May 4 1923

My dear fellow Germans!

When Cuno became Chancellor of the German Reich people said that the failure of the policy of compliance  necessitated a change in the leadership of the Reich.What did the policy of compliance mean then? That's very simple: you must try as far as possible to satisfy your adversary's demands so as to make Germany's recovery possible. It was unimportant whether or not there was any legal basis for these demands. No state could do more than Germany to fulfill them. But the German People are required to make reparations which exceed the entire wealth of the nation. So these requirements must have a very definite purpose, an agenda which goes far beyond economics. France does not want reparations; it wants the destruction of Germany, the fulfillment of an age-old dream; a Europe dominated by France.

"Reparations" are nothing but a "legal device" intended to bring a state to its knees with a facade of legality, to destroy the fabric of a nation and to replace one state with a conglomeration of small states which consume and destroy each other.

So the only way that the Government could satisfy France was by liquidating the German Reich, by bringing about its dissolution. Satisfying France is not an economic but a  political question. This was what caused the downfall of Dr. Wirth. To satisfy France he would have to destroy Germany; that he cannot do; and what he can do, will not satisfy France.

From this we can clearly see where the road to Germany's recovery lies. Our first priority must be the defense of the nation. That is primarily not a technical matter but a question of psychology and of the will to accomplish this. Only when we have solved that problem can the rebuilding of Germany begin, and that will not be accomplished until the German People once again recognize that politics are driven by power and power alone. As long as the German People and its governments fail to understand this, all talk of reconstruction is pure nonsense. And for four and a half years the German People have had to listen to this nonsense as the "official wisdom of the Government". Our nation faces a two-fold challenge: first spiritual and then material rearmament. Spiritual rearmament means reeducating the nation, teaching it to defend itself, to represent its vital interests and to assert its rights. How can the national will be strengthened? By destroying whatever opposes it. The choice is: national, or anti-national and international? This all-important question - nationalism or internationalism - must be decided; only then can the spiritual rearmament of our nation be achieved.

After that it is only a question of technical implementation, the utilization of the will. But that is easy, child's play. Where would France be today if Germany had no "internationalists" but only National Socialists! And even if right now we had no other weapons than our bare fists! If only sixty million people had the will to be fanatical nationalists, weapons would grow out of our bare fists. And then France would not dare  to treat Germany as it does now.

If you want to free yourselves from the "obligation to provide reparations", you cannot possibly do this by endless compliance. The only way is to have the strength of will to one day tear up the Treaty of Versailles and in to develop instead the ability to defend our nation and ultimately to attack its enemies.

Wirth replaced power by "the higher principle of justice ". Then came Cuno. The German People were happy now. Herr Cuno was sure to be better than Wirth. But that was all. He, too, failed to recognize the essential fact that Germany was confronted not by an economic but a political problem. The reawakening of the nation's will to act. Cuno's preoccupation with economics was clear as soon as the invasion of the Ruhr took place. Right now the French do not care whether they receive coal. If we in our "magnificent" financial position can live without the Ruhr, then the French, too, will be able to live without the Ruhr. People said that the French would exert pressure on their government. Indeed they are, but not in the direction that we assume!

At that time Cuno believed that the invasion of the Ruhr had taken place for economic reasons and so he adopted a policy of passive resistance. But passive resistance makes no sense unless it is supported by a national campaign of active resistance. Unfortunately that is not the case. The first thing that we should have done the day that the invasion of the Ruhr took place was to rip up the Treaty of Versailles and tell them to keep their scraps of paper: Germany is free again! At that time the world was shocked by the actions of the French and expected us to do something like that. We would have had the sympathy of the entire world. But now it is almost too late.

The Government should also have asked itself: who is willing to undertake active resistance in Germany? Only those to whom Germany still means something. Not the parliamentary blabbermouths, not the scum who are our politicians today, but only the men who wear a steel helmet and the swastika.

 Cuno should have realized that the democrats and those even further to their left are pacifist and anti-German parties. They demand nothing but submissiveness, negotiation at any price. What should he have done if he had realized this? He should have strengthened the nationalistic element, because it alone was viable.

If it were possible in Germany today to unite one and a half million people in support of a single platform, who if necessary were ready to sacrifice themselves for their Fatherland, Germany would be saved. But then that million people would have to be sure that their Government was firmly behind them and would have to be able to say to themselves: we are not fighting in vain, nor shall we die as our brothers did in the years 1914-18 so that Germany can be turned into a pigsty.

Even today there are still hundreds of thousands who love their Fatherland above all else; but the Fatherland must show them greater love than the others. If they are expected to make the supreme sacrifice for Germany, they should have been given back the symbol of former immortal victories, the banner which fluttered at the forefront of our regiments. Why didn't the Government do that? Because they want "moderation" in everything. Just take a look at what goes on in the state legislature (Landtag)!

If they continue to blunder on like that for years there will no longer be a Germany or a Bavaria. Today the German parliamentarians are bringing about the destruction, the end of the German nation. They no longer recognize the creative power of the individual. What outstanding personalities has the Republic produced? People like to make comparisons with the ancient republics. But you cannot compare a Wutzlhofer with a Marius or a Schweyer with a Sulla.

They would not even permit a strong-willed individual to exist. They do not want anything superior to their own mediocrity. They are afraid that someone without a parliamentary majority might have power. If a Frederick the Great were to appear again today, they would probably pass emergency legislation aimed at him!

You would think that a "statesman" who was a failure would disappear for ever. But in a parliamentary state he merely goes back to the end of the line and waits for another turn. And when he reaches the front of the line, he is back in power. Even the ancient republics with their rigid conception of the state were ruled by a dictator in times of national emergency. When the lives of nations are at risk, national and provincial parliaments are useless; only giants can save the nation.

In the course of history German parliamentarians have incurred an enormous burden of guilt for failing the German People. Once before they dug the nation's grave. When the German nation last set out to accomplish great deeds, who prepared Germany then? A national parliament (Reichstag)? God knows, in those days even the state legislatures did whatever they could to ruin Germany. It was one man alone who created the Reich: Bismarck.

And then people think that the recovery of the nation can come from the parliamentary system? The course of history cannot be changed; the German parliamentary system is digging its own grave. And all that will be left for us to do is lay it to rest in that grave. So what if they talk of national authority in the state legislature (Landtag), where is ours? France has it. We have none.

They allow the Hammer and Sickle to fly from the Bavaria monument. Would to God that Ludwig I had risen from his grave that day! I wonder whether he would have cursed us or the Government which desecrated his monument like that. (Thunderous applause). We believe that we must answer for our actions not only to future generations but to those who came before us. A new time will come and it will decide who it was who acted properly here. And only then will people realize that they protected the people who betrayed their Fatherland.

But it is the fire in the hearts of Germany's young folk which will bring us ultimate victory. It will be they who will sustain the state which they will create for themselves. New young warriors are coming forward in Germany, young men who have already shed their blood for their Fatherland but know full well that because of those who rule Germany today their blood was shed in vain. The parliamentarians do not enjoy the respect of the nation; they have to pass protective legislation to defend themselves. Germany can be saved only by the dictatorship of the national will and determination to take action.

People ask: is there someone fit to be our leader? Our task is not to search for that person. Either God will give him to us or he will not come. Our task is to shape the sword that he will need when he comes. Our task it to provide the leader with a nation which is ready for him when he comes! My fellow Germans, awaken! The new day is dawning!