862.00 P.R./146
The Ambassador in Germany (Dodd) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 7.]
Sir:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. The Election Campaign. The campaign for the Reichstag election and referendum on November 12, has set in with great vehemence. Outward manifestations of the campaign are daily increasing. Huge placards exhorting the people to vote for the Government have been put up in [Page 261] Berlin and other cities throughout the Reich bearing such inscriptions as: “In eight months 2,250,000 persons have been given work and bread.” “Everyone votes, Yes!” “Hitler’s Struggle is the Struggle for the Real Peace of the World.” “With Hitler for Peace and the Right to Equality.”
Ten million copies of a pamphlet on Germany’s decision to withdraw from Geneva60 have been printed for distribution during the campaign at the exceptionally low price of 5 pfennig (an ordinary newspaper costs from 10 to 20 pfennig). The pamphlet discusses the peace treaties, the failure of the victorious nations to keep their promise to disarm and the armaments of other nations.
The printed ballots for the referendum on November 12 contain the question: “Do you, German man, and you, German woman, approve the policy of your Government and are you ready to recognize it as the expression of your own view and your own will and solemnly pledge yourself to it?” Below this text are two circles enclosed in squares above which are printed the words Yes and No. It will be observed that this question fails to mention directly the ostensibly main purpose of the referendum which was to determine to what extent the German people approved Germany’s withdrawal from Geneva. It reads like a request for a national vote of confidence in the general policy of the Government.
In view of the absence of all opposition and the nature of the issue involved, the intensive “election” campaign launched by the Government is really a campaign to increase the following of the Nazi Party, and to win the sympathy and support of those elements which up to now have been reluctant to accept a Nazi régime. Judging by the skilful manner in which the campaign is being conducted there can be no doubt that the affirmative vote will be overwhelmingly large. Only a hopeless minority will have the courage to vote in the negative, even though the balloting will be secret.
Hitler’s appeal to the German people in his first election speech in Berlin on October 24 was cleverly calculated to arouse the patriotic feelings not only of his following but also of many who still stand aloof. It would be an easy task for an impartial observer to point out the numerous contradictions and distortions of facts in the Chancellor’s speech, but this speech was intended for the man in the street, not for the informed political observer. Viewed from this angle it has undoubtedly achieved its purpose of convincing many of the wisdom of a “down-trodden” nation’s decision to withdraw from Geneva and the necessity of putting up a stiff front vis-à-vis the “oppressors.”
It is not improbable that when Goebbels announced several weeks [Page 262] ago that beginning October 1, no fewer than 150,000 public meetings would be held throughout Germany in the course of the next two months, the Nazi leaders already had in mind Germany’s eventual withdrawal from the League of Nations and the Disarmament Conference.
When the Nazis came into power Hitler boasted that the new Reichstag would last out its full term and that there would be no more general elections during the next four years. The referendum will undoubtedly demonstrate that the German people for obvious reasons can be lined up solidly behind the Government on the disarmament question. The simultaneous Reichstag election appears to be superfluous as a gauge of public opinion on this question.
However, the seemingly superfluous Reichstag election is no less important for Hitler than the referendum.
In the late Reichstag, the Hugenberg Nationalists, the Center and the Bavarian People’s Party were represented by 145 deputies, most of whom were absorbed by the Nazis when these parties were dissolved (see despatches Nos. 2504 of June 30 and 2527 of July 10, 1933). The Minister of the Interior, Dr. Frick, has announced that the list of candidates for the Reichstag to be elected on November 12 will contain 685 names of which approximately only 40, or slightly less than 6 per cent will be those of persons who were formerly members of the dissolved parties.
However, this sop to the non-Nazi elements was a clever tactical move on Hitler’s part, as many Germans who formerly supported these defunct parties but were reluctant to accept the Nazi régime, will now be more willing to vote in the affirmative on November 12. Considerable surprise was evoked by the announcement that Dr. Hugenberg’s name is included among the names of the ten leading names which top the list of candidates. It is not clear at this writing whether or not pressure was brought to bear on Hugenberg to run for the Reichstag on a Nazi ticket. In any event by making Hugenberg one of the ten leading candidates Hitler has undoubtedly made an especially clever move as Hugenberg still has a loyal, though suppressed, following.
As pointed out in despatch No. 211 of October 17, 1933,61 there have been several indications during the past week that Hitler is displeased with Göring. The latter’s silence seemed to confirm the rumors of a possible break between Hitler and one of his most important henchmen who has a very strong following of his own. Göring’s actions were therefore watched with keen interest. However, in Stettin yesterday Göring made his first campaign speech in which he did not fail to stress his loyalty to the “Führer”. As far as the Embassy is aware this was [Page 263] Göring’s first public appearance in Germany since the opening of the Prussian Staatsrat on September 15.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Respectfully yours,
- For correspondence concerning the Disarmament Conference at Geneva, see vol. i, pp. 1 ff.↩
- Not printed.↩