HITLER’S DILEMMA

Hokitika Guardian, 29 August 1932, Page 3

HITLER’S DILEMMA

COALITION OR CIVIL WAR

RESULT OF HINDENBiURG’S ACT

LONDON, August 2<L v '

When President Hindenburgton August 13 refused to appoint Hitler as Chancellor of Germany he placed Herr Adolph Hitler, leader of the Nazis, in the most awkward predicament of his career. To secure power now : the -.azis must do either one or the othtor of two equally unpalatable 'courses', either go into a coalition )vit'h one of their enemies, or wrest priwef by force i.e., civil war. Up. till the refusal Hitler had always at least the possible chance of dominating Germany by more ordinary methods. -Had his party secured just a few more seats at the elections recently held he would hath’ had a majority in the Legislature and he might have been Chancellor with the Nazis as the Government. ,

Narrowly defeated there, he turned to the President with the demand' that, as the Nazis were by far the largest' party, the Cabinet of dictators should he chosen from them, in ’plaice' Of Herr von pa pen, whose Centre 'Party is comparatively small’. But Hfhdenburg would have none of it. !

There are sufficiently strong .3a ngerf? in adopting either .policy (the' odium .of forcing civil war, Or of going' into a coalition with the Socialist; I ''to deter even a leader stronger than Tlitler. But if he does neither, anj merely site Stilj hoping, like the immortal Mr Mica wber, for something to turn up, he runs the danger of losing his following,, and with that gone losing his chance of ever leading Germany-. ' The reason is that Hitlerism is an emotional movement- The million members include not only’ the young and the idealists, hiut the old, the (disgruntled, the 'eiribitteffed poor arid; the unemployed, all temporarily welded together by the personality of the leader, and the dramatic presentation of the appeal of “Germany Awake.” Hitler has rio great programme arid no new ideas. All he says is that present .conditions arfe intolerable, arid when he gets in things will be a great deal better. How, is father: vague;' But if his matter is unimpressive,; his mariner of .Presentation is without equal in the realm of what the Americans call “bjillyhbd.” ' Massed meetings, torchlight processions, games,, brass bands, national' conventions, .intensive meetings and parades, are all used to stir to fever heat enthusiasm, for (the ,Nnzi cause. ~A \ , The meiriherShip “is so mixed that he must keep 'doing-.something spectacular to hold them. If he halts now his followers will begin to drift away like snow before’ the rising Sun, sopje tb.the Communists, but mostly to the slough, of indifference they usually inhabit. ’

The possibility of a “Putsch” or sudden seizure of" power and of the reign s of Government (what the French call. a. coup d’etat) is riot, to be ignored, but the difficrilties in his way are ehorriibi'i. The situation in Germany to-day is scarcely at all analogous to that of Italy, before Mussolini led his Fascists on their victorious ‘ ‘march on Rome,” or to that of Russia before the Bolsheviks,. seized control in 1917 because, neither the Fascists . nor the Bolsheviks had highly organised ;op : position to contend with. j ;SC , In both cases they achiev ed suebesg, largely because they were the only orgariised parties in a time, of chaos. Hitler, however, is faced with a rival organisation created specially to prevent him seizing power, the Reich banner, or Iron Front (against Hitler), and in addition, is matched by the equally, highly organised Communist Patty.

Further than that even, at- the'first sign of a rising, President" Hihdenburg would ordeij out the relatively small but most effiicient German peaCe time army, the Reichswehr, which' has already been used in civil disturbances to put down “Red” risings'’’in various parts of the country—in Saxony the 1 Ruhr, for, example.' Only last week Hindenburg warned Hitler that he would not hesitate to call out the army.

There remains only the hope of a ; coalition. But Hitler is faced witl|» the 'delicate task not only, of swallowing his vitrolic words of a few week?;: ago, but of choosing the party , to-' whom he will make advances. 'Qbyiijji ously not to the Communists, and,f after all the rabid denunciations ; of: Socialists, scarcely to the Social Demo-/* crat Party. ~ p

There remains only thd Centre;! pities largely Catholic, whose leader?/ are Dr 'Bruriing, the and Hen von Papen the present djef tator—the very men he has brigrirrioitej demning and opposing, and bet;atise of this opposition has gained hi^^serit; 1 position . Ydt a coalition of ';sJhrite|sort| seeins to be Hitler’s only fiiturdri V But whatever he does or not!: do, his actions during the nes|. ( few days and weeks are fraught witlj|tremendous significance not only tb'Geripany but to the whole, EuropcanT/politipal sys Wm. u