Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler

passed by the observations of a Houston Stewart Chamberlain with the same indifference as
still occurs today. These people are too stupid to think any-thing for themselves and too
conceited to learn what is necessary from others-an age-old truth which caused Oxenstierna
to cry out: 'The world is governed by a mere fraction of wisdom';l and indeed nearly every
ministerial secretary embodies only an atom of this fraction. Only since Germany has become
a republic, this no longer applies. That is why it has been forbidden by the Law for the
Defense of the Republic 2 to believe, let alone discuss, any such thought. Oxenstierna was
lucky to live when he did, and not in this wise republic of ours.
Even in the pre-War period that institution which was supposed to embody the strength of
the Reich was recognized by many as its greatest weakness: the parliament or Reichstag.
Cowardice and irresponsibility were here completely wedded.
One of the foolish remarks which today we not infrequently hear is that parliamentarism in
Germany has 'gone wrong since the revolution.' This too easily gives the impression that it
was different before the revolution. In reality the effect of this institution can be nothing else
than devastating-and this was true even in those days when most people wore blinders and
saw nothing and wanted to see nothing. For if Germany was crushed, it was owing not least
to this institution; no thanks are owing to the Reichstag that the catastrophe did not occur
earlier; this must be attributed to the resistance to the activity of this gravedigger of the
German nation and the German Reich, which persisted in the years of peace.
Out of the vast number of devastating evils for which this institution was directly or
indirectly responsible, I shall pick only a single one which is most in keeping with the inner
essence of this most irresponsible institution of all times: the terrible halfheartedness and
weakness of the political leaders of the Reich both at home and abroad, which, primarily
attributable to the activities of the Reichstag, developed into one of the chief reasons for the
political collapse.
Half-hearted was everything that was subject in any way to the influence of this parliament,
regardless which way you look.
Half-hearted and weak was the alliance policy of the Reich in its foreign relations. By trying
to preserve peace it steered inevitably toward war.
Half-hearted was the Polish policy. It consisted in irritating without ever seriously going
through with anything. The result was neither a victory for the Germans nor conciliation of
the Poles, but hostility with Russia instead.
Half-hearted was the solution of the Alsace-Lorraine question. Instead of crushing the head
of the French hydra once and for all with a brutal fist, and then granting the Alsatian equal
rights, neither of the two was done. Nor could it be, for in the ranks of the biggest parties sat
the biggest traitors-in the Center, for example, Herr Wetterle.
All this, however, would have been bearable if the general halfheartedness had not taken
possession of that power on whose existence the survival of the Reich ultimately depended:
the army.
The sins of the so-called 'German Reichstag' would alone suffice to cover it for all times with
the curse of the German nation. For the most miserable reasons, these parliamentary rabble
stole and struck from the hand of the nation its weapon of self-preservation, the only defense
of our people's freedom and independence. If today the graves of Flanders field were to open,
from them would arise the bloody accusers, hundreds of thousands of the best young
Germans who, due to the unscrupulousness of these parliamentarian criminals, were driven,
poorly trained and half-trained, into the arms of death; the fatherland lost them and millions
of crippled and dead, solely and alone so that a few hundred misleaders of the people could
perpetrate their political swindles and blackmail, or merely rattle off their doctrinaire
theories.
While the Jews in their Marxist and democratic press proclaimed to the whole world the lie
about 'German militarism' and sought to incriminate Germany by all means, the Marxist and
democratic parties were obstructing any comprehensive training of the German national