Estado Sentido

The Treaty of Versailles itself was not the great evil which finally brought the National Socialists into power. It is not difficult to vindicate the letter of Versailles; it is the spirit which makes it inexcusable. It is the spirit of Versailles which brought no material advantage whatsoever to the victors but gave the National Socialists a powerful weapon into their hands. Was it necessary to copy Herr von Bismarck's bad dramatic taste in choosing the Mirror Hall of Versailles, birthplace of the Second Reich, as a stage for the scene where the German delegates were made to sign the fateful document?

They signed the death warrant of the Second Reich which was a none too glorious period in German history but a mild one in comparison with the one bound to follow. Could not another day have been picked than the fifth anniversary of the assassination in Sarayevo and the four hundredth anniversary of the electionof the greatest ruler of the First Reich — Charles V?Was it necessary to celebrate in such solemn form the fact that murder does pay? Could not Count Brockdorff-Rantzau be treated at least in the same way as Trotzki was treated in Brest Litovsk? Was it necessary to force the signature under the war guilt clause?

The Menace of the Herd, Francis Stuart Campbell