The late German revolution gives opportunity to enlarge on the present situation of Central Europe. The fall of the Republic, the rise of Hitlerism and their influence on national as well as international politics, leave much room for speculation. The reports about Jew-baiting, the contradictory pronouncements of Nazi leaders, the compulsory silence of critical public opinion, all these present some aspects of recent happenings, but they certainly fail to convey understanding. It is said that Germany has lost many friends in England; expressions like barbarism, dangerous nationalism, etc., occur in every discussion on the subject. Indeed, the most unfavourable image of Imperial Germany shows its face through the ‘National Revolution at least to the average Englishman.

It is a difficult task to give an impartial view about a national upheaval when confronted with suspicious public opinion and still more when the writer, for different reasons, has much in common with that opinion. Hitlerism, until now, has little to show that would claim sympathy from the foreign observer. Yet, however much the Nazi movement may be disliked, it would seem that it is incomprehensible in its essential force. This difficulty of understanding, which sometimes expresses itself in astonishment, more often in disappointment over Germany, gives the basis and encouragement to this article.