There were even worse phenomena involved by the industrialization of the nation. Along with the definite establishment of Commerce as mistress of the State, money became a god, whom all had to serve and before whom everyone must bow. A period of demoralization began, especially bad because it set in at a time when the nation needed more than ever heroic inspiration of the highest order at an hour when danger was pre¬ sumably menacing it. Germany ought to have been pre¬ paring to support with the sword her effort to make sure of her daily bread by means of “peaceful economic labours”.
Unfortunately, domination by money received sanc¬ tion in the very quarter which ought to have been most opposed to it. It was a particularly unhappy inspira¬ tion when His Majesty induced the nobility to enter the circle of the new finance. It must be admitted in excuse for him that even Bismarck failed to realize the danger, but in practice it drove the ideal virtues into the second place behind that of money, for it was clear that having once taken that road, the nobility of the sword would very soon have to play second fiddle to that of finance.
Before the War internationalization of German business was already on its way, travelling by the by-paths of share issues. A section of German industry did make a determined attempt to avert the danger, but in the end it fell a victim to the combined attacks of greedy capital, greatly assisted by its trusty friends, the Marxist movement.
io8 MY STRUGGLE The persistent war against the “heavy industries” of Germany was the visible start of the internationalization, which was being striven for with the help of Marxism, and the only possible way of completing the work was by a victory for Marxism in the Revolution. As I write these words, success is attending the general attack on the German State Railways, which are to be turned over to the international capitalists. Thus “International” Social Democracy has once again attained one of its main objectives.