Evening star., 1925-05-03
HINDENBURC'S ELECTION
HALTS WORLD PROGRESS
Old Suspicious and Fears Paralyze
Political and Economic Adjust
ment of Europe.

of the empire. Even in the frSt ana
! successful years of the war the en-
pire still remained the embodiment
| of the causes for German greatness.
Defeat in 1918, for moment, shook
/ the faith of the German people in the
Kaiser and the monarchy. Disguised,
| exhausted, believing that by proclaim
| ing republic they would obtain
! better terms from their enemies, they
| chose to exile their fleeing monarchs
| and adopt democratic institutions
! On the whole, the decision for the re
public was negative rather than posi-
| tive: there was not in Germany IN
1918, as there was in France in 1870,
anv large body of Republican sentl-
ment. 1t was a move of eXpedlence.
rather than conviction, this overnight
transformation of the form or gov
E'or nearly seven years thereafter,
under the republic, Germans have
known only unparalleled misery at
home and humiliation abroad. The
treaty of Versailles, the occupation or
the Ruhr, the loss of Upper Silesia-
these have been disasters which have
gradually effaced the memory of the
war defeat, for which the old regime
was responsible The imitation cpl
sode was an even greater strain upon
popular endurance. Foolishly, never
theiess humanity, the German people
have come more and more to contrast
republican sufferingS with imperial
prosperity.
Discomfort Exploited.
Nationalist politicians and news
papers have very cleverly exploited
popular credulity and popular discon-
tent. They have recklessly promised
that if the old order were returned
% i L.
position in the outside world. and that
the German people would again enjoy
the prosperity Of prewar years. and
these plausible but preposterous
agreements have in the end prevailed.
The situation which now exists as
between Germany and the allies is
little like that which existed between
France and Europe when Napoleon
returned from Elha and at a single
bound regained his throne. Then,
with the France of Napoleon, Europe
could not and would not make peace.
Now anything but nominal peace is
impossible between the continental
allies of the recent war and a Ger
many in which the forces behind
Hindenburg are dominant. 1t is not
so much that the choice Of ITinden-
burg spells war. immediate war in
Europe-for Germany is in no condi-
election postpones. perhaps paralyzes,
political and economic readjustment
for an indefinite period.
People DESTROYS of Peace.
Despite the election returns my
German experience convinces me that
the great mass OF the German people
desire peace and not a new struggle.
1t is not to make war that they have
turned to Hindenburg, but be
cause they have believed that their
own domestic evil would be exercised
by the arrival to power not merely
of the old marshal, but of the old
order behind him.
The extent of their blindness. of
their new and racially characteristic
failure to comprehend the public
opinion of the world beyond their from
tiers, the German people are now con-
demned to learn. They will see in
the continuation of allied occupation
of the Rhineland, in the failure to OBJ
tain foreign loans, in the renewal Of
wartime suspicion and censure in all
allied countries the Interpretation the
world puts upon the latest German
decision.
One can hope that the consequences,
these inevitable, consequences, will
suffice to bring discredit upon the Ma
tonaists, who must henceforth as
sumo all responsibility for Germany's
international situation. That inter
national discredit and domestic divi-
sion Will presently combine to de
prive the Nationalists of the ultimate
fruits of their victory and prevent a
restoration of the monarchy.
But, obviously, not hope but fear is
going to dominate the attitude and
policy of the several nations living be-
side Germany and still suffering from
recent German invasion and devasta-
ton. The program of reconciliation
is halted, the negotiations for a peace
OF understanding are Indefinitely post
poned.
For the moment we are back where
we were in 1919 at the moment when
the peace conference sat in Paris The
moral isolation of Germany is again
complete All the old distrust, sus-
plcion. fear, which time, if nothing
else, had partly oblterated, regain
their full sway. Materially for Ger
many the evil consequences will
assuredly be great, morally they may
prove incalculable. Once more the
world is driven to conclude that the
Teutonic mind is. at once imcompre.
hensible and capable of blunders.
which in the aphorism of the old
diplomat are vastly worse than crimes
Unhappily as always, not Germany
alone, but Europe and the world will
suffer. After the battle of Austerlitz
Pitt remarked sadly that the map of
Europe must be rolled up for ten
years. After the election Of Hin
denburg the program of European re-
construction, material and moral,
must be laid aside for a period the
length of which no one can yet calcu-
late. And quite patiently, if the
Hindenburg election represents the
fixed and immutable will of the Ger
man people, we are beginning a period
at the end Of which lies a new general
war, inevitable and inescapable.
Copyright. 1925.)