filepile/hitler · Datasets at Hugging Face

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FOREIGN POLICY This consolidation of the internal life of our German nation also establishes a united front toward the outside world
I believe that it is here that the National Socialist Revival has produced the most marvelous results
Four years ago, when I was entrusted with the Chancellorship and therewith the leadership of the nation, I took upon myself the bitter duty of restoring the honor of a nation which for fifteen years had been forced to live as a pariah among the other nations of the world
The internal order which we created among the German people offered the conditions necessary to reorganize the army and also made it possible for me to throw off those shackles which we felt to be the deepest disgrace ever branded on a people
Today I shall bring this whole matter to a close by making the following few declarations: First: The restoration of Germany's equality of rights was an event that concerned Germany alone
It was not the occasion of taking anything from anybody or causing any suffering to anybody
Second: I now state here that, in accordance with the restoration of equality of rights, I shall divest the German Railways and the Reichsbank of the forms under which they have hitherto functioned and shall place them absolutely under the sovereign control of the Government of the German Reich
Third: I hereby declare that the section of the Versailles Treaty which deprived our nation of the rights that it shared on an equal footing with other nations and degraded it to the level of an inferior people found its natural liquidation in virtue of the restoration of equality of status
Fourth: Above all, I solemnly withdraw the German signature from that declaration which was extracted under duress from a weak government, acting against its better judgment, namely the declaration that Germany was responsible for the war
Members of the German Reichstag: The vindication of the honor of the German people, which was expressed outwardly in the restoration of universal military service, the creation of a new air force, the reconstruction of a German navy and the reoccupation of the Rhineland by our troops, was the boldest task that I ever had to face and the most difficult to accomplish
Today I must humbly thank Providence, whose grace has enabled me, who was once an unknown soldier in the War, to bring to a successful issue the struggle for the restoration of our honor and rights as a nation
I regret to say that it was not possible to carry through all the necessary measures by way of negotiation
But at the same time it must be remembered that the honor of a people cannot be bartered away; it can only be taken away
And if it cannot be bartered away it cannot be restored through barter; it must simply be taken back
That I carried out the measures which were necessary for this purpose without consulting our former enemies in each case, and even without informing them, was due to my conviction that the way in which I chose to act would make it easier for the other side to accept our decisions, for they would have had to accept them in any case
I should like to add here that, at all this has now been accomplished, the so-called period of surprises has come to an end
As a State which is now on an equal juridical footing with all the other States, Germany is more conscious than ever that she has a European task before her, which is to collaborate loyally in getting rid of those problems that are the cause of anxiety to ourselves and also to the other nations
RESPONSE TO ANTHONY EDEN, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY If I may state my views on those general questions that are of actual importance today, the most effective way of doing so will be to refer to the statements that were recently made by Mr
Eden in the British House of Commons
For those statements also imply the essentials of what must be said regarding Germany's relations with France
At this point I should like to express my sincere thanks for the opportunity which has been given me by the outspoken and noteworthy declarations made by the British Foreign Secretary
I think I have read those statements carefully and have understood them correctly
Of course, I do not want to get lost among the details, and so I should like to single out the leading points in Mr
Eden's speech, so as to clarify or answer them from my side
In doing this, I shall first try to correct what seems to me to be a most regrettable error
This error lay in assuming that somehow or other Germany wishes to isolate herself and to allow the events which happen in the rest of the world to pass by without participating in them, or that she does not wish to take any account whatsoever of the general necessities of the time
What are the grounds for the assumption that Germany wants to pursue a policy of isolation? If this assumption in regard to German isolation be a conclusion which must necessarily be drawn from what are presumed to be Germany's intentions, then let me say the following: -- I do not believe at all that a State could ever mean to declare itself intentionally disinterested in the political events taking place throughout the rest of the world, especially when this world is so small as Europe is at the present day
I think that if a State should really find it necessary to take refuge in such an attitude, then the most than [sic] can be said is that it has been forced to do so under the coercion of a foreign will imposed upon it
Now, in the first place, I should like to assure Mr
Eden that we Germans do not in the least want to be isolated and that we do not at all feel ourselves isolated
During recent years Germany has entered into quite a number of political agreements with other States
She has resumed former agreements and improved them
And I may say that she has established close friendly relations with a number of States
Our relations with most of the European States are normal from our standpoint and we are on terms of close friendship with quite a number
Among all those diplomatic connections I would give a special place in the foreground to those excellent relations which we have with those States that were liberated from sufferings similar to those we had to endure and have consequently arrived at similar decisions
Through a number of treaties which we have made, we have relieved many strained relations and thereby made a substantial contribution towards an improvement in European conditions
I need remind you only of our agreement with Poland, which has turned out advantageous for both countries, our agreement with Austria and the excellent and close relations which we have established with Italy
Further, I may refer to our friendly relations with Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal, Spain etc
Finally, I may mention our cordial relations with a whole series of nations outside of Europe
The agreement which Germany has made with Japan for combating the movement directed by the Comintern is a vital proof of how little the German Government thinks of isolating itself and how little we feel ourselves actually isolated
Furthermore, I have on several occasions [sic] declared that it is our wish and hope to arrive at good cordial relations with all our neighbors
Germany has steadily given its assurance, and I solemnly repeat this assurance here, that between ourselves and France, for example, there are no grounds for quarrel that are humanly thinkable
Furthermore, the German Government has assured Belgium and Holland that it is ready to recognize and guarantee these States as neutral regions in perpetuity
In view of the declarations which we have made in the past and in view of the existing state of affairs, I cannot quite clearly see why Germany should consider herself isolated or why we should pursue a policy of isolation
From the economic standpoint there are no grounds for asserting that Germany is withdrawing from international cooperation
The contrary is the truth
On looking over the speeches which several statesmen have made within the last few months, I find that they might easily give rise to the impression that the whole world is waiting to shower economic favors on Germany but that we, who are represented as obstinately clinging to a policy of isolation, do not wish to partake of those favors
To place this whole matter in its true light, I should like to call attention to the following bare facts: (1) For many years the German people have been trying to make better commercial treaties with their neighbors and thus to bring about a more active exchange of goods
And these efforts have not been in vain; for, as a matter of fact, German foreign trade has increased since 1932, both in volume and in value
This is the clearest refutation of the assertion that Germany is pursuing a policy of economic isolation
(2) I do not believe however that there can be a lasting economic collaboration among the nations on any other basis than that of a mutual exchange of commercial wares and industrial products
Credit manipulation may perhaps have a temporary effect, but in the long run economic international relations will be decisively influenced by the volume of mutual exchange of goods
And here the state of affairs at the present moment is not such that the outside world would be able to place huge orders with us or offer prospects of an increase in the exchange of goods even if we were to fulfill the most extraordinary conditions that they might lay down
Matters should not be made more complicated than they already are
If international commerce be sick, that is not due to Germany's refusal to assist it, but is due to the fact that disorder has invaded the industrial life of the various nations and has influenced their relations with one another
But Germany cannot be blamed for these two things, and especially not National Socialist Germany
When we assumed power the world economic crisis was worse than it is today
I fear however that I must interpret Mr
Eden's words as meaning that in the carrying out of the four years plan he sees an element of refusal on Germany's side to participate in international collaboration
Therefore I wish it to be clearly understood that our decision to carry out this plan is unalterable
The reasons which led to that decision were inexorable
And since then I have not been able to discover anything whatsoever that might induce us to discontinue the four years plan
I shall take only one practical example: In carrying out the four years plan our synthetic production of rubber and petrol will necessitate an annual increase in our consumption of coal by a margin of something between 20 and 30 million tons
This means that an extra quota of thousands of coal miners are assured of employment for the rest of their active lives
I must really take the liberty of asking this question: Supposing we abandon [sic] the German four years plan, then what statesman can guarantee me some economic equivalent or other, outside of the Reich, for these thirty million tons of coal? I want bread and work for my people
And certainly I do not wish to have it through the operation of credit guarantees, but through solid and permanent labor, the products of which I can either exchange for foreign goods or for domestic goods in our internal commercial circulation
If by some manipulation or other Germany were to throw these 20 or 30 million tons of coal annually on the international market for the future, the result would be that the coal exports of other countries would have to decrease
I do not know if a British statesman, for example, could face such a contingency without realizing how serious it would be for his own nation
And yet that is the state of affairs
Germany has an enormous number of men who not only want to work but also to eat
And the standard of living among our people is high
I cannot build the future of the German nation on the assurances of a foreign statesman or on any international help, but only on the real basis of a steady production, for which I must find a market at home or abroad
Perhaps my skepticism in these matters leads me to differ from the British Foreign Secretary in regard to the optimistic tone of his statements
I mean here that if Europe does not awaken to the danger of the Bolshevik infection, then I fear that international commerce will not increase but decrease, despite all the good intentions of individual statesmen
For this commerce is based not only on the undisturbed and guaranteed stability of production in one individual nation but also on the production of all the nations together
One of the first things which is clear in this matter is that every Bolshevik disturbance must necessarily lead to a more or less permanent destruction of orderly production
Therefore my opinion about the future of Europe is, I am sorry to say, not so optimistic as Mr
Eden's
I am the responsible leader of the German people and must safeguard its interests in this world as well as I can
And therefore I am bound to judge things objectively as I see them
I should not be acquitted before the bar of our history if I neglected something--no matter on what grounds--which is necessary to maintain the existence of this people
I am pleased, and we are all pleased, at every increase that takes place in our foreign trade
But in view of the obscure political situation I shall not neglect anything that is necessary to guarantee the existence of the German people, although other nations may become the victims of the Bolshevik infection
And I must also repudiate the suggestion that this view is the outcome of mere fancy
For the following is certainly true: The British Foreign Secretary opens out theoretical prospects of existence to us, whereas in reality what is happening is totally different
The revolutionizing of Spain, for instance, has driven out 15
000 Germans from that country and has seriously injured our trade
Should this revolutionizing of Spain spread to other European countries then these damages would not be lessened but increased
I also am a responsible statesman and I must take such possibilities into account
Therefore it is my unalterable determination so to organize German labor that it will guarantee the maintenance of my people
Mr
Eden may rest assured that we shall utilize every possibility offered us of strengthening our economic relations with other nations, but also that we shall avail ourselves of every possibility to improve and enrich the circulation of our own internal trade
I must ask also whether the grounds for assuming that Germany is pursuing a policy of isolation are to be found in the fact that we have left he League of Nations
If such be the grounds, then I would point out that the Geneva League has never been a real League of peoples
A number of great nations do not belong to it or have left it
And nobody has on this account asserted that they were following a policy of isolation
I think therefore that on this point Mr
Eden misunderstands our intentions and views
For nothing is farther from our wishes than to break off or weaken our political or economic relations with other nations
The contrary is the truth

FOREIGN POLICY This consolidation of the internal life of our German nation also establishes a united front toward the outside world

I believe that it is here that the National Socialist Revival has produced the most marvelous results

Four years ago, when I was entrusted with the Chancellorship and therewith the leadership of the nation, I took upon myself the bitter duty of restoring the honor of a nation which for fifteen years had been forced to live as a pariah among the other nations of the world

The internal order which we created among the German people offered the conditions necessary to reorganize the army and also made it possible for me to throw off those shackles which we felt to be the deepest disgrace ever branded on a people

Today I shall bring this whole matter to a close by making the following few declarations: First: The restoration of Germany's equality of rights was an event that concerned Germany alone

It was not the occasion of taking anything from anybody or causing any suffering to anybody

Second: I now state here that, in accordance with the restoration of equality of rights, I shall divest the German Railways and the Reichsbank of the forms under which they have hitherto functioned and shall place them absolutely under the sovereign control of the Government of the German Reich

Third: I hereby declare that the section of the Versailles Treaty which deprived our nation of the rights that it shared on an equal footing with other nations and degraded it to the level of an inferior people found its natural liquidation in virtue of the restoration of equality of status

Fourth: Above all, I solemnly withdraw the German signature from that declaration which was extracted under duress from a weak government, acting against its better judgment, namely the declaration that Germany was responsible for the war

Members of the German Reichstag: The vindication of the honor of the German people, which was expressed outwardly in the restoration of universal military service, the creation of a new air force, the reconstruction of a German navy and the reoccupation of the Rhineland by our troops, was the boldest task that I ever had to face and the most difficult to accomplish

Today I must humbly thank Providence, whose grace has enabled me, who was once an unknown soldier in the War, to bring to a successful issue the struggle for the restoration of our honor and rights as a nation

I regret to say that it was not possible to carry through all the necessary measures by way of negotiation

But at the same time it must be remembered that the honor of a people cannot be bartered away; it can only be taken away

And if it cannot be bartered away it cannot be restored through barter; it must simply be taken back

That I carried out the measures which were necessary for this purpose without consulting our former enemies in each case, and even without informing them, was due to my conviction that the way in which I chose to act would make it easier for the other side to accept our decisions, for they would have had to accept them in any case

I should like to add here that, at all this has now been accomplished, the so-called period of surprises has come to an end

As a State which is now on an equal juridical footing with all the other States, Germany is more conscious than ever that she has a European task before her, which is to collaborate loyally in getting rid of those problems that are the cause of anxiety to ourselves and also to the other nations

RESPONSE TO ANTHONY EDEN, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY If I may state my views on those general questions that are of actual importance today, the most effective way of doing so will be to refer to the statements that were recently made by Mr

Eden in the British House of Commons

For those statements also imply the essentials of what must be said regarding Germany's relations with France

At this point I should like to express my sincere thanks for the opportunity which has been given me by the outspoken and noteworthy declarations made by the British Foreign Secretary

I think I have read those statements carefully and have understood them correctly

Of course, I do not want to get lost among the details, and so I should like to single out the leading points in Mr

Eden's speech, so as to clarify or answer them from my side

In doing this, I shall first try to correct what seems to me to be a most regrettable error

This error lay in assuming that somehow or other Germany wishes to isolate herself and to allow the events which happen in the rest of the world to pass by without participating in them, or that she does not wish to take any account whatsoever of the general necessities of the time

What are the grounds for the assumption that Germany wants to pursue a policy of isolation? If this assumption in regard to German isolation be a conclusion which must necessarily be drawn from what are presumed to be Germany's intentions, then let me say the following: -- I do not believe at all that a State could ever mean to declare itself intentionally disinterested in the political events taking place throughout the rest of the world, especially when this world is so small as Europe is at the present day

I think that if a State should really find it necessary to take refuge in such an attitude, then the most than [sic] can be said is that it has been forced to do so under the coercion of a foreign will imposed upon it

Now, in the first place, I should like to assure Mr

Eden that we Germans do not in the least want to be isolated and that we do not at all feel ourselves isolated

During recent years Germany has entered into quite a number of political agreements with other States

She has resumed former agreements and improved them

And I may say that she has established close friendly relations with a number of States

Our relations with most of the European States are normal from our standpoint and we are on terms of close friendship with quite a number

Among all those diplomatic connections I would give a special place in the foreground to those excellent relations which we have with those States that were liberated from sufferings similar to those we had to endure and have consequently arrived at similar decisions

Through a number of treaties which we have made, we have relieved many strained relations and thereby made a substantial contribution towards an improvement in European conditions

I need remind you only of our agreement with Poland, which has turned out advantageous for both countries, our agreement with Austria and the excellent and close relations which we have established with Italy

Further, I may refer to our friendly relations with Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal, Spain etc

Finally, I may mention our cordial relations with a whole series of nations outside of Europe

The agreement which Germany has made with Japan for combating the movement directed by the Comintern is a vital proof of how little the German Government thinks of isolating itself and how little we feel ourselves actually isolated

Furthermore, I have on several occasions [sic] declared that it is our wish and hope to arrive at good cordial relations with all our neighbors

Germany has steadily given its assurance, and I solemnly repeat this assurance here, that between ourselves and France, for example, there are no grounds for quarrel that are humanly thinkable

Furthermore, the German Government has assured Belgium and Holland that it is ready to recognize and guarantee these States as neutral regions in perpetuity

In view of the declarations which we have made in the past and in view of the existing state of affairs, I cannot quite clearly see why Germany should consider herself isolated or why we should pursue a policy of isolation

From the economic standpoint there are no grounds for asserting that Germany is withdrawing from international cooperation

The contrary is the truth

On looking over the speeches which several statesmen have made within the last few months, I find that they might easily give rise to the impression that the whole world is waiting to shower economic favors on Germany but that we, who are represented as obstinately clinging to a policy of isolation, do not wish to partake of those favors

To place this whole matter in its true light, I should like to call attention to the following bare facts: (1) For many years the German people have been trying to make better commercial treaties with their neighbors and thus to bring about a more active exchange of goods

And these efforts have not been in vain; for, as a matter of fact, German foreign trade has increased since 1932, both in volume and in value

This is the clearest refutation of the assertion that Germany is pursuing a policy of economic isolation

(2) I do not believe however that there can be a lasting economic collaboration among the nations on any other basis than that of a mutual exchange of commercial wares and industrial products

Credit manipulation may perhaps have a temporary effect, but in the long run economic international relations will be decisively influenced by the volume of mutual exchange of goods

And here the state of affairs at the present moment is not such that the outside world would be able to place huge orders with us or offer prospects of an increase in the exchange of goods even if we were to fulfill the most extraordinary conditions that they might lay down

Matters should not be made more complicated than they already are

If international commerce be sick, that is not due to Germany's refusal to assist it, but is due to the fact that disorder has invaded the industrial life of the various nations and has influenced their relations with one another

But Germany cannot be blamed for these two things, and especially not National Socialist Germany

When we assumed power the world economic crisis was worse than it is today

I fear however that I must interpret Mr

Eden's words as meaning that in the carrying out of the four years plan he sees an element of refusal on Germany's side to participate in international collaboration

Therefore I wish it to be clearly understood that our decision to carry out this plan is unalterable

The reasons which led to that decision were inexorable

And since then I have not been able to discover anything whatsoever that might induce us to discontinue the four years plan

I shall take only one practical example: In carrying out the four years plan our synthetic production of rubber and petrol will necessitate an annual increase in our consumption of coal by a margin of something between 20 and 30 million tons

This means that an extra quota of thousands of coal miners are assured of employment for the rest of their active lives

I must really take the liberty of asking this question: Supposing we abandon [sic] the German four years plan, then what statesman can guarantee me some economic equivalent or other, outside of the Reich, for these thirty million tons of coal? I want bread and work for my people

And certainly I do not wish to have it through the operation of credit guarantees, but through solid and permanent labor, the products of which I can either exchange for foreign goods or for domestic goods in our internal commercial circulation

If by some manipulation or other Germany were to throw these 20 or 30 million tons of coal annually on the international market for the future, the result would be that the coal exports of other countries would have to decrease

I do not know if a British statesman, for example, could face such a contingency without realizing how serious it would be for his own nation

And yet that is the state of affairs

Germany has an enormous number of men who not only want to work but also to eat

And the standard of living among our people is high

I cannot build the future of the German nation on the assurances of a foreign statesman or on any international help, but only on the real basis of a steady production, for which I must find a market at home or abroad

Perhaps my skepticism in these matters leads me to differ from the British Foreign Secretary in regard to the optimistic tone of his statements

I mean here that if Europe does not awaken to the danger of the Bolshevik infection, then I fear that international commerce will not increase but decrease, despite all the good intentions of individual statesmen

For this commerce is based not only on the undisturbed and guaranteed stability of production in one individual nation but also on the production of all the nations together

One of the first things which is clear in this matter is that every Bolshevik disturbance must necessarily lead to a more or less permanent destruction of orderly production

Therefore my opinion about the future of Europe is, I am sorry to say, not so optimistic as Mr

Eden's

I am the responsible leader of the German people and must safeguard its interests in this world as well as I can

And therefore I am bound to judge things objectively as I see them

I should not be acquitted before the bar of our history if I neglected something--no matter on what grounds--which is necessary to maintain the existence of this people

I am pleased, and we are all pleased, at every increase that takes place in our foreign trade

But in view of the obscure political situation I shall not neglect anything that is necessary to guarantee the existence of the German people, although other nations may become the victims of the Bolshevik infection

And I must also repudiate the suggestion that this view is the outcome of mere fancy

For the following is certainly true: The British Foreign Secretary opens out theoretical prospects of existence to us, whereas in reality what is happening is totally different

The revolutionizing of Spain, for instance, has driven out 15

000 Germans from that country and has seriously injured our trade

Should this revolutionizing of Spain spread to other European countries then these damages would not be lessened but increased

I also am a responsible statesman and I must take such possibilities into account

Therefore it is my unalterable determination so to organize German labor that it will guarantee the maintenance of my people

Mr

Eden may rest assured that we shall utilize every possibility offered us of strengthening our economic relations with other nations, but also that we shall avail ourselves of every possibility to improve and enrich the circulation of our own internal trade

I must ask also whether the grounds for assuming that Germany is pursuing a policy of isolation are to be found in the fact that we have left he League of Nations

If such be the grounds, then I would point out that the Geneva League has never been a real League of peoples

A number of great nations do not belong to it or have left it

And nobody has on this account asserted that they were following a policy of isolation

I think therefore that on this point Mr

Eden misunderstands our intentions and views

For nothing is farther from our wishes than to break off or weaken our political or economic relations with other nations

The contrary is the truth