Again, War Guilt

One hundred and seven brown-shirted Fascist Deputies ("Nazis"), followers of bristle-lipped Adolf Hitler, proudly marched into the Reichstag four months ago, took their seats while Socialists shrilly hooted. Week after week Germany nervously waited for something big to happen. Nothing did. Last week the 107 Fascists, plus 41 Nationalists and a hand ful of Agrarians marched out of the Reichstag in disgust muttering dark threats of forming a "rump parliament" of their own at Weimar, scene of the writing and adoption of Germany's present Constitution, which Fascists hate. Sober Germans did not take the Weimar Parliament threat too seriously.

Immediate cause of the grand exit march was a debate on the reform of parliamentary rules which Deputies of the Centre parties, left with the business of trying to run a government, have been urging for months. Urgently needed was some check on filibustering, obstructionist tactics which both Fascists and Communists have been successfully using. Fascists used every tactic to delay passage of the bill, but lost 300 to 160. Stiffly goosestepping from the room the Fascists marched out, their right arms raised in salute, shouting HOCH! HOCH! HOCH!!! They paused long enough to collect their full pay for the month of February.

Two days later the Fascistless Reichstag passed a resolution that genuinely worried European chancellories: a demand for an impartial commission to study the origins of the World War, to settle the problem of War guilt. Observers realized that if such an international commission should deny the sole guilt of Germany and her allies as set forth in the Treaty of Versailles (and most historians do deny it as they also deny her complete innocence) Germans would have what might seem to them a legitimate excuse to stop paying reparations.*

* Despite reams of editorial comment in a dozen languages the Versailles Treaty does not use the phrase "sole guilt," does state that "Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage. . . ."

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