Munich
to this unlucky alliance as a silent partner.
International Jewish world finance needed this bait in order to carry out its long-cherished plan of destroying Germany, which had not yet yielded to the general international control of finance and the economic structure. It was the only way to forge a coalition which would be strong and bold enough by the pure numerical force of marching millions, and ready at last to do battle with the horned Siegfried.
The alliance with the Hapsburg Monarchy, which even in Austria had thoroughly displeased me, was now the subject of a long inward scrutiny which ended by confirming my previous opinion still further.
In the humble circles in which I moved, I made no secret of my conviction that this unhappy treaty with a state marked for destruction must lead to a catastrophic collapse of Germany as well, if we did not succeed in freeing ourselves in time. Nor did I waver for a moment in my rock-bottomed conviction, even when the storm of the World War seemed to have cut off all reasoned reflection, and the wave of enthusiasm had swept away even those whose duty it was to look absolutely coldly upon reality. Whenever I heard these problems discussed, even while I was at the front, I maintained my opinion that the alliance must be broken off, the sooner the better for the German nation, and that it would be no sacrifice at all to deliver up the Hapsburg Monarchy if Germany could thus limit the number of her adversaries; the millions had strapped on the steel helmet not to preserve a debauched dynasty, but to save the German nation.
Once or twice before the war it seemed as if at least one camp would have some faint doubt that the policy of alliance being pursued was sound. From time to time, German-Conservative circles began to give warning against too-great trustfulness, but this, like all other common sense, was but writ in water. People were convinced they were on the high road to a “conquest” of the world whose success would be enormous, and whose cost, nothing.
Once again there was nothing for the well-known “inter-
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