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Some annotations about the drawings
1. Schwarz-weiß-rot bis in den
Tod
"Black-white-red until death"
- Black-white-red:
From 1867 on the colors black-white-red constituted the flag of the North
German Union (Norddeutscher Bund),
then from 1871 to 1919 as well as from 1933 to 1945 served as the colors of
the German Empire. In 1919 the National Assembly of Weimar decided that the
national colors be black-red-gold, but the monarchist, conservative and
national-socialist groups went on flying the colors black-white-red.
- "Stolz weht
die Flagge Schwarz-Weiß-Rot"
"Proudly flutters the banner Black-white-red": This is the first
line of a song known under the title "Deutsches
Flaggenlied" ("Song of the German Banner"),
dating back to 1886, the beginning of which goes as follows[1]:
Stolz weht die Flagge Schwarz-Weiß-Rot
von uns´rer Schiffe Mast
Dem Feinde Tod, der sie bedroht
Der diese Farben haßt
Sie flattert an der Heimat Strand
im Winde hin und her
und weit vom deutschen Vaterland
auf sturmbewegten Meer
Ihr woll´n wir treu ergeben sein
getreu bis in den Tod
Ihr woll´n wir unser Leben weih´n
der Flagge Schwarz-Weiß-Rot
Hurra!
Translation:
Proudly
flutters the banner Black-white-red
from the mast of our ship
Death to the enemy who poses a threat to it
Who hates these colors
Waved by the wind
it flutters on the seashore of the homeland
and far from the German fatherland
on storm-tossed seas
Devoted to it we want to be
faithful until death
Dedicate our live to it we want
to the banner Black-white-red
Hurray!
2. Was heißt Reparationsschuld.
Ich werde mir doch nicht den Sitz unterm Arsch wegziehen lassen!
"Reparation debt, how so? Don't
imagine I would let my seat be moved away from under my ass!"
3. "Armut ist ein großer
Glanz von Innen" (Rilke)
"Poverty is a great radiance from
within"
- Rainer-Maria Rilke:
German author. The sentence is quoted from the poem "Das Buch von der Armut und vom Tode"
("The Book of Poverty and Death") which is part of the collection "Das Stundenbuch" ("The Book
of Hours") published in 1903, from which here is an extract[2]:
[...]
Denn, Herr, die großen Städte sind
verlorene und aufgelöste;
[...]
Da leben Menschen, leben schlecht und schwer,
in tiefen Zimmern, bange von Gebärde,
geängsteter denn eine Erstlingsherde;
und draußen wacht und atmet deine Erde,
sie aber sind und wissen es nicht mehr.
[...]
Denn sie sind reiner als die reinen Steine
und wie das blinde Tier, das erst beginnt,
und voller Einfalt und unendlich Deine
und wollen nichts und brauchen nur das Eine
so arm sein dürfen, wie sie wirklich sind.
Denn Armut ist ein großer Glanz aus Innen...
[...]
Translation:
[Translated by us. The intention is not to recreate a proper poetic version
in English, but rather to render literally the basic signification of the
words.]
[...]
For, Lord, the big cities are
lost and dissolved,
[...]
There people are living, living straitened and arduously,
in basements, anxious of gesture,
more fearful than a newborn herd;
and outside your earth is awake and breathing,
while they, though existing, no more do know about it.
[...]
For they are purer than the pure stones
and like the blind animal which just begins,
and full of naivety and infinitely yours
and don't want anything and only need the one
be allowed to be as poor as they really are.
Poverty is a great radiance from within
[...]
4. Durchhalten
"Sticking it out"
5. Obwohl an der Ruhr erkrankt,
schmeckt's ihm nicht schlecht
"Although sick with dysentery, he
nevertheless pigs out quite well"
- Ruhr:
The German word Ruhr means dysentery. With respect to the Ruhr
in the geographical sense, this industrial region (Rheinland-Westfalen in administrative terms) experiences various torments in the
beginning of the 1920s. In January 1923, under pretext of Germany being
behind with deliveries owed as reparations, French and Belgian troops enter
the Ruhr. The German government tries to avert this violation of its sovereignty,
but ends up surrendering in September 1923. Nevertheless, the period is
marked by strike movements and sabotage acts. Previously, reacting to the Lüttwitz-Kapp putsch, the Ruhr had been, in
March-April 1920, the center of an insurrectional movement launched by the
workers of the region.
6. Fest sitzt und schnarcht die
Republik
"The Republic is firmly established
and snoring.
7. "Sportklub Harmonia"
"Sports club Harmonia"
8. MARLOH
JETZT ‑
Was ein Haken-kreuzritter werden will...
"Marloh now ‑"; "Whoever wants to become a crusader
of the Swastika..."
- "Haken-kreuzritter"
"Hakenkreuz": "Swastika"
(hooked cross); "Kreuzritter": "crusader" (knight of the crucifix).
- Otto Marloh:
Otto Marloh was a member of the
volunteer corps “Brigade Reinhard”, formed after November 1918 by Colonel Wilhelm
Reinhard. In December 1918 the latter is appointed as
military commander of Berlin by Gustav Noske (SPD) who within the governing organ called “Council of People's
representatives” (Rat der Volksbeauftragten) is in charge of the army and the marine. Le Reinhard Brigade plays an important role in suppressing
the insurrectional movement in Berlin in January 1919, during which Karl
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg are assassinated. The Brigade also intervenes
in crushing the movements which resurge in March. In June the volunteer corps
is integrated into the official army (Reichswehr).
It is during the combats of March 1919 that Otto Marloh makes his soldiers execute 29 soldiers
of the Volksmarinedivision, the dissolution
of which just had been pronounced by the government. Following this he underwent
a trial but was acquitted. In 1930 he joined the NSDAP[3].
9. ‑ UND EINST
...übt sich bei Zeiten
"‑ and then";
"...practices early enough"
- "übt sich beizeiten"
This is a proverbial expression frequently used in sentences
starting "He who wants to become" an expert in this or that.
10. Schwimme, wer schwimmen kann,
und wer zu schwach ist, gehe unter
"Let those swim who can ‑
the heavy may sink."
- "Schwimme, wer schwimmen kann,
und wer plump ist, geh unter!"
This phrase is extracted from the play "The
robbers" by Friedrich Schiller[4].
- Album "Die
Räuber"
This drawing also is included in the album "Die Räuber" ("The
robbers") published in 1922, accompanied by the following phrase, also
extracted from the same play[5]:
Even
lions and tigers nourish their young. Ravens feast their brood on carrion.
11. Abrechnung
folgt
"We'll settle accounts"
- "The hour approaches to
settle accounts." ("Die Stunde der Abrechnung
naht.")
Such announcement is formulated in a declaration published by the government
(composed of members of the SPD, notably Friedrich
Ebert, Philipp Scheidemann and Gustav
Noske) on 8th of January, 1919. The threat aims
at the Spartacus League[6]:
"Spartacus now struggles for the whole power. [...] Where Spartacus
rule, any personal freedom and security is abolished. [...] The government
takes all necessary measures to smash this reign of terror and to prevent
once for all its return. [...] The hour approaches to settle accounts."
12. Hochverräter
"Guilty of High Treason"
13. Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig
sein
"Dear fatherland, may you be reassured"
- "Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig
sein":
Line extracted from a song know under the title "Die Wacht am Rhein" ("The
Guard at the Rhine"), dating back to 1840, from which here is an extract[7]:
Es braust ein Ruf wie Donnerhall
wie Schwertgeklirr und Wogenprall.
Zum Rhein, zum Rhein, zum deutschen Rhein!
Wer will des Stromes Hüter sein?
Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein
Fest steht und treu die Wacht, die Wacht am Rhein!
Translation:
A
call howls like a roll of thunder
like clashing of swords and crashing of waves.
To the Rhine, to the Rhine, to the German Rhine!
Who wants to be the custodian of the stream?
Dear fatherland, may you be reassured
Firmly and devotedly stands the guard, the guard at the Rhine!
14. Meine Rente ‑
"My pension..."
15. = eine Havana!
"= one Havana!"
16. Gesang der Intellektuellen:
Nehmen Sie den Leib, Gute, Ehe, Kind und Weib, der Geist muß uns doch
bleiben!
"Chant of the intellectuals: Take
body, belongings, marriage, child and spouse, the spirit will fatally remain
ours all the same!"
17. Völker Europas, wahrt eure
heiligsten Güter
"Peoples of Europe, protect your
most sacred possessions"
- "Völker Europas, wahrt eure
heiligsten Güter"
This is the title of a lithography that in 1895 the Emperor Wilhelm II had elaborate by Hermann Knackfuß and
which is supposed to represent the danger embodied in the Asian peoples of
China and Japan. About this matter, Wilhelm II speaks of the "yellow peril". He has this work sent to
the Czar of Russia, Nicolas II, as a present.
18. Für die Reichen ist die
Beute, Für das Volk die Not der Kriege
"For the rich, the booty, For the
people the misery of war"
19. Trotz Hunger und Schmach, wir
lassen uns nie und nimmer in die Knie zwingen!
"Despite hunger and disgrace,
never ever we will let us be forced to our knees!"
20. Der Bürger hetzt ‑
"The bourgeois organizes the hate campaign ‑"
In the speech bubbles, is written:
"Die Hand ist noch nicht verdorrt" ("The hand not yet is withered")
et "immer feste druff"
("go ahead, always tough")
- "Die Hand ist noch nicht
verdorrt":
In February 1919 Philipp Scheidemann
(SPD) is chancellor of the government formed to
replace the "Council of people's representatives" (Rat der Volksbeauftragten), governmental
organ constituted in November 1918. He is opposed to the conditions stipulated
by the Treaty of Versailles, and resigns from his post on 12th of May,
day when the National Assembly is to pronounce itself about the Treaty. It's
him who in his speech uses the expression about the withered hand[8]:
I
ask you: who as an honest man ‑ let alone speaking of a
German ‑ only as honest man, loyal to treaties, can agree to such
conditions? What hand would not be bound to wither, that might put itself and
us in such chains? [...] According to the opinion of the Government of the
Reich, this treaty is unacceptable.
- Withered hand":
The reference to wither is a traditional figurative expression about illness
meaning paralyze. It can be found for instance in the texts of the Bible.
- "Immer feste druff":
This is a common expression that may be used under all sorts
of circumstances. In particular it suits the patriotic propaganda. Here are
two illustrations.
Postcard:
 [9]
It is written:
"Japan - Serbien - Frankreich - Russland - England
- Belgien - Marocco. Immer feste druff!! Nur nicht drängeln, Ihr kommt alle
'ran‑!"
("Japan - Serbia - France - Russia - England - Belgium - Morocco. Let's
go ahead, always tough!! Don't shove. Everybody will get his turn‑!")
Operetta
"Immer feste druff",
created in 1914.
Among the songs, as example, may be mentioned "Auf der Banke, an der Panke"
("On the bench, on the bank of the Panke"), a dialog between two figures, Schliephake and his spouse Minna,
that recalls the postcard shown above. Here is an extract (first, it is her
who speaks):
— Mein Maxeken, du schöner Mann, Ach nimm mich doch mit dir
— Zuerst muss der Franzose schnell Eins kriegen auf den Hut.
— Denn zieh' dem Russen ab det Fell, Na Junge, du hast Mut.
— Zuletzt hau ich den Englischmann Die Jacke mächtig voll.
— Wat fang' ich bloß alleene an, ick lieb Dir ja wie doll.
— Ach ja, ach ja, bald bin ick wieder da.
Translation:
— My Max, you handsome man, oh so take me with you.
— At first, the French quickly must get a beating.
— Next skin the Russian. Well my boy, you have courage.
— To finish off, I administer a hiding to the English.
— But what I'll do all alone, since I love you wildly.
— Oh well, oh well, soon I am here again.
21. ‑ und der Prolet muß
bluten
"...and the prole must bleed"
On the newspaper, is written:
as title "Deutsche Zeitung" ("German Newspaper"), then "Mögen
sie nur kommen!" ("May they come after
all!").
- Deutsche Zeitung:
This is the organ of the most rightist wing of the
German-National Peoples' Party (Deutschnationale
Volkspartei, DNVP) The DNVP was formed in November 1918 on the basis of the Deutschkonservative Partei and the Deutsche Reichspartei, that represented the conservative circles under the monarchy. In
the creation of the DNVP also take part Christian-social, German-popular (deutschvölkische) and anti-Semite groups. The program of the DNVP plans the return
to monarchy.
"Mögen sie nur kommen!":
In July 1870 breaks out the war between Prussia and France,
which terminates in January-February 1871 with the German victory. This war
at the same time provides the frame of the foundation of the German Empire:
In January 1871, Wilhelm I, king of Prussia, is proclaimed Emperor. In
1876 he presides over the inauguration of a monument (commonly called “Hermanns-Statue”)
constructed near Detmold (capital of the Dukedom of Lippe) in memory of
Arminius, chief of the Cherusci tribe who in the year 9 of our era
conducted a victorious battle against the Romans. The construction had been
started in 1841 on the impulsion of a certain Ernst von Bandel. A parallel is
drawn between the historical event thus commemorated on the one side, and the
victory of Germany over France on the other. Already previously the figure of
Arminius had served as element of patriotic propaganda. This is attested for example
by the song dating back to 1847 which precisely contains the phrase "Mögen sie nur kommen!", and
moreover mentions the ongoing construction of the Hermanns-Statue. Here are
some extracts[10]:
Als die Römer frech geworden
zogen sie nach Deutschlands Norden
Vorne mit Trompetenschall
ritt der Generalfeldmarschall,
Herr Quintilius Varus
[...]
Als das Morden war zu Ende,
rieb Fürst Hermann sich die Hände,
und um seinen Sieg zu weih´n,
lud er die Cherusker ein
zu 'nem großen Frühstück.
[...]
Und zu Ehren der Geschichten
tat ein Denkmal man errichten,
Deutschlands Kraft und Einigkeit
kündet es jetzt weit und breit:
"Mögen sie nur kommen!"
[...]
Translation:
When
the Romans had become impudent
they marched to the north of Germany
Ahead with trumpets' sound
was riding the General Field Marshall,
Sir Quintilius Varus
[...]
When the murdering had come to an end
Prince Hermann rubbed his hands,
and to consecrate his victory
he invited the Cherusci
to a big breakfast.
[...]
And in honor of these histories
a memorial was erected,
now it bears witness far and wide around
of Germany's force and unity:
"May they come after all!"
[...]
- The umbrella:
In this drawing and the preceding one, that go together, appear persons exhibiting
an umbrella. This may be seen as an allusion to a commonly used slogan
describing the Emperor as "Deutschlands Schirm und
Schutz" ("Shield and protection of
Germany"). In German the word Schirm in the general sense signifies something which protects isolates.
Thus Schirm may mean Shield,
but also, for instance, Umbrella (Regenschirm), parasol (Sonnenschirm), lampshade (Lampenschirm).
- "Deutschlands Schirm und
Schutz"
Sample postcard:
 [11]
"With God for the Emperor and the Empire" -
"Shield and protection of Germany"
22. Siegreich wollen wir
Frankreich schlagen...
"Victoriously we intend to defeat
France..."
‑ " Siegreich wollen wir
Frankreich schlagen":
This phrase is extracted from a popular song dating back to
the 19th century[12]:
Soldaten das sein lustge Brüder,
Haben frohen Mut,
Singen lauter lustge Lieder,
Sein den Mädchen gut.
Spiegelblank sein unsre Waffen,
Schwarz das Lederzeug,
Können wir beim Mädchen schlafen,
Sein wir kaiserreich.
Mut im Herzen, Geld im Beutel
Und ein gut Glas Bier,
Das soll uns die Zeit vertreiben.
Lustig und auch fröhlich sein!
's giebt nicht immer Schweinebraten,
's giebt auch trocknes Brot,
Lustig singen wir Soldaten
Bei Wasser und bei trocknem Brot.
Unser Hauptmann steigt zu Pferde,
Zieht mit uns in's Feld.
Siegreich wollen wir Frankreich schlagen,
Sterben als ein tapfrer Held.
Haben wir drei Jahr gedienet,
Ist die Dienstzeit aus,
Dann schickt uns der Hauptmann
wieder ohne Geld nach Hans.
Translation:
Soldiers
are party-hearties,
have jovial temperament
sing all kinds of cheerful songs
really like girls.
Our arms are well polished
and black the leather gear,
if we can spend the night at the girl's place
we are as rich as the Emperor.
Courage in the heart, money in the purse
and a good glass of beer,
that's to pass the time.
Be cheerful and merry too!
Not always there's pork joint,
there's dry bread too.
Cheerful we soldiers do sing
with water and with dry bread.
Our captain mounts on horse,
takes the field with us.
Victoriously we intend to defeat France,
die as brave heroes.
After three years of service
the time of service comes to an end,
then the captain sends us
back again home without money.
23. Gegen den Kommunismus sind
sie einig!
"Against communism they do
agree!"
24. Die Familie ist die Grundlage
des Staates
"The family is the foundation of
the state"
‑ "Die Familie ist die
Grundlage des Staates":
Bringing to the fore the idea that assigns to the family the role of foundation
of the state, is very widespread throughout various conservative courants,
and is notably supported by religions. As for the period after the 1st world
war, one may note some particular manifestations of this fact.
In 1923 comes out the book "Die Protokolle der
Weisen von Zion und die jüdische Weltpolitik"
("The protocols of the Sages of Zion and the Jewish world
politics") by Alfred Rosenberg. The latter is member of the NSDAP since 1920, author of various
anti-Semite texts, and in 1923 he takes up the function of editor of the Völkischer Beobachter, organ of the NSDAP. The following year, Adolf Hitler who
is imprisoned designates him to replace himself. Analyzing the supposed
protocols, Rosenberg writes[13]:
Here the elevated European ideal of individual liberty, in the
larger sense of self-determination of a people, is distorted to the anarchist
conception with the purpose to undermine family as the foundation of the
state.
As
for catholic church, the theologian Heinrich Pesch develops an interpretation designated as “Solidarismus” which aims
at refuting both individualist liberalism and collectivist socialism. Pesch's vision is actively taken into account
by politicians, notably Matthias Erzberger. (Erzberger is
member of the Zentrum Party;
1919‑1920 minister of Finances; assassinated in 1921 by representatives
of the extreme right.) Here is how Pesch, in one of his main works, refers to the role of family in
relation with state[14]:
The
family is the foundation of the state. Within it are found the five pillars
of life in society: religious spirit, obedience, respect before authority,
sense of sacrifice, sense of community.
25. Ein halbes Jahrhundert
Sozialdemokratie
"Half a century of
Social-democracy"
26. Vorsicht, nicht stolpern
"Caution, don't stumble"
27. Ein trautes Weib, ein herzig
Kind, das ist mein Himmel auf der Erde
"A faithful spouse, a cute child,
that's my heaven on earth"
Words coming out of the mouth of the
woman at the piano:
"Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht" ("quiet night, holy night"). (In the English version of
this Christmas song: "Silent night, holy night".)
- "Ein braves Weib, ein herzig
Kind, das ist mein Himmel auf der Erde":
This is the refrain of a popular song dating back to the
19e century, from which here is the
first strophe[15]:
Ich wär so gern, so gern daheim,
Daheim in meiner stillen Klause,
Wie ist es doch dem Herzen wohl
Das süße traute Wort zu Hause.
Denn nirgends in der weiten Welt
Fühl ich so frei mich von Beschwerde,
Ein braves Weib, ein herzig Kind,
Das ist mein Himmel auf der Erde.
Translation:
Oh, how I would like to be at home
at home in my quiet room,
Oh, how the sweet and familiar word at home
does good to the heart.
For nowhere in the wide world
I feel so free from worry,
A worthy spouse, a cute child,
that's my heaven on earth.
28. Einheitsfront
"United front"
29. Die Religion muß dem Volke
erhalten bleiben!
"Religion must remain preserved
for the people!"
In the speech bubble, is written:
"Seid fruchtbar und mehret Euch" ("Be fruitful and multiply",
Bible, Genesis, 1.28, and similar formulations elsewhere in the text.)
30. Wissen ist Macht
"Knowledge is power"
On the board, is written:
"In der Blüte des Unternehmertums liegt die Zukunft
der Arbeiterschaft", "10 % Lohnabzug",
"Einheitsfront", "Akkord", "12‑Stundentag"
("In the blossoming of enterprise business lies the future of the whole
of the workers", "10 % wage deduction", "United
front", "piece-work", "12 hours day")
The face of the “teacher” may bring to mind Hugo Stinnes (cf. No. 37).
31. Ans Vaterland, ans teure, schließ
dich an!
"Bind yourself to the fatherland,
that dear land!"
- "Ans Vaterland, ans teure,
schließ dich an!"
This phrase is extracted from the play "William Tell" by Friedrich
Schiller[16].
32. Der Regisseur ‑
"The director ‑"
This drawing also is included in the
album "Die Räuber"
("The robbers"), published in 1922.
It is accompanied by the following phrase, extracted from the play "The
robbers" by Friedrich Schiller[17]:
I
will root up from my path whatever obstructs my progress towards becoming the
master.
33. ‑ und seine Puppen
"‑ and his
puppets"
This drawing also is included in the
album "Die Räuber"
("The robbers"), published in 1922.
It is accompanied by the following phrase, extracted from the piece "The
robbers" by Friedrich Schiller[18]:
They
thunder forth from their clouds about gentleness and forbearance, while they
sacrifice human victims to the God of love.
34. Die Arbeiter machen der
Obrigkeit so viel zu schaffen ‑
"The workers cause a lot of
trouble to the authorities to the point ‑"
35. ‑ daß es ihr nicht
möglich ist die Schieber zu fassen
"‑ where it is
impossible for the latter to apprehend the black marketers"
36. Zwei
Schlote und eine Seele
"Two chimneys and one soul"
- Hugo
Stinnes (cf. also No. 37):
Son of a family of enterprise businessmen in the sector of coal in the Ruhr
region. In 1890 he takes charge of the direction of the family companies, and
in 1892 he founds a company of his own. Then he takes an important in the
constitution of other companies: the Rheinisch-Westfälisches
Elektrizitätswerk AG (RWE); with August
Thyssen, the Mülheimer Bergwerksverein
AG; the Deutsch-Luxemburgische
Bergwerks- und Hütten AG (“Deutsch-Luxemburg”). In
1902 he becomes president of the supervisory board of RWE. In 1910 Deutsch-Luxemburg acquires the Dortmunder
Union AG and becomes one of the biggest consortiums
of Germany in the branch of coal and steel. In 1920, Stinnes joins the German Party of the People (Deutsche
Volkspartei, DVP) and becomes member of the National
Assembly (Reichstag). In July of
the same year he is on the German delegation to the international conference
of Spa. Together with Albert Vögler he constitutes the consortium Rhein-Elbe-Union
GmbH. Stinnes dies in April 1924.
- Louis Loucheur[19]:
In 1899 Loucheur together with Alexandre Giros founds a company of public works named Giros et Loucheur. In 1908 they transform it to Société générale
d'entreprises (SGE). In September 1917 Loucheur is designated at the head of the ministry of armament and war
fabrications, which in November becomes ministry of industrial
reconstruction. He occupies this poste until January 1920. Afterwards, from
January 1921 to January 1922, he is minster of liberated regions.
- Stinnes, Loucheur and the occupation of the Ruhr
in 1923:
In December 1922 the victorious Allied Powers notify the German government
that they impute to it an intentional fault of execution concerning some
deliveries due as reparations. Referring to this advertisement, the French and
Belgian governments, on 11th of January 1923, move troops in to the
Ruhr.
Stinnes had
in advance announced that his main preoccupation was not to avoid this course
of events. On 18th of June 1922 the Deutsche
Allgemeine Zeitung, mouth-piece of Stinnes, informs: "Mister Stinnes, though, is under any circumstances
unequivocal opponent of a continuation of the politics of fulfillment, even
at the risk that things end up in an occupation of the Ruhr region. It is
high time to ensure that the adversary gains consciousness that the eternal
menaces with the occupation of the Ruhr are bound to come to an end one day[20]."
Seen from a certain angle, the occupation of the Ruhr by France constitutes
an attack carried out in connivance by the French and German capitalists
against the German proletariat of the region, to suppress its resistance in
face of exploitation. In effect, Stinnes relies on the economic difficulties related to the obligations of
reparations ‑ in particular after the occupation of the Ruhr ‑
to demand of the German government to substantially increase the length of
work day and week, and a prolonged prohibition of strikes[21]. He also
conducts negotiations in this sense with the French authorities. Moreover he
seeks to conclude contracts for delivery of coal to French companies despite
the fact that the German government, in the frame of its politics of
"passive resistance" to occupation, has pronounced a prohibition
with this respect[22].
In October 1923 a commission composed of six members representing the union
of entrepreneurs of mines, with Stinnes as spokesman, negotiates with the commander of the French
occupation troops, general Jean Marie Degoutte[23]. The Chancellor Gustav Stresemann (DVP) initially is opposed to
the dealings, but cannot prevent it and ends up according his official acceptance.
On 29th of September 1923, Stinnes in concert with the representatives of the German heavy industry
asks the Chancellor Stresemann to abolish the eight hours limit of daily
work. The following day, at Unna-Königsborn, is held a meeting of the main leaders of the coal and iron industry
of the Ruhr region. Decision is taken to reinstate from 1st of October
on the length of work as before war. On 5th of October representatives
of the heavy industry negotiate with general Degoutte.
In addition to Stinnes, these
are Albert Janus (president of Rheinisch-Westfälisches
Kohlensyndikat), Peter Klöckner (president of the supervisory board of Klöckner-Werke
AG), Georg Lübsen (director of Gutehoffnungshütte AG), Otto von Velsen (general director of
Bergwerks-Gesellschaft Hibernia), Albert Vogler
(president of the council of administration of Deutsch-Luxemburgische
Bergwerks- und Hütten-AG). When
the chancellor and the industrials denies that such negotiations have been
held, Otto Wels (SPD), on 20th of November in the National Assembly (Reichstag),
cites textually the minutes of the meeting held at Unna-Königsborn[24]:
Industry
shares the conviction that it was a grave error to give in to the socialist
influences and after a lost war, on top of that, to introduce shortened
working hours. It would have been possible to avoid many difficulties, if
more coal had been mined for, and it should be our task to mine once again enough
coal so to be able to supply in addition to Germany, also France, Belgium,
Holland and Switzerland. Therefore the mining sector in Rheinland-Westfalen has decided to reintroduce next Monday the working hours from
before war, that is eight hours and a half including going down and up for
those working underground and ten hours for the others. However the industry
is not in the position to carry out its intentions without the support of the
occupation powers, and this is one of the reasons for our visit.
The
position of Degoutte is in harmony with that of Stinnes[25]. He considers "the German people as degenerated and
especially the workers as hopelessly gone to the dogs[26]". In the
same spirit the commander of the troops staying in Düsseldorf, general Simon,
asserts that "the attitude of the German rabble, who voluntarily persist
in holydays, is the main obstacle to the reestablishment of a normal life[27]".
The attitude of "passive resistance" initially adopted by the German
government implies on the part of the workers in the occupied territories,
refusing to do their work in the conditions imposed in the context of
administration of the companies by the French authorities. In consequence the
latter apply measures of massive expulsion of German workers to the zones which
are not occupied. Here are the conditions laid down by Degoutte with a view to a possible change of position in October 1923,
transmitted to a delegation of the trade unions[28]:
1. Abolition
of the law about employee representative committee; 2. Introduction of
ten hours work and piece-work; 3. Acceptation of any assigned work,
otherwise follows expulsion; 4. For the railway employees apply the
already announced conditions; 5. Suppression by armed force of any
rebellion; 6. Intensification of the city protection.
[Point 4 refers to the obligation for the railroad workers to place
themselves at the disposal of the French railway administration under pain of
expulsion[29].]
However,
despite of these common points, each of the fractions of the bourgeoisie, German
and French, pursues its own objectives which, although determined in
accordance with common principles, are divergent, at least partially.
Relations of cooperation are established in various forms, but they are
subject to factors of competition which may in parallel give rise to more or less
marked hostility. Some projects go so far as to envisage the constitution of
a Franco-German consortium in the combined sectors of steel and coal. In that
case the quest of relation of cooperation tends to turn into conflict. Stinnes refuses agreements which would give
preponderance to the French capitalists, whereas the latter can rely on the
occupation of the Ruhr to insist on their demands.
(Cf. below.)
- The agreement known as "of Wiesbaden"[30]:
In the course of 1920, the French government elaborates a plan concerning the
problem of reparations, inspired by Jacques Seydoux,
vice-director of political and commercial affairs within the Ministry of
foreign affairs. That plan is aimed at favoring the deliveries in nature and
integrating them within the commercial mechanisms tying the French companies
directly up with the German providers. The project, in the light of certain
aspects of its dispositions, comes up against the negative position of the
representatives of private economy, French as well as German, and also the opposition
from Great Britain. On 12th of June 1921 start, with a similar approach,
negotiations between Walther Rathenau (cf. below, No. 41) and Louis Loucheur. An agreement is concluded on 6th of October at Wiesbaden,
it is to come into effect on 29th of June 1922. But its success is
blocked by the same factors which before hindered the carrying out of the
plan of Seydoux. It should be noted that the
Wiesbaden agreement is conceived in the idea that the German government as
well as the trade unions be associated to the conclusion of delivery contracts,
but that a later arrangement, called Ruppel-Gillet, eliminates these dispositions[31].
- The agreement between Stinnes and de
Lubersac[32]:
In August-September 1922, Stinnes negotiates an agreement with two French representatives, Louis
Guy de Lubersac (banker, senator of the Aisne and president of the Confédération Générale des
Coopératives de Reconstruction) and his brother Odon. The objective
is to install a Germano-French consortium participating in the reconstruction
of destroyed factories in the North of France. The agreement treats with
deliveries in nature, under a form which reaches considerably beyond the
dispositions of the Wiesbaden agreement (cf. above). On the French side, it
is in favor neither with the government nor the industrials of the Comité
des forges[33]. Stinnes tries to go
further. In October he elaborates in consultation with de Lubersac a plan of a more general range and obtains the consent by
president Friedrich Ebert (SPD)
that a group of four representatives of the German heavy industry placed
under his direction negotiate with the French government as official
representatives of Germany[34].
The plan envisages that Germany take charge of the reconstruction of the
devastated regions in the North of France, simultaneously accompanied by the retreat
of the French troops from Rheinland
and Saar as well as the giving up on behalf of France
demanding other reparations. To allow the reconstruction of Germany, a
certain number of measures should be implemented, of which here is the summary[35]:
1. All
Germans do overtime without higher pay, till Germany again disposes of a
balance of trade surplus.
2. Securing of the interest payment and amortization of a gold loan,
with which shall be achieved the reconstruction of France and Belgium, and the
stabilization of the German currency.
3. The German government abolishes all controls about domestic and
foreign business transactions.
4. Germany, once it works again with normal salaries and under normal
conditions, obtains everywhere in the world the most-favored-nation clause
and access to all raw materials and colonial territories regardless of the
colors they fly and under the same conditions as the rest of the world.
5. For a period of five years will be prohibited all strikes in the
areas vital for the national economy.
6. After the stabilization and after the securing of a reparation loan
the Mark will be allowed to "find" its international rate.
7. Those persons of middle class and those pensioners, who have been
deprived of their basis of livelihood by the inflation, shall be taken care
of temporarily by the state through annual benefits.
- Projects of a Franco-German
consortium:
Since 1920, sectors of the French coal and steel industry endeavor to carry
out negotiations with a view on a understanding with the German coal
producers[36].
Notably Robert Pinot, the general secretary of the Comité des Forges, seeks to obtain that the French government asks Germany to cede
parts of capital so to allow controlling the coal companies which are
providers of the producers of minette in Lorraine. As minister of
reconstruction, Louis Loucheur initially is in favor
of such projects. Around September 1922 the press reports negotiations
between Stinnes and Jules
Bernard, a representative of the heavy industry of Lorraine, on the subject of exchange of coke from the Ruhr for minette and
semi-finished products from Lorraine[37]. He would negotiate with Stinnes on the following bases: cessation of construction by the German
steel industry of new blast furnaces supplied by Swedish and Canadian ore; guaranty
that the factories of Lorraine be supplied by coke
from the Ruhr; delivery of semi-finished products to the German industry by
certain factories od Lorraine; transfer to the German industrialists of one
quarter of the capital of these factories of Lorraine. The negotiations do
not come off, as the German industrials and in particular Stinnes demand a Franco-German parity in the
matter of capital participations.
After the occupation of the Ruhr by France, Stinnes continues his dealings[38].
In April 1923, he carries out conversations with Émile Haguenin who directs the press and information bureau in Berlin on behalf
of the French ministry of foreign affairs. He exposes to him a plan
concerning the reparations which envisages establishing mechanisms at a large
scale conceived with a view on the exploitation of the French colonies.
At the end of 1923 Arnold Rechberg (cf. below) submits to Stinnes a plan consisting in proposing to the French government, as payments
of reparations, a participation in the capital of German enterprises[39]. He calls up a
rate of participation of thirty percent in exchange to the evacuation of the Ruhr
and the Rheinland[40]. Rechberg's
proposition is supported by the French member of parliament Paul Reynaud[41]. But Stinnes
conceives the possible establishment of participations exclusively within the
frame of mutual participations, between respectively German and French industry.
In November-December 1923 two representatives of Stinnes converse with French enterprising businessmen[42]. They report
that Robert Pinot and the steel industrialist Arthur
Vermot feel favorably to the idea of bilateral relations. In
February 1924 other conversations take place, between Pinot and Jacques
Seydoux on the one side, and representatives of Stinnes on the other. Pinot submits a proposition similar to that brought up in autumn 1922
(mentioned above); it comprises the following points: long-term agreements
about delivery of coal destined to the French blast furnaces located outside
of Lorraine, transfer of the capital of the German
mines within the companies of Lorraine on the level necessary so to satisfy
their needs of coal. For Stinnes
and the other German industrialists, these measures are unacceptable.
- Arnold
Rechberg[43]:
Arnold Rechberg is the brother
of Fritz Rechberg, an important
industrialist of the potash branch, as president of the supervisory board of
the Kali-Industrie AG and at the
same time president of the Gewerkschaft Wintershall, of which he owns around 40 % of the capital. The company
from which originates the Gewerkschaft Wintershall has been founded in 1894; it is in 1899 that it adopted the legal
form of "Gewerkschaft"
(comparable to the form of limited partnership). During the years 1910‑1911
the Gewerkschaft Wintershall
acquires the majority of the actions and parts in several other companies. In
December 1921 with the support of the Dresdner Bank, is constituted the Kali-Industrie AG, to which Gewerkschaft Wintershall contributes all its
participations, while simultaneously taking 49 percent of the actions of
the new company.
- Extract from the
political diary of William R. Castle, chief of the section for Western Europe
of the US State Department[44]
[On 30th of October 1922 Castle has conversed with Hugo
Stinnes on the occasion of a dinner organized by the
US ambassador Alanson Houghton.]
‑ November 19. In any discussion of reparations or of
reconstruction, personalities and their ambitions must be taken into account.
In Germany the outstanding personality is without doubt Hugo
Stinnes, a man of vast power, of tremendous
imagination, of a vigorous strength that suggests Bismarck. President Ebert
says that politically Stinnes is
a child. This is to some extent true in that he fails to understand he cannot
manipulate peoples as he manipulates his own workmen. But with his almost
unbelievable, if still partly potential wealth, which is not concentrated in
one industry, one place or even one country, he may be able to move
communities at will in a way that would appear impossible. The man who is
childish in his ideas, in the opinion of the trained politician, may sooner
or later make himself the master of politicians. Stinnes has a genius for organization and for coordination of great
interests that carries him far beyond the sphere of the mere industrial
magnate. He is consolidating his interests throughout Germany and Austria,
acquiring interests in Italy and Czechoslovakia and Silesia with a view of
recreating, along industrial rather than military lines, the old German
Empire. His agreement with Lubersac contemplates not
only the rebuilding of the devastated regions and the evacuation of the Rhine
Territories, but the inauguration of great Franco- German cartels which would
mean the elimination of competition, industrial peace between the two
countries, the certain enrichment of the French industrials (the appeal to
the French pocketbook must be strong). But it means also a gigantic trust, a
German trust with a French tail, which would certainly attempt to dominate
the world. The vision of Stinnes
reaches far. He sees the road to the East opening again; the disappearance of
Poland; German exploitation of Russia and Italy. It is peaceful and
reconstructive in purpose. Would it not all lead to another war eventually,
unless we and the rest of the world are willing to put ourselves under German
suzerainty? I am not sure of this but the idea is worth considering. Stinnes, furthermore, seems to be making the
mistake which Bismarck made years ago. He wants to dominate, to be himself
the State. His idea approximates socialism ‑ little as the
socialists would admit it ‑ because State control must mean
personal control, as it does now in Russia. The plan of Stinnes, like socialism, kills personal initiative and the safety and
progress of the world seem to me to depend largely on the building up of as
many strong and independent personalities as possible. The strongest man in
Germany, Stinnes seems to me, as
I think of our long talk, one of the truly dangerous men of the world.
‑ November 21 (Cont'd) The Stinnes-Lubersac plan of reconstruction of the
devastated regions as full French reparation with the immediate evacuation of
the occupied regions and the Saar, and the removal of restrictions against
the Germans will be accepted by Poincare if the United States will take the
guarantee of Germany not to go to war. Whether this means that France is in
more desperate straits financially than we realize or whether it means that
Poincare has acquired common sense, it at least bears out the idea that the
French are looking for a formula which will enable them to back down
gracefully. The pressure that we can bring to bear is through Europe's debt
to us. Cancellation, even if it were immediately possible, would seem to me
stupid and would get us nowhere [...] If [...] some arrangement can be made
by which we can give France the security against renewed German invasion, the
technical form of which would save the face of the French Government, thereby
permitting the Stinnes-Lubersac plan to take effect, the reparation question is in a fair way of
settlement [...]
37. Stinnes
und sein Präsident
"Stinnes and his president"
- Hugo Stinnes (cf. also No. 36):
 [45]
During 1921-1924, Stinnes takes care to impose himself as inescapable figure within the negotiations
Germany is conducting with the Victorious Allied Powers, at least as far as
the economic aspects are concerned. In July 1920, on his own demand, he is integrated
into the German delegation at the international conference of Spa.
Peremptorily he declares that it is not conceivable to satisfy the demands of
the allied powers concerning the coal deliveries. In November 1922, he
overtly announces that he will stand up to any attempt to stabilize the Mark.
He negotiates with foreign political and economic leaders, in particular French
and American, bypassing the government and disregarding the agreements
concluded by the latter. Thus is the case in relation with the Wiesbaden
agreement (cf. above). Deliberately he places himself above the governmental
authorities. The US ambassador Alanson Houghton recounts that in October
1922, when the Chancellor du Reich Joseph Wirth (Zentrum) envisages constituting a new government and with respect to this
seeks advice from Stinnes, the
latter refuses pointing out that he desires negotiating exclusively with the
President Ebert[46].
It occurred to Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of the Reich from August to
November 1923, to allude with irony to the pretention of Stinnes, in terms of influence over
governments[47].
On day in public, when Stinnes
pointed out that he had addressed a letter to the government, Stresemann
contributed to the conversation in jest: "A note, Mister Stinnes, not a letter." And responding
to the interrogation that the remark originated with Stinnes, Stresemann made it clear: "Within the relations from great
power to great power, isn't it, there only are notes[48]."
38. Ueb immer Treu und
Redlichkeit Bis in dein kühles Grab
"Always practice faithfulness and
honesty, Up into your cool grave"
- "Üb' immer Treu und
Redlichkeit, Bis an dein kühles Grab":
This is the first line of the poem by Ludwig
Hölty titled "Der alte
Landmann an seinen Sohn" ("The old farmer
to his son"), dating back to 1776, of which here is the beginning[49]:
Üb' immer Treu und Redlichkeit,
Bis an dein kühles Grab;
Und weiche keinen Fingerbreit
Von Gottes Wegen ab.
Dann wirst du, wie auf grünen Aun,
Durchs Pilgerleben gehn;
Dann kannst du, sonder Furcht und Graun,
Dem Tod' ins Auge sehn.
Translation:
Always
practice faithfulness and honesty,
Up to the edge of your cool grave;
and don't step aside not even by one inch
from the ways of God.
Then you will go, like on green pastures,
through a life of pilgrim;
Then you can, without fear and horror
Face death.
N.B:
The poem says "Bis an dein kühles Grab" ("Up to the edge of your cool grave"), whereas
the title of the drawing says "Bis in dein kühles
Grab" ("Up into the cool of your
grave"
39. Unser täglich Brot gib uns
heute
"Give Us This Day Our Daily
Bread"
Bible verse (Matthew 6:11).
40. Die Republik ‑ ein
Spatzenschreck
"The Republic - a scarecrow"
41. Plakat anläßlich
des Mordes an Rathenau
"Poster on the occasion of the
murder of Rathenau"
It is written:
Das Deutsche Kaiserreich ist die Sehnsucht unsrer Zukunft
(Helfferich) Im Reichstag 22. VI
Wenn einst der Kaiser kommen wird Schlagen wir zum Krüppel den Wirth Knallen
die Gewehre - tack, tack, tack Aufs schwarze und aufs rote Pack! (Aus einem
Nationalgesang der Reaktionäre)
Arbeiter! Besteht darauf dass diese Gesellschaft unschädlich gemacht wird!!
[The German Empire is the yearning of our future (Helfferich) In the Reichstag (National
Assembly) 22. VI
When one day the Emperor will come We will cripple Wirth The rifles ring out
- tack, tack, tack On the black rabble and the red one! (From a national song
of the reactionaries)
Workers! Insist that this society be eliminated!!]
- Walther Rathenau:
In 1883, his father founds the Deutsche
Edison-Gesellschaft (German Edison-Company), that in
1887 is renamed Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (General Electricity-Company, AEG). In 1904, he integrates the supervisory
board of AEG, of which he becomes president in 1912. At the death of his
father in 1915 he obtains special powers as president of AEG. In 1919 he
takes part in the foundation of the German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei, DDP). In May
1921, he integrates the government of Joseph Wirth (Zentrum) as minister of reconstruction; at this time he abandons all his enterprise
business functions. On the subject of reparations he advocates the
implementation of an “Erfüllungspolitik” (“politics of accomplishment”). With the resignation of the first
government Wirth in October, he loses his post as minister but rests in
charge of missions as a negotiator. In February 1922, he integrates the
second government Wirth as minister of foreign affairs. In April, he
concludes the Rapallo Treaty with Russia. On 24th of June he is assassinated
by militants of the extreme right.
- Excerpt from an article by the
member of the National Assembly (Reichstag) Wilhelm Henning, of the
German-national Party of the People (Deutschnationale
Volkspartei, DNVP)[50]:
[The article was published in June 1922 in the Konservative
Monatsschrift, under the title "Das wahre Gesicht des Rapallo-Vertrages" ("The true face of the Rapallo Treaty"). The author
reproaches Rathenau with having
given up demanding reparation with respect to the assassination of the German
envoy Wilhelm von Mirbach in
July 1918 by Russian social-revolutionaries.]
As
soon as the international Jew Rathenau got his fingers on the German honor, there we are, nobody talks
about it anymore [the assassination of Mirbach] [...] The German honor is not a merchandise to haggle over
through international Jewish trafficking! [...] The German honor will be
atoned for. However, you, Mister Rathenau, and those acting behind you will be called to account for by the
German people.
- Karl Helfferich:
He joins the German-national Party of the People (Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) in 1919.
On 23rd of June 1922 he makes a speech in the National Assembly
(Reichstag), of which is extracted the phrase cited on the drawing by Grosz[51]:
Then,
from all the mistreatments which are at present allowed to be done to us without
punishment, emerged before our eyes the image of the respected and eared German
empire, the happiness of our past and the yearning of our future.
- Couplet full of hatred
widespread in those days in the circles of extreme right[52]:
Wenn einst der Kaiser kommen wird,
schlagen wir zum Krüppel den Wirth,
knallen die Gewehre, tack, tack, tack,
aufs schwarze und das rote Pack.
Haut immer feste auf den Wirth!
Haut seinen Schädel, daß es klirrt!
Knallt ab den Walther Rathenau,
die gottverfluchte Judensau.
Translation:
When
one day the emperor will come?
We will cripple Wirth,
The rifles ring out, tack, tack, tack,
On the black rabble and the red one.
Thump always tough on Wirth!
Beat his head so to hear rattling!
Blast Walther Rathenau,
this goddamned Jewish swine.
- "Wenn einst der Kaiser
kommt":
In March 1919 Rathenau publishes a writing under the title "Der Kaiser"
("The Emperor"), in which he cites a remark he presumably had made
himself during the first days of the war: "Never will come the moment
when the Emperor, as victor of the world, will cross the Brandenburger Tor [monument constructed in
Berlin in 1788‑1791 under the reign of the king Friedrich
Wilhelm II], parading with his cohorts on white steeds[53]."
- "aufs schwarze und das rote
Pack":
Black color is related mainly to the Center Party (Zentrumspartei), that has been formed in the
years 1869‑1871 as organization of the political Catholicism. In
addition to the ecclesiastic institutions, it later relies on the Christian
trade unions set up in 1894. In November 1918, in Bavaria, the region Zentrum transforms itself into a separate
party, the Bavarian Party of the People (Bayrische
Volkspartei, BVP). As for the red color, in the
reactionary vocabulary, it designates both communists as well as
social-democrats together.
42. Wer gut frißt...
"He who has good feast..."
Words coming out of the mouth of the
figure who is cheering: "Hoch hoch der Kaiser" ("Cheer, cheer
for the emperor")
43. ...uns leicht vergißt
"...easily forgets us"
44. Das
Görlitzer Programm ‑
"The Görlitz Program ‑"
Figure at the left: Hugo Stinnes. (Cf. No. 37)
Figure
behind, with the goatee: Philipp Scheidemann.
 [54]
Words coming out of the record player: "Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein"
Piece of paper sticking out of the
pocket of H. Stinnes: "Deutsche Allg..."
Piece of paper sticking out from behind
the two figures: "Die Glocke",
"Parvus"
- The Görlitz Program:
In September 1921 is held a congress of the Social-democratic Party of
Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) in Görlitz[55]. It is to adopt a new program, replacing the one which came out
of the Erfurt congress, in 1891. A commission charged with the preparation of
the text submits a project in July 1921. Its contents are strongly influenced
by Eduard Bernstein, although he is not member of the commission. The project
arouses strong critics with respect to the fact that it does not mention at
all the terms of working class and class struggle. The program finally
adopted by the congress, on 23rd of September, reintroduces passages on
this subject. Nevertheless, it constitutes one more step towards total
abandoning of the basic principles of communism.
One of the characteristic features resides in the fact that it ratifies the
existent political system as the definite frame of the political and economic
transformations to perform[56]:
With
the democratic Republic it [the working class] disposes of the form of State
of which the preservation and the building up is an essential necessity for
its struggle for freedom. [...] The Social-democratic Party is determined to
give its all for the protection of the hard-won freedom. It considers the
democratic Republic as the form of state given irrevocably by the historical
development, and any attack on it as an aggression against the vital rights
of the people.
- Eduard Bernstein at the Görlitz congress of the SPD[57]:
The
German Party of the People has social power; it actually is the party of the German
bourgeoisie. Behind it is placed the German finance, the German big industry
and the intelligentsia in Germany. We need to try to harness this party in
front of the car of the Republic.
- Philipp
Scheidemann at the Görlitz congress of the SPD[58]:
That
we only can enter a government with Parties that respect the constitution,
this is self-evident. But does this mean that we only can enter a government
with Parties which have voted for the constitution? I say: no. For otherwise
going together with the USP [Unabhängige
Sozial-demokratische Partei Deutschlands, USPD] would be impossible, and we have, though, offered it in honest
conviction to come together into the government. Like the Independent, the same
the German Party of the People has voted against the constitution. For us, it
must not be decisive what a party has done earlier, but what it is ready to
do. [...] Thus at each constitution of a government we must formulate a
determined minimal program. Parties which are ready to accept such a program
and to let us have determined ministries, cannot lastingly be rejected from
participation in the government.
- "Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig
sein"
cf. No. 13.
- "Deutsche Allg...",
c'est-à-dire Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (DAZ)
Newspaper founded in 1861 as Norddeutsche
Allgemeine Zeitung in Berlin, from 1863 on
subsidized by the State, becomes Deutsche Allgemeine
Zeitung in 1918[59].
The DAZ is linked to the German Party of the People (Deutsche
Volkspartei, DVP), founded on 15th of December
1918. In 1920 Hugo Stinnes
acquires the publishing house issuing the newspaper; after the death of Stinnes le DAZ several times changes
proprietor and finally is acquired by Hugo Stinnes Jr. in 1932.
- "Die Glocke", "Parvus"
Parvus is the pseudonym of Alexander Helphand, born in Russia[60]. In 1891 he
arrives in Berlin and joins the social-democrats. He also enters into contact
with the Russian social-democrats; he is in Russia at the moment of the 1905 Revolution.
In 1907 he comes back to Germany. As from the launching of the war he places
himself overtly on the sides of the German government. In Berlin he founds
the newspaper Die Glocke
which defends chauvinist positions. During the war he lives in Copenhagen and
organizes all sorts of lucrative transactions, then in 1920 he once again comes
to Berlin. He continues his links with the social-democrats, in particular Philipp Scheidemann. From 1922 on, he
finances together with H. Stinnes a publication issued in 5 languages, "Der
Wiederaufbau". He dies in 1924.
45. ‑ und seine Folgen
"‑ and its
consequences"
46. Der deutsche Spießer ist ein
Darm, Gefüllt mit Furcht und Hoffnung, daß Gott erbarm (Herwegh)
"The German philistine is a gut
filled with fear and hope, May it move God to pity"
- Der
deutsche Spießer:
Grosz gives Georg Herwegh credit
for the phrase about the German philistine. However this evaluation can be
found already in the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe[61]:
Was ist ein Philister?
Ein hohler Darm,
Mit Furcht und Hoffnung ausgefüllt.
Daß Gott erbarm!
Translation:
What
is a philistine?
A hollow gut,
filled up with fear and hope.
May it move God to pity!
- Georg
Herwegh[62]:
German writer and journalist. In 1839 he leaves Germany to go to Switzerland.
In 1841 he publishes a collection of poems "Gedichte
eines Lebendigen" (Poems of one being alive), which
earns him to be qualified as "standard-bearer of the political
orientation of the literature"[63].
The same year he starts a friendship to last thirty years with Ludwig
Feuerbach, and in Paris he meets Heinrich Heine. In 1842 he becomes
collaborator of the Rheinische Zeitung which Karl Marx runs in Cologne; he also
meets Mikhail Bakunin, whose anarchist positions have quite an influence on
him. In 1843 he enters in contact with the German Handwerkervereine ‑ associations of craftsmen with cultural objective ‑
and gets acquainted with August Becker and Wilhelm Weitling.
Then he settles in Paris. He encounters Marx, Bakunin, Moses
Hess, Arnold Ruge, Victor Hugo, George Sand, Alphonse Lamartine, Pierre Jean
de Béranger. At the time of the February Revolution of 1848,
of Paris, he becomes president of the "Deutsche
demokratische Gesellschaft" (German democratic
society) and when an insurrection outbreaks in the province of Bade, this committee
forms the "Deutsche demokratische Legion" (German democratic legion) which supplies a small armed troop to
reinforce the rebels. The undertaking fails, Herwegh is forced to flee and settles in Switzerland. In 1860 he
initiates a friendship with Ferdinand Lasalle. In 1863 he becomes representative in Switzerland of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein (General
German Workers Association). In 1866 he again settles in Germany. He is
designated as honorific correspondent of the 1st International; he
cooperates in the newspaper of the social democracy, the Volksstaat, and publishes political
poems. He dies in 1875.
47. ...diese Kriegsverletzten
wachsen sich nachgerade zur Landplage aus!
"...these disabled veterans
escalate straight out into a positive plague!"
48. Eigner Herd ist Goldes Wert
"There's no place like home"
- " Eigner Herd ist Goldes Wert":
The complete saying goes: "Eigner
Herd ist Goldes wert; Ist er gleich arm, hält er doch warm." ("A stove of one's own is worth gold; be it miserable,
nevertheless it keeps warm."
49. Juden raus!
"Jews out!"
50. Der Dolchstoß von rechts
"The stab from right"
On the arm, is written: "Wucher" ("profiteering").
- "Dolchstoß-Legende"[64]:
During the years after the war the propaganda of the extreme right among
other themes stresses the "Dolchstoß-Legende" (the myth about the stab). It attacks the left political forces
about being responsible of the defeat of 1928, in relation with the defeatist
attitude, brought to fruitition in particular by the strikes organized during
the war as well as the insurrection of November 1918.
Paul von Hindenburg, on 18th of November 1919 to a fact finding
commission of the national assembly concerning the causes of the military
defeat, speaks of secret and methodical dealings generating the
disintegration of the marine and the army. He asserts that the German army
has been "finished off by a stab in the back"[65].
However, the social democracy implicitly places itself within that same
vision. When Friedrich Ebert on 10th of December 1918 welcomes troops
coming back to Berlin, he declares[66]:
"No enemy prevailed over you."
51. Vier Jahre Mord
"Four years of murder"
52. Wenn die
Soldaten nicht solche Dummköpfe wären, würden sie mir schon längst
davongelaufen sein (Fridericus Rex)
"If the soldiers weren't such
goofballs, they since long would have run off from me (Fridericus Rex)"
This drawing alternatively has as title
"Alles kehrt einmal wieder" ("Everything comes again one day")
- Fridericus Rex:
This is king Friedrich II of Prussia (surnamed also “der alte Fritz”, that is “the old Fred”), who reigned from 1740 to his death in 1786. In 1920, 1921 and
1923 are produced successively four films which form a series titled
"Fridericus Rex" which are about the life of this king. It represents
propaganda in favor of the restoration of the monarchy.
- "Fridericus
Rex, unser König und Herr:
Song dating back to 1832, of which here the last strophe[67]:
Friedricus, mein König, den der Lorbeerkranz ziert
Ach hättest du nur öfters zu plündern permittiert
Friedericus Rex, mein König und Held
Wir schlügen den Teufel für dich aus der Welt!
Translation:
Friedericus
Rex, my king, whom the laurel wreath adorns,
Oh, if only more often you had allowed to loot,
Friedericus Rex, my king and hero,
For you we would knock the devil out of the world!
- "Alles kommt einmal
wieder"
This is the title of a song forming part of the
musical spectacle "Was träumt Berlin" ("What is Berlin dreaming about?") created in 1915.
Here is the first and the last strophe of the song[68]:
Alles kommt einmal wieder,
wie es vor Jahren war.
Singt man erst Friedenslieder
herrlich und wunderbar,
dann wird sich alles zeigen
in einem duft'gen Kleid,
anstatt der Trommel verkünden die Geigen
das Nahen der neuen Zeit.
[...]
Nicht alle kommen wieder,
nicht alle kommen zurück.
Oft singt in Siegesliedern man von verlorenem Glück.
Deckt auch der grüne Rasen
manchen so tapferen Held,
bald werden jubelnd Fanfaren
blasen Deutschland voran in der Welt.
Translation:
Everything
comes again one day
just as it was years before.
Once songs of peace will be sung
magnificent and marvelous,
then everything will appear
in an ethereal dress,
instead of drums, violins announce
the approaching of the new epoch.
[...]
Not all come again,
not all come back.
Often in songs of victory one sings about lost happiness.
Even if the green meadow covers
more than one most valiant hero,
soon jubilantly fanfares
will play in the world, preceding Germany.
53. Wenn die Arbeiter aufhören
wollen Sklaven zu sein, müssen sie ihren Herren die Knute entreißen
"If the workers want to stop being
slaves, they must snatch the whip from their masters"
On the handle of the whip is written: "Klassenjustiz" ("class
justice").
54. Freut Euch des Lebens!
"Enjoy life!"
"Freut euch des Lebens":
Title of a song dating back to 1793, of which here the beginning[69]:
Freut euch des Lebens
weil noch das Lämpchen glüht
Pflücket die Rose
eh sie verblüht!
Translation:
Enjoy
life,
as the wick still glows.
Pick the rose
before it withers!
55. Die Ehe ist der Anfang und
der Gipfel der Kultur (Goethe)
"Marriage is the beginning and the
pinnacle of culture"
- Die
Wahlverwandtschaften (The elective affinities):
The sentence about marriage is extracted from this novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. As in all
literary works, the thoughts presented by the author as those of this or that
figure may be far from his own vision. Here is what Goethe himself writes in
one of his letters addressed to Friedrich Schiller[70]:
With
all matters things go as with marriage: one marvels about what one thinks to
have achieved when one is coupled, and there the devil is off more than ever.
This comes, because nothing in the world stands separately and anything
effective has to be regarded not as an end, but as a beginning.
56. Wir halten fest und treu
zusammen
"Solidly and staunchly we stick
together "
‑ "Wir halten fest und
treu zusammen"
This phrase is extracted from a popular song commonly
called "Kaisermarsch Hipp Hipp Hurra" ("March of the Emperor Hip Hip Hurray"), of which here
is the last strophe and the refrain[71]:
Und ruft der Feind uns einst zur Wehr
dann ziehn wir in den Streit
es findet uns zu Land und Meer
in Kampfeslust bereit
Käm er in hellen Haufen gleich
wir trotzten aller Not
Mit Gott für Kaiser und für´s Reich
gehn wir gern in den Tod
Es soll Begeisterung uns entflammen
hipp hipp hurra
wir halten fest und treu zusammen
hipp hipp hurra
Translation:
And
if one day the enemy calls us to resist
then we will rush up to conflict
he finds us on earth and sea
ready, plainly bellicose
Even if he comes directly in numerous bunches
we brave all distress
With God and the Emperor for the Empire
willingly we go to death
Enthusiasm shall kindle us
hip hip hurray
Solidly and staunchly we stick together
hip hip hurray
57. Wacht auf, Verdammte dieser
Erde
"Wake up, damned of this
earth"
- The International:
After the defeat of the Commune of Paris in 1871, Eugène Pottier writes a text titled "The International" with reference
to the International association of workers (Internationale
Arbeiterassoziation, known also under the designation
as First International) constituted in 1864 on the basis of the essential
contribution of Karl Marx. In 1888, the text is set to music by Pierre
Degeyter. Later, after 1900, Emil
Luckhardt writes a version in German language[72]. During the
1930s, Erich Weinert writes a
version which more faithfully restitutes the whole of the French text[73].
"Wacht auf, Verdammte dieser Erde": This comes from the text by Emil Luckhardt.
The original text by Eugène Pottier goes: "Debout!
les damnés de la terre!". "Debout" may signify the idea of getting up, waking up. But in the context
of the poem it rather induces the call to "stand up", to
"rise" in order to fight.
- "L'Internationale", poème d'Eugène
Pottier[74]:
C'est
la lutte finale:
Groupons-nous, et demain,
L'Internationale
Sera le genre humain.
Debout!
les damnés de la terre!
Debout! les forçats de la faim!
La raison tonne en son cratère,
C'est l'éruption de la fin,
Du passé faisons table rase,
Foule esclave, debout! debout!
Le monde va changer de base:
Nous ne sommes rien, soyons tout!
Il
n'est pas de sauveurs suprêmes:
Ni Dieu, ni César, ni tribun,
Producteurs, sauvons-nous nous-mêmes!
Décrétons le salut commun!
Pour que le voleur rende gorge,
Pour tirer l'esprit du cachot,
Soufflons nous-mêmes notre forge,
Battons le fer quand il est chaud!
L'État
comprime et la loi triche;
L'Impôt saigne le malheureux;
Nul devoir ne s'impose au riche;
Le droit du pauvre est un mot creux.
C'est assez languir en tutelle,
L'Égalité veut d'autres lois;
"Pas de droits sans devoirs, dit-elle,
Égaux, pas de devoirs sans droits!"
Hideux
dans leur apothéose,
Les rois de la mine et du rail
Ont-ils jamais fait autre chose
Que dévaliser le travail:
Dans les coffres-forts de la bande
Ce qu'il a créé est fondu.
En décrétant qu'on le lui rende
Le peuple ne veut que son dû.
Les
rois nous soûlaient de fumées,
Paix entre nous, guerre aux tyrans!
Appliquons la grève aux armées,
Crosse en l'air et rompons les rangs!
S'ils s'obstinent, ces cannibales,
A faire de nous des héros,
Ils sauront bientôt que nos balles
Sont pour nos propres généraux.
Ouvriers,
paysans, nous sommes
Le grand parti des travailleurs;
La terre n'appartient qu'aux hommes,
L'oisif ira loger ailleurs.
Combien de nos chairs se repaissent!
Mais, si les corbeaux, les vautours,
Un de ces matins, disparaissent,
Le soleil brillera toujours!
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Commonly sung English version[75]
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Translation of the original text by
Eugène Pottier[76]
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’Tis the final conflict
Let each stand in his place
The International Union
Shall be the human race.
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’Tis the final conflict,
Let us unite and tomorrow,
The International
Will be the human race
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Arise ye pris’ners of starvation
Arise ye wretched of the earth
For justice thunders condemnation
A better world’s in birth!
No more tradition’s chains shall bind us
Arise, ye slaves, no more in thrall;
The earth shall rise on new foundations
We have been naught we shall be all.
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Arise, the damned of the earth!
Arise, prisoners of hunger!
Reason thunders in its crater,
’Tis the eruption of the end.
Let’s make a clean slate of the past,
Enslaved mass, arise, arise!
The world’s foundation will change,
We are nothing, now let’s be all!
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We want no condescending saviors
To rule us from their judgement hall
We workers ask not for their favors
Let us consult for all.
To make the theif disgorge his booty
To free the spirit from its cell
We must ourselves decide our duty
We must decide and do it well.
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There are no supreme saviors,
Neither God, nor Caesar nor tribune;
Producers, let us save ourselves,
We decree common salvation!
So that the thief should offer us his throat
So that spirit be wrested from its cell,
Let us fan the forge’s flames ourselves
And strike while the iron is hot.
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The law oppresses us and tricks us,
The wage slave system drains our blood;
The rich are free from obligation,
The laws the poor delude.
Too long we’ve languished in subjection,
Equality has other laws;
"No rights", says she "without their duties,
No claims on equals without cause."
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The state represses, the law cheats,
Taxes bleed the poor;
No duties are imposed on the rich,
The rights of the poor are empty words,
We have languished long enough under domination,
Equality wants other laws:
“No rights without duties,” it says
“Equals, there are no duties without rights.”
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Behold them seated in their glory
The kings of mine and rail and soil!
What have you read in all their story,
But how they plundered toil?
Fruits of the workers’ toil are buried
In strongholds of the idle few
In working for their restitution
The men will only claim their due.
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Hideous in their apotheosis,
The kings of mines and rails,
Have they ever done aught
But rob from labor?
In the safes of that gang
What is created is smelted,
By decreeing that they turn it over
The people only want what is their due.
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Kings intoxicated us with smoke,
Peace among us, war on tyrants!
Let’s apply the strike to armies,
Rifle butts raised on high and breaking ranks.
And if they insist, those cannibals,
On making heroes of us,
They’ll soon learn that our bullets
Are for our own generals.
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We toilers from all fields united
Join hand in hand with all who work;
The earth belongs to us, the workers,
No room here for the shirk.
How many on our flesh have fattened!
But if the norsome birds of prey
Shall vanish from the sky some morning
The blessed sunlight then will stay.
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Workers, farmers, we are
The great party of the workers,
The earth belongs only to men,
Idlers can go someplace else.
How many on our flesh eat their fill?
But if the ravens, the vultures
One morning disappeared
The sun would shine still!
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