a peculiar inheritance from Catholicism; but it is something in us
3377which does not take long to gnaw the vitals of almost every institution, especially
3378institutions of State and those which have ideal aims. Take, for example, the attitude of
3379our State officials in regard to the efforts made for bringing about a national resurgence
3380and compare that attitude with the stand which the public officials of any other nation
3381would have taken in such a case. Or is it to be believed that the military officers of any
3382other country in the world would refuse to come forward on behalf of the national
3383aspirations, but would rather hide behind the phrase 'Authority of the State', as has
3384been the case in our country during the last five years and has even been deemed a
3385meritorious attitude? Or let us take another example. In regard to the Jewish problem,
3386do not the two Christian denominations take up a standpoint to-day which does not
3387respond to the national exigencies or even the interests of religion? Consider the
3388attitude of a Jewish Rabbi towards any question, even one of quite insignificant
3389importance, concerning the Jews as a race, and compare his attitude with that of the
3390majority of our clergy, whether Catholic or Protestant.
3391We observe the same phenomenon wherever it is a matter of standing up for some
3392abstract idea.
3393'Authority of the State', 'Democracy', 'Pacifism', 'International Solidarity', etc., all such
3394notions become rigid, dogmatic concepts with us; and the more vital the general
3395necessities of the nation, the more will they be judged exclusively in the light of those
3396concepts.
3397This unfortunate habit of looking at all national demands from the viewpoint of a preconceived
3398notion makes it impossible for us to see the subjective side of a thing which
3399objectively contradicts one's own doctrine. It finally leads to a complete reversion in the
3400relation of means to an end. Any attempt at a national revival will be opposed if the
3401preliminary condition of such a revival be that a bad and pernicious regime must first of
3402all be overthrown; because such an action will be considered as a violation of the
3403'Authority of the State'. In the eyes of those who take that standpoint, the 'Authority of
3404the State' is not a means which is there to serve an end but rather, to the mind of the 
3405dogmatic believer in objectivity, it is an end in itself; and he looks upon that as sufficient
3406apology for his own miserable existence. Such people would raise an outcry, if, for
3407instance, anyone should attempt to set up a dictatorship, even though the man
3408responsible for it were Frederick the Great and even though the politicians for the time
3409being, who constituted the parliamentary majority, were small and incompetent men or
3410maybe even on a lower grade of inferiority; because to such sticklers for abstract
3411principles the law of democracy is more sacred than the welfare of the nation. In
3412accordance with his principles, one of these gentry will defend the worst kind of
3413tyranny, though it may be leading a people to ruin, because it is the fleeting
3414embodiment of the 'Authority of the State', and another will reject even a highly
3415beneficent government if it should happen not to be in accord with his notion of
3416'democracy'.
3417In the same way our German pacifist will remain silent while the nation is groaning
3418under an oppression which is being exercised by a sanguinary military power, when
3419this state of affairs gives rise to active resistance; because such resistance means the
3420employment of physical force, which is against the spirit of the pacifist associations. The
3421German International Socialist may be rooked and plundered by his comrades in all the
3422other countries of the world in the name of 'solidarity', but he responds with fraternal
3423kindness and never thinks of trying to get his own back, or even of defending himself.
3424And why? Because he is a--German.
3425It may be unpleasant to dwell on such truths, but if something is to be changed we must
3426start by diagnosing the disease.
3427The phenomenon which I have just described also accounts for the feeble manner in
3428which German interests are promoted and defended by a section of the clergy.
3429Such conduct is not the manifestation of a malicious intent, nor is it the outcome of
3430orders given from 'above', as we say; but such a lack of national grit and determination
3431is due to defects in our educational system. For, instead of inculcating in the youth a
3432lively sense of their German nationality, the aim of the educational system is to make
3433the youth prostrate themselves in homage to the idea, as if the idea were an idol.
3434The education which makes them the devotees of such abstract notions as 'Democracy',
3435'International Socialism', 'Pacifism', etc., is so hard-and-fast and exclusive and,
3436operating as it does from within outwards, is so purely subjective that in forming their
3437general picture of outside life as a whole they are fundamentally influenced by these A
3438PRIORI notions. But, on the other hand, the attitude towards their own German
3439nationality has been very objective from youth upwards. The Pacifist--in so far as he is a
3440German--who surrenders himself subjectively, body and soul, to the dictates of his
3441dogmatic principles, will always first consider the objective right or wrong of a situation
3442when danger threatens his own people, even though that danger be grave and unjustly 
3443wrought from outside. But he will never take his stand in the ranks of his own people
3444and fight for and with them from the sheer instinct of self-preservation.
3445Another example may further illustrate how far this applies to the different religious
3446denominations. In so far as its origin and tradition are based on German ideals,
3447Protestantism of itself defends those ideals better. But it fails the moment it is called
3448upon to defend national interests which do not belong to the sphere of its ideals and
3449traditional development, or which, for some reason or other, may be rejected by that
3450sphere.
3451Therefore Protestantism will always take its part in promoting German ideals as far as
3452concerns moral integrity or national education, when the German spiritual being or
3453language or spiritual freedom are to be defended: because these represent the principles
3454on which Protestantism itself is grounded. But this same Protestantism violently
3455opposes every attempt to rescue the nation from the clutches of its mortal enemy;
3456because the Protestant attitude towards the Jews is more or less rigidly and
3457dogmatically fixed. And yet this is the first problem which has to be solved, unless all
3458attempts to bring about a German resurgence or to raise the level of the nation's
3459standing are doomed to turn out nonsensical and impossible.
3460During my sojourn in Vienna I had ample leisure and opportunity to study this
3461problem without allowing any prejudices to intervene; and in my daily intercourse with
3462people I was able to establish the correctness of the opinion I formed by the test of
3463thousands of instances.
3464In this focus where the greatest varieties of nationality had converged it was quite clear
3465and open to everybody to see that the German pacifist was always and exclusively the
3466one who tried to consider the interests of his own nation objectively; but you could
3467never find a Jew who took a similar attitude towards his own race. Furthermore, I
3468found that only the German Socialist is 'international' in the sense that he feels himself
3469obliged not to demand justice for his own people in any other manner than by whining
3470and wailing to his international comrades. Nobody could ever reproach Czechs or Poles
3471or other nations with such conduct. In short, even at that time, already I recognized that
3472this evil is only partly a result of the doctrines taught by Socialism, Pacifism, etc., but
3473mainly the result of our totally inadequate system of education, the defects of which are
3474responsible for the lack of devotion to our own national ideals.
3475Therefore the first theoretical argument advanced by the Pan-German leaders as the
3476basis of their offensive against Catholicism was quite entenable.
3477The only way to remedy the evil I have been speaking of is to train the Germans from
3478youth upwards to an absolute recognition of the rights of their own people, instead of
3479poisoning their minds, while they are still only children, with the virus of this curbed 
3480'objectivity', even in matters concerning the very maintenance of our own existence. The
3481result of this would be that the Catholic in Germany, just as in Ireland, Poland or
3482France, will be a German first and foremost. But all this presupposes a radical change in
3483the national government.
3484The strongest proof in support of my contention is furnished by what took place at that
3485historical juncture when our people were called for the last time before the tribunal of
3486History to defend their own existence, in a life-or-death struggle.
3487As long as there was no lack of leadership in the higher circles, the people fulfilled their
3488duty and obligations to an overwhelming extent. Whether Protestant pastor or Catholic
3489priest, each did his very utmost in helping our powers of resistance to hold out, not
3490only in the trenches but also, and even more so, at home. During those years, and
3491especially during the first outburst of enthusiasm, in both religious camps there was
3492one undivided and sacred German Empire for whose preservation and future existence
3493they all prayed to Heaven.
3494The Pan-German Movement in Austria ought to have asked itself this one question: Is
3495the maintenance of the German element in Austria possible or not, as long as that
3496element remains within the fold of the Catholic Faith? If that question should have been
3497answered in the affirmative, then the political Party should not have meddled in
3498religious and denominational questions. But if the question had to be answered in the
3499negative, then a religious reformation should have been started and not a political party
3500movement.
3501Anyone who believes that a religious reformation can be achieved through the agency
3502of a political organization shows that he has no idea of the development of religious
3503conceptions and doctrines of faith and how these are given practical effect by the
3504Church.
3505No man can serve two masters. And I hold that the foundation or overthrow of a
3506religion has far greater consequences than the foundation or overthrow of a State, to say
3507nothing of a Party.
3508It is no argument to the contrary to say that the attacks were only defensive measures
3509against attacks from the other side.
3510Undoubtedly there have always been unscrupulous rogues who did not hesitate to
3511degrade religion to the base uses of politics. Nearly always such a people had nothing
3512else in their minds except to make a business of religions and politics. But on the other
3513hand it would be wrong to hold religion itself, or a religious denomination, responsible
3514for a number of rascals who exploit the Church for their own base interests just as they
3515would exploit anything else in which they had a part. 
3516Nothing could be more to the taste of one of these parliamentary loungers and tricksters
3517than to be able to find a scapegoat for his political sharp-practice--after the event, of
3518course. The moment religion or a religious denomination is attacked and made
3519responsible for his personal misdeeds this shrewd fellow will raise a row at once and
3520call the world to witness how justified he was in acting as he did, proclaiming that he
3521and his eloquence alone have saved religion and the Church. The public, which is
3522mostly stupid and has a very short memory, is not capable of recognizing the real
3523instigator of the quarrel in the midst of the turmoil that has been raised. Frequently it
3524does not remember the beginning of the fight and so the rogue gets by with his stunt.
3525A cunning fellow of that sort is quite well aware that his misdeeds have nothing to do
3526with religion. And so he will laugh up his sleeve all the more heartily when his honest
3527but artless adversary loses the game and, one day losing all faith in humanity, retires
3528from the activities of public life.
3529But from another viewpoint also it would be wrong to make religion, or the Church as
3530such, responsible for the misdeeds of individuals. If one compares the magnitude of the
3531organization, as it stands visible to every eye, with the average weakness of human
3532nature we shall have to admit that the proportion of good to bad is more favourable
3533here than anywhere else. Among the priests there may, of course, be some who use
3534their sacred calling to further their political ambitions. There are clergy who
3535unfortunately forget that in the political mêlée they ought to be the paladins of the more
3536sublime truths and not the abettors of falsehood and slander. But for each one of these
3537unworthy specimens we can find a thousand or more who fulfil their mission nobly as
3538the trustworthy guardians of souls and who tower above the level of our corrupt epoch,
3539as little islands above the seaswamp.
3540I cannot condemn the Church as such, and I should feel quite as little justified in doing
3541so if some depraved person in the robe of a priest commits some offence against the
3542moral law. Nor should I for a moment think of blaming the Church if one of its
3543innumerable members betrays and besmirches his compatriots, especially not in epochs
3544when such conduct is quite common. We must not forget, particularly in our day, that
3545for one such Ephialtes (Note 7) there are a thousand whose hearts bleed in sympathy
3546with their people during these years of misfortune and who, together with the best of
3547our nation, yearn for the hour when fortune will smile on us again.
3548If it be objected that here we are concerned not with the petty problems of everyday life
3549but principally with fundamental truths and questions of dogma, the only way of
3550answering that objection is to ask a question:
3551Do you feel that Providence has called you to proclaim the Truth to the world? If so,
3552then go and do it. But you ought to have the courage to do it directly and not use some 
3553political party as your mouthpiece; for in this way you shirk your vocation. In the place
3554of something that now exists and is bad put something else that is better and will last
3555into the future.
3556If you lack the requisite courage or if you yourself do not know clearly what your better
3557substitute ought to be, leave the whole thing alone. But, whatever happens, do not try
3558to reach the goal by the roundabout way of a political party if you are not brave enough
3559to fight with your visor lifted.
3560Political parties have no right to meddle in religious questions except when these relate
3561to something that is alien to the national well-being and thus calculated to undermine
3562racial customs and morals.
3563If some ecclesiastical dignitaries should misuse religious ceremonies or religious
3564teaching to injure their own nation their opponents ought never to take the same road
3565and fight them with the same weapons.
3566To a political leader the religious teachings and practices of his people should be sacred
3567and inviolable. Otherwise he should not be a statesman but a reformer, if he has the
3568necessary qualities for such a mission.
3569Any other line of conduct will lead to disaster, especially in Germany.
3570In studying the Pan-German Movement and its conflict with Rome I was then firmly
3571persuaded, and especially in the course of later years, that by their failure to understand
3572the importance of the social problem the Pan-Germanists lost the support of the broad
3573masses, who are the indispensable combatants in such a movement. By entering
3574Parliament the Pan-German leaders deprived themselves of the great driving force
3575which resides in the masses and at the same time they laid on their own shoulders all
3576the defects of the parliamentary institution. Their struggle against the Church made
3577their position impossible in numerous circles of the lower and middle class, while at the
3578same time it robbed them of innumerable high-class elements--some of the best indeed
3579that the nation possessed. The practical outcome of the Austrian Kulturkampf was
3580negative.
3581Although they succeeded in winning 100,000 members away from the Church, that did
3582not do much harm to the latter. The Church did not really need to shed any tears over
3583these lost sheep, for it lost only those who had for a long time ceased to belong to it in
3584their inner hearts. The difference between this new reformation and the great
3585Reformation was that in the historic epoch of the great Reformation some of the best
3586members left the Church because of religious convictions, whereas in this new
3587reformation only those left who had been indifferent before and who were now 
3588influenced by political considerations. From the political point of view alone the result
3589was as ridiculous as it was deplorable.
3590Once again a political movement which had promised so much for the German nation
3591collapsed, because it was not conducted in a spirit of unflinching adherence to naked
3592reality, but lost itself in fields where it was bound to get broken up.
3593The Pan-German Movement would never have made this mistake if it had properly
3594understood the PSYCHE of the broad masses. If the leaders had known that, for
3595psychological reasons alone, it is not expedient to place two or more sets of adversaries
3596before the masses--since that leads to a complete splitting up of their fighting strength--
3597they would have concentrated the full and undivided force of their attack against a
3598single adversary. Nothing in the policy of a political party is so fraught with danger as
3599to allow its decisions to be directed by people who want to have their fingers in every
3600pie though they do not know how to cook the simplest dish.
3601But even though there is much that can really be said against the various religious
3602denominations, political leaders must not forget that the experience of history teaches
3603us that no purely political party in similar circumstances ever succeeded in bringing
3604about a religious reformation. One does not study history for the purpose of forgetting
3605or mistrusting its lessons afterwards, when the time comes to apply these lessons in
3606practice. It would be a mistake to believe that in this particular case things were
3607different, so that the eternal truths of history were no longer applicable. One learns
3608history in order to be able to apply its lessons to the present time and whoever fails to
3609do this cannot pretend to be a political leader. In reality he is quite a superficial person
3610or, as is mostly the case, a conceited simpleton whose good intentions cannot make up
3611for his incompetence in practical affairs.
3612The art of leadership, as displayed by really great popular leaders in all ages, consists in
3613consolidating the attention of the people against a single adversary and taking care that
3614nothing will split up that attention into sections. The more the militant energies of the
3615people are directed towards one objective the more will new recruits join the
3616movement, attracted by the magnetism of its unified action, and thus the striking power
3617will be all the more enhanced. The leader of genius must have the ability to make
3618different opponents appear as if they belonged to the one category; for weak and
3619wavering natures among a leader's following may easily begin to be dubious about the
3620justice of their own cause if they have to face different enemies.
3621As soon as the vacillating masses find themselves facing an opposition that is made up
3622of different groups of enemies their sense of objectivity will be aroused and they will
3623ask how is it that all the others can be in the wrong and they themselves, and their
3624movement, alone in the right. 
3625Such a feeling would be the first step towards a paralysis of their fighting vigour.
3626Where there are various enemies who are split up into divergent groups it will be
3627necessary to block them all together as forming one solid front, so that the mass of
3628followers in a popular movement may see only one common enemy against whom they
3629have to fight. Such uniformity intensifies their belief in the justice of their own cause
3630and strengthens their feeling of hostility towards the opponent.
3631The Pan-German Movement was unsuccessful because the leaders did not grasp the
3632significance of that truth. They saw the goal clearly and their intentions were right; but
3633they took the wrong road. Their action may be compared to that of an Alpine climber
3634who never loses sight of the peak he wants to reach, who has set out with the greatest
3635determination and energy, but pays no attention to the road beneath his feet. With his
3636eye always fixed firmly on the goal he does not think over or notice the nature of the
3637ascent and finally he fails.
3638The manner in which the great rival of the Pan-German Party set out to attain its goal
3639was quite different. The way it took was well and shrewdly chosen; but it did not have
3640a clear vision of the goal. In almost all the questions where the Pan-German Movement
3641failed, the policy of the Christian-Socialist Party was correct and systematic.
3642They assessed the importance of the masses correctly, and thus they gained the support
3643of large numbers of the popular masses by emphasizing the social character of the
3644Movement from the very start. By directing their appeal especially to the lower middle
3645class and the artisans, they gained adherents who were faithful, persevering and selfsacrificing.
3646The Christian-Socialist leaders took care to avoid all controversy with the
3647institutions of religion and thus they secured the support of that mighty organization,
3648the Catholic Church. Those leaders recognized the value of propaganda on a large scale
3649and they were veritable virtuosos in working up the spiritual instincts of the broad
3650masses of their adherents.
3651The failure of this Party to carry into effect the dream of saving Austria from dissolution
3652must be attributed to two main defects in the means they employed and also the lack of
3653a clear perception of the ends they wished to reach.
3654The anti-Semitism of the Christian-Socialists was based on religious instead of racial
3655principles. The reason for this mistake gave rise to the second error also.
3656The founders of the Christian-Socialist Party were of the opinion that they could not
3657base their position on the racial principle if they wished to save Austria, because they
3658felt that a general disintegration of the State might quickly result from the adoption of
3659such a policy. In the opinion of the Party chiefs the situation in Vienna demanded that
3660all factors which tended to estrange the nationalities from one another should be
3661carefully avoided and that all factors making for unity should be encouraged. 
3662At that time Vienna was so honeycombed with foreign elements, especially the Czechs,
3663that the greatest amount of tolerance was necessary if these elements were to be enlisted
3664in the ranks of any party that was not anti-German on principle. If Austria was to be
3665saved those elements were indispensable. And so attempts were made to win the
3666support of the small traders, a great number of whom were Czechs, by combating the
3667liberalism of the Manchester School; and they believed that by adopting this attitude
3668they had found a slogan against Jewry which, because of its religious implications,
3669would unite all the different nationalities which made up the population of the old
3670Austria.
3671It was obvious, however, that this kind of anti-Semitism did not upset the Jews very
3672much, simply because it had a purely religious foundation. If the worst came to the
3673worst a few drops of baptismal water would settle the matter, hereupon the Jew could
3674still carry on his business safely and at the same time retain his Jewish nationality.
3675On such superficial grounds it was impossible to deal with the whole problem in an
3676earnest and rational way. The consequence was that many people could not understand
3677this kind of anti-Semitism and therefore refused to take part in it.
3678The attractive force of the idea was thus restricted exclusively to narrow-minded circles,
3679because the leaders failed to go beyond the mere emotional appeal and did not ground
3680their position on a truly rational basis. The intellectuals were opposed to such a policy
3681on principle. It looked more and more as if the whole movement was a new attempt to
3682proselytize the Jews, or, on the other hand, as if it were merely organized from the wish
3683to compete with other contemporary movements. Thus the struggle lost all traces of
3684having been organized for a spiritual and sublime mission. Indeed, it seemed to some
3685people--and these were by no means worthless elements--to be immoral and
3686reprehensible. The movement failed to awaken a belief that here there was a problem of
3687vital importance for the whole of humanity and on the solution of which the destiny of
3688the whole Gentile world depended.
3689Through this shilly-shally way of dealing with the problem the anti-Semitism of the
3690Christian-Socialists turned out to be quite ineffective.
3691It was anti-Semitic only in outward appearance. And this was worse than if it had made
3692no pretences at all to anti-Semitism; for the pretence gave rise to a false sense of security
3693among people who believed that the enemy had been taken by the ears; but, as a matter
3694of fact, the people themselves were being led by the nose.
3695The Jew readily adjusted himself to this form of anti-Semitism and found its
3696continuance more profitable to him than its abolition would be. 
3697This whole movement led to great sacrifices being made for the sake of that State which
3698was composed of many heterogeneous nationalities; but much greater sacrifices had to
3699be made by the trustees of the German element.
3700One did not dare to be 'nationalist', even in Vienna, lest the ground should fall away
3701from under one's feet. It was hoped that the Habsburg State might be saved by a silent
3702evasion of the nationalist question; but this policy led that State to ruin. The same policy
3703also led to the collapse of Christian Socialism, for thus the Movement was deprived of
3704the only source of energy from which a political party can draw the necessary driving
3705force.
3706During those years I carefully followed the two movements and observed how they
3707developed, one because my heart was with it and the other because of my admiration
3708for that remarkable man who then appeared to me as a bitter symbol of the whole
3709German population in Austria.
3710When the imposing funeral CORTÈGE of the dead Burgomaster wound its way from
3711the City Hall towards the Ring Strasse I stood among the hundreds of thousands who
3712watched the solemn procession pass by. As I stood there I felt deeply moved, and my
3713instinct clearly told me that the work of this man was all in vain, because a sinister Fate
3714was inexorably leading this State to its downfall. If Dr. Karl Lueger had lived in
3715Germany he would have been ranked among the great leaders of our people. It was a
3716misfortune for his work and for himseif that he had to live in this impossible State.
3717When he died the fire had already been enkindled in the Balkans and was spreading
3718month by month. Fate had been merciful in sparing him the sight of what, even to the
3719last, he had hoped to prevent.
3720I endeavoured to analyse the cause which rendered one of those movements futile and
3721wrecked the progress of the other. The result of this investigation was the profound
3722conviction that, apart from the inherent impossibility of consolidating the position of
3723the State in the old Austria, the two parties made the following fatal mistake:
3724The Pan-German Party was perfectly right in its fundamental ideas regarding the aim of
3725the Movement, which was to bring about a German restoration, but it was unfortunate
3726in its choice of means. It was nationalist, but unfortunately it paid too little heed to the
3727social problem, and thus it failed to gain the support of the masses. Its anti-Jewish
3728policy, however, was grounded on a correct perception of the significance of the racial
3729problem and not on religious principles. But it was mistaken in its assessment of facts
3730and adopted the wrong tactics when it made war against one of the religious
3731denominations. 
3732The Christian-Socialist Movement had only a vague concept of a German revival as part
3733of its object, but it was intelligent and fortunate in the choice of means to carry out its
3734policy as a Party. The Christian-Socialists grasped the significance of the social question;
3735but they adopted the wrong principles in their struggle against Jewry, and they utterly
3736failed to appreciate the value of the national idea as a source of political energy.
3737If the Christian-Socialist Party, together with its shrewd judgment in regard to the
3738worth of the popular masses, had only judged rightly also on the importance of the
3739racial problem--which was properly grasped by the Pan-German Movement--and if this
3740party had been really nationalist; or if the Pan-German leaders, on the other hand, in
3741addition to their correct judgment of the Jewish problem and of the national idea, had
3742adopted the practical wisdom of the Christian-Socialist Party, and particularly their
3743attitude towards Socialism--then a movement would have developed which, in my
3744opinion, might at that time have successfully altered the course of German destiny.
3745If things did not turn out thus, the fault lay for the most part in the inherent nature of
3746the Austrian State.
3747I did not find my own convictions upheld by any party then in existence, and so I could
3748not bring myself to enlist as a member in any of the existing organizations or even lend
3749a hand in their struggle. Even at that time all those organizations seemed to me to be
3750already jaded in their energies and were therefore incapable of bringing about a
3751national revival of the German people in a really profound way, not merely outwardly.
3752My inner aversion to the Habsburg State was increasing daily.
3753The more I paid special attention to questions of foreign policy, the more the conviction
3754grew upon me that this phantom State would surely bring misfortune on the Germans. I
3755realized more and more that the destiny of the German nation could not be decisively
3756influenced from here but only in the German Empire itself. And this was true not only
3757in regard to general political questions but also--and in no less a degree--in regard to the
3758whole sphere of cultural life.
3759Here, also, in all matters affecting the national culture and art, the Austrian State
3760showed all the signs of senile decrepitude, or at least it was ceasing to be of any
3761consequence to the German nation, as far as these matters were concerned. This was
3762especially true of its architecture. Modern architecture could not produce any great
3763results in Austria because, since the building of the Ring Strasse--at least in Vienna--
3764architectural activities had become insignificant when compared with the progressive
3765plans which were being thought out in Germany.
3766And so I came more and more to lead what may be called a twofold existence. Reason
3767and reality forced me to continue my harsh apprenticeship in Austria, though I must 
3768now say that this apprenticeship turned out fortunate in the end. But my heart was
3769elsewhere.
3770A feeling of discontent grew upon me and made me depressed the more I came to
3771realize the inside hollowness of this State and the impossibility of saving it from
3772collapse. At the same time I felt perfectly certain that it would bring all kinds of
3773misfortune to the German people.
3774I was convinced that the Habsburg State would balk and hinder every German who
3775might show signs of real greatness, while at the same time it would aid and abet every
3776non-German activity.
3777This conglomerate spectacle of heterogeneous races which the capital of the Dual
3778Monarchy presented, this motley of Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Ruthenians, Serbs and
3779Croats, etc., and always that bacillus which is the solvent of human society, the Jew,
3780here and there and everywhere--the whole spectacle was repugnant to me. The gigantic
3781city seemed to be the incarnation of mongrel depravity.
3782The German language, which I had spoken from the time of my boyhood, was the
3783vernacular idiom of Lower Bavaria. I never forgot that particular style of speech, and I
3784could never learn the Viennese dialect. The longer I lived in that city the stronger
3785became my hatred for the promiscuous swarm of foreign peoples which had begun to
3786batten on that old nursery ground of German culture. The idea that this State could
3787maintain its further existence for any considerable time was quite absurd.
3788Austria was then like a piece of ancient mosaic in which the cohesive cement had dried
3789up and become old and friable. As long as such a work of art remains untouched it may
3790hold together and continue to exist; but the moment some blow is struck on it then it
3791breaks up into thousands of fragments. Therefore it was now only a question of when
3792the blow would come.
3793Because my heart was always with the German Empire and not with the Austrian
3794Monarchy, the hour of Austria's dissolution as a State appeared to me only as the first
3795step towards the emancipation of the German nation.
3796All these considerations intensified my yearning to depart for that country for which
3797my heart had been secretly longing since the days of my youth.
3798I hoped that one day I might be able to make my mark as an architect and that I could
3799devote my talents to the service of my country on a large or small scale, according to the
3800will of Fate. 
3801A final reason was that I longed to be among those who lived and worked in that land
3802from which the movement should be launched, the object of which would be the
3803fulfilment of what my heart had always longed for, namely, the union of the country in
3804which I was born with our common fatherland, the German Empire.
3805There are many who may not understand how such a yearning can be so strong; but I
3806appeal especially to two groups of people. The first includes all those who are still
3807denied the happiness I have spoken of, and the second embraces those who once
3808enjoyed that happiness but had it torn from them by a harsh fate. I turn to all those who
3809have been torn from their motherland and who have to struggle for the preservation of
3810their most sacred patrimony, their native language, persecuted and harried because of
3811their loyalty and love for the homeland, yearning sadly for the hour when they will be
3812allowed to return to the bosom of their father's household. To these I address my
3813words, and I know that they will understand.
3814Only he who has experienced in his own inner life what it means to be German and yet
3815to be denied the right of belonging to his fatherland can appreciate the profound
3816nostalgia which that enforced exile causes. It is a perpetual heartache, and there is no
3817place for joy and contentment until the doors of paternal home are thrown open and all
3818those through whose veins kindred blood is flowing will find peace and rest in their
3819common REICH.
3820Vienna was a hard school for me; but it taught me the most profound lessons of my life.
3821I was scarcely more than a boy when I came to live there, and when I left it I had grown
3822to be a man of a grave and pensive nature. In Vienna I acquired the foundations of a
3823WELTANSCHAUUNG in general and developed a faculty for analysing political
3824questions in particular. That WELTANSCHAUUNG and the political ideas then formed
3825have never been abandoned, though they were expanded later on in some directions. It
3826is only now that I can fully appreciate how valuable those years of apprenticeship were
3827for me.
3828That is why I have given a detailed account of this period. There, in Vienna, stark reality
3829taught me the truths that now form the fundamental principles of the Party which
3830within the course of five years has grown from modest beginnings to a great mass
3831movement. I do not know what my attitude towards Jewry, Social-Democracy, or rather
3832Marxism in general, to the social problem, etc., would be to-day if I had not acquired a
3833stock of personal beliefs at such an early age, by dint of hard study and under the
3834duress of Fate.
3835For, although the misfortunes of the Fatherland may have stimulated thousands and
3836thousands to ponder over the inner causes of the collapse, that could not lead to such a
3837thorough knowledge and deep insight as a man may develop who has fought a hard
3838struggle for many years so that he might be master of his own fate. 
3839Notes
3840[Note 6. SPOTTGEBURT VON DRECK UND FEUER. This is the epithet that Faust hurls
3841at Mephistopheles as the latter intrudes on the conversation between Faust and Martha
3842in the garden:
3843Mephistopheles: Thou, full of sensual, super-sensual desire, girl by the nose is leading
3844thee. Faust: Abortion, thou of filth and fire.]
3845[Note 7. Herodotus (Book VII, 213-218) tells the story of how a Greek traitor, Ephialtes,
3846helped the Persian invaders at the Battle of Thermopylae (480 B.C.) When the Persian
3847King, Xerxes, had begun to despair of being able tobreak through the Greek defence,
3848Ephialtes came to him and, on being promiseda definite payment, told the King of a
3849pathway over the shoulder of the mountainto the Greek end of the Pass. The bargain
3850being clinched, Ephialtes led adetachment of the Persian troops under General
3851Hydarnes over the mountainpathway. Thus taken in the rear, the Greek defenders,
3852under Leonidas, King of Sparta, had to fight in two opposite directions within the
3853narrow pass. Terrible slaughter ensued and Leonidas fell in the thick of the fighting.
3854The bravery of Leonidas and the treason of Ephialtes impressed Hitler, asit does almost
3855every schoolboy. The incident is referred to again in MEIN KAMPF (Chap. VIII, Vol. I),
3856where Hitler compares the German troops thatfell in France and Flanders to the Greeks
3857at Thermopylae, the treachery of Ephialtes being suggested as the prototype of the
3858defeatist policy of the German politicians towards the end of the Great War.] 
3859Chapter 4
3860Munich
3861AT LAST I came to Munich, in the spring of 1912.
3862The city itself was as familiar to me as if I had lived for years within its walls.
3863This was because my studies in architecture had been constantly turning my attention
3864to the metropolis of German art. One must know Munich if one would know Germany,
3865and it is impossible to acquire a knowledge of German art without seeing Munich.
3866All things considered, this pre-war sojourn was by far the happiest and most contented
3867time of my life. My earnings were very slender; but after all I did not live for the sake of
3868painting. I painted in order to get the bare necessities of existence while I continued my
3869studies. I was firmly convinced that I should finally succeed in reaching the goal I had
3870marked out for myself. And this conviction alone was strong enough to enable me to
3871bear the petty hardships of everyday life without worrying very much about them.
3872Moreover, almost from the very first moment of my sojourn there I came to love that
3873city more than any other place known to me. A German city! I said to myself. How
3874different to Vienna. It was with a feeling of disgust that my imagination reverted to that
3875Babylon of races. Another pleasant feature here was the way the people spoke German,
3876which was much nearer my own way of speaking than the Viennese idiom. The Munich
3877idiom recalled the days of my youth, especially when I spoke with those who had come
3878to Munich from Lower Bavaria. There were a thousand or more things which I inwardly
3879loved or which I came to love during the course of my stay. But what attracted me most
3880was the marvellous wedlock of native folk-energy with the fine artistic spirit of the city,
3881that unique harmony from the Hofbräuhaus to the Odeon, from the October Festival to
3882the PINAKOTHEK, etc. The reason why my heart's strings are entwined around this
3883city as around no other spot in this world is probably because Munich is and will
3884remain inseparably connected with the development of my own career; and the fact that
3885from the beginning of my visit I felt inwardly happy and contented is to be attributed to
3886the charm of the marvellous Wittelsbach Capital, which has attracted probably
3887everybody who is blessed with a feeling for beauty instead of commercial instincts. 
3888Apart from my professional work, I was most interested in the study of current political
3889events, particularly those which were connected with foreign relations. I approached
3890these by way of the German policy of alliances which, ever since my Austrian days, I
3891had considered to be an utterly mistaken one. But in Vienna I had not yet seen quite
3892clearly how far the German Empire had gone in the process of' self-delusion. In Vienna
3893I was inclined to assume, or probably I persuaded myself to do so in order to excuse the
3894German mistake, that possibly the authorities in Berlin knew how weak and unreliable
3895their ally would prove to be when brought face to face with realities, but that, for more
3896or less mysterious reasons, they refrained from allowing their opinions on this point to
3897be known in public. Their idea was that they should support the policy of alliances
3898which Bismarck had initiated and the sudden discontinuance of which might be
3899undesirable, if for no other reason than that it might arouse those foreign countries
3900which were lying in wait for their chance or might alarm the Philistines at home.
3901But my contact with the people soon taught me, to my horror, that my assumptions
3902were wrong. I was amazed to find everywhere, even in circles otherwise well informed,
3903that nobody had the slightest intimation of the real character of the Habsburg
3904Monarchy. Among the common people in particular there was a prevalent illusion that
3905the Austrian ally was a Power which would have to be seriously reckoned with and
3906would rally its man-power in the hour of need. The mass of the people continued to
3907look upon the Dual Monarchy as a 'German State' and believed that it could be relied
3908upon. They assumed that its strength could be measured by the millions of its subjects,
3909as was the case in Germany. First of all, they did not realize that Austria had ceased to
3910be a German State and, secondly, that the conditions prevailing within the Austrian
3911Empire were steadily pushing it headlong to the brink of disaster.
3912At that time I knew the condition of affairs in the Austrian State better than the
3913professional diplomats. Blindfolded, as nearly always, these diplomats stumbled along
3914on their way to disaster. The opinions prevailing among the bulk of the people reflected
3915only what had been drummed into them from official quarters above. And these higher
3916authorities grovelled before the 'Ally', as the people of old bowed down before the
3917Golden Calf. They probably thought that by being polite and amiable they might
3918balance the lack of honesty on the other side. Thus they took every declaration at its full
3919face value.
3920Even while in Vienna I used to be annoyed again and again by the discrepancy between
3921the speeches of the official statesmen and the contents of the Viennese Press. And yet
3922Vienna was still a German city, at least as far as appearances went. But one encountered
3923an utterly different state of things on leaving Vienna, or rather German-Austria, and
3924coming into the Slav provinces. It needed only a glance at the Prague newspapers in
3925order to see how the whole exalted hocus-pocus of the Triple Alliance was judged from
3926there. In Prague there was nothing but gibes and sneers for that masterpiece of
3927statesmanship. Even in the piping times of peace, when the two emperors kissed each 
3928other on the brow in token of friendship, those papers did not cloak their belief that the
3929alliance would be liquidated the moment a first attempt was made to bring it down
3930from the shimmering glory of a Nibelungen ideal to the plane of practical affairs.
3931Great indignation was aroused a few years later, when the alliances were put to the first
3932practical test. Italy not only withdrew from the Triple Alliance, leaving the other two
3933members to march by themselves. but she even joined their enemies. That anybody
3934should believe even for a moment in the possibility of such a miracle as that of Italy
3935fighting on the same side as Austria would be simply incredible to anyone who did not
3936suffer from the blindness of official diplomacy. And that was just how people felt in
3937Austria also.
3938In Austria only the Habsburgs and the German-Austrians supported the alliance. The
3939Habsburgs did so from shrewd calculation of their own interests and from necessity.
3940The Germans did it out of good faith and political ignorance. They acted in good faith
3941inasmuch as they believed that by establishing the Triple Alliance they were doing a
3942great service to the German Empire and were thus helping to strengthen it and
3943consolidate its defence. They showed their political ignorance, however, in holding such
3944ideas, because, instead of helping the German Empire they really chained it to a
3945moribund State which might bring its associate into the grave with itself; and, above all,
3946by championing this alliance they fell more and more a prey to the Habsburg policy of
3947de-Germanization. For the alliance gave the Habsburgs good grounds for believing that
3948the German Empire would not interfere in their domestic affairs and thus they were in a
3949position to carry into effect, with more ease and less risk, their domestic policy of
3950gradually eliminating the German element. Not only could the 'objectiveness' of the
3951German Government be counted upon, and thus there need be no fear of protest from
3952that quarter, but one could always remind the German-Austrians of the alliance and
3953thus silence them in case they should ever object to the reprehensible means that were
3954being employed to establish a Slav hegemony in the Dual Monarchy.
3955What could the German-Austrians do, when the people of the German Empire itself
3956had openly proclaimed their trust and confidence in the Habsburg régime?
3957Should they resist, and thus be branded openly before their kinsfolk in the REICH as
3958traitors to their own national interests? They, who for so many decades had sacrificed
3959so much for the sake of their German tradition!
3960Once the influence of the Germans in Austria had been wiped out, what then would be
3961the value of the alliance? If the Triple Alliance were to be advantageous to Germany,
3962was it not a necessary condition that the predominance of the German element in
3963Austria should be maintained? Or did anyone really believe that Germany could
3964continue to be the ally of a Habsburg Empire under the hegemony of the Slavs? 
3965The official attitude of German diplomacy, as well as that of the general public towards
3966internal problems affecting the Austrian nationalities was not merely stupid, it was
3967insane. On the alliance, as on a solid foundation, they grounded the security and future
3968existence of a nation of seventy millions, while at the same time they allowed their
3969partner to continue his policy of undermining the sole foundation of that alliance
3970methodically and resolutely, from year to year. A day must come when nothing but a
3971formal contract with Viennese diplomats would be left. The alliance itself, as an
3972effective support, would be lost to Germany.
3973As far as concerned Italy, such had been the case from the outset.
3974If people in Germany had studied history and the psychology of nations a little more
3975carefully not one of them could have believed for a single hour that the Quirinal and the
3976Viennese Hofburg could ever stand shoulder to shoulder on a common battle front.
3977Italy would have exploded like a volcano if any Italian government had dared to send a
3978single Italian soldier to fight for the Habsburg State. So fanatically hated was this State
3979that the Italians could stand in no other relation to it on a battle front except as enemies.
3980More than once in Vienna I have witnessed explosions of the contempt and profound
3981hatred which 'allied' the Italian to the Austrian State. The crimes which the House of
3982Habsburg committed against Italian freedom and independence during several
3983centuries were too grave to be forgiven, even with the best of goodwill. But this
3984goodwill did not exist, either among the rank and file of the population or in the
3985government. Therefore for Italy there were only two ways of co-existing with Austria--
3986alliance or war. By choosing the first it was possible to prepare leisurely for the second.
3987Especially since relations between Russia and Austria tended more and more towards
3988the arbitrament of war, the German policy of alliances was as senseless as it was
3989dangerous. Here was a classical instance which demonstrated the lack of any broad or
3990logical lines of thought.
3991But what was the reason for forming the alliance at all? It could not have been other
3992than the wish to secure the future of the REICH better than if it were to depend
3993exclusively on its own resources. But the future of the REICH could not have meant
3994anything else than the problem of securing the means of existence for the German
3995people.
3996The only questions therefore were the following: What form shall the life of the nation
3997assume in the near future--that is to say within such a period as we can forecast? And
3998by what means can the necessary foundation and security be guaranteed for this
3999development within the framework of the general distribution of power among the
4000European nations? A clear analysis of the principles on which the foreign policy of
4001German statecraft were to be based should have led to the following conclusions: 
4002The annual increase of population in Germany amounts to almost 900,000 souls. The
4003difficulties of providing for this army of new citizens must grow from year to year and
4004must finally lead to a catastrophe, unless ways and means are found which will forestall
4005the danger of misery and hunger. There were four ways of providing against this
4006terrible calamity:
4007(1) It was possible to adopt the French example and artificially restrict the number of
4008births, thus avoiding an excess of population.
4009Under certain circumstances, in periods of distress or under bad climatic condition, or if
4010the soil yields too poor a return, Nature herself tends to check the increase of
4011population in some countries and among some races, but by a method which is quite as
4012ruthless as it is wise. It does not impede the procreative faculty as such; but it does
4013impede the further existence of the offspring by submitting it to such tests and
4014privations that everything which is less strong or less healthy is forced to retreat into
4015the bosom of tile unknown. Whatever survives these hardships of existence has been
4016tested and tried a thousandfold, hardened and renders fit to continue the process of
4017procreation; so that the same thorough selection will begin all over again. By thus
4018dealing brutally with the individual and recalling him the very moment he shows that
4019he is not fitted for the trials of life, Nature preserves the strength of the race and the
4020species and raises it to the highest degree of efficiency.
4021The decrease in numbers therefore implies an increase of strength, as far as the
4022individual is concerned, and this finally means the invigoration of the species.
4023But the case is different when man himself starts the process of numerical restriction.
4024Man is not carved from Nature's wood. He is made of 'human' material. He knows
4025more than the ruthless Queen of Wisdom. He does not impede the preservation of the
4026individual but prevents procreation itself. To the individual, who always sees only
4027himself and not the race, this line of action seems more humane and just than the
4028opposite way. But, unfortunately, the consequences are also the opposite.
4029By leaving the process of procreation unchecked and by submitting the individual to
4030the hardest preparatory tests in life, Nature selects the best from an abundance of single
4031elements and stamps them as fit to live and carry on the conservation of the species. But
4032man restricts the procreative faculty and strives obstinately to keep alive at any cost
4033whatever has once been born. This correction of the Divine Will seems to him to be wise
4034and humane, and he rejoices at having trumped Nature's card in one game at least and
4035thus proved that she is not entirely reliable. The dear little ape of an all-mighty father is
4036delighted to see and hear that he has succeeded in effecting a numerical restriction; but
4037he would be very displeased if told that this, his system, brings about a degeneration in
4038personal quality. 
4039For as soon as the procreative faculty is thwarted and the number of births diminished,
4040the natural struggle for existence which allows only healthy and strong individuals to
4041survive is replaced by a sheer craze to 'save' feeble and even diseased creatures at any
4042cost. And thus the seeds are sown for a human progeny which will become more and
4043more miserable from one generation to another, as long as Nature's will is scorned.
4044But if that policy be carried out the final results must be that such a nation will
4045eventually terminate its own existence on this earth; for though man may defy the
4046eternal laws of procreation during a certain period, vengeance will follow sooner or
4047later. A stronger race will oust that which has grown weak; for the vital urge, in its
4048ultimate form, will burst asunder all the absurd chains of this so-called humane
4049consideration for the individual and will replace it with the humanity of Nature, which
4050wipes out what is weak in order to give place to the strong.
4051Any policy which aims at securing the existence of a nation by restricting the birth-rate
4052robs that nation of its future.
4053(2) A second solution is that of internal colonization. This is a proposal which is
4054frequently made in our own time and one hears it lauded a good deal. It is a suggestion
4055that is well-meant but it is misunderstood by most people, so that it is the source of
4056more mischief than can be imagined.
4057It is certainly true that the productivity of the soil can be increased within certain limits;
4058but only within defined limits and not indefinitely. By increasing the productive
4059powers of the soil it will be possible to balance the effect of a surplus birth-rate in
4060Germany for a certain period of time, without running any danger of hunger. But we
4061have to face the fact that the general standard of living is rising more quickly than even
4062the birth rate. The requirements of food and clothing are becoming greater from year to
4063year and are out of proportion to those of our ancestors of, let us say, a hundred years
4064ago. It would, therefore, be a mistaken view that every increase in the productive
4065powers of the soil will supply the requisite conditions for an increase in the population.
4066No. That is true up to a certain point only, for at least a portion of the increased produce
4067of the soil will be consumed by the margin of increased demands caused by the steady
4068rise in the standard of living. But even if these demands were to be curtailed to the
4069narrowest limits possible and if at the same time we were to use all our available
4070energies in the intenser cultivation, we should here reach a definite limit which is
4071conditioned by the inherent nature of the soil itself. No matter how industriously we
4072may labour we cannot increase agricultural production beyond this limit. Therefore,
4073though we may postpone the evil hour of distress for a certain time, it will arrive at last.
4074The first phenomenon will be the recurrence of famine periods from time to time, after
4075bad harvests, etc. The intervals between these famines will become shorter and shorter
4076the more the population increases; and, finally, the famine times will disappear only in
4077those rare years of plenty when the granaries are full. And a time will ultimately come 
4078when even in those years of plenty there will not be enough to go round; so that hunger
4079will dog the footsteps of the nation. Nature must now step in once more and select
4080those who are to survive, or else man will help himself by artificially preventing his
4081own increase, with all the fatal consequences for the race and the species which have
4082been already mentioned.
4083It may be objected here that, in one form or another, this future is in store for all
4084mankind and that the individual nation or race cannot escape the general fate.
4085At first glance, that objection seems logical enough; but we have to take the following
4086into account:
4087The day will certainly come when the whole of mankind will be forced to check the
4088augmentation of the human species, because there will be no further possibility of
4089adjusting the productivity of the soil to the perpetual increase in the population. Nature
4090must then be allowed to use her own methods or man may possibly take the task of
4091regulation into his own hands and establish the necessary equilibrium by the
4092application of better means than we have at our disposal to-day. But then it will be a
4093problem for mankind as a whole, whereas now only those races have to suffer from
4094want which no longer have the strength and daring to acquire sufficient soil to fulfil
4095their needs. For, as things stand to-day, vast spaces still lie uncultivated all over the
4096surface of the globe. Those spaces are only waiting for the ploughshare. And it is quite
4097certain that Nature did not set those territories apart as the exclusive pastures of any
4098one nation or race to be held unutilized in reserve for the future. Such land awaits the
4099people who have the strength to acquire it and the diligence to cultivate it.
4100Nature knows no political frontiers. She begins by establishing life on this globe and
4101then watches the free play of forces. Those who show the greatest courage and industry
4102are the children nearest to her heart and they will be granted the sovereign right of
4103existence.
4104If a nation confines itself to 'internal colonization' while other races are perpetually
4105increasing their territorial annexations all over the globe, that nation will be forced to
4106restrict the numerical growth of its population at a time when the other nations are
4107increasing theirs. This situation must eventually arrive. It will arrive soon if the territory
4108which the nation has at its disposal be small. Now it is unfortunately true that only too
4109often the best nations--or, to speak more exactly, the only really cultured nations, who
4110at the same time are the chief bearers of human progress--have decided, in their blind
4111pacifism, to refrain from the acquisition of new territory and to be content with 'internal
4112colonization.' But at the same time nations of inferior quality succeed in getting hold of
4113large spaces for colonization all over the globe. The state of affairs which must result
4114from this contrast is the following: 
4115Races which are culturally superior but less ruthless would be forced to restrict their
4116increase, because of insufficient territory to support the population, while less civilized
4117races could increase indefinitely, owing to the vast territories at their disposal. In other
4118words: should that state of affairs continue, then the world will one day be possessed by
4119that portion of mankind which is culturally inferior but more active and energetic.
4120A time will come, even though in the distant future, when there can be only two
4121alternatives: Either the world will be ruled according to our modern concept of
4122democracy, and then every decision will be in favour of the numerically stronger races;
4123or the world will be governed by the law of natural distribution of power, and then
4124those nations will be victorious who are of more brutal will and are not the nations who
4125have practised self-denial.
4126Nobody can doubt that this world will one day be the scene of dreadful struggles for
4127existence on the part of mankind. In the end the instinct of self-preservation alone will
4128triumph. Before its consuming fire this so-called humanitarianism, which connotes only
4129a mixture of fatuous timidity and self-conceit, will melt away as under the March
4130sunshine. Man has become great through perpetual struggle. In perpetual peace his
4131greatness must decline.
4132For us Germans, the slogan of 'internal colonization' is fatal, because it encourages the
4133belief that we have discovered a means which is in accordance with our innate pacifism
4134and which will enable us to work for our livelihood in a half slumbering existence. Such
4135a teaching, once it were taken seriously by our people, would mean the end of all effort
4136to acquire for ourselves that place in the world which we deserve. If. the average
4137German were once convinced that by this measure he has the chance of ensuring his
4138livelihood and guaranteeing his future, any attempt to take an active and profitable part
4139in sustaining the vital demands of his country would be out of the question. Should the
4140nation agree to such an attitude then any really useful foreign policy might be looked
4141upon as dead and buried, together with all hope for the future of the German people.
4142Once we know what the consequences of this 'internal colonization' theory would be we
4143can no longer consider as a mere accident the fact that among those who inculcate this
4144quite pernicious mentality among our people the Jew is always in the first line. He
4145knows his softies only too well not to know that they are ready to be the grateful
4146victims of every swindle which promises them a gold-block in the shape of a discovery
4147that will enable them to outwit Nature and thus render superfluous the hard and
4148inexorable struggle for existence; so that finally they may become lords of the planet
4149partly by sheer DOLCE FAR NIENTE and partly by working when a pleasing
4150opportunity arises.
4151It cannot be too strongly emphasised that any German 'internal colonization' must first
4152of all be considered as suited only for the relief of social grievances. To carry out a 
4153system of internal colonization, the most important preliminary measure would be to
4154free the soil from the grip of the speculator and assure that freedom. But such a system
4155could never suffice to assure the future of the nation without the acquisition of new
4156territory.
4157If we adopt a different plan we shall soon reach a point beyond which the resources of
4158our soil can no longer be exploited, and at the same time we shall reach a point beyond
4159which our man-power cannot develop.
4160In conclusion, the following must be said:
4161The fact that only up to a limited extent can internal colonization be practised in a
4162national territory which is of definitely small area and the restriction of the procreative
4163faculty which follows as a result of such conditions--these two factors have a very
4164unfavourable effect on the military and political standing of a nation.
4165The extent of the national territory is a determining factor in the external security of the
4166nation. The larger the territory which a people has at its disposal the stronger are the
4167national defences of that people. Military decisions are more quickly, more easily, more
4168completely and more effectively gained against a people occupying a national territory
4169which is restricted in area, than against States which have extensive territories.
4170Moreover, the magnitude of a national territory is in itself a certain assurance that an
4171outside Power will not hastily risk the adventure of an invasion; for in that case the
4172struggle would have to be long and exhausting before victory could be hoped for. The
4173risk being so great. there would have to be extraordinary reasons for such an aggressive
4174adventure. Hence it is that the territorial magnitude of a State furnishes a basis whereon
4175national liberty and independence can be maintained with relative ease; while, on the
4176contrary, a State whose territory is small offers a natural temptation to the invader.
4177As a matter of fact, so-called national circles in the German REICH rejected those first
4178two possibilities of establishing a balance between the constant numerical increase in
4179the population and a national territory which could not expand proportionately. But the
4180reasons given for that rejection were different from those which I have just expounded.
4181It was mainly on the basis of certain moral sentiments that restriction of the birth-rate
4182was objected to. Proposals for internal colonization were rejected indignantly because it
4183was suspected that such a policy might mean an attack on the big landowners, and that
4184this attack might be the forerunner of a general assault against the principle of private
4185property as a whole. The form in which the latter solution--internal colonization--was
4186recommended justified the misgivings of the big landowners.
4187But the form in which the colonization proposal was rejected was not very clever, as
4188regards the impression which such rejection might be calculated to make on the mass of
4189the people, and anyhow it did not go to the root of the problem at all. 
4190Only two further ways were left open in which work and bread could be secured for the
4191increasing population.
4192(3) It was possible to think of acquiring new territory on which a certain portion of' the
4193increasing population could be settled each year; or else
4194(4) Our industry and commerce had to be organized in such a manner as to secure an
4195increase in the exports and thus be able to support our people by the increased
4196purchasing power accruing from the profits made on foreign markets.
4197Therefore the problem was: A policy of territorial expansion or a colonial and
4198commercial policy. Both policies were taken into consideration, examined,
4199recommended and rejected, from various standpoints, with the result that the second
4200alternative was finally adopted. The sounder alternative, however, was undoubtedly
4201the first.
4202The principle of acquiring new territory, on which the surplus population could be
4203settled, has many advantages to recommend it, especially if we take the future as well
4204as the present into account.
4205In the first place, too much importance cannot be placed on the necessity for adopting a
4206policy which will make it possible to maintain a healthy peasant class as the basis of the
4207national community. Many of our present evils have their origin exclusively in the
4208disproportion between the urban and rural portions of the population. A solid stock of
4209small and medium farmers has at all times been the best protection which a nation
4210could have against the social diseases that are prevalent to-day. Moreover, that is the
4211only solution which guarantees the daily bread of a nation within the framework of its
4212domestic national economy. With this condition once guaranteed, industry and
4213commerce would retire from the unhealthy position of foremost importance which they
4214hold to-day and would take their due place within the general scheme of national
4215economy, adjusting the balance between demand and supply. Thus industry and
4216commerce would no longer constitute the basis of the national subsistence, but would
4217be auxiliary institutions. By fulfilling their proper function, which is to adjust the
4218balance between national production and national consumption, they render the
4219national subsistence more or less independent of foreign countries and thus assure the
4220freedom and independence of the nation, especially at critical junctures in its history.
4221Such a territorial policy, however, cannot find its fulfilment in the Cameroons but
4222almost exclusively here in Europe. One must calmly and squarely face the truth that it
4223certainly cannot be part of the dispensation of Divine Providence to give a fifty times
4224larger share of the soil of this world to one nation than to another. In considering this
4225state of affairs to-day, one must not allow existing political frontiers to distract attention 
4226from what ought to exist on principles of strict justice. If this earth has sufficient room
4227for all, then we ought to have that share of the soil which is absolutely necessary for our
4228existence.
4229Of course people will not voluntarily make that accommodation. At this point the right
4230of self-preservation comes into effect. And when attempts to settle the difficulty in an
4231amicable way are rejected the clenched hand must take by force that which was refused
4232to the open hand of friendship. If in the past our ancestors had based their political
4233decisions on similar pacifist nonsense as our present generation does, we should not
4234possess more than one-third of the national territory that we possess to-day and
4235probably there would be no German nation to worry about its future in Europe. No. We
4236owe the two Eastern Marks (Note 8) of the Empire to the natural determination of our
4237forefathers in their struggle for existence, and thus it is to the same determined policy
4238that we owe the inner strength which is based on the extent of our political and racial
4239territories and which alone has made it possible for us to exist up to now.
4240And there is still another reason why that solution would have been the correct one:
4241Many contemporary European States are like pyramids standing on their apexes. The
4242European territory which these States possess is ridiculously small when compared
4243with the enormous overhead weight of their colonies, foreign trade, etc. It may be said
4244that they have the apex in Europe and the base of the pyramid all over the world; quite
4245different from the United States of America, which has its base on the American
4246Continent and is in contact with the rest of the world only through its apex. Out of that
4247situation arises the incomparable inner strength of the U.S.A. and the contrary situation
4248is responsible for the weakness of most of the colonial European Powers.
4249England cannot be suggested as an argument against this assertion, though in glancing
4250casually over the map of the British Empire one is inclined easily to overlook the
4251existence of a whole Anglo-Saxon world. England's position cannot be compared with
4252that of any other State in Europe, since it forms a vast community of language and
4253culture together with the U.S.A.
4254Therefore the only possibility which Germany had of carrying a sound territorial policy
4255into effect was that of acquiring new territory in Europe itself. Colonies cannot serve
4256this purpose as long as they are not suited for settlement by Europeans on a large scale.
4257In the nineteenth century it was no longer possible to acquire such colonies by peaceful
4258means. Therefore any attempt at such a colonial expansion would have meant an
4259enormous military struggle. Consequently it would have been more practical to
4260undertake that military struggle for new territory in Europe rather than to wage war for
4261the acquisition of possessions abroad. 
4262Such a decision naturally demanded that the nation's undivided energies should be
4263devoted to it. A policy of that kind which requires for its fulfilment every ounce of
4264available energy on the part of everybody concerned, cannot be carried into effect by
4265half-measures or in a hesitating manner. The political leadership of the German Empire
4266should then have been directed exclusively to this goal. No political step should have
4267been taken in response to other considerations than this task and the means of
4268accomplishing it. Germany should have been alive to the fact that such a goal could
4269have been reached only by war, and the prospect of war should have been faced with
4270calm and collected determination.
4271The whole system of alliances should have been envisaged and valued from that
4272standpoint. If new territory were to be acquired in Europe it must have been mainly at
4273Russia's cost, and once again the new German Empire should have set out on its march
4274along the same road as was formerly trodden by the Teutonic Knights, this time to
4275acquire soil for the German plough by means of the German sword and thus provide
4276the nation with its daily bread.
4277For such a policy, however, there was only one possible ally in Europe. That was
4278England.
4279Only by alliance with England was it possible to safeguard the rear of the new German
4280crusade. The justification for undertaking such an expedition was stronger than the
4281justification which our forefathers had for setting out on theirs. Not one of our pacifists
4282refuses to eat the bread made from the grain grown in the East; and yet the first plough
4283here was that called the 'Sword'.
4284No sacrifice should have been considered too great if it was a necessary means of
4285gaining England's friendship. Colonial and naval ambitions should have been
4286abandoned and attempts should not have been made to compete against British
4287industries.
4288Only a clear and definite policy could lead to such an achievement. Such a policy would
4289have demanded a renunciation of the endeavour to conquer the world's markets, also a
4290renunciation of colonial intentions and naval power. All the means of power at the
4291disposal of the State should have been concentrated in the military forces on land. This
4292policy would have involved a period of temporary self-denial, for the sake of a great
4293and powerful future.
4294There was a time when England might have entered into negotiations with us, on the
4295grounds of that proposal. For England would have well understood that the problems
4296arising from the steady increase in population were forcing Germany to look for a
4297solution either in Europe with the help of England or, without England, in some other
4298part of the world. 
4299This outlook was probably the chief reason why London tried to draw nearer to
4300Germany about the turn of the century. For the first time in Germany an attitude was
4301then manifested which afterwards displayed itself in a most tragic way. People then
4302gave expression to an unpleasant feeling that we might thus find ourselves obliged to
4303pull England's chestnuts out of the fire. As if an alliance could be based on anything else
4304than mutual give-and-take! And England would have become a party to such a mutual
4305bargain. British diplomats were still wise enough to know that an equivalent must be
4306forthcoming as a consideration for any services rendered.
4307Let us suppose that in 1904 our German foreign policy was managed astutely enough to
4308enable us to take the part which Japan played. It is not easy to measure the greatness of
4309the results that might have accrued to Germany from such a policy.
4310There would have been no world war. The blood which would have been shed in 1904
4311would not have been a tenth of that shed from 1914 to 1918. And what a position
4312Germany would hold in the world to-day?
4313In any case the alliance with Austria was then an absurdity.
4314For this mummy of a State did not attach itself to Germany for the purpose of carrying
4315through a war, but rather to maintain a perpetual state of peace which was meant to be
4316exploited for the purpose of slowly but persistently exterminating the German element
4317in the Dual Monarchy.
4318Another reason for the impossible character of this alliance was that nobody could
4319expect such a State to take an active part in defending German national interests, seeing
4320that it did not have sufficient strength and determination to put an end to the policy of
4321de-Germanization within its own frontiers. If Germany herself was not moved by a
4322sufficiently powerful national sentiment and was not sufficiently ruthless to take away
4323from that absurd Habsburg State the right to decide the destinies of ten million
4324inhabitants who were of the same nationality as the Germans themselves, surely it was
4325out of the question to expect the Habsburg State to be a collaborating party in any great
4326and courageous German undertaking. The attitude of the old REICH towards the
4327Austrian question might have been taken as a test of its stamina for the struggle where
4328the destinies of the whole nation were at stake.
4329In any case, the policy of oppression against the German population in Austria should
4330not have been allowed to be carried on and to grow stronger from year to year; for the
4331value of Austria as an ally could be assured only by upholding the German element
4332there. But that course was not followed. 
4333Nothing was dreaded so much as the possibility of an armed conflict; but finally, and at
4334a most unfavourable moment, the conflict had to be faced and accepted. They thought
4335to cut loose from the cords of destiny, but destiny held them fast.
4336They dreamt of maintaining a world peace and woke up to find themselves in a world
4337war.
4338And that dream of peace was a most significant reason why the above-mentioned third
4339alternative for the future development of Germany was not even taken into
4340consideration. The fact was recognized that new territory could be gained only in the
4341East; but this meant that there would be fighting ahead, whereas they wanted peace at
4342any cost. The slogan of German foreign policy at one time used to be: The use of all
4343possible means for the maintenance of the German nation. Now it was changed to:
4344Maintenance of world peace by all possible means. We know what the result was. I
4345shall resume the discussion of this point in detail later on.
4346There remained still another alternative, which we may call the fourth. This was:
4347Industry and world trade, naval power and colonies.
4348Such a development might certainly have been attained more easily and more rapidly.
4349To colonize a territory is a slow process, often extending over centuries. Yet this fact is
4350the source of its inner strength, for it is not through a sudden burst of enthusiasm that it
4351can be put into effect, but rather through a gradual and enduring process of growth
4352quite different from industrial progress, which can be urged on by advertisement
4353within a few years. The result thus achieved, however, is not of lasting quality but
4354something frail, like a soap-bubble. It is much easier to build quickly than to carry
4355through the tough task of settling a territory with farmers and establishing farmsteads.
4356But the former is more quickly destroyed than the latter.
4357In adopting such a course Germany must have known that to follow it out would
4358necessarily mean war sooner or later. Only children could believe that sweet and
4359unctuous expressions of goodness and persistent avowals of peaceful intentions could
4360get them their bananas through this 'friendly competition between the nations', with the
4361prospect of never having to fight for them.
4362No. Once we had taken this road, England was bound to be our enemy at some time or
4363other to come. Of course it fitted in nicely with our innocent assumptions, but still it
4364was absurd to grow indignant at the fact that a day came when the English took the
4365liberty of opposing our peaceful penetration with the brutality of violent egoists.
4366Naturally, we on our side would never have done such a thing. 
4367If a European territorial policy against Russia could have been put into practice only in
4368case we had England as our ally, on the other hand a colonial and world-trade policy
4369could have been carried into effect only against English interests and with the support
4370of Russia. But then this policy should have been adopted in full consciousness of all the
4371consequences it involved and, above all things, Austria should have been discarded as
4372quickly as possible.
4373At the turn of the century the alliance with Austria had become a veritable absurdity
4374from all points of view.
4375But nobody thought of forming an alliance with Russia against England, just as nobody
4376thought of making England an ally against Russia; for in either case the final result
4377would inevitably have meant war. And to avoid war was the very reason why a
4378commercial and industrial policy was decided upon. It was believed that the peaceful
4379conquest of the world by commercial means provided a method which would
4380permanently supplant the policy of force. Occasionally, however, there were doubts
4381about the efficiency of this principle, especially when some quite incomprehensible
4382warnings came from England now and again. That was the reason why the fleet was
4383built. It was not for the purpose of attacking or annihilating England but merely to
4384defend the concept of world-peace, mentioned above, and also to protect the principle
4385of conquering the world by 'peaceful' means. Therefore this fleet was kept within
4386modest limits, not only as regards the number and tonnage of the vessels but also in
4387regard to their armament, the idea being to furnish new proofs of peaceful intentions.
4388The chatter about the peaceful conquest of the world by commercial means was
4389probably the most completely nonsensical stuff ever raised to the dignity of a guiding
4390principle in the policy of a State, This nonsense became even more foolish when
4391England was pointed out as a typical example to prove how the thing could be put into
4392practice. Our doctrinal way of regarding history and our professorial ideas in that
4393domain have done irreparable harm and offer a striking 'proof' of how people 'learn'
4394history without understanding anything of it. As a matter of fact, England ought to
4395have been looked upon as a convincing argument against the theory of the pacific
4396conquest of the world by commercial means. No nation prepared the way for its
4397commercial conquests more brutally than England did by means of the sword, and no
4398other nation has defended such conquests more ruthlessly. Is it not a characteristic
4399quality of British statecraft that it knows how to use political power in order to gain
4400economic advantages and, inversely, to turn economic conquests into political power?
4401What an astounding error it was to believe that England would not have the courage to
4402give its own blood for the purposes of its own economic expansion! The fact that
4403England did not possess a national army proved nothing; for it is not the actual military
4404structure of the moment that matters but rather the will and determination to use
4405whatever military strength is available. England has always had the armament which
4406she needed. She always fought with those weapons which were necessary for success. 
4407She sent mercenary troops, to fight as long as mercenaries sufficed; but she never
4408hesitated to draw heavily and deeply from the best blood of the whole nation when
4409victory could be obtained only by such a sacrifice. And in every case the fighting spirit,
4410dogged determination, and use of brutal means in conducting military operations have
4411always remained the same.
4412But in Germany, through the medium of the schools, the Press and the comic papers, an
4413idea of the Englishman was gradually formed which was bound eventually to lead to
4414the worst kind of self-deception. This absurdity slowly but persistently spread into
4415every quarter of German life. The result was an undervaluation for which we have had
4416to pay a heavy penalty. The delusion was so profound that the Englishman was looked
4417upon as a shrewd business man, but personally a coward even to an incredible degree.
4418Unfortunately our lofty teachers of professorial history did not bring home to the minds
4419of their pupils the truth that it is not possible to build up such a mighty organization as
4420the British Empire by mere swindle and fraud. The few who called attention to that
4421truth were either ignored or silenced. I can vividly recall to mind the astonished looks
4422of my comrades when they found themselves personally face to face for the first time
4423with the Tommies in Flanders. After a few days of fighting the consciousness slowly
4424dawned on our soldiers that those Scotsmen were not like the ones we had seen
4425described and caricatured in the comic papers and mentioned in the communiqués.
4426It was then that I formed my first ideas of the efficiency of various forms of
4427propaganda.
4428Such a falsification, however, served the purpose of those who had fabricated it. This
4429caricature of the Englishman, though false, could be used to prove the possibility of
4430conquering the world peacefully by commercial means. Where the Englishman
4431succeeded we should also succeed. Our far greater honesty and our freedom from that
4432specifically English 'perfidy' would be assets on our side. Thereby it was hoped that the
4433sympathy of the smaller nations and the confidence of the greater nations could be
4434gained more easily.
4435We did not realize that our honesty was an object of profound aversion for other people
4436because we ourselves believed in it. The rest of the world looked on our behaviour as
4437the manifestation of a shrewd deceitfulness; but when the revolution came, then they
4438were amazed at the deeper insight it gave them into our mentality, sincere even beyond
4439the limits of stupidity.
4440Once we understand the part played by that absurd notion of conquering the world by
4441peaceful commercial means we can clearly understand how that other absurdity, the
4442Triple Alliance, came to exist. With what State then could an alliance have been made?
4443In alliance with Austria we could not acquire new territory by military means, even in
4444Europe. And this very fact was the real reason for the inner weakness of the Triple 
4445Alliance. A Bismarck could permit himself such a makeshift for the necessities of the
4446moment, but certainly not any of his bungling successors, and least of all when the
4447foundations no longer existed on which Bismarck had formed the Triple Alliance. In
4448Bismarck's time Austria could still be looked upon as a German State; but the gradual
4449introduction of universal suffrage turned the country into a parliamentary Babel, in
4450which the German voice was scarcely audible.
4451From the viewpoint of racial policy, this alliance with Austria was simply disastrous. A
4452new Slavic Great Power was allowed to grow up close to the frontiers of the German
4453Empire. Later on this Power was bound to adopt towards Germany an attitude different
4454from that of Russia, for example. The Alliance was thus bound to become more empty
4455and more feeble, because the only supporters of it were losing their influence and were
4456being systematically pushed out of the more important public offices.
4457About the year 1900 the Alliance with Austria had already entered the same phase as
4458the Alliance between Austria and Italy.
4459Here also only one alternative was possible: Either to take the side of the Habsburg
4460Monarchy or to raise a protest against the oppression of the German element in Austria.
4461But, generally speaking, when one takes such a course it is bound eventually to lead to
4462open conflict.
4463From the psychological point of view also, the Triple decreases according as such an
4464alliance limits its object to the defence of the STATUS QUO. But, on the other hand, an
4465alliance will increase its cohesive strength the more the parties concerned in it may hope
4466to use it as a means of reaching some practical goal of expansion. Here, as everywhere
4467else, strength does not lie in defence but in attack.
4468This truth was recognized in various quarters but, unfortunately, not by the so-called
4469elected representatives of the people. As early as 1912 Ludendorff, who was then
4470Colonel and an Officer of the General Staff, pointed out these weak features of the
4471Alliance in a memorandum which he then drew up. But of course the 'statesmen' did
4472not attach any importance or value to that document. In general it would seem as if
4473reason were a faculty that is active only in the case of ordinary mortals but that it is
4474entirely absent when we come to deal with that branch of the species known as
4475'diplomats'.
4476It was lucky for Germany that the war of 1914 broke out with Austria as its direct cause,
4477for thus the Habsburgs were compelled to participate. Had the origin of the War been
4478otherwise, Germany would have been left to her own resources. The Habsburg State
4479would never have been ready or willing to take part in a war for the origin of which
4480Germany was responsible. What was the object of so much obloquy later in the case of
4481Italy's decision would have taken place, only earlier, in the case of Austria. In other 
4482words, if Germany had been forced to go to war for some reason of its own, Austria
4483would have remained 'neutral' in order to safeguard the State against a revolution
4484which might begin immediately after the war had started. The Slav element would have
4485preferred to smash up the Dual Monarchy in 1914 rather than permit it to come to the
4486assistance of Germany. But at that time there were only a few who understood all the
4487dangers and aggravations which resulted from the alliance with the Danubian
4488Monarchy.
4489In the first place, Austria had too many enemies who were eagerly looking forward to
4490obtain the heritage of that decrepit State, so that these people gradually developed a
4491certain animosity against Germany, because Germany was an obstacle to their desires
4492inasmuch as it kept the Dual Monarchy from falling to pieces, a consummation that was
4493hoped for and yearned for on all sides. The conviction developed that Vienna could be
4494reached only by passing through Berlin.
4495In the second place, by adopting this policy Germany lost its best and most promising
4496chances of other alliances. In place of these possibilities one now observed a growing
4497tension in the relations with Russia and even with Italy. And this in spite of the fact that
4498the general attitude in Rome was just as favourable to Germany as it was hostile to
4499Austria, a hostility which lay dormant in the individual Italian and broke out violently
4500on occasion.
4501Since a commercial and industrial policy had been adopted, no motive was left for
4502waging war against Russia. Only the enemies of the two countries, Germany and
4503Russia, could have an active interest in such a war under these circumstances. As a
4504matter of fact, it was only the Jews and the Marxists who tried to stir up bad blood
4505between the two States.
4506In the third place, the Alliance constituted a permanent danger to German security; for
4507any great Power that was hostile to Bismarck's Empire could mobilize a whole lot of
4508other States in a war against Germany by promising them tempting spoils at the
4509expense of the Austrian ally.
4510It was possible to arouse the whole of Eastern Europe against Austria, especially Russia,
4511and Italy also. The world coalition which had developed under the leadership of King
4512Edward could never have become a reality if Germany's ally, Austria, had not offered
4513such an alluring prospect of booty. It was this fact alone which made it possible to
4514combine so many heterogeneous States with divergent interests into one common
4515phalanx of attack. Every member could hope to enrich himself at the expense of Austria
4516if he joined in the general attack against Germany. The fact that Turkey was also a tacit
4517party to the unfortunate alliance with Austria augmented Germany's peril to an
4518extraordinary degree. 
4519Jewish international finance needed this bait of the Austrian heritage in order to carry
4520out its plans of ruining Germany; for Germany had not yet surrendered to the general
4521control which the international captains of finance and trade exercised over the other
4522States. Thus it was possible to consolidate that coalition and make it strong enough and
4523brave enough, through the sheer weight of numbers, to join in bodily conflict with the
4524'horned' Siegfried. (Note 9)
4525The alliance with the Habsburg Monarchy, which I loathed while still in Austria, was
4526the subject of grave concern on my part and caused me to meditate on it so persistently
4527that finally I came to the conclusions which I have mentioned above.
4528In the small circles which I frequented at that time I did not conceal my conviction that
4529this sinister agreement with a State doomed to collapse would also bring catastrophe to
4530Germany if she did not free herself from it in time. I never for a moment wavered in
4531that firm conviction, even when the tempest of the World War seemed to have made
4532shipwreck of the reasoning faculty itself and had put blind enthusiasm in its place, even
4533among those circles where the coolest and hardest objective thinking ought to have held
4534sway. In the trenches I voiced and upheld my own opinion whenever these problems
4535came under discussion. I held that to abandon the Habsburg Monarchy would involve
4536no sacrifice if Germany could thereby reduce the number of her own enemies; for the
4537millions of Germans who had donned the steel helmet had done so not to fight for the
4538maintenance of a corrupt dynasty but rather for the salvation of the German people.
4539Before the War there were occasions on which it seemed that at least one section of the
4540German public had some slight misgivings about the political wisdom of the alliance
4541with Austria. From time to time German conservative circles issued warnings against
4542being over-confident about the worth of that alliance; but, like every other reasonable
4543suggestion made at that time, it was thrown to the winds. The general conviction was
4544that the right measures had been adopted to 'conquer' the world, that the success of
4545these measures would be enormous and the sacrifices negligible.
4546Once again the 'uninitiated' layman could do nothing but observe how the 'elect' were
4547marching straight ahead towards disaster and enticing their beloved people to follow
4548them, as the rats followed the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
4549If we would look for the deeper grounds which made it possible to foist on the people
4550this absurd notion of peacefully conquering the world through commercial penetration,
4551and how it was possible to put forward the maintenance of world-peace as a national
4552aim, we shall find that these grounds lay in a general morbid condition that had
4553pervaded the whole body of German political thought.
4554The triumphant progress of technical science in Germany and the marvellous
4555development of German industries and commerce led us to forget that a powerful State 
4556had been the necessary pre-requisite of that success. On the contrary, certain circles
4557went even so far as to give vent to the theory that the State owed its very existence to
4558these phenomena; that it was, above all, an economic institution and should be
4559constituted in accordance with economic interests. Therefore, it was held, the State was
4560dependent on the economic structure. This condition of things was looked upon and
4561glorified as the soundest and most normal arrangement.
4562Now, the truth is that the State in itself has nothing whatsoever to do with any definite
4563economic concept or a definite economic development. It does not arise from a compact
4564made between contracting parties, within a certain delimited territory, for the purpose
4565of serving economic ends. The State is a community of living beings who have kindred
4566physical and spiritual natures, organized for the purpose of assuring the conservation
4567of their own kind and to help towards fulfilling those ends which Providence has
4568assigned to that particular race or racial branch. Therein, and therein alone, lie the
4569purpose and meaning of a State. Economic activity is one of the many auxiliary means
4570which are necessary for the attainment of those aims. But economic activity is never the
4571origin or purpose of a State, except where a State has been originally founded on a false
4572and unnatural basis. And this alone explains why a State as such does not necessarily
4573need a certain delimited territory as a condition of its establishment. This condition
4574becomes a necessary pre-requisite only among those people who would provide and
4575assure subsistence for their kinsfolk through their own industry, which means that they
4576are ready to carry on the struggle for existence by means of their own work. People who
4577can sneak their way, like parasites, into the human body politic and make others work
4578for them under various pretences can form a State without possessing any definite
4579delimited territory. This is chiefly applicable to that parasitic nation which, particularly
4580at the present time preys upon the honest portion of mankind; I mean the Jews.
4581The Jewish State has never been delimited in space. It has been spread all over the
4582world, without any frontiers whatsoever, and has always been constituted from the
4583membership of one race exclusively. That is why the Jews have always formed a State
4584within the State. One of the most ingenious tricks ever devised has been that of sailing
4585the Jewish ship-of-state under the flag of Religion and thus securing that tolerance
4586which Aryans are always ready to grant to different religious faiths. But the Mosaic
4587Law is really nothing else than the doctrine of the preservation of the Jewish race.
4588Therefore this Law takes in all spheres of sociological, political and economic science
4589which have a bearing on the main end in view.
4590The instinct for the preservation of one's own species is the primary cause that leads to
4591the formation of human communities. Hence the State is a racial organism, and not an
4592economic organization. The difference between the two is so great as to be
4593incomprehensible to our contemporary so-called 'statesmen'. That is why they like to
4594believe that the State may be constituted as an economic structure, whereas the truth is
4595that it has always resulted from the exercise of those qualities which are part of the will 
4596to preserve the species and the race. But these qualities always exist and operate
4597through the heroic virtues and have nothing to do with commercial egoism; for the
4598conservation of the species always presupposes that the individual is ready to sacrifice
4599himself. Such is the meaning of the poet's lines:
4600UND SETZET IHR NICHT DAS LEBEN EIN, NIE WIRD EUCH DAS LEBEN
4601GEWONNEN SEIN.
4602(AND IF YOU DO NOT STAKE YOUR LIFE, YOU WILL NEVER WIN LIFE FOR
4603YOURSELF.)
4604The sacrifice of the individual existence is necessary in order to assure the conservation
4605of the race. Hence it is that the most essential condition for the establishment and
4606maintenance of a State is a certain feeling of solidarity, wounded in an identity of
4607character and race and in a resolute readiness to defend these at all costs. With people
4608who live on their own territory this will result in a development of the heroic virtues;
4609with a parasitic people it will develop the arts of subterfuge and gross perfidy unless
4610we admit that these characteristics are innate and that the varying political forms
4611through which the parasitic race expresses itself are only the outward manifestations of
4612innate characteristics. At least in the beginning, the formation of a State can result only
4613from a manifestation of the heroic qualities I have spoken of. And the people who fail in
4614the struggle for existence, that is to say those, who become vassals and are thereby
4615condemned to disappear entirely sooner or later, are those who do not display the
4616heroic virtues in the struggle, or those who fall victims to the perfidy of the parasites.
4617And even in this latter case the failure is not so much due to lack of intellectual powers,
4618but rather to a lack of courage and determination. An attempt is made to conceal the
4619real nature of this failing by saying that it is the humane feeling.
4620The qualities which are employed for the foundation and preservation of a State have
4621accordingly little or nothing to do with the economic situation. And this is
4622conspicuously demonstrated by the fact that the inner strength of a State only very
4623rarely coincides with what is called its economic expansion. On the contrary, there are
4624numerous examples to show that a period of economic prosperity indicates the
4625approaching decline of a State. If it were correct to attribute the foundation of human
4626communities to economic forces, then the power of the State as such would be at its
4627highest pitch during periods of economic prosperity, and not vice versa.
4628It is specially difficult to understand how the belief that the State is brought into being
4629and preserved by economic forces could gain currency in a country which has given
4630proof of the opposite in every phase of its history. The history of Prussia shows in a
4631manner particularly clear and distinct, that it is out of the moral virtues of the people
4632and not from their economic circumstances that a State is formed. It is only under the
4633protection of those virtues that economic activities can be developed and the latter will 
4634continue to flourish until a time comes when the creative political capacity declines.
4635Therewith the economic structure will also break down, a phenomenon which is now
4636happening in an alarming manner before our eyes. The material interest of mankind can
4637prosper only in the shade of the heroic virtues. The moment they become the primary
4638considerations of life they wreck the basis of their own existence.
4639Whenever the political power of Germany was specially strong the economic situation
4640also improved. But whenever economic interests alone occupied the foremost place in
4641the life of the people, and thrust transcendent ideals into the back.-ground, the State
4642collapsed and economic ruin followed readily.
4643If we consider the question of what those forces actually are which are necessary to the
4644creation and preservation of a State, we shall find that they are: The capacity and
4645readiness to sacrifice the individual to the common welfare. That these qualities have
4646nothing at all to do with economics can be proved by referring to the simple fact that
4647man does not sacrifice himself for material interests. In other words, he will die for an
4648ideal but not for a business. The marvellous gift for public psychology which the
4649English have was never shown better than the way in which they presented their case in
4650the World War. We were fighting for our bread; but the English declared that they were
4651fighting for 'freedom', and not at all for their own freedom. Oh, no, but for the freedom
4652of the small nations. German people laughed at that effrontery and were angered by it;
4653but in doing so they showed how political thought had declined among our so-called
4654diplomats in Germany even before the War. These diplomatists did not have the
4655slightest notion of what that force was which brought men to face death of their own
4656free will and determination.
4657As long as the German people, in the War of 1914, continued to believe that they were
4658fighting for ideals they stood firm. As soon as they were told that they were fighting
4659only for their daily bread they began to give up the struggle.
4660Our clever 'statesmen' were greatly amazed at this change of feeling. They never
4661understood that as soon as man is called upon to struggle for purely material causes he
4662will avoid death as best he can; for death and the enjoyment of the material fruits of a
4663victory are quite incompatible concepts. The frailest woman will become a heroine
4664when the life of her own child is at stake. And only the will to save the race and native
4665land or the State, which offers protection to the race, has in all ages been the urge which
4666has forced men to face the weapons of their enemies.
4667The following may be proclaimed as a truth that always holds good:
4668A State has never arisen from commercial causes for the purpose of peacefully serving
4669commercial ends; but States have always arisen from the instinct to maintain the racial
4670group, whether this instinct manifest itself in the heroic sphere or in the sphere of 
4671cunning and chicanery. In the first case we have the Aryan States, based on the
4672principles of work and cultural development. In the second case we have the Jewish
4673parasitic colonies. But as soon as economic interests begin to predominate over the
4674racial and cultural instincts in a people or a State, these economic interests unloose the
4675causes that lead to subjugation and oppression.
4676The belief, which prevailed in Germany before the War, that the world could be opened
4677up and even conquered for Germany through a system of peaceful commercial
4678penetration and a colonial policy was a typical symptom which indicated the decline of
4679those real qualities whereby States are created and preserved, and indicated also the
4680decline of that insight, will-power and practical determination which belong to those
4681qualities. The World War with its consequences, was the natural liquidation of that
4682decline.
4683To anyone who had not thought over the matter deeply, this attitude of the German
4684people--which was quite general--must have seemed an insoluble enigma. After all,
4685Germany herself was a magnificent example of an empire that had been built up purely
4686by a policy of power. Prussia, which was the generative cell of the German Empire, had
4687been created by brilliant heroic deeds and not by a financial or commercial compact.
4688And the Empire itself was but the magnificent recompense for a leadership that had
4689been conducted on a policy of power and military valour.
4690How then did it happen that the political instincts of this very same German people
4691became so degenerate? For it was not merely one isolated phenomenon which pointed
4692to this decadence, but morbid symptoms which appeared in alarming numbers, now all
4693over the body politic, or eating into the body of the nation like a gangrenous ulcer. It
4694seemed as if some all-pervading poisonous fluid had been injected by some mysterious
4695hand into the bloodstream of this once heroic body, bringing about a creeping paralysis
4696that affected the reason and the elementary instinct of self-preservation.
4697During the years 1912-1914 I used to ponder perpetually on those problems which
4698related to the policy of the Triple Alliance and the economic policy then being pursued
4699by the German Empire. Once again I came to the conclusion that the only explanation of
4700this enigma lay in the operation of that force which I had already become acquainted
4701with in Vienna, though from a different angle of vision. The force to which I refer was
4702the Marxist teaching and WELTANSCHAUUNG and its organized action throughout
4703the nation.
4704For the second time in my life I plunged deep into the study of that destructive
4705teaching. This time, however, I was not urged by the study of the question by the
4706impressions and influences of my daily environment, but directed rather by the
4707observation of general phenomena in the political life of Germany. In delving again into
4708the theoretical literature of this new world and endeavouring to get a clear view of the 
4709possible consequences of its teaching, I compared the theoretical principles of Marxism
4710with the phenomena and happenings brought about by its activities in the political,
4711cultural, and economic spheres.
4712For the first time in my life I now turned my attention to the efforts that were being
4713made to subdue this universal pest.
4714I studied Bismarck's exceptional legislation in its original concept, its operation and its
4715results. Gradually I formed a basis for my own opinions, which has proved as solid as a
4716rock, so that never since have I had to change my attitude towards the general problem.
4717I also made a further and more thorough analysis of the relations between Marxism and
4718Jewry.
4719During my sojourn in Vienna I used to look upon Germany as an imperturbable
4720colossus; but even then serious doubts and misgivings would often disturb me. In my
4721own mind and in my conversation with my small circle of acquaintances I used to
4722criticize Germany's foreign policy and the incredibly superficial way, according to my
4723thinking, in which Marxism was dealt with, though it was then the most important
4724problem in Germany. I could not understand how they could stumble blindfolded into
4725the midst of this peril, the effects of which would be momentous if the openly declared
4726aims of Marxism could be put into practice. Even as early as that time I warned people
4727around me, just as I am warning a wider audience now, against that soothing slogan of
4728all indolent and feckless nature: NOTHING CAN HAPPEN TO US. A similar mental
4729contagion had already destroyed a mighty empire. Can Germany escape the operation
4730of those laws to which all other human communities are subject?
4731In the years 1913 and 1914 I expressed my opinion for the first time in various circles,
4732some of which are now members of the National Socialist Movement, that the problem
4733of how the future of the German nation can be secured is the problem of how Marxism
4734can be exterminated.
4735I considered the disastrous policy of the Triple Alliance as one of the consequences
4736resulting from the disintegrating effects of the Marxist teaching; for the alarming feature
4737was that this teaching was invisibly corrupting the foundations of a healthy political
4738and economic outlook. Those who had been themselves contaminated frequently did
4739not realise that their aims and actions sprang from this WELTANSCHAUUNG, which
4740they otherwise openly repudiated.
4741Long before then the spiritual and moral decline of the German people had set in,
4742though those who were affected by the morbid decadence were frequently unaware--as
4743often happens--of the forces which were breaking up their very existence. Sometimes
4744they tried to cure the disease by doctoring the symptoms, which were taken as the
4745cause. But since nobody recognized, or wanted to recognize, the real cause of the 
4746disease this way of combating Marxism was no more effective than the application of
4747some quack's ointment. 
4748Notes
4749[Note 8. German Austria was the East Mark on the South and East Prussia was the East
4750Mark on the North.]
4751[Note 9. Carlyle explains the epithet thus: "First then, let no one from the title
4752GEHOERNTE (Horned, Behorned), fancy that our brave Siegfried, who was the
4753loveliest as well as the bravest of men, was actually cornuted, and had hornson his
4754brow, though like Michael Angelo's Moses; or even that his skin, to which the epithet
4755BEHORNED refers, was hard like a crocodile's, and not softer than the softest shamey,
4756for the truth is, his Hornedness means only an Invulnerability, like that of Achilles..."]
4757[Note 10. Lines quoted from the Song of the Curassiers in Schiller's WALLENSTEIN.] 
4758Chapter 5
4759The World War
4760DURING THE boisterous years of my youth nothing used to damp my wild spirits so
4761much as to think that I was born at a time when the world had manifestly decided not
4762to erect any more temples of fame except in honour of business people and State
4763officials. The tempest of historical achievements seemed to have permanently subsided,
4764so much so that the future appeared to be irrevocably delivered over to what was called
4765peaceful competition between the nations. This simply meant a system of mutual
4766exploitation by fraudulent means, the principle of resorting to the use of force in selfdefence
4767being formally excluded. Individual countries increasingly assumed the
4768appearance of commercial undertakings, grabbing territory and clients and concessions
4769from each other under any and every kind of pretext. And it was all staged to an
4770accompaniment of loud but innocuous shouting. This trend of affairs seemed destined
4771to develop steadily and permanently. Having the support of public approbation, it
4772seemed bound eventually to transform the world into a mammoth department store. In
4773the vestibule of this emporium there would be rows of monumental busts which would
4774confer immortality on those profiteers who had proved themselves the shrewdest at
4775their trade and those administrative officials who had shown themselves the most
4776innocuous. The salesmen could be represented by the English and the administrative
4777functionaries by the Germans; whereas the Jews would be sacrificed to the unprofitable
4778calling of proprietorship, for they are constantly avowing that they make no profits and
4779are always being called upon to 'pay out'. Moreover they have the advantage of being
4780versed in the foreign languages.
4781Why could I not have been born a hundred years ago? I used to ask myself. Somewhere
4782about the time of the Wars of Liberation, when a man was still of some value even
4783though he had no 'business'.
4784Thus I used to think it an ill-deserved stroke of bad luck that I had arrived too late on
4785this terrestrial globe, and I felt chagrined at the idea that my life would have to run its
4786course along peaceful and orderly lines. As a boy I was anything but a pacifist and all
4787attempts to make me so turned out futile.
4788Then the Boer War came, like a glow of lightning on the far horizon. Day after day I
4789used to gaze intently at the newspapers and I almost 'devoured' the telegrams and 
4790COMMUNIQUES, overjoyed to think that I could witness that heroic struggle, even
4791though from so great a distance.
4792When the Russo-Japanese War came I was older and better able to judge for myself. For
4793national reasons I then took the side of the Japanese in our discussions. I looked upon
4794the defeat of the Russians as a blow to Austrian Slavism.
4795Many years had passed between that time and my arrival in Munich. I now realized
4796that what I formerly believed to be a morbid decadence was only the lull before the
4797storm. During my Vienna days the Balkans were already in the grip of that sultry pause
4798which presages the violent storm. Here and there a flash of lightning could be
4799occasionally seen; but it rapidly disappeared in sinister gloom. Then the Balkan War
4800broke out; and therewith the first gusts of the forthcoming tornado swept across a
4801highly-strung Europe. In the supervening calm men felt the atmosphere oppressive and
4802foreboding, so much so that the sense of an impending catastrophe became transformed
4803into a feeling of impatient expectance. They wished that Heaven would give free rein to
4804the fate which could now no longer be curbed. Then the first great bolt of lightning
4805struck the earth. The storm broke and the thunder of the heavens intermingled with the
4806roar of the cannons in the World War.
4807When the news came to Munich that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been
4808murdered, I had been at home all day and did not get the particulars of how it
4809happened. At first I feared that the shots may have been fired by some GermanAustrian
4810students who had been aroused to a state of furious indignation by the
4811persistent pro-Slav activities of the Heir to the Habsburg Throne and therefore wished
4812to liberate the German population from this internal enemy. It was quite easy to
4813imagine what the result of such a mistake would have been. It would have brought on a
4814new wave of persecution, the motives of which would have been 'justified' before the
4815whole world. But soon afterwards I heard the names of the presumed assassins and also
4816that they were known to be Serbs. I felt somewhat dumbfounded in face of the
4817inexorable vengeance which Destiny had wrought. The greatest friend of the Slavs had
4818fallen a victim to the bullets of Slav patriots.
4819It is unjust to the Vienna government of that time to blame it now for the form and
4820tenor of the ultimatum which was then presented. In a similar position and under
4821similar circumstances, no other Power in the world would have acted otherwise. On her
4822southern frontiers Austria had a relentless mortal foe who indulged in acts of
4823provocation against the Dual Monarchy at intervals which were becoming more and
4824more frequent. This persistent line of conduct would not have been relaxed until the
4825arrival of the opportune moment for the destruction of the Empire. In Austria there was
4826good reason to fear that, at the latest, this moment would come with the death of the old
4827Emperor. Once that had taken place, it was quite possible that the Monarchy would not
4828be able to offer any serious resistance. For some years past the State had been so 
4829completely identified with the personality of Francis Joseph that, in the eyes of the great
4830mass of the people, the death of this venerable personification of the Empire would be
4831tantamount to the death of the Empire itself. Indeed it was one of the clever artifices of
4832Slav policy to foster the impression that the Austrian State owed its very existence
4833exclusively to the prodigies and rare talents of that monarch. This kind of flattery was
4834particularly welcomed at the Hofburg, all the more because it had no relation
4835whatsoever to the services actually rendered by the Emperor. No effort whatsoever was
4836made to locate the carefully prepared sting which lay hidden in this glorifying praise.
4837One fact which was entirely overlooked, perhaps intentionally, was that the more the
4838Empire remained dependent on the so-called administrative talents of 'the wisest
4839Monarch of all times', the more catastrophic would be the situation when Fate came to
4840knock at the door and demand its tribute.
4841Was it possible even to imagine the Austrian Empire without its venerable ruler?
4842Would not the tragedy which befell Maria Theresa be repeated at once?
4843It is really unjust to the Vienna governmental circles to reproach them with having
4844instigated a war which might have been prevented. The war was bound to come.
4845Perhaps it might have been postponed for a year or two at the most. But it had always
4846been the misfortune of German, as well as Austrian, diplomats that they endeavoured
4847to put off the inevitable day of reckoning, with the result that they were finally
4848compelled to deliver their blow at a most inopportune moment.
4849No. Those who did not wish this war ought to have had the courage to take the
4850consequences of the refusal upon themselves. Those consequences must necessarily
4851have meant the sacrifice of Austria. And even then war would have come, not as a war
4852in which all the nations would have been banded against us but in the form of a
4853dismemberment of the Habsburg Monarchy. In that case we should have had to decide
4854whether we should come to the assistance of the Habsburg or stand aside as spectators,
4855with our arms folded, and thus allow Fate to run its course.
4856Just those who are loudest in their imprecations to-day and make a great parade of
4857wisdom in judging the causes of the war are the very same people whose collaboration
4858was the most fatal factor in steering towards the war.
4859For several decades previously the German Social-Democrats had been agitating in an
4860underhand and knavish way for war against Russia; whereas the German Centre Party,
4861with religious ends in view, had worked to make the Austrian State the chief centre and
4862turning-point of German policy. The consequences of this folly had now to be borne.
4863What came was bound to come and under no circumstances could it have been
4864avoided. The fault of the German Government lay in the fact that, merely for the sake of
4865preserving peace at all costs, it continued to miss the occasions that were favourable for
4866action, got entangled in an alliance for the purpose of preserving the peace of the world, 
4867and thus finally became the victim of a world coalition which opposed the German
4868effort for the maintenance of peace and was determined to bring about the world war.
4869Had the Vienna Government of that time formulated its ultimatum in less drastic terms,
4870that would not have altered the situation at all: but such a course might have aroused
4871public indignation. For, in the eyes of the great masses, the ultimatum was too
4872moderate and certainly not excessive or brutal. Those who would deny this to-day are
4873either simpletons with feeble memories or else deliberate falsehood-mongers.
4874The War of 1914 was certainly not forced on the masses; it was even desired by the
4875whole people.
4876There was a desire to bring the general feeling of uncertainty to an end once and for all.
4877And it is only in the light of this fact that we can understand how more than two
4878million German men and youths voluntarily joined the colours, ready to shed the last
4879drop of their blood for the cause.
4880For me these hours came as a deliverance from the distress that had weighed upon me
4881during the days of my youth. I am not ashamed to acknowledge to-day that I was
4882carried away by the enthusiasm of the moment and that I sank down upon my knees
4883and thanked Heaven out of the fullness of my heart for the favour of having been
4884permitted to live in such a time.
4885The fight for freedom had broken out on an unparalleled scale in the history of the
4886world. From the moment that Fate took the helm in hand the conviction grew among
4887the mass of the people that now it was not a question of deciding the destinies of
4888Austria or Serbia but that the very existence of the German nation itself was at stake.
4889At last, after many years of blindness, the people saw clearly into the future. Therefore,
4890almost immediately after the gigantic struggle had begun, an excessive enthusiasm was
4891replaced by a more earnest and more fitting undertone, because the exaltation of the
4892popular spirit was not a mere passing frenzy. It was only too necessary that the gravity
4893of the situation should be recognized. At that time there was, generally speaking, not
4894the slightest presentiment or conception of how long the war might last. People
4895dreamed of the soldiers being home by Christmas and that then they would resume
4896their daily work in peace.
4897Whatever mankind desires, that it will hope for and believe in. The overwhelming
4898majority of the people had long since grown weary of the perpetual insecurity in the
4899general condition of public affairs. Hence it was only natural that no one believed that
4900the Austro-Serbian conflict could be shelved. Therefore they looked forward to a radical
4901settlement of accounts. I also belonged to the millions that desired this. 
4902The moment the news of the Sarajevo outrage reached Munich two ideas came into my
4903mind: First, that war was absolutely inevitable and, second, that the Habsburg State
4904would now be forced to honour its signature to the alliance. For what I had feared most
4905was that one day Germany herself, perhaps as a result of the Alliance, would become
4906involved in a conflict the first direct cause of which did not affect Austria. In such a
4907contingency, I feared that the Austrian State, for domestic political reasons, would find
4908itself unable to decide in favour of its ally. But now this danger was removed. The old
4909State was compelled to fight, whether it wished to do so or not.
4910My own attitude towards the conflict was equally simple and clear. I believed that it
4911was not a case of Austria fighting to get satisfaction from Serbia but rather a case of
4912Germany fighting for her own existence--the German nation for its own to-be-or-not-tobe,
4913for its freedom and for its future. The work of Bismarck must now be carried on.
4914Young Germany must show itself worthy of the blood shed by our fathers on so many
4915heroic fields of battle, from Weissenburg to Sedan and Paris. And if this struggle should
4916bring us victory our people will again rank foremost among the great nations. Only
4917then could the German Empire assert itself as the mighty champion of peace, without
4918the necessity of restricting the daily bread of its children for the sake of maintaining the
4919peace.
4920As a boy and as a young man, I often longed for the occasion to prove that my national
4921enthusiasm was not mere vapouring. Hurrahing sometimes seemed to me to be a kind
4922of sinful indulgence, though I could not give any justification for that feeling; for, after
4923all, who has the right to shout that triumphant word if he has not won the right to it
4924there where there is no play-acting and where the hand of the Goddess of Destiny puts
4925the truth and sincerity of nations and men through her inexorable test? Just as millions
4926of others, I felt a proud joy in being permitted to go through this test. I had so often
4927sung DEUTSCHLAND ÃœBER ALLES and so often roared 'HEIL' that I now thought it
4928was as a kind of retro-active grace that I was granted the right of appearing before the
4929Court of Eternal Justice to testify to the truth of those sentiments.
4930One thing was clear to me from the very beginning, namely, that in the event of war,
4931which now seemed inevitable, my books would have to be thrown aside forthwith. I
4932also realized that my place would have to be there where the inner voice of conscience
4933called me.
4934I had left Austria principally for political reasons. What therefore could be more
4935rational than that I should put into practice the logical consequences of my political
4936opinions, now that the war had begun. I had no desire to fight for the Habsburg cause,
4937but I was prepared to die at any time for my own kinsfolk and the Empire to which they
4938really belonged. 
4939On August 3rd, 1914, I presented an urgent petition to His Majesty, King Ludwig III,
4940requesting to be allowed to serve in a Bavarian regiment. In those days the Chancellery
4941had its hands quite full and therefore I was all the more pleased when I received the
4942answer a day later, that my request had been granted. I opened the document with
4943trembling hands; and no words of mine could now describe the satisfaction I felt on
4944reading that I was instructed to report to a Bavarian regiment. Within a few days I was
4945wearing that uniform which I was not to put oft again for nearly six years.
4946For me, as for every German, the most memorable period of my life now began. Face to
4947face with that mighty struggle, all the past fell away into oblivion. With a wistful pride I
4948look back on those days, especially because we are now approaching the tenth
4949anniversary of that memorable happening. I recall those early weeks of war when kind
4950fortune permitted me to take my place in that heroic struggle among the nations.
4951As the scene unfolds itself before my mind, it seems only like yesterday. I see myself
4952among my young comrades on our first parade drill, and so on until at last the day
4953came on which we were to leave for the front.
4954In common with the others, I had one worry during those days. This was a fear that we
4955might arrive too late for the fighting at the front. Time and again that thought disturbed
4956me and every announcement of a victorious engagement left a bitter taste, which
4957increased as the news of further victories arrived.
4958At long last the day came when we left Munich on war service. For the first time in my
4959life I saw the Rhine, as we journeyed westwards to stand guard before that historic
4960German river against its traditional and grasping enemy. As the first soft rays of the
4961morning sun broke through the light mist and disclosed to us the Niederwald Statue,
4962with one accord the whole troop train broke into the strains of DIE WACHT AM
4963RHEIN. I then felt as if my heart could not contain its spirit.
4964And then followed a damp, cold night in Flanders. We marched in silence throughout
4965the night and as the morning sun came through the mist an iron greeting suddenly
4966burst above our heads. Shrapnel exploded in our midst and spluttered in the damp
4967ground. But before the smoke of the explosion disappeared a wild 'Hurrah' was
4968shouted from two hundred throats, in response to this first greeting of Death. Then
4969began the whistling of bullets and the booming of cannons, the shouting and singing of
4970the combatants. With eyes straining feverishly, we pressed forward, quicker and
4971quicker, until we finally came to close-quarter fighting, there beyond the beet-fields and
4972the meadows. Soon the strains of a song reached us from afar. Nearer and nearer, from
4973company to company, it came. And while Death began to make havoc in our ranks we
4974passed the song on to those beside us: DEUTSCHLAND, DEUTSCHLAND ÃœBER
4975ALLES, ÃœBER ALLES IN DER WELT. 
4976After four days in the trenches we came back. Even our step was no longer what it had
4977been. Boys of seventeen looked now like grown men. The rank and file of the List
4978Regiment (Note 11) had not been properly trained in the art of warfare, but they knew
4979how to die like old soldiers.
4980That was the beginning. And thus we carried on from year to year. A feeling of horror
4981replaced the romantic fighting spirit. Enthusiasm cooled down gradually and exuberant
4982spirits were quelled by the fear of the ever-present Death. A time came when there
4983arose within each one of us a conflict between the urge to self-preservation and the call
4984of duty. And I had to go through that conflict too. As Death sought its prey everywhere
4985and unrelentingly a nameless Something rebelled within the weak body and tried to
4986introduce itself under the name of Common Sense; but in reality it was Fear, which had
4987taken on this cloak in order to impose itself on the individual. But the more the voice
4988which advised prudence increased its efforts and the more clear and persuasive became
4989its appeal, resistance became all the stronger; until finally the internal strife was over
4990and the call of duty was triumphant. Already in the winter of 1915-16 I had come
4991through that inner struggle. The will had asserted its incontestable mastery. Whereas in
4992the early days I went into the fight with a cheer and a laugh, I was now habitually calm
4993and resolute. And that frame of mind endured. Fate might now put me through the
4994final test without my nerves or reason giving way. The young volunteer had become an
4995old soldier.
4996This same transformation took place throughout the whole army. Constant fighting had
4997aged and toughened it and hardened it, so that it stood firm and dauntless against
4998every assault.
4999Only now was it possible to judge that army. After two and three years of continuous
5000fighting, having been thrown into one battle after another, standing up stoutly against
5001superior numbers and superior armament, suffering hunger and privation, the time had
5002come when one could assess the value of that singular fighting force.
5003For a thousand years to come nobody will dare to speak of heroism without recalling
5004the German Army of the World War. And then from the dim past will emerge the
5005immortal vision of those solid ranks of steel helmets that never flinched and never
5006faltered. And as long as Germans live they will be proud to remember that these men
5007were the sons of their forefathers.
5008I was then a soldier and did not wish to meddle in politics, all the more so because the
5009time was inopportune. I still believe that the most modest stable-boy of those days
5010served his country better than the best of, let us say, the 'parliamentary deputies'. My
5011hatred for those footlers was never greater than in those days when all decent men who
5012had anything to say said it point-blank in the enemy's face; or, failing this, kept their
5013mouths shut and did their duty elsewhere. I despised those political fellows and if I had 
5014had my way I would have formed them into a Labour Battalion and given them the
5015opportunity of babbling amongst themselves to their hearts' content, without offence or
5016harm to decent people.
5017In those days I cared nothing for politics; but I could not help forming an opinion on
5018certain manifestations which affected not only the whole nation but also us soldiers in
5019particular. There were two things which caused me the greatest anxiety at that time and
5020which I had come to regard as detrimental to our interests.
5021Shortly after our first series of victories a certain section of the Press already began to
5022throw cold water, drip by drip, on the enthusiasm of the public. At first this was not
5023obvious to many people. It was done under the mask of good intentions and a spirit of
5024anxious care. The public was told that big celebrations of victories were somewhat out
5025of place and were not worthy expressions of the spirit of a great nation. The fortitude
5026and valour of German soldiers were accepted facts which did not necessarily call for
5027outbursts of celebration. Furthermore, it was asked, what would foreign opinion have
5028to say about these manifestations? Would not foreign opinion react more favourably to
5029a quiet and sober form of celebration rather than to all this wild jubilation? Surely the
5030time had come--so the Press declared--for us Germans to remember that this war was
5031not our work and that hence there need be no feeling of shame in declaring our
5032willingness to do our share towards effecting an understanding among the nations. For
5033this reason it would not be wise to sully the radiant deeds of our army with
5034unbecoming jubilation; for the rest of the world would never understand this.
5035Furthermore, nothing is more appreciated than the modesty with which a true hero
5036quietly and unassumingly carries on and forgets. Such was the gist of their warning.
5037Instead of catching these fellows by their long ears and dragging them to some ditch
5038and looping a cord around their necks, so that the victorious enthusiasm of the nation
5039should no longer offend the aesthetic sensibilities of these knights of the pen, a general
5040Press campaign was now allowed to go on against what was called 'unbecoming' and
5041'undignified' forms of victorious celebration.
5042No one seemed to have the faintest idea that when public enthusiasm is once damped,
5043nothing can enkindle it again, when the necessity arises. This enthusiasm is an
5044intoxication and must be kept up in that form. Without the support of this enthusiastic
5045spirit how would it be possible to endure in a struggle which, according to human
5046standards, made such immense demands on the spiritual stamina of the nation?
5047I was only too well acquainted with the psychology of the broad masses not to know
5048that in such cases a magnaminous 'aestheticism' cannot fan the fire which is needed to
5049keep the iron hot. In my eyes it was even a mistake not to have tried to raise the pitch of
5050public enthusiasm still higher. Therefore I could not at all understand why the contrary
5051policy was adopted, that is to say, the policy of damping the public spirit. 
5052Another thing which irritated me was the manner in which Marxism was regarded and
5053accepted. I thought that all this proved how little they knew about the Marxist plague. It
5054was believed in all seriousness that the abolition of party distinctions during the War
5055had made Marxism a mild and moderate thing.
5056But here there was no question of party. There was question of a doctrine which was
5057being expounded for the express purpose of leading humanity to its destruction. The
5058purport of this doctrine was not understood because nothing was said about that side of
5059the question in our Jew-ridden universities and because our supercilious bureaucratic
5060officials did not think it worth while to read up a subject which had not been prescribed
5061in their university course. This mighty revolutionary trend was going on beside them;
5062but those 'intellectuals' would not deign to give it their attention. That is why State
5063enterprise nearly always lags behind private enterprise. Of these gentry once can truly
5064say that their maxim is: What we don't know won't bother us. In the August of 1914 the
5065German worker was looked upon as an adherent of Marxist socialism. That was a gross
5066error. When those fateful hours dawned the German worker shook off the poisonous
5067clutches of that plague; otherwise he would not have been so willing and ready to fight.
5068And people were stupid enough to imagine that Marxism had now become 'national',
5069another apt illustration of the fact that those in authority had never taken the trouble to
5070study the real tenor of the Marxist teaching. If they had done so, such foolish errors
5071would not have been committed.
5072Marxism, whose final objective was and is and will continue to be the destruction of all
5073non-Jewish national States, had to witness in those days of July 1914 how the German
5074working classes, which it had been inveigling, were aroused by the national spirit and
5075rapidly ranged themselves on the side of the Fatherland. Within a few days the
5076deceptive smoke-screen of that infamous national betrayal had vanished into thin air
5077and the Jewish bosses suddenly found themselves alone and deserted. It was as if not a
5078vestige had been left of that folly and madness with which the masses of the German
5079people had been inoculated for sixty years. That was indeed an evil day for the
5080betrayers of German Labour. The moment, however, that the leaders realized the
5081danger which threatened them they pulled the magic cap of deceit over their ears and,
5082without being identified, played the part of mimes in the national reawakening.
5083The time seemed to have arrived for proceeding against the whole Jewish gang of
5084public pests. Then it was that action should have been taken regardless of any
5085consequent whining or protestation. At one stroke, in the August of 1914, all the empty
5086nonsense about international solidarity was knocked out of the heads of the German
5087working classes. A few weeks later, instead of this stupid talk sounding in their ears,
5088they heard the noise of American-manufactured shrapnel bursting above the heads of
5089the marching columns, as a symbol of international comradeship. Now that the German
5090worker had rediscovered the road to nationhood, it ought to have been the duty of any 
5091Government which had the care of the people in its keeping, to take this opportunity of
5092mercilessly rooting out everything that was opposed to the national spirit.
5093While the flower of the nation's manhood was dying at the front, there was time enough
5094at home at least to exterminate this vermin. But, instead of doing so, His Majesty the
5095Kaiser held out his hand to these hoary criminals, thus assuring them his protection and
5096allowing them to regain their mental composure.
5097And so the viper could begin his work again. This time, however, more carefully than
5098before, but still more destructively. While honest people dreamt of reconciliation these
5099perjured criminals were making preparations for a revolution.
5100Naturally I was distressed at the half-measures which were adopted at that time; but I
5101never thought it possible that the final consequences could have been so disastrous?
5102But what should have been done then? Throw the ringleaders into gaol, prosecute them
5103and rid the nation of them? Uncompromising military measures should have been
5104adopted to root out the evil. Parties should have been abolished and the Reichstag
5105brought to its senses at the point of the bayonet, if necessary. It would have been still
5106better if the Reichstag had been dissolved immediately. Just as the Republic to-day
5107dissolves the parties when it wants to, so in those days there was even more justification
5108for applying that measure, seeing that the very existence of the nation was at stake. Of
5109course this suggestion would give rise to the question: Is it possible to eradicate ideas
5110by force of arms? Could a WELTANSCHAUUNG be attacked by means of physical
5111force?
5112At that time I turned these questions over and over again in my mind. By studying
5113analogous cases, exemplified in history, particularly those which had arisen from
5114religious circumstances, I came to the following fundamental conclusion:
5115Ideas and philosophical systems as well as movements grounded on a definite spiritual
5116foundation, whether true or not, can never be broken by the use of force after a certain
5117stage, except on one condition: namely, that this use of force is in the service of a new
5118idea or WELTANSCHAUUNG which burns with a new flame.
5119The application of force alone, without moral support based on a spiritual concept, can
5120never bring about the destruction of an idea or arrest the propagation of it, unless one is
5121ready and able ruthlessly to exterminate the last upholders of that idea even to a man,
5122and also wipe out any tradition which it may tend to leave behind. Now in the majority
5123of cases the result of such a course has been to exclude such a State, either temporarily
5124or for ever, from the comity of States that are of political significance; but experience has
5125also shown that such a sanguinary method of extirpation arouses the better section of
5126the population under the persecuting power. As a matter of fact, every persecution 
5127which has no spiritual motives to support it is morally unjust and raises opposition
5128among the best elements of the population; so much so that these are driven more and
5129more to champion the ideas that are unjustly persecuted. With many individuals this
5130arises from the sheer spirit of opposition to every attempt at suppressing spiritual
5131things by brute force.
5132In this way the number of convinced adherents of the persecuted doctrine increases as
5133the persecution progresses. Hence the total destruction of a new doctrine can be
5134accomplished only by a vast plan of extermination; but this, in the final analysis, means
5135the loss of some of the best blood in a nation or State. And that blood is then avenged,
5136because such an internal and total clean-up brings about the collapse of the nation's
5137strength. And such a procedure is always condemned to futility from the very start if
5138the attacked doctrine should happen to have spread beyond a small circle.
5139That is why in this case, as with all other growths, the doctrine can be exterminated in
5140its earliest stages. As time goes on its powers of resistance increase, until at the
5141approach of age it gives way to younger elements, but under another form and from
5142other motives.
5143The fact remains that nearly all attempts to exterminate a doctrine, without having
5144some spiritual basis of attack against it, and also to wipe out all the organizations it has
5145created, have led in many cases to the very opposite being achieved; and that for the
5146following reasons:
5147When sheer force is used to combat the spread of a doctrine, then that force must be
5148employed systematically and persistently. This means that the chances of success in the
5149suppression of a doctrine lie only in the persistent and uniform application of the
5150methods chosen. The moment hesitation is shown, and periods of tolerance alternate
5151with the application of force, the doctrine against which these measures are directed
5152will not only recover strength but every successive persecution will bring to its support
5153new adherents who have been shocked by the oppressive methods employed. The old
5154adherents will become more embittered and their allegiance will thereby be
5155strengthened. Therefore when force is employed success is dependent on the consistent
5156manner in which it is used. This persistence, however, is nothing less than the product
5157of definite spiritual convictions. Every form of force that is not supported by a spiritual
5158backing will be always indecisive and uncertain. Such a force lacks the stability that can
5159be found only in a WELTANSCHAUUNG which has devoted champions. Such a force
5160is the expression of the individual energies; therefore it is from time to time dependent
5161on the change of persons in whose hands it is employed and also on their characters
5162and capacities.
5163But there is something else to be said: Every WELTANSCHAUUNG, whether religious
5164or political--and it is sometimes difficult to say where the one ends and the other 
5165begins--fights not so much for the negative destruction of the opposing world of ideas
5166as for the positive realization of its own ideas. Thus its struggle lies in attack rather than
5167in defence. It has the advantage of knowing where its objective lies, as this objective
5168represents the realization of its own ideas. Inversely, it is difficult to say when the
5169negative aim for the destruction of a hostile doctrine is reached and secured. For this
5170reason alone a WELTANSCHAUUNG which is of an aggressive character is more
5171definite in plan and more powerful and decisive in action than a
5172WELTANSCHAUUNG which takes up a merely defensive attitude. If force be used to
5173combat a spiritual power, that force remains a defensive measure only so long as the
5174wielders of it are not the standard-bearers and apostles of a new spiritual doctrine.
5175To sum up, the following must be borne in mind: That every attempt to combat a
5176WELTANSCHAUUNG by means of force will turn out futile in the end if the struggle
5177fails to take the form of an offensive for the establishment of an entirely new spiritual
5178order of' things. It is only in the struggle between two Weltan-schauungen that physical
5179force, consistently and ruthlessly applied, will eventually turn the scales in its own
5180favour. It was here that the fight against Marxism had hitherto failed.
5181This was also the reason why Bismarck's anti-socialist legislation failed and was bound
5182to fail in the long run, despite everything. It lacked the basis of a new
5183WELTANSCHAUUNG for whose development and extension the struggle might have
5184been taken up. To say that the serving up of drivel about a so-called 'State-Authority' or
5185'Law-and-Order' was an adequate foundation for the spiritual driving force in a life-ordeath
5186struggle is only what one would expect to hear from the wiseacres in high official
5187positions.
5188It was because there were no adequate spiritual motives back of this offensive that
5189Bismarck was compelled to hand over the administration of his socialist legislative
5190measures to the judgment and approval of those circles which were themselves the
5191product of the Marxist teaching. Thus a very ludicrous state of affairs prevailed when
5192the Iron Chancellor surrendered the fate of his struggle against Marxism to the goodwill
5193of the bourgeois democracy. He left the goat to take care of the garden. But this was
5194only the necessary result of the failure to find a fundamentally new
5195WELTANSCHAUUNG which would attract devoted champions to its cause and could
5196be established on the ground from which Marxism had been driven out. And thus the
5197result of the Bismarckian campaign was deplorable.
5198During the World War, or at the beginning of it, were the conditions any different?
5199Unfortunately, they were not.
5200The more I then pondered over the necessity for a change in the attitude of the
5201executive government towards Social-Democracy, as the incorporation of contemporary
5202Marxism, the more I realized the want of a practical substitute for this doctrine. 
5203Supposing Social-Democracy were overthrown, what had one to offer the masses in its
5204stead? Not a single movement existed which promised any success in attracting vast
5205numbers of workers who would be now more or less without leaders, and holding
5206these workers in its train. It is nonsensical to imagine that the international fanatic who
5207has just severed his connection with a class party would forthwith join a bourgeois
5208party, or, in other words, another class organization. For however unsatisfactory these
5209various organizations may appear to be, it cannot be denied that bourgeois politicians
5210look on the distinction between classes as a very important factor in social life, provided
5211it does not turn out politically disadvantageous to them. If they deny this fact they show
5212themselves not only impudent but also mendacious.
5213Generally speaking, one should guard against considering the broad masses more
5214stupid than they really are. In political matters it frequently happens that feeling judges
5215more correctly than intellect. But the opinion that this feeling on the part of the masses
5216is sufficient proof of their stupid international attitude can be immediately and
5217definitely refuted by the simple fact that pacifist democracy is no less fatuous, though it
5218draws its supporters almost exclusively from bourgeois circles. As long as millions of
5219citizens daily gulp down what the social-democratic Press tells them, it ill becomes the
5220'Masters' to joke at the expense of the 'Comrades'; for in the long run they all swallow
5221the same hash, even though it be dished up with different spices. In both cases the cook
5222is one and the same--the Jew.
5223One should be careful about contradicting established facts. It is an undeniable fact that
5224the class question has nothing to do with questions concerning ideals, though that dope
5225is administered at election time. Class arrogance among a large section of our people, as
5226well as a prevailing tendency to look down on the manual labourer, are obvious facts
5227and not the fancies of some day-dreamer. Nevertheless it only illustrates the mentality
5228of our so-called intellectual circles, that they have not yet grasped the fact that
5229circumstances which are incapable of preventing the growth of such a plague as
5230Marxism are certainly not capable of restoring what has been lost.
5231The bourgeois' parties--a name coined by themselves--will never again be able to win
5232over and hold the proletarian masses in their train. That is because two worlds stand
5233opposed to one another here, in part naturally and in part artificially divided. These
5234two camps have one leading thought, and that is that they must fight one another. But
5235in such a fight the younger will come off victorious; and that is Marxism.
5236In 1914 a fight against Social-Democracy was indeed quite conceivable. But the lack of
5237any practical substitute made it doubtful how long the fight could be kept up. In this
5238respect there was a gaping void.
5239Long before the War I was of the same opinion and that was the reason why I could not
5240decide to join any of the parties then existing. During the course of the World War my 
5241conviction was still further confirmed by the manifest impossibility of fighting SocialDemocracy
5242in anything like a thorough way: because for that purpose there should
5243have been a movement that was something more than a mere 'parliamentary' party, and
5244there was none such.
5245I frequently discussed that want with my intimate comrades. And it was then that I first
5246conceived the idea of taking up political work later on. As I have often assured my
5247friends, it was just this that induced me to become active on the public hustings after
5248the War, in addition to my professional work. And I am sure that this decision was
5249arrived at after much earnest thought. 
5250Notes
5251[Note 11. The Second Infantry Bavarian Regiment, in which Hitler served as a
5252volunteer.] 
5253Chapter 6
5254War Propaganda
5255IN WATCHING the course of political events I was always struck by the active part
5256which propaganda played in them. I saw that it was an instrument, which the Marxist
5257Socialists knew how to handle in a masterly way and how to put it to practical uses.
5258Thus I soon came to realize that the right use of propaganda was an art in itself and that
5259this art was practically unknown to our bourgeois parties. The Christian-Socialist Party
5260alone, especially in Lueger's time, showed a certain efficiency in the employment of this
5261instrument and owed much of their success to it.
5262It was during the War, however, that we had the best chance of estimating the
5263tremendous results which could be obtained by a propagandist system properly carried
5264out. Here again, unfortunately, everything was left to the other side, the work done on
5265our side being worse than insignificant. It was the total failure of the whole German
5266system of information--a failure which was perfectly obvious to every soldier--that
5267urged me to consider the problem of propaganda in a comprehensive way. I had ample
5268opportunity to learn a practical lesson in this matter; for unfortunately it was only too
5269well taught us by the enemy. The lack on our side was exploited by the enemy in such
5270an efficient manner that one could say it showed itself as a real work of genius. In that
5271propaganda carried on by the enemy I found admirable sources of instruction. The
5272lesson to be learned from this had unfortunately no attraction for the geniuses on our
5273own side. They were simply above all such things, too clever to accept any teaching.
5274Anyhow they did not honestly wish to learn anything.
5275Had we any propaganda at all? Alas, I can reply only in the negative. All that was
5276undertaken in this direction was so utterly inadequate and misconceived from the very
5277beginning that not only did it prove useless but at times harmful. In substance it was
5278insufficient. Psychologically it was all wrong. Anybody who had carefully investigated
5279the German propaganda must have formed that judgment of it. Our people did not
5280seem to be clear even about the primary question itself: Whether propaganda is a means
5281or an end?
5282Propaganda is a means and must, therefore, be judged in relation to the end it is
5283intended to serve. It must be organized in such a way as to be capable of attaining its
5284objective. And, as it is quite clear that the importance of the objective may vary from the 
5285standpoint of general necessity, the essential internal character of the propaganda must
5286vary accordingly. The cause for which we fought during the War was the noblest and
5287highest that man could strive for. We were fighting for the freedom and independence
5288of our country, for the security of our future welfare and the honour of the nation.
5289Despite all views to the contrary, this honour does actually exist, or rather it will have to
5290exist; for a nation without honour will sooner or later lose its freedom and
5291independence. This is in accordance with the ruling of a higher justice, for a generation
5292of poltroons is not entitled to freedom. He who would be a slave cannot have honour;
5293for such honour would soon become an object of general scorn.
5294Germany was waging war for its very existence. The purpose of its war propaganda
5295should have been to strengthen the fighting spirit in that struggle and help it to victory.
5296But when nations are fighting for their existence on this earth, when the question of 'to
5297be or not to be' has to be answered, then all humane and aesthetic considerations must
5298be set aside; for these ideals do not exist of themselves somewhere in the air but are the
5299product of man's creative imagination and disappear when he disappears. Nature
5300knows nothing of them. Moreover, they are characteristic of only a small number of
5301nations, or rather of races, and their value depends on the measure in which they spring
5302from the racial feeling of the latter. Humane and aesthetic ideals will disappear from the
5303inhabited earth when those races disappear which are the creators and standard-bearers
5304of them.
5305All such ideals are only of secondary importance when a nation is struggling for its
5306existence. They must be prevented from entering into the struggle the moment they
5307threaten to weaken the stamina of the nation that is waging war. That is always the only
5308visible effect whereby their place in the struggle is to be judged.
5309In regard to the part played by humane feeling, Moltke stated that in time of war the
5310essential thing is to get a decision as quickly as possible and that the most ruthless
5311methods of fighting are at the same time the most humane. When people attempt to
5312answer this reasoning by highfalutin talk about aesthetics, etc., only one answer can be
5313given. It is that the vital questions involved in the struggle of a nation for its existence
5314must not be subordinated to any aesthetic considerations. The yoke of slavery is and
5315always will remain the most unpleasant experience that mankind can endure. Do the
5316Schwabing (Note 12) decadents look upon Germany's lot to-day as 'aesthetic'? Of
5317course, one doesn't discuss such a question with the Jews, because they are the modern
5318inventors of this cultural perfume. Their very existence is an incarnate denial of the
5319beauty of God's image in His creation.
5320Since these ideas of what is beautiful and humane have no place in warfare, they are not
5321to be used as standards of war propaganda. 
5322During the War, propaganda was a means to an end. And this end was the struggle for
5323existence of the German nation. Propaganda, therefore, should have been regarded
5324from the standpoint of its utility for that purpose. The most cruel weapons were then
5325the most humane, provided they helped towards a speedier decision; and only those
5326methods were good and beautiful which helped towards securing the dignity and
5327freedom of the nation. Such was the only possible attitude to adopt towards war
5328propaganda in the life-or-death struggle.
5329If those in what are called positions of authority had realized this there would have
5330been no uncertainty about the form and employment of war propaganda as a weapon;
5331for it is nothing but a weapon, and indeed a most terrifying weapon in the hands of
5332those who know how to use it.
5333The second question of decisive importance is this: To whom should propaganda be
5334made to appeal? To the educated intellectual classes? Or to the less intellectual?
5335Propaganda must always address itself to the broad masses of the people. For the
5336intellectual classes, or what are called the intellectual classes to-day, propaganda is not
5337suited, but only scientific exposition. Propaganda has as little to do with science as an
5338advertisement poster has to do with art, as far as concerns the form in which it presents
5339its message. The art of the advertisement poster consists in the ability of the designer to
5340attract the attention of the crowd through the form and colours he chooses. The
5341advertisement poster announcing an exhibition of art has no other aim than to convince
5342the public of the importance of the exhibition. The better it does that, the better is the art
5343of the poster as such. Being meant accordingly to impress upon the public the meaning
5344of the exposition, the poster can never take the place of the artistic objects displayed in
5345the exposition hall. They are something entirely different. Therefore. those who wish to
5346study the artistic display must study something that is quite different from the poster;
5347indeed for that purpose a mere wandering through the exhibition galleries is of no use.
5348The student of art must carefully and thoroughly study each exhibit in order slowly to
5349form a judicious opinion about it.
5350The situation is the same in regard to what we understand by the word, propaganda.
5351The purpose of propaganda is not the personal instruction of the individual, but rather
5352to attract public attention to certain things, the importance of which can be brought
5353home to the masses only by this means.
5354Here the art of propaganda consists in putting a matter so clearly and forcibly before
5355the minds of the people as to create a general conviction regarding the reality of a
5356certain fact, the necessity of certain things and the just character of something that is
5357essential. But as this art is not an end in itself and because its purpose must be exactly
5358that of the advertisement poster, to attract the attention of the masses and not by any
5359means to dispense individual instructions to those who already have an educated 
5360opinion on things or who wish to form such an opinion on grounds of objective study--
5361because that is not the purpose of propaganda, it must appeal to the feelings of the
5362public rather than to their reasoning powers.
5363All propaganda must be presented in a popular form and must fix its intellectual level
5364so as not to be above the heads of the least intellectual of those to whom it is directed.
5365Thus its purely intellectual level will have to be that of the lowest mental common
5366denominator among the public it is desired to reach. When there is question of bringing
5367a whole nation within the circle of its influence, as happens in the case of war
5368propaganda, then too much attention cannot be paid to the necessity of avoiding a high
5369level, which presupposes a relatively high degree of intelligence among the public.
5370The more modest the scientific tenor of this propaganda and the more it is addressed
5371exclusively to public sentiment, the more decisive will be its success. This is the best test
5372of the value of a propaganda, and not the approbation of a small group of intellectuals
5373or artistic people.
5374The art of propaganda consists precisely in being able to awaken the imagination of the
5375public through an appeal to their feelings, in finding the appropriate psychological
5376form that will arrest the attention and appeal to the hearts of the national masses. That
5377this is not understood by those among us whose wits are supposed to have been
5378sharpened to the highest pitch is only another proof of their vanity or mental inertia.
5379Once we have understood how necessary it is to concentrate the persuasive forces of
5380propaganda on the broad masses of the people, the following lessons result therefrom:
5381That it is a mistake to organize the direct propaganda as if it were a manifold system of
5382scientific instruction.
5383The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted, and their understanding is
5384feeble. On the other hand, they quickly forget. Such being the case, all effective
5385propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as
5386far as possible in stereotyped formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated
5387until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward. If
5388this principle be forgotten and if an attempt be made to be abstract and general, the
5389propaganda will turn out ineffective; for the public will not be able to digest or retain
5390what is offered to them in this way. Therefore, the greater the scope of the message that
5391has to be presented, the more necessary it is for the propaganda to discover that plan of
5392action which is psychologically the most efficient.
5393It was, for example, a fundamental mistake to ridicule the worth of the enemy as the
5394Austrian and German comic papers made a chief point of doing in their propaganda.
5395The very principle here is a mistaken one; for, when they came face to face with the 
5396enemy, our soldiers had quite a different impression. Therefore, the mistake had
5397disastrous results. Once the German soldier realised what a tough enemy he had to
5398fight he felt that he had been deceived by the manufacturers of the information which
5399had been given him. Therefore, instead of strengthening and stimulating his fighting
5400spirit, this information had quite the contrary effect. Finally he lost heart.
5401On the other hand, British and American war propaganda was psychologically efficient.
5402By picturing the Germans to their own people as Barbarians and Huns, they were
5403preparing their soldiers for the horrors of war and safeguarding them against illusions.
5404The most terrific weapons which those soldiers encountered in the field merely
5405confirmed the information that they had already received and their belief in the truth of
5406the assertions made by their respective governments was accordingly reinforced. Thus
5407their rage and hatred against the infamous foe was increased. The terrible havoc caused
5408by the German weapons of war was only another illustration of the Hunnish brutality
5409of those barbarians; whereas on the side of the Entente no time was left the soldiers to
5410meditate on the similar havoc which their own weapons were capable of. Thus the
5411British soldier was never allowed to feel that the information which he received at home
5412was untrue. Unfortunately the opposite was the case with the Germans, who finally
5413wound up by rejecting everything from home as pure swindle and humbug. This result
5414was made possible because at home they thought that the work of propaganda could be
5415entrusted to the first ass that came along, braying of his own special talents, and they
5416had no conception of the fact that propaganda demands the most skilled brains that can
5417be found.
5418Thus the German war propaganda afforded us an incomparable example of how the
5419work of 'enlightenment' should not be done and how such an example was the result of
5420an entire failure to take any psychological considerations whatsoever into account.
5421From the enemy, however, a fund of valuable knowledge could be gained by those who
5422kept their eyes open, whose powers of perception had not yet become sclerotic, and
5423who during four-and-a-half years had to experience the perpetual flood of enemy
5424propaganda.
5425The worst of all was that our people did not understand the very first condition which
5426has to be fulfilled in every kind of propaganda; namely, a systematically one-sided
5427attitude towards every problem that has to be dealt with. In this regard so many errors
5428were committed, even from the very beginning of the war, that it was justifiable to
5429doubt whether so much folly could be attributed solely to the stupidity of people in
5430higher quarters.
5431What, for example, should we say of a poster which purported to advertise some new
5432brand of soap by insisting on the excellent qualities of the competitive brands? We
5433should naturally shake our heads. And it ought to be just the same in a similar kind of 
5434political advertisement. The aim of propaganda is not to try to pass judgment on
5435conflicting rights, giving each its due, but exclusively to emphasize the right which we
5436are asserting. Propaganda must not investigate the truth objectively and, in so far as it is
5437favourable to the other side, present it according to the theoretical rules of justice; yet it
5438must present only that aspect of the truth which is favourable to its own side.
5439It was a fundamental mistake to discuss the question of who was responsible for the
5440outbreak of the war and declare that the sole responsibility could not be attributed to
5441Germany. The sole responsibility should have been laid on the shoulders of the enemy,
5442without any discussion whatsoever.
5443And what was the consequence of these half-measures? The broad masses of the people
5444are not made up of diplomats or professors of public jurisprudence nor simply of
5445persons who are able to form reasoned judgment in given cases, but a vacillating crowd
5446of human children who are constantly wavering between one idea and another. As soon
5447as our own propaganda made the slightest suggestion that the enemy had a certain
5448amount of justice on his side, then we laid down the basis on which the justice of our
5449own cause could be questioned. The masses are not in a position to discern where the
5450enemy's fault ends and where our own begins. In such a case they become hesitant and
5451distrustful, especially when the enemy does not make the same mistake but heaps all
5452the blame on his adversary. Could there be any clearer proof of this than the fact that
5453finally our own people believed what was said by the enemy's propaganda, which was
5454uniform and consistent in its assertions, rather than what our own propaganda said?
5455And that, of course, was increased by the mania for objectivity which addicts our
5456people. Everybody began to be careful about doing an injustice to the enemy, even at
5457the cost of seriously injuring, and even ruining his own people and State.
5458Naturally the masses were not conscious of the fact that those in authority had failed to
5459study the subject from this angle.
5460The great majority of a nation is so feminine in its character and outlook that its thought
5461and conduct are ruled by sentiment rather than by sober reasoning. This sentiment,
5462however, is not complex, but simple and consistent. It is not highly differentiated, but
5463has only the negative and positive notions of love and hatred, right and wrong, truth
5464and falsehood. Its notions are never partly this and partly that. English propaganda
5465especially understood this in a marvellous way and put what they understood into
5466practice. They allowed no half-measures which might have given rise to some doubt.
5467Proof of how brilliantly they understood that the feeling of the masses is something
5468primitive was shown in their policy of publishing tales of horror and outrages which
5469fitted in with the real horrors of the time, thereby cleverly and ruthlessly preparing the
5470ground for moral solidarity at the front, even in times of great defeats. Further, the way
5471in which they pilloried the German enemy as solely responsible for the war--which was 
5472a brutal and absolute falsehood--and the way in which they proclaimed his guilt was
5473excellently calculated to reach the masses, realizing that these are always extremist in
5474their feelings. And thus it was that this atrocious lie was positively believed.
5475The effectiveness of this kind of propaganda is well illustrated by the fact that after
5476four-and-a-half years, not only was the enemy still carrying on his propagandist work,
5477but it was already undermining the stamina of our people at home.
5478That our propaganda did not achieve similar results is not to be wondered at, because it
5479had the germs of inefficiency lodged in its very being by reason of its ambiguity. And
5480because of the very nature of its content one could not expect it to make the necessary
5481impression on the masses. Only our feckless 'statesmen' could have imagined that on
5482pacifists slops of such a kind the enthusiasm could be nourished which is necessary to
5483enkindle that spirit which leads men to die for their country.
5484And so this product of ours was not only worthless but detrimental.
5485No matter what an amount of talent employed in the organization of propaganda, it
5486will have no result if due account is not taken of these fundamental principles.
5487Propaganda must be limited to a few simple themes and these must be represented
5488again and again. Here, as in innumerable other cases, perseverance is the first and most
5489important condition of success.
5490Particularly in the field of propaganda, placid aesthetes and blase intellectuals should
5491never be allowed to take the lead. The former would readily transform the impressive
5492character of real propaganda into something suitable only for literary tea parties. As to
5493the second class of people, one must always beware of this pest; for, in consequence of
5494their insensibility to normal impressions, they are constantly seeking new excitements.
5495Such people grow sick and tired of everything. They always long for change and will
5496always be incapable of putting themselves in the position of picturing the wants of their
5497less callous fellow-creatures in their immediate neighbourhood, let alone trying to
5498understand them. The blase intellectuals are always the first to criticize propaganda, or
5499rather its message, because this appears to them to be outmoded and trivial. They are
5500always looking for something new, always yearning for change; and thus they become
5501the mortal enemies of every effort that may be made to influence the masses in an
5502effective way. The moment the organization and message of a propagandist movement
5503begins to be orientated according to their tastes it becomes incoherent and scattered.
5504It is not the purpose of propaganda to create a series of alterations in sentiment with a
5505view to pleasing these blase gentry. Its chief function is to convince the masses, whose
5506slowness of understanding needs to be given time in order that they may absorb 
5507information; and only constant repetition will finally succeed in imprinting an idea on
5508the memory of the crowd.
5509Every change that is made in the subject of a propagandist message must always
5510emphasize the same conclusion. The leading slogan must of course be illustrated in
5511many ways and from several angles, but in the end one must always return to the
5512assertion of the same formula. In this way alone can propaganda be consistent and
5513dynamic in its effects.
5514Only by following these general lines and sticking to them steadfastly, with uniform
5515and concise emphasis, can final success be reached. Then one will be rewarded by the
5516surprising and almost incredible results that such a persistent policy secures.
5517The success of any advertisement, whether of a business or political nature, depends on
5518the consistency and perseverance with which it is employed.
5519In this respect also the propaganda organized by our enemies set us an excellent
5520example. It confined itself to a few themes, which were meant exclusively for mass
5521consumption, and it repeated these themes with untiring perseverance. Once these
5522fundamental themes and the manner of placing them before the world were recognized
5523as effective, they adhered to them without the slightest alteration for the whole duration
5524of the War. At first all of it appeared to be idiotic in its impudent assertiveness. Later on
5525it was looked upon as disturbing, but finally it was believed.
5526But in England they came to understand something further: namely, that the possibility
5527of success in the use of this spiritual weapon consists in the mass employment of it, and
5528that when employed in this way it brings full returns for the large expenses incurred.
5529In England propaganda was regarded as a weapon of the first order, whereas with us it
5530represented the last hope of a livelihood for our unemployed politicians and a snug job
5531for shirkers of the modest hero type.
5532Taken all in all, its results were negative. 
5533Notes
5534[Note 12. Schwabing is the artistic quarter in Munich where artists have their studios
5535and litterateurs, especially of the Bohemian class, foregather.] 
5536Chapter 7
5537The Revolution
5538IN 1915 the enemy started his propaganda among our soldiers. From 1916 onwards it
5539steadily became more intensive, and at the beginning of 1918 it had swollen into a storm
5540flood. One could now judge the effects of this proselytizing movement step by step.
5541Gradually our soldiers began to think just in the way the enemy wished them to think.
5542On the German side there was no counter-propaganda.
5543At that time the army authorities, under our able and resolute Commander, were
5544willing and ready to take up the fight in the propaganda domain also, but unfortunately
5545they did not have the necessary means to carry that intention into effect. Moreover, the
5546army authorities would have made a psychological mistake had they undertaken this
5547task of mental training. To be efficacious it had come from the home front. For only thus
5548could it be successful among men who for nearly four years now had been performing
5549immortal deeds of heroism and undergoing all sorts of privations for the sake of that
5550home. But what were the people at home doing? Was their failure to act merely due to
5551unintelligence or bad faith?
5552In the midsummer of 1918, after the evacuation of the southern bank of the hearne, the
5553German Press adopted a policy which was so woefully inopportune, and even
5554criminally stupid, that I used to ask myself a question which made me more and more
5555furious day after day: Is it really true that we have nobody who will dare to put an end
5556to this process of spiritual sabotage which is being carried on among our heroic troops?
5557What happened in France during those days of 1914, when our armies invaded that
5558country and were marching in triumph from one victory to another? What happened in
5559Italy when their armies collapsed on the Isonzo front? What happened in France again
5560during the spring of 1918, when German divisions took the main French positions by
5561storm and heavy long-distance artillery bombarded Paris?
5562How they whipped up the flagging courage of those troops who were retreating and
5563fanned the fires of national enthusiasm among them! How their propaganda and their
5564marvellous aptitude in the exercise of mass-influence reawakened the fighting spirit in
5565that broken front and hammered into the heads of the soldiers a, firm belief in final
5566victory! 
5567Meanwhile, what were our people doing in this sphere? Nothing, or even worse than
5568nothing. Again and again I used to become enraged and indignant as I read the latest
5569papers and realized the nature of the mass-murder they were committing: through their
5570influence on the minds of the people and the soldiers. More than once I was tormented
5571by the thought that if Providence had put the conduct of German propaganda into my
5572hands, instead of into the hands of those incompetent and even criminal ignoramuses
5573and weaklings, the outcome of the struggle might have been different.
5574During those months I felt for the first time that Fate was dealing adversely with me in
5575keeping me on the fighting front and in a position where any chance bullet from some
5576nigger or other might finish me, whereas I could have done the Fatherland a real service
5577in another sphere. For I was then presumptuous enough to believe that I would have
5578been successful in managing the propaganda business.
5579But I was a being without a name, one among eight millions. Hence it was better for me
5580to keep my mouth shut and do my duty as well as I could in the position to which I had
5581been assigned.
5582In the summer of 1915 the first enemy leaflets were dropped on our trenches. They all
5583told more or less the same story, with some variations in the form of it. The story was
5584that distress was steadily on the increase in Germany; that the War would last
5585indefinitely; that the prospect of victory for us was becoming fainter day after day; that
5586the people at home were yearning for peace, but that 'Militarism' and the 'Kaiser' would
5587not permit it; that the world--which knew this very well--was not waging war against
5588the German people but only against the man who was exclusively responsible, the
5589Kaiser; that until this enemy of world-peace was removed there could be no end to the
5590conflict; but that when the War was over the liberal and democratic nations would
5591receive the Germans as colleagues in the League for World Peace. This would be done
5592the moment 'Prussian Militarism' had been finally destroyed.
5593To illustrate and substantiate all these statements, the leaflets very often contained
5594'Letters from Home', the contents of which appeared to confirm the enemy's
5595propagandist message.
5596Generally speaking, we only laughed at all these efforts. The leaflets were read, sent to
5597base headquarters, then forgotten until a favourable wind once again blew a fresh
5598contingent into the trenches. These were mostly dropped from aeroplanes which were
5599used specially for that purpose.
5600One feature of this propaganda was very striking. It was that in sections where
5601Bavarian troops were stationed every effort was made by the enemy propagandists to
5602stir up feeling against the Prussians, assuring the soldiers that Prussia and Prussia alone 
5603was the guilty party who was responsible for bringing on and continuing the War, and
5604that there was no hostility whatsoever towards the Bavarians; but that there could be no
5605possibility of coming to their assistance so long as they continued to serve Prussian
5606interests and helped to pull the Prussian chestnuts out of the fire.
5607This persistent propaganda began to have a real influence on our soldiers in 1915. The
5608feeling against Prussia grew quite noticeable among the Bavarian troops, but those in
5609authority did nothing to counteract it. This was something more than a mere crime of
5610omission; for sooner or later not only the Prussians were bound to have to atone
5611severely for it but the whole German nation and consequently the Bavarians themselves
5612also.
5613In this direction the enemy propaganda began to achieve undoubted success from 1916
5614onwards.
5615In a similar way letters coming directly from home had long since been exercising their
5616effect. There was now no further necessity for the enemy to broadcast such letters in
5617leaflet form. And also against this influence from home nothing was done except a few
5618supremely stupid 'warnings' uttered by the executive government. The whole front was
5619drenched in this poison which thoughtless women at home sent out, without suspecting
5620for a moment that the enemy's chances of final victory were thus strengthened or that
5621the sufferings of their own men at the front were thus being prolonged and rendered
5622more severe. These stupid letters written by German women eventually cost the lives of
5623hundreds of thousands of our men.
5624Thus in 1916 several distressing phenomena were already manifest. The whole front
5625was complaining and grousing, discontented over many things and often justifiably so.
5626While they were hungry and yet patient, and their relatives at home were in distress, in
5627other quarters there was feasting and revelry. Yes; even on the front itself everything
5628was not as it ought to have been in this regard.
5629Even in the early stages of the war the soldiers were sometimes prone to complain; but
5630such criticism was confined to 'internal affairs'. The man who at one moment groused
5631and grumbled ceased his murmur after a few moments and went about his duty
5632silently, as if everything were in order. The company which had given signs of
5633discontent a moment earlier hung on now to its bit of trench, defending it tooth and
5634nail, as if Germany's fate depended on these few hundred yards of mud and shell-holes.
5635The glorious old army was still at its post. A sudden change in my own fortunes soon
5636placed me in a position where I had first-hand experience of the contrast between this
5637old army and the home front. At the end of September 1916 my division was sent into
5638the Battle of the Somme. For us this was the first of a series of heavy engagements, and
5639the impression created was that of a veritable inferno, rather than war. Through weeks
5640of incessant artillery bombardment we stood firm, at times ceding a little ground but 
5641then taking it back again, and never giving way. On October 7th, 1916, I was wounded
5642but had the luck of being able to get back to our lines and was then ordered to be sent
5643by ambulance train to Germany.
5644Two years had passed since I had left home, an almost endless period in such
5645circumstances. I could hardly imagine what Germans looked like without uniforms. In
5646the clearing hospital at Hermies I was startled when I suddenly heard the voice of a
5647German woman who was acting as nursing sister and talking with one of the wounded
5648men lying near me. Two years! And then this voice for the first time!
5649The nearer our ambulance train approached the German frontier the more restless each
5650one of us became. En route we recognised all these places through which we passed
5651two years before as young volunteers--Brussels, Louvain, Liège--and finally we thought
5652we recognized the first German homestead, with its familiar high gables and
5653picturesque window-shutters. Home!
5654What a change! From the mud of the Somme battlefields to the spotless white beds in
5655this wonderful building. One hesitated at first before entering them. It was only by slow
5656stages that one could grow accustomed to this new world again. But unfortunately
5657there were certain other aspects also in which this new world was different.
5658The spirit of the army at the front appeared to be out of place here. For the first time I
5659encountered something which up to then was unknown at the front: namely, boasting
5660of one's own cowardice. For, though we certainly heard complaining and grousing at
5661the front, this was never in the spirit of any agitation to insubordination and certainly
5662not an attempt to glorify one's fear. No; there at the front a coward was a coward and
5663nothing else, And the contempt which his weakness aroused in the others was quite
5664general, just as the real hero was admired all round. But here in hospital the spirit was
5665quite different in some respects. Loudmouthed agitators were busy here in heaping
5666ridicule on the good soldier and painting the weak-kneed poltroon in glorious colours.
5667A couple of miserable human specimens were the ringleaders in this process of
5668defamation. One of them boasted of having intentionally injured his hand in barbedwire
5669entanglements in order to get sent to hospital. Although his wound was only a
5670slight one, it appeared that he had been here for a very long time and would be here
5671interminably. Some arrangement for him seemed to be worked by some sort of swindle,
5672just as he got sent here in the ambulance train through a swindle. This pestilential
5673specimen actually had the audacity to parade his knavery as the manifestation of a
5674courage which was superior to that of the brave soldier who dies a hero's death. There
5675were many who heard this talk in silence; but there were others who expressed their
5676assent to what the fellow said.
5677Personally I was disgusted at the thought that a seditious agitator of this kind should be
5678allowed to remain in such an institution. What could be done? The hospital authorities 
5679here must have known who and what he was; and actually they did know. But still they
5680did nothing about it.
5681As soon as I was able to walk once again I obtained leave to visit Berlin.
5682Bitter want was in evidence everywhere. The metropolis, with its teeming millions, was
5683suffering from hunger. The talk that was current in the various places of refreshment
5684and hospices visited by the soldiers was much the same as that in our hospital. The
5685impression given was that these agitators purposely singled out such places in order to
5686spread their views.
5687But in Munich conditions were far worse. After my discharge from hospital, I was sent
5688to a reserve battalion there. I felt as in some strange town. Anger, discontent, complaints
5689met one's ears wherever one went. To a certain extent this was due to the infinitely
5690maladroit manner in which the soldiers who had returned from the front were treated
5691by the non-commissioned officers who had never seen a day's active service and who
5692on that account were partly incapable of adopting the proper attitude towards the old
5693soldiers. Naturally those old soldiers displayed certain characteristics which had been
5694developed from the experiences in the trenches. The officers of the reserve units could
5695not understand these peculiarities, whereas the officer home from active service was at
5696least in a position to understand them for himself. As a result he received more respect
5697from the men than officers at the home headquarters. But, apart from all this, the
5698general spirit was deplorable. The art of shirking was looked upon as almost a proof of
5699higher intelligence, and devotion to duty was considered a sign of weakness or bigotry.
5700Government offices were staffed by Jews. Almost every clerk was a Jew and every Jew
5701was a clerk. I was amazed at this multitude of combatants who belonged to the chosen
5702people and could not help comparing it with their slender numbers in the fighting lines.
5703In the business world the situation was even worse. Here the Jews had actually become
5704'indispensable'. Like leeches, they were slowly sucking the blood from the pores of the
5705national body. By means of newly floated War Companies an instrument had been
5706discovered whereby all national trade was throttled so that no business could be carried
5707on freely
5708Special emphasis was laid on the necessity for unhampered centralization. Hence as
5709early as 1916-17 practically all production was under the control of Jewish finance.
5710But against whom was the anger of the people directed? It was then that I already saw
5711the fateful day approaching which must finally bring the DEBACLE, unless timely
5712preventive measures were taken.
5713While Jewry was busy despoiling the nation and tightening the screws of its despotism,
5714the work of inciting the people against the Prussians increased. And just as nothing was 
5715done at the front to put a stop to the venomous propaganda, so here at home no official
5716steps were taken against it. Nobody seemed capable of understanding that the collapse
5717of Prussia could never bring about the rise of Bavaria. On the contrary, the collapse of
5718the one must necessarily drag the other down with it.
5719This kind of behaviour affected me very deeply. In it I could see only a clever Jewish
5720trick for diverting public attention from themselves to others. While Prussians and
5721Bavarians were squabbling, the Jews were taking away the sustenance of both from
5722under their very noses. While Prussians were being abused in Bavaria the Jews
5723organized the revolution and with one stroke smashed both Prussia and Bavaria.
5724I could not tolerate this execrable squabbling among people of the same German stock
5725and preferred to be at the front once again. Therefore, just after my arrival in Munich I
5726reported myself for service again. At the beginning of March 1917 I rejoined my old
5727regiment at the front.
5728Towards the end of 1917 it seemed as if we had got over the worst phases of moral
5729depression at the front. After the Russian collapse the whole army recovered its courage
5730and hope, and all were gradually becoming more and more convinced that the struggle
5731would end in our favour. We could sing once again. The ravens were ceasing to croak.
5732Faith in the future of the Fatherland was once more in the ascendant.
5733The Italian collapse in the autumn of 1917 had a wonderful effect; for this victory
5734proved that it was possible to break through another front besides the Russian. This
5735inspiring thought now became dominant in the minds of millions at the front and
5736encouraged them to look forward with confidence to the spring of 1918. It was quite
5737obvious that the enemy was in a state of depression. During this winter the front was
5738somewhat quieter than usual. But that was the calm before the storm.
5739Just when preparations were being made to launch a final offensive which would bring
5740this seemingly eternal struggle to an end, while endless columns of transports were
5741bringing men and munitions to the front, and while the men were being trained for that
5742final onslaught, then it was that the greatest act of treachery during the whole War was
5743accomplished in Germany.
5744Germany must not win the War. At that moment when victory seemed ready to alight
5745on the German standards, a conspiracy was arranged for the purpose of striking at the
5746heart of the German spring offensive with one blow from the rear and thus making
5747victory impossible. A general strike in the munition factories was organized.
5748If this conspiracy could achieve its purpose the German front would have collapsed and
5749the wishes of the VORWÄRTS (the organ of the Social-Democratic Party) that this time
5750victory should not take the side of the German banners, would have been fulfilled. For 
5751want of munitions the front would be broken through within a few weeks, the offensive
5752would be effectively stopped and the Entente saved. Then International Finance would
5753assume control over Germany and the internal objective of the Marxist national betrayal
5754would be achieved. That objective was the destruction of the national economic system
5755and the establishment of international capitalistic domination in its stead. And this goal
5756has really been reached, thanks to the stupid credulity of the one side and the
5757unspeakable treachery of the other.
5758The munition strike, however, did not bring the final success that had been hoped for:
5759namely, to starve the front of ammunition. It lasted too short a time for the lack of
5760ammunitions as such to bring disaster to the army, as was originally planned. But the
5761moral damage was much more terrible.
5762In the first place. what was the army fighting for if the people at home did not wish it to
5763be victorious? For whom then were these enormous sacrifices and privations being
5764made and endured? Must the soldiers fight for victory while the home front goes on
5765strike against it?
5766In the second place, what effect did this move have on the enemy?
5767In the winter of 1917-18 dark clouds hovered in the firmament of the Entente. For nearly
5768four years onslaught after onslaught has been made against the German giant, but they
5769failed to bring him to the ground. He had to keep them at bay with one arm that held
5770the defensive shield because his other arm had to be free to wield the sword against his
5771enemies, now in the East and now in the South. But at last these enemies were
5772overcome and his rear was now free for the conflict in the West. Rivers of blood had
5773been shed for the accomplishment of that task; but now the sword was free to combine
5774in battle with the shield on the Western Front. And since the enemy had hitherto failed
5775to break the German defence here, the Germans themselves had now to launch the
5776attack. The enemy feared and trembled before the prospect of this German victory.
5777At Paris and London conferences followed one another in unending series. Even the
5778enemy propaganda encountered difficulties. It was no longer so easy to demonstrate
5779that the prospect of a German victory was hopeless. A prudent silence reigned at the
5780front, even among the troops of the Entente. The insolence of their masters had
5781suddenly subsided. A disturbing truth began to dawn on them. Their opinion of the
5782German soldier had changed. Hitherto they were able to picture him as a kind of fool
5783whose end would be destruction; but now they found themselves face to face with the
5784soldier who had overcome their Russian ally. The policy of restricting the offensive to
5785the East, which had been imposed on the German military authorities by the necessities
5786of the situation, now seemed to the Entente as a tactical stroke of genius. For three years
5787these Germans had been battering away at the Russian front without any apparent
5788success at first. Those fruitless efforts were almost sneered at; for it was thought that in 
5789the long run the Russian giant would triumph through sheer force of numbers.
5790Germany would be worn out through shedding so much blood. And facts appeared to
5791confirm this hope.
5792Since the September days of 1914, when for the first time interminable columns of
5793Russian war prisoners poured into Germany after the Battle of Tannenberg, it seemed
5794as if the stream would never end but that as soon as one army was defeated and routed
5795another would take its place. The supply of soldiers which the gigantic Empire placed
5796at the disposal of the Czar seemed inexhaustible; new victims were always at hand for
5797the holocaust of war. How long could Germany hold out in this competition? Would
5798not the day finally have to come when, after the last victory which the Germans would
5799achieve, there would still remain reserve armies in Russia to be mustered for the final
5800battle? And what then? According to human standards a Russian victory over Germany
5801might be delayed but it would have to come in the long run.
5802All the hopes that had been based on Russia were now lost. The Ally who had sacrificed
5803the most blood on the altar of their mutual interests had come to the end of his
5804resources and lay prostrate before his unrelenting foe. A feeling of terror and dismay
5805came over the Entente soldiers who had hitherto been buoyed up by blind faith. They
5806feared the coming spring. For, seeing that hitherto they had failed to break the Germans
5807when the latter could concentrate only part of the fighting strength on the Western
5808Front, how could they count on victory now that the undivided forces of that amazing
5809land of heroes appeared to be gathered for a massed attack in the West?
5810The shadow of the events which had taken place in South Tyrol, the spectre of General
5811Cadorna's defeated armies, were reflected in the gloomy faces of the Entente troops in
5812Flanders. Faith in victory gave way to fear of defeat to come.
5813Then, on those cold nights, when one almost heard the tread of the German armies
5814advancing to the great assault, and the decision was being awaited in fear and
5815trembling, suddenly a lurid light was set aglow in Germany and sent its rays into the
5816last shell-hole on the enemy's front. At the very moment when the German divisions
5817were receiving their final orders for the great offensive a general strike broke out in
5818Germany.
5819At first the world was dumbfounded. Then the enemy propaganda began activities
5820once again and pounced on this theme at the eleventh hour. All of a sudden a means
5821had come which could be utilized to revive the sinking confidence of the Entente
5822soldiers. The probabilities of victory could now be presented as certain, and the anxious
5823foreboding in regard to coming events could now be transformed into a feeling of
5824resolute assurance. The regiments that had to bear the brunt of the Greatest German
5825onslaught in history could now be inspired with the conviction that the final decision in
5826this war would not be won by the audacity of the German assault but rather by the 
5827powers of endurance on the side of the defence. Let the Germans now have whatever
5828victories they liked, the revolution and not the victorious army was welcomed in the
5829Fatherland.
5830British, French and American newspapers began to spread this belief among their
5831readers while a very ably managed propaganda encouraged the morale of their troops
5832at the front.
5833'Germany Facing Revolution! An Allied Victory Inevitable!' That was the best medicine
5834to set the staggering Poilu and Tommy on their feet once again. Our rifles and machineguns
5835could now open fire once again; but instead of effecting a panic-stricken retreat
5836they were now met with a determined resistance that was full of confidence.
5837That was the result of the strike in the munitions factories. Throughout the enemy
5838countries faith in victory was thus revived and strengthened, and that paralysing
5839feeling of despair which had hitherto made itself felt on the Entente front was banished.
5840Consequently the strike cost the lives of thousands of German soldiers. But the
5841despicable instigators of that dastardly strike were candidates for the highest public
5842positions in the Germany of the Revolution.
5843At first it was apparently possible to overcome the repercussion of these events on the
5844German soldiers, but on the enemy's side they had a lasting effect. Here the resistance
5845had lost all the character of an army fighting for a lost cause. In its place there was now
5846a grim determination to struggle through to victory. For, according to all human rules
5847of judgment, victory would now be assured if the Western front could hold out against
5848the German offensive even for only a few months. The Allied parliaments recognized
5849the possibilities of a better future and voted huge sums of money for the continuation of
5850the propaganda which was employed for the purpose of breaking up the internal
5851cohesion of Germany.
5852It was my luck that I was able to take part in the first two offensives and in the final
5853offensive. These have left on me the most stupendous impressions of my life--
5854stupendous, because now for the last time the struggle lost its defensive character and
5855assumed the character of an offensive, just as it was in 1914. A sigh of relief went up
5856from the German trenches and dug-outs when finally, after three years of endurance in
5857that inferno, the day for the settling of accounts had come. Once again the lusty
5858cheering of victorious battalions was heard, as they hung the last crowns of the
5859immortal laurel on the standards which they consecrated to Victory. Once again the
5860strains of patriotic songs soared upwards to the heavens above the endless columns of
5861marching troops, and for the last time the Lord smiled on his ungrateful children.
5862In the midsummer of 1918 a feeling of sultry oppression hung over the front. At home
5863they were quarrelling. About what? We heard a great deal among various units at the 
5864front. The War was now a hopeless affair, and only the foolhardy could think of victory.
5865It was not the people but the capitalists and the Monarchy who were interested in
5866carrying on. Such were the ideas that came from home and were discussed at the front.
5867At first this gave rise to only very slight reaction. What did universal suffrage matter to
5868us? Is this what we had been fighting for during four years? It was a dastardly piece of
5869robbery thus to filch from the graves of our heroes the ideals for which they had fallen.
5870It was not to the slogan, 'Long Live Universal Suffrage,' that our troops in Flanders once
5871faced certain death but with the cry, 'DEUTSCHLAND ÃœBER ALLES IN DER WELT'. A
5872small but by no means an unimportant difference. And the majority of those who were
5873shouting for this suffrage were absent when it came to fighting for it. All this political
5874rabble were strangers to us at the front. During those days only a fraction of these
5875parliamentarian gentry were to be seen where honest Germans foregathered.
5876The old soldiers who had fought at the front had little liking for those new war aims of
5877Messrs. Ebert, Scheidemann, Barth, Liebknecht and others. We could not understand
5878why, all of a sudden, the shirkers should abrogate all executive powers to themselves,
5879without having any regard to the army.
5880From the very beginning I had my own definite personal views. I intensely loathed the
5881whole gang of miserable party politicians who had betrayed the people. I had long ago
5882realized that the interests of the nation played only a very small part with this
5883disreputable crew and that what counted with them was the possibility of filling their
5884own empty pockets. My opinion was that those people thoroughly deserved to be
5885hanged, because they were ready to sacrifice the peace and if necessary allow Germany
5886to be defeated just to serve their own ends. To consider their wishes would mean to
5887sacrifice the interests of the working classes for the benefit of a gang of thieves. To meet
5888their wishes meant that one should agree to sacrifice Germany.
5889Such, too, was the opinion still held by the majority of the army. But the reinforcements
5890which came from home were fast becoming worse and worse; so much so that their
5891arrival was a source of weakness rather than of strength to our fighting forces. The
5892young recruits in particular were for the most part useless. Sometimes it was hard to
5893believe that they were sons of the same nation that sent its youth into the battles that
5894were fought round Ypres.
5895In August and September the symptoms of moral disintegration increased more and
5896more rapidly, although the enemy's offensive was not at all comparable to the
5897frightfulness of our own former defensive battles. In comparison with this offensive the
5898battles fought on the Somme and in Flanders remained in our memories as the most
5899terrible of all horrors. 
5900At the end of September my division occupied, for the third time, those positions which
5901we had once taken by storm as young volunteers. What a memory!
5902Here we had received our baptism of fire, in October and November 1914. With a
5903burning love of the homeland in their hearts and a song on their lips, our young
5904regiment went into action as if going to a dance. The dearest blood was given freely
5905here in the belief that it was shed to protect the freedom and independence of the
5906Fatherland.
5907In July 1917 we set foot for the second time on what we regarded as sacred soil. Were
5908not our best comrades at rest here, some of them little more than boys--the soldiers who
5909had rushed into death for their country's sake, their eyes glowing with enthusiastic
5910love.
5911The older ones among us, who had been with the regiment from the beginning, were
5912deeply moved as we stood on this sacred spot where we had sworn 'Loyalty and Duty
5913unto Death'. Three years ago the regiment had taken this position by storm; now it was
5914called upon to defend it in a gruelling struggle.
5915With an artillery bombardment that lasted three weeks the English prepared for their
5916great offensive in Flanders. There the spirits of the dead seemed to live again. The
5917regiment dug itself into the mud, clung to its shell-holes and craters, neither flinching
5918nor wavering, but growing smaller in numbers day after day. Finally the British
5919launched their attack on July 31st, 1917.
5920We were relieved in the beginning of August. The regiment had dwindled down to a
5921few companies, who staggered back, mud-crusted, more like phantoms than human
5922beings. Besides a few hundred yards of shell-holes, death was the only reward which
5923the English gained.
5924Now in the autumn of 1918 we stood for the third time on the ground we had stormed
5925in 1914. The village of Comines, which formerly had served us as a base, was now
5926within the fighting zone. Although little had changed in the surrounding district itself,
5927yet the men had become different, somehow or other. They now talked politics. Like
5928everywhere else, the poison from home was having its effect here also. The young
5929drafts succumbed to it completely. They had come directly from home.
5930During the night of October 13th-14th, the British opened an attack with gas on the
5931front south of Ypres. They used the yellow gas whose effect was unknown to us, at least
5932from personal experience. I was destined to experience it that very night. On a hill south
5933of Werwick, in the evening of October 13th, we were subjected for several hours to a
5934heavy bombardment with gas bombs, which continued throughout the night with more
5935or less intensity. About midnight a number of us were put out of action, some for ever. 
5936Towards morning I also began to feel pain. It increased with every quarter of an hour;
5937and about seven o'clock my eyes were scorching as I staggered back and delivered the
5938last dispatch I was destined to carry in this war. A few hours later my eyes were like
5939glowing coals and all was darkness around me.
5940I was sent into hospital at Pasewalk in Pomerania, and there it was that I had to hear of
5941the Revolution.
5942For a long time there had been something in the air which was indefinable and
5943repulsive. People were saying that something was bound to happen within the next few
5944weeks, although I could not imagine what this meant. In the first instance I thought of a
5945strike similar to the one which had taken place in spring. Unfavourable rumours were
5946constantly coming from the Navy, which was said to be in a state of ferment. But this
5947seemed to be a fanciful creation of a few isolated young people. It is true that at the
5948hospital they were all talking abut the end of the war and hoping that this was not far
5949off, but nobody thought that the decision would come immediately. I was not able to
5950read the newspapers.
5951In November the general tension increased. Then one day disaster broke in upon us
5952suddenly and without warning. Sailors came in motor-lorries and called on us to rise in
5953revolt. A few Jew-boys were the leaders in that combat for the 'Liberty, Beauty, and
5954Dignity' of our National Being. Not one of them had seen active service at the front.
5955Through the medium of a hospital for venereal diseases these three Orientals had been
5956sent back home. Now their red rags were being hoisted here.
5957During the last few days I had begun to feel somewhat better. The burning pain in the
5958eye-sockets had become less severe. Gradually I was able to distinguish the general
5959outlines of my immediate surroundings. And it was permissible to hope that at least I
5960would recover my sight sufficiently to be able to take up some profession later on. That
5961I would ever be able to draw or design once again was naturally out of the question.
5962Thus I was on the way to recovery when the frightful hour came.
5963My first thought was that this outbreak of high treason was only a local affair. I tried to
5964enforce this belief among my comrades. My Bavarian hospital mates, in particular, were
5965readily responsive. Their inclinations were anything but revolutionary. I could not
5966imagine this madness breaking out in Munich; for it seemed to me that loyalty to the
5967House of Wittelsbach was, after all, stronger than the will of a few Jews. And so I could
5968not help believing that this was merely a revolt in the Navy and that it would be
5969suppressed within the next few days.
5970With the next few days came the most astounding information of my life. The rumours
5971grew more and more persistent. I was told that what I had considered to be a local affair 
5972was in reality a general revolution. In addition to this, from the front came the shameful
5973news that they wished to capitulate! What! Was such a thing possible?
5974On November 10th the local pastor visited the hospital for the purpose of delivering a
5975short address. And that was how we came to know the whole story.
5976I was in a fever of excitement as I listened to the address. The reverend old gentleman
5977seemed to be trembling when he informed us that the House of Hohen-zollern should
5978no longer wear the Imperial Crown, that the Fatherland had become a 'Republic', that
5979we should pray to the Almighty not to withhold His blessing from the new order of
5980things and not to abandon our people in the days to come. In delivering this message he
5981could not do more than briefly express appreciation of the Royal House, its services to
5982Pomerania, to Prussia, indeed, to the whole of the German Fatherland, and--here he
5983began to weep. A feeling of profound dismay fell on the people in that assembly, and I
5984do not think there was a single eye that withheld its tears. As for myself, I broke down
5985completely when the old gentleman tried to resume his story by informing us that we
5986must now end this long war, because the war was lost, he said, and we were at the
5987mercy of the victor. The Fatherland would have to bear heavy burdens in the future. We
5988were to accept the terms of the Armistice and trust to the magnanimity of our former
5989enemies. It was impossible for me to stay and listen any longer. Darkness surrounded
5990me as I staggered and stumbled back to my ward and buried my aching head between
5991the blankets and pillow.
5992I had not cried since the day that I stood beside my mother's grave. Whenever Fate dealt
5993cruelly with me in my young days the spirit of determination within me grew stronger
5994and stronger. During all those long years of war, when Death claimed many a true
5995friend and comrade from our ranks, to me it would have appeared sinful to have
5996uttered a word of complaint. Did they not die for Germany? And, finally, almost in the
5997last few days of that titanic struggle, when the waves of poison gas enveloped me and
5998began to penetrate my eyes, the thought of becoming permanently blind unnerved me;
5999but the voice of conscience cried out immediately: Poor miserable fellow, will you start
6000howling when there are thousands of others whose lot is a hundred times worse than
6001yours? And so I accepted my misfortune in silence, realizing that this was the only thing
6002to be done and that personal suffering was nothing when compared with the
6003misfortune of one's country.
6004So all had been in vain. In vain all the sacrifices and privations, in vain the hunger and
6005thirst for endless months, in vain those hours that we stuck to our posts though the fear
6006of death gripped our souls, and in vain the deaths of two millions who fell in
6007discharging this duty. Think of those hundreds of thousands who set out with hearts
6008full of faith in their fatherland, and never returned; ought not their graves to open, so
6009that the spirits of those heroes bespattered with mud and blood should come home and
6010take vengeance on those who had so despicably betrayed the greatest sacrifice which a 
6011human being can make for his country? Was it for this that the soldiers died in August
6012and September 1914, for this that the volunteer regiments followed the old comrades in
6013the autumn of the same year? Was it for this that those boys of seventeen years of age
6014were mingled with the earth of Flanders? Was this meant to be the fruits of the sacrifice
6015which German mothers made for their Fatherland when, with heavy hearts, they said
6016good-bye to their sons who never returned? Has all this been done in order to enable a
6017gang of despicable criminals to lay hands on the Fatherland?
6018Was this then what the German soldier struggled for through sweltering heat and
6019blinding snowstorm, enduring hunger and thirst and cold, fatigued from sleepless
6020nights and endless marches? Was it for this that he lived through an inferno of artillery
6021bombardments, lay gasping and choking during gas attacks, neither flinching nor
6022faltering, but remaining staunch to the thought of defending the Fatherland against the
6023enemy? Certainly these heroes also deserved the epitaph:
6024Traveller, when you come to Germany, tell the Homeland that we lie here, true to the
6025Fatherland and faithful to our duty. (Note 13) [Note 13. Here again we have the
6026defenders of Thermopylae recalled as the prototype of German valour in the Great War.
6027Hitler's quotation is a German variant of the couplet inscribed on the monument erected
6028at Thermopylae to the memory of Leonidas and his Spartan soldiers who fell defending
6029the Pass. As given by Herodotus, who claims that he saw the inscription himself, the
6030original text may be literally translated thus:
6031Go, tell the Spartans, thou who passeth by, That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.]
6032And at Home? But--was this the only sacrifice that we had to consider? Was the
6033Germany of the past a country of little worth? Did she not owe a certain duty to her
6034own history? Were we still worthy to partake in the glory of the past? How could we
6035justify this act to future generations?
6036What a gang of despicable and depraved criminals!
6037The more I tried then to glean some definite information of the terrible events that had
6038happened the more my head became afire with rage and shame. What was all the pain I
6039suffered in my eyes compared with this tragedy?
6040The following days were terrible to bear, and the nights still worse. To depend on the
6041mercy of the enemy was a precept which only fools or criminal liars could recommend.
6042During those nights my hatred increased--hatred for the orignators of this dastardly
6043crime.
6044During the following days my own fate became clear to me. I was forced now to scoff at
6045the thought of my personal future, which hitherto had been the cause of so much worry 
6046to me. Was it not ludicrous to think of building up anything on such a foundation?
6047Finally, it also became clear to me that it was the inevitable that had happened,
6048something which I had feared for a long time, though I really did not have the heart to
6049believe it.
6050Emperor William II was the first German Emperor to offer the hand of friendship to the
6051Marxist leaders, not suspecting that they were scoundrels without any sense of honour.
6052While they held the imperial hand in theirs, the other hand was already feeling for the
6053dagger.
6054There is no such thing as coming to an understanding with the Jews. It must be the
6055hard-and-fast 'Either-Or.'
6056For my part I then decided that I would take up political work. 
6057Chapter 8
6058The Beginning Of My Political Activities
6059TOWARDS THE end of November I returned to Munich. I went to the depot of my
6060regiment, which was now in the hands of the 'Soldiers' Councils'. As the whole
6061administration was quite repulsive to me, I decided to leave it as soon as I possibly
6062could. With my faithful war-comrade, Ernst-Schmidt, I came to Traunstein and
6063remained there until the camp was broken up. In March 1919 we were back again in
6064Munich.
6065The situation there could not last as it was. It tended irresistibly to a further extension of
6066the Revolution. Eisner's death served only to hasten this development and finally led to
6067the dictatorship of the Councils--or, to put it more correctly, to a Jewish hegemony,
6068which turned out to be transitory but which was the original aim of those who had
6069contrived the Revolution.
6070At that juncture innumerable plans took shape in my mind. I spent whole days
6071pondering on the problem of what could be done, but unfortunately every project had
6072to give way before the hard fact that I was quite unknown and therefore did not have
6073even the first pre-requisite necessary for effective action. Later on I shall explain the
6074reasons why I could not decide to join any of the parties then in existence.
6075As the new Soviet Revolution began to run its course in Munich my first activities drew
6076upon me the ill-will of the Central Council. In the early morning of April 27th, 1919, I
6077was to have been arrested; but the three fellows who came to arrest me did not have the
6078courage to face my rifle and withdrew just as they had arrived.
6079A few days after the liberation of Munich I was ordered to appear before the Inquiry
6080Commission which had been set up in the 2nd Infantry Regiment for the purpose of
6081watching revolutionary activities. That was my first incursion into the more or less
6082political field.
6083After another few weeks I received orders to attend a course of lectures which were
6084being given to members of the army. This course was meant to inculcate certain
6085fundamental principles on which the soldier could base his political ideas. For me the
6086advantage of this organization was that it gave me a chance of meeting fellow soldiers 
6087who were of the same way of thinking and with whom I could discuss the actual
6088situation. We were all more or less firmly convinced that Germany could not be saved
6089from imminent disaster by those who had participated in the November treachery--that
6090is to say, the Centre and the Social-Democrats; and also that the so-called BourgeoisNational
6091group could not make good the damage that had been done, even if they had
6092the best intentions. They lacked a number of requisites without which such a task could
6093never be successfully undertaken. The years that followed have justified the opinions
6094which we held at that time.
6095In our small circle we discussed the project of forming a new party. The leading ideas
6096which we then proposed were the same as those which were carried into effect
6097afterwards, when the German Labour Party was founded. The name of the new
6098movement which was to be founded should be such that of itself, it would appeal to the
6099mass of the people; for all our efforts would turn out vain and useless if this condition
6100were lacking. And that was the reason why we chose the name 'Social-Revolutionary
6101Party', particularly because the social principles of our new organization were indeed
6102revolutionary.
6103But there was also a more fundamental reason. The attention which I had given to
6104economic problems during my earlier years was more or less confined to considerations
6105arising directly out of the social problem. Subsequently this outlook broadened as I
6106came to study the German policy of the Triple Alliance. This policy was very largely the
6107result of an erroneous valuation of the economic situation, together with a confused
6108notion as to the basis on which the future subsistence of the German people could be
6109guaranteed. All these ideas were based on the principle that capital is exclusively the
6110product of labour and that, just like labour, it was subject to all the factors which can
6111hinder or promote human activity. Hence, from the national standpoint, the significance
6112of capital depended on the greatness and freedom and power of the State, that is to say,
6113of the nation, and that it is this dependence alone which leads capital to promote the
6114interests of the State and the nation, from the instinct of self-preservation and for the
6115sake of its own development.
6116On such principles the attitude of the State towards capital would be comparatively
6117simple and clear. Its only object would be to make sure that capital remained
6118subservient to the State and did not allocate to itself the right to dominate national
6119interests. Thus it could confine its activities within the two following limits: on the one
6120side, to assure a vital and independent system of national economy and, on the other, to
6121safeguard the social rights of the workers.
6122Previously I did not recognize with adequate clearness the difference between capital
6123which is purely the product of creative labour and the existence and nature of capital
6124which is exclusively the result of financial speculation. Here I needed an impulse to set
6125my mind thinking in this direction; but that impulse had hitherto been lacking. 
6126The requisite impulse now came from one of the men who delivered lectures in the
6127course I have already mentioned. This was Gottfried Feder.
6128For the first time in my life I heard a discussion which dealt with the principles of stockexchange
6129capital and capital which was used for loan activities. After hearing the first
6130lecture delivered by Feder, the idea immediately came into my head that I had now
6131found a way to one of the most essential pre-requisites for the founding of a new party.
6132To my mind, Feder's merit consisted in the ruthless and trenchant way in which he
6133described the double character of the capital engaged in stock-exchange and loan
6134transaction, laying bare the fact that this capital is ever and always dependent on the
6135payment of interest. In fundamental questions his statements were so full of common
6136sense that those who criticized him did not deny that AU FOND his ideas were sound
6137but they doubted whether it be possible to put these ideas into practice. To me this
6138seemed the strongest point in Feder's teaching, though others considered it a weak
6139point.
6140It is not the business of him who lays down a theoretical programme to explain the
6141various ways in which something can be put into practice. His task is to deal with the
6142problem as such; and, therefore, he has to look to the end rather than the means. The
6143important question is whether an idea is fundamentally right or not. The question of
6144whether or not it may be difficult to carry it out in practice is quite another matter.
6145When a man whose task it is to lay down the principles of a programme or policy
6146begins to busy himself with the question as to whether it is expedient and practical,
6147instead of confining himself to the statement of the absolute truth, his work will cease to
6148be a guiding star to those who are looking about for light and leading and will become
6149merely a recipe for every-day iife. The man who lays down the programme of a
6150movement must consider only the goal. It is for the political leader to point out the way
6151in which that goal may be reached. The thought of the former will, therefore, be
6152determined by those truths that are everlasting, whereas the activity of the latter must
6153always be guided by taking practical account of the circumstances under which those
6154truths have to be carried into effect.
6155The greatness of the one will depend on the absolute truth of his idea, considered in the
6156abstract; whereas that of the other will depend on whether or not he correctly judges the
6157given realities and how they may be utilized under the guidance of the truths
6158established by the former. The test of greatness as applied to a political leader is the
6159success of his plans and his enterprises, which means his ability to reach the goal for
6160which he sets out; whereas the final goal set up by the political philosopher can never
6161be reached; for human thought may grasp truths and picture ends which it sees like
6162clear crystal, though such ends can never be completely fulfilled because human nature
6163is weak and imperfect. The more an idea is correct in the abstract, and, therefore, all the 
6164more powerful, the smaller is the possibility of putting it into practice, at least as far as
6165this latter depends on human beings. The significance of a political philosopher does
6166not depend on the practical success of the plans he lays down but rather on their
6167absolute truth and the influence they exert on the progress of mankind. If it were
6168otherwise, the founders of religions could not be considered as the greatest men who
6169have ever lived, because their moral aims will never be completely or even
6170approximately carried out in practice. Even that religion which is called the Religion of
6171Love is really no more than a faint reflex of the will of its sublime Founder. But its
6172significance lies in the orientation which it endeavoured to give to human civilization,
6173and human virtue and morals.
6174This very wide difference between the functions of a political philosopher and a
6175practical political leader is the reason why the qualifications necessary for both
6176functions are scarcely ever found associated in the same person. This applies especially
6177to the so-called successful politician of the smaller kind, whose activity is indeed hardly
6178more than practising the art of doing the possible, as Bismarck modestly defined the art
6179of politics in general. If such a politician resolutely avoids great ideas his success will be
6180all the easier to attain; it will be attained more expeditely and frequently will be more
6181tangible. By reason of this very fact, however, such success is doomed to futility and
6182sometimes does not even survive the death of its author. Generally speaking, the work
6183of politicians is without significance for the following generation, because their
6184temporary success was based on the expediency of avoiding all really great decisive
6185problems and ideas which would be valid also for future generations.
6186To pursue ideals which will still be of value and significance for the future is generally
6187not a very profitable undertaking and he who follows such a course is only very rarely
6188understood by the mass of the people, who find beer and milk a more persuasive index
6189of political values than far-sighted plans for the future, the realization of which can only
6190take place later on and the advantages of which can be reaped only by posterity.
6191Because of a certain vanity, which is always one of the blood-relations of unintelligence,
6192the general run of politicians will always eschew those schemes for the future which are
6193really difficult to put into practice; and they will practise this avoidance so that they
6194may not lose the immediate favour of the mob. The importance and the success of such
6195politicians belong exclusively to the present and will be of no consequence for the
6196future. But that does not worry small-minded people; they are quite content with
6197momentary results.
6198The position of the constructive political philosopher is quite different. The importance
6199of his work must always be judged from the standpoint of the future; and he is
6200frequently described by the word WELTFREMD, or dreamer. While the ability of the
6201politician consists in mastering the art of the possible, the founder of a political system
6202belongs to those who are said to please the gods only because they wish for and 
6203demand the impossible. They will always have to renounce contemporary fame; but if
6204their ideas be immortal, posterity will grant them its acknowledgment.
6205Within long spans of human progress it may occasionally happen that the practical
6206politician and political philosopher are one. The more intimate this union is, the greater
6207will be the obstacles which the activity of the politician will have to encounter. Such a
6208man does not labour for the purpose of satisfying demands that are obvious to every
6209philistine, but he reaches out towards ends which can be understood only by the few.
6210His life is torn asunder by hatred and love. The protest of his contemporaries, who do
6211not understand the man, is in conflict with the recognition of posterity, for whom he
6212also works.
6213For the greater the work which a man does for the future, the less will he be appreciated
6214by his contemporaries. His struggle will accordingly be all the more severe, and his
6215success all the rarer. When, in the course of centuries, such a man appears who is
6216blessed with success then, towards the end of his days, he may have a faint prevision of
6217his future fame. But such great men are only the Marathon runners of history. The
6218laurels of contemporary fame are only for the brow of the dying hero.
6219The great protagonists are those who fight for their ideas and ideals despite the fact that
6220they receive no recognition at the hands of their contemporaries. They are the men
6221whose memories will be enshrined in the hearts of the future generations. It seems then
6222as if each individual felt it his duty to make retroactive atonement for the wrong which
6223great men have suffered at the hands of their contemporaries. Their lives and their work
6224are then studied with touching and grateful admiration. Especially in dark days of
6225distress, such men have the power of healing broken hearts and elevating the
6226despairing spirit of a people.
6227To this group belong not only the genuinely great statesmen but all the great reformers
6228as well. Beside Frederick the Great we have such men as Martin Luther and Richard
6229Wagner.
6230When I heard Gottfried Feder's first lecture on 'The Abolition of the Interest-Servitude',
6231I understood immediately that here was a truth of transcendental importance for the
6232future of the German people. The absolute separation of stock-exchange capital from
6233the economic life of the nation would make it possible to oppose the process of
6234internationalization in German business without at the same time attacking capital as
6235such, for to do this would jeopardize the foundations of our national independence. I
6236clearly saw what was developing in Germany and I realized then that the stiffest fight
6237we would have to wage would not be against the enemy nations but against
6238international capital. In Feder's speech I found an effective rallying-cry for our coming
6239struggle.