I wish to state that I was one of those who, at the time when the fate of South Tyrol was being decided —that is, from August, 1914, to November, 1918— went where that country was being defended in practice, i.e., into the Army. I fought throughout all that period, not in order that South Tyrol should be lost, but that it, as well as every other German country, should be preserved for the Fatherland. For South Tyrol was naturally not guaranteed to Germany by the lying and inflammatory speeches of smart Parlia¬ mentarians in the Vienna Rathus or the Feldherrnhalle in Munich, but solely by the battalions at the fighting front. It was these people who broke up that front that betrayed South Tyrol, as well as all the other German districts.
The disgraceful part of it all is that the talkers themselves do not believe that anything is to be gained by their protests. They themselves know very well how harmless and hopeless their pottering ways are. They only do it because it is easier now to chatter about recovering South Tyrol than at one time it was to fight for its retention. Each one does his bit ; we offered our blood for it, now these people sharpen their noses over it.
If the German nation is to stop the rot which threatens Europe it must not fall into the errors of the pre-War period, and make enemies of God and the world, but it must ascertain who its most dangerous opponents are so as to oppose them with all its concen¬ trated force. If Germany acts thus, the coming race will realize our great needs and anxieties, and admire our bitter determination the more when they see the brilliant success which will result from it.
It was the fantastic idea of an alliance with the dead carcase of the Habsburg State which ruined Germany. To-day fantastic sentimentality in hand¬ ling the possibilities of foreign policy is the best means for preventing our rising again for all time.
What did our governments do to infuse into this nation once again the spirit of proud independence, manly defiance and national