of my life ; tremendous, because for the last time the struggle lost its character of a defensive and became an offensive, as it was in 1914.
At the height of the summer of 1918 it was stiffingly hot all over the front. There were quarrels going on at home. What about ? In the various units of the army there were many rumours. It seemed that the War was now hopeless, and only fools could think we were going to win.
It was not the nation, but the capitalists and the Monarchy which were interested in going on with it. This was the news from home, and it was discussed at the front.
At first the front reacted to it very little. What did Universal Suffrage matter to us ? Was that what we had been fighting for for four years ?
The front, in its old stable condition, had very little use for the new war aims of Messrs. Ebert, Scheidemann, Barth, Liebknecht, etc. We could not make out why the shirkers had a right to arrogate to themselves State control of the Army.
My own political notions were fixed from the start. I loathed that whole wretched gang of Party hacks who had betrayed the nation. I had long seen clearly that that gang was not really thinking about the good of the nation, but of filling their own empty pockets.
9° MY STRUGGLE And the fact that they were prepared to sacrifice the whole nation for that, and to let Germany go under, if necessary, made them fit to be hanged in my eyes. Attention paid to their wishes meant sacrificing the interests of the working classes for the benefit of a lot of pickpockets ; carrying of them into practice was impossible unless we were prepared to let Germany go. Far the greater part of the Army still thought the same as I did.
In August and September the signs of decay increased more and more rapidly, although the effect of the enemy attacks were not at all to be