Evening star., 1934-08-19
by apprehension and fear. by lust for

shown its true nature to the world,
1t can succeed in carrying out pro-
gram of political or territorial expan-
sion under any form whatever. In
the immediate future, at any rate, the
events of last June should result in
distinct weakening of the German
might and influence on the European
Continent-unleSs, of course, the for
eign stateS--France and England to
start with-persist in the weak and
vacillating policy they have followed
for so many years.
Hitler and Goering, not to speak Of
GoebbelS, would have us think that the
events which took place on June 80
have brought about a rejuvenation of
the Hitlerian government. II they are
to be believed, a plot has been Matched
against it-a plot so extensive that 1t
included the leaders Of the extremist
faction in the storm troops, such as
Roehm and HeineS, on the one hand,
and such open enemies of the Nation
alist- Socialist conceptions or reac-
tionaries as Gen. Won Schleicher and
the intimate advisers of Vice Chancel-
lor Won Papen, on the other. As swift
as the thunderbolt, the Fuehrer de-
stroyed it in a few hours as he, the
peaceful man, did not hesitate to re-
sort to a bold and generous dispensa-
ton of the death penalty.
Promises Go UnfulflIed.
All these tales do not Withstand ex-
animation. The truth is that Hitler
and his associates have not been able
/ 60 fI1o made
the rank and file Of the party, or that,
in so far as they have kept them (to
very small extent, indeed) they have
brought Germany's public finances and
currency to the brink of an abyss.
Since, in addition, they have not al
lowed the average citizen to retain the
barest minimum Of freedom Of own
ership, of freedom of thought-which
had never been denied him even un-
der the most rigid relationships of
the past-there is no wonder that dis
content should be rife in many
quarters.
The nervous anxiety of Hitler and
Goering concentrated, in the first
place, upon the group Of armed brava-
does of whom Roehm and his associ-
ates were the most conspicuous fig-
ures-a group which insisted that
there was no other road to salvation
but to push the Hitlerian movement
to its logical consequences and to
break down all the traditional barriers
(private capitalism, etc. which in
terfered with its advance.
In the second place, it settled upon
political-minded Gen. Won Schleicher,
who was supposed to be seeking re-
venge because in January, 1888. the
Hitlerian revolution had cost him the
chancellorship. AS matter Of fact,
however, he does not appear to have
done more than to indulge in loose
| criticism of the so-called achieve
ments Of the existing regime.
Won Papen Third Target.
A third target was Vice Chancellor
Won Papen, who was disliked as the
close friend of President Won linden
burg and, as such, in the speech de-
livered at Marburg University on
June II, had uttered solemn warn
ing against the excesses of the new
despotism.
Out of those materials the list of
prescription was composed. But in
addition to the fears they experienced
in common, Hitler and Goering had
individual animadversions Of their
own. Each of them, acting inde-
pendeptly of the other, added to the
official program they had arranged
together some extra blood-letting in
tended to satisfy and set at rest their
personal feelings. Among these VIC
Tins were people like Herr Klausener,
the leader of the Roman Catholic
Action" in Berlin; the old generals in
Bavaria who in the Judgment Of the
Fuehrer deserved to be punished for
having stopped the Munich putsch of
| 1928 and several others.
In the past we have been accus-
toned to associate all epoch-making
revolutions with some clear-cut, def
mite idea. There was great living
idea at the back of the American
Revolution of 1776, of the French
Revolution of 1889, of the European
liberal revolutions" which were scat
tered all through the nineteenth CEN
| tury, of the American War of Seces-
sion, of the Communist upheaval of
1871, of the bolshevist terrorism which
has been in full swing since 1917. The
triumph Of Fascism in 1922 had a
meaning.
BOIshevik Cleansing" Recalled.
Even the cleansing" of the Bolshevik
party at the hands of Stain a few
years ago could be explained on ra-
| tional grounds. On the one side,
Trotsky maintained that the prole-
tartan dictatorship could not survive
unless the whole world was brought
within the anti-capitalist system. On
the other side, Stain held that the
universal scheme of Trotsky would be
bound to react. disastrously upon the
fate of Russia, as it was sure to result
in the creation Of a coalition directed
against Moscow. The issue was not
ambiguous and the men who were
dismissed from their posts or put to
death or sent into exile knew why
they had to suffer.
OF course, by the side of the ideas,
theoretical or tactical, which ex-
pressed themselves in these violent
changes an element Of fear was to
be detected; and cruelty also had its
share. But in the recent convulsion of
Germany we are confronted with fear
and cruelty undiluted to an unprece-
dented degree. The ideals, however
raw, and the mode of government how
ever brutal, which the Hitlerian DOM
nation carried with 1t in the early
months of 1888 have been repudi-
ated, destroyed and replaced by the
good pleasure of one or two men. II
is not without reason that compari
sons have to be sought in the days
of Abdul Hamid of Turkey and even
n the remote ages of Nero or Cara
Gala.
Old Forces Broken Down.
But it has been observed that suct
comparisons were not to be taken as
valid. The old tyrants were limiteo
IN their deeds by the influences of re-
ligion and the old social structures
which, existing within the framewotb
of immemorial traditions, lacked plas-
ticity. No despot could alter or amend
,Ss.kw - III (x.a ~rvsll