Evening star., 1932-11-20
BY FRANK III. SIMONDS.


~ AREFUL examination Of the re-
suits of the recent German
u election has served to destroy
~ much Of the optimism which
was disclosed at the outset.
Satisfaction over the obvious check OF
the Fascists and the disclosure Of Hitler
and the Nazis in retreat for the moment
obscured the fact that while Fasc1sm
was defeated Communism won still an
other striking success. Concisely, while
revolution modelled on Mussolini was
repulsed the march toward that other
upheaval modelled on Moscow continued.
German election returns and meth
DDS Of compilation are so complicated
that Americans, used to two-party
fight and a triumph indicated by plu-
ralities, find 1t difficult in the extreme
to discover the meaning of German re-
suits. And this confusion Is further
confounded by the fact that while on
the one hand three -cornered strug-
gle Is going on between Proletarian,
Catholic and Nationalist parties or
groups of parties, an even more violent
battle is being fought within both the
Proletarian and the Nationalist groups.
disturbed by party schism.
Bent on Revolution.
What is taking place Is that the Com
munists are trying to wrest control Of
the Proletarian parties from the So
cialists, and the Nazis, Hitler's followers,
have already obtained an overwhelm-
ing majority of the representatives OF
German nationalism. Both the Com
munists and the Nazs are bent upon
revolution, and both represent princi-
piles of violence. They are eventual
foes, but at the moment each is more
interested IN establishing party control
than in all else.
Between the revolution Of November,
1879, and the Hindenburg coup of last
Summer which ousted Bruening and put
in Papen, Germany had been ruled by
and In this combination the Socialists
and the Catholics were the chief ele-
ments. During his lifetime Strese-
mann succeeded In bringing over his
Peoples party, which was at heart
Monarchist, to support this republican
combination, seeking to insure orderly
government.
After the death Of Stresemann his
party went back to their Nationalist
alignment but only to be practically
destroyed by the Hitler tide last July.
When Hindenburg called Papen to re-
place Bruening he correctly estimated
that the republican parties had lost
their popular hold. His belief was that
a union Of the Catholics, the National
lists outside Of the Hitler group, and the
Stresemann party could constitute a
new majority, frankly monarchial in its
sentiment but for the moment ready to
preserve the forms Of the republic.
Assumption Was Mistaken.
In this assumption Hindenburg was
totally mistaken. The Catholics refused
to join the Nationalists and in the cleo
tion Of last July, while the Nazis in
creased their seats In the Reichstas
| from lot to 230, the Nationalists and
their allies fell from II to Al. As q
consequence, so far from having a ma
1ority In the new Reichstag, Papen con-
trolled but IL seats in house of sos
members and Hindenburg was obliged
to order dissolution to save Papen
from being thrown out.
The latest election has shown no ma
terial gain for Papen. The Hindenburg
coalition Of Nationalists and Peoples
party win control 81 seats instead of
Il. but what OF such gain? For while
the Nationalist party Of violence has
az" az oNSL L"ACAllllB IHaJOTlIy IN lLS
own bailiw1ck, the Communists party
OF the Red Revolution has taken one
more long step toward similar mastery
amongst the Proletarian parties.
Measured by the rate of progress of
the past four elections, one more would
suf1ice to give the Communists q de-
cistve lead over the Socialists. On the
other hand, even new check like the
last would not materially change the
situation Of the Fascists in the face of
the other Nationalists. That means.
simply stated, that in the two ereat
groups, the Nationalists and the Pro-
letartan. counting respective 221 and
256 OF the members in a Reichstag of
577 members, the triumph Of the revo-
lutlonary elements seems assured.
In this situation the key Of the rid
die remains in Fascist hands. No ma
Jor1ty is possible in the present Reich