Evening star., 1933-01-15

/ N"AN~A AAOA4A NFallld6C pOlilL Va LilC
present day, one is impressed by the
consistency of his aims. He was con-
vinced that in the turmoil of conflict
ing interests and clashing political
creedS the nation had only one basic
| force on which it could rely completely
the army But Germany's temper
was frayed and attempts at revolutions
ana countsr-revolutions we're following
one another in quick succession. How
was Germany to be persuaded not to
cut off her armed forces altogether SO
! that it would be spared the humiliating
| spectacle of a mutilated army? Schlei-
cher was one Of the builders of the
| Reichswehr and his goal was to make
| it permanent in the Reich.
| It looked as If that goal would be
reached when Field Marshal Won Hin
| 6enburg was elected President, a Nc
| thuselah covered with past glory called
! to face the hardest task Of his life. But
! if Hindcnburg WIS to rave Germany
| from cSao-, who wGs ID save the old
| soldier from the pitfalls of psrlianlcn-
| tary life? Fortun7taly for Schleicher.
memories of the Third Guard Regiment
saved the dav Every evening Sclllei-
cher clicked his heels in the renais-
sance study of the President in Will
helmstrasse and made his confidential
report 10 Hlndenburg.
His red briefcase bulged with infor-
nation. First he reviewed the press re-
ports, then he surveyed the political
situation. The Presidents son, Oscar
von Hindenburg, now a colonel and his
fathers aide camp and Herr Otto
MeisSner, the Presidents private secre-
tary, joined the conference. In that
company the President was at home:
they were all from the Third Guard
Regiment and they all spoke the Ian
guage Of soldiers. Schleicker. by this
time a general. had way of illustrat-
ing the most complicated problems with
pictures from the soldiers life. and
made himself invaluable to the Presi-
dent.
At one time it seemed as if these
twilight meetings would have to be
abandoned. Parliament became restless
about the court can1arilla" and de-
manded that the army ministry be
placed unoer parliamentary control,
which would have muzzled Schleicher.
But he outmaneuvered the politicians.
Instead of letting them drag the army
into the legislative arena, he succeeded
IN legalizing his status as the liaison
officer of the President.
From that time on Schle:cher was
Cermany's official "king-maker. A
smiling tyrant, he made chancellors
ard ministers. Politicians kowtowed
to him and consulted him just as Col
House was consulted by those who
wanted favors from President Wilson
Schleichcr had Heinrich Bruening
called to the helm as chancellor be-
cause he was quiet and matter-of fact.
two qualities that this Prussian soldier
values above all others. For two years
Bruening and the general kept counsel.
but then the chencellor's idees began
to diverge radically from those of his
mentor, end Bruening had to 90.
Needed CcIorIess Man.
asked q Socialist deputy last Sum-
mer Why Gen. Won Schleicher had
selected Herr Won Papen as Brue-
nlng's successor in the chancellorship.
He smiled qu.zzicelly Because the
general could not find more colo-less
person in all Germany"
Herr Won Schleicher had swung
around to the policy of tanning the wild
National Socialists of Adolf Hitler and
he needed a colorless man, like Won
Papen, as decoy. Hitler's movement
was to be diluted with militarized jun
kerism. Gen. Won Schleicher saw
the danger menacing Cermany's tradi-
tlonal conservatism. He realized that at
the recent Reichstag elections more
than 85 per cent of the electorate had
voted for anti-capitalist parties-for
the Hitlerites, Communists and Social
lists. And while these parties fought one
another with cannibal-like ferocity,
they were one in opposing the existing
social system. Schleicher hopes to keep
these parties fighting among themselves
instead OF letting them concentrate
their attention on the ruling capital
iStic regime
Some observers contend that the
crazy zigZag of German politics which
ended with the recent appointment of
Gen. Won Schleicher as chancellor
was the result of planned policy. and
they give credit to him for an uncan-
nlly played game of chess. Others are
inclined to think that the general mis-
calculated his moves and that he was
forced to accept the chancellorship.
But regardless of which group is
right, it is obvious that President Won
Hlndenburg was guided in his selec-
ton OF Schleicher as chancellor by his
apprehensions about Germany's fu-
ture. He does not want the Reich
to fall into Hitler's hands
While Germany has seen Schleicher
bring his phantom rule into the open,
Hungary has looked on quietly, while
Gen. Julius CONDOS, ten years or
SO Schleicher's junior. established his
regime in full view of the world.
For years the ghost ruler of Hungary,
Combos became prime minister last
october. His career, at its beginning,
was somewhat similar to that of
Schlelcher. Gombos, too, was attached
to army headquarters during the war.
But after the Hapsburg Empire had
collapsed. he decided to hitch his for
tune to the rising star of liberalism. He
was sent to Croatia by Hungary's revo-
lutlonary government with orders to
stop lawlessness
Then came Bella Kun, bringing boil
sheyism with him. Capt Gombos
diSliked the Bolshevist rule, partly be-
cause 1t had deprived army officers of
their privileges and partly because he
had not been taken into the confidence
OF the new government.
Throws Himself Into Melee.
CONDOS threw himself fervently into
the nti-Bolshevist melee, anxious-his
critics said-to make amends for the
past. He became an apostle of the new
era of nationalism.
| When King Charles. formerly En-
land in those days resident of vari-
GUS castles in Switzerland), appeared
on the outskirts Of Budapest to claim
the throne, Gombos popped up again.
Charles had been led to believe that
his former Hungarian subjects were
awaiting him with open arms. Gombos
was on this reception committee. but
instead Of welcoming him with thun-
dercus "eljens," the soldiers riddled the
royal train with bullets. 1t was CONDOS
who gave the order to shoot, and since
that day he has been the enemy of the
Hungarian legitimists.
The other Irredentist leaders van
ished, but Gombos worked himself into
the position of powerful ghost ruler.
A notorious case of corruption in the
Ministry of Defense prepared the way
for Gombos-& general by this time
| to make his bow as the man with the
iron fist. He was made the minister Of
National Defense and demanded the