Cuno’s money just as much as Cuno required them for his “united front”.
If Herr Cuno at that moment, instead of encouraging a purchased general strike and making it the basis of his “united front”, had demanded two hours more work from every German, the swindle of the “united front” would have been disposed of in three days. Nations do not achieve liberty by doing nothing but by sacrifice.
This so-called passive resistance could never have been kept up for any length of time. No one but a man who knew nothing about war could imagine he could drive out an army of occupation by methods so absurd.
If the Westphalians in the Ruhr had been con¬ scious of an army of eighty or a hundred Divisions ready to support them, the French would have been treading on thorns.
As soon as the Marxist Trades Unions had practi¬ cally filled up their money-boxes out of Cuno’s con¬ tributions, and it was nearly decided to change slack passive resistance into active attack, the Red hyena all at once broke away from the national sheepfold and returned to being what they always had been. With¬ out a murmur, Herr Cuno retired on board his ships, and Germany became richer by one experience and poorer by one great hope.
But when the wretched collapse began, and the shameful capitulation took place after a sacrifice of milliards of money and many thousands of young Germans—who had been so simple as to trust the promises of the rulers of the Reich—indignation against such betrayal of our unhappy country burst forth in a blaze. In millions of people the conviction shone forth that nothing but a radical purging of the whole system prevailing in Germany would bring salvation.
In this book I can merely repeat the last sentence of my speech at the great Trial of the spring of 1924 :