TUESDAY, NOV 24, 1942 THE NAZI IDEOLOGY: Rule by Mad Poets' (Peter Viereck's " Metapolitics From The Romantics To Hitler", reviewed for The Daily by Prof. Preston W. Slos- son.) MANY DIFFERENT ATTITUDES have been taken as to the rela- tion of German policy under the1 Third Reich to the ideology which Hitler and other leaders profess as their justification. The most common view is, perhaps, to con- sider the Nazi theories as mere ra- tionalizations, excuses or propa- ganda devices. For some of the more cynical of the present rulers of Germany this may be true, but this matters little. As Peter Vier- eck points out in his notable study of the German mind, Metapolitics from the Romantics to Hitler, what the German masses believe, or at least will to believe, is just as im- portant whether their teachers are sincere or not. Other common errors are to consider Hitler's doctrines of his own manufacture, or at most bor- rowed from a few well knowxi Nazi writers such as Rosenberg, instead of looking deeply into Germany's past; or to treat Nazi doctrines as a mere variant on Mussolini's Fascism, or as Russian Commun- ism turned inside out; or to con- sider them as just a mask for Prussian militarism or for a hard- pressed capitalism; or, finally, to say that Hitler is expressing what all Germans think and feel, and that the Teuton is always incor- rigibly the barbarian. Viereck's thesis may be briefly stated. "Germany's aggressive in- feriority complex against west- ern civilization is the greatest cultural and political tragedy of Europe". Two souls contend within the German breast: the rationalistic tradition of the West, borrowing liberty from Greece, law from Rome, and hu- manitarianism from Christian- ity, and the wild protest of ir- rational and mystical emotional- ism against rationalism, liberty, law and Christianity. Unfortun- ately, the latter movement, though directed against reason, has had a faddy fashionable- ness among some German intel- lectuals, and has flowered in theory as well Ps in practise. Much of the German romantic movement was poisoned by this revolt against reason. That is why the Nazis trace their spiri- tual heritage to Herder, Jahn, Fichte, Wagner, Hegel, Stefan, George Nietzsche, Treitschke, Houston Stewart Chamberlain" and other famous writers of past generations. But, it will be at once objected, many of these men were liberals and would be horrified at Hitler's Third Reich. Perfectly true, Vier- I DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN But, I questioned him further, don't you be- lieve that there is a human angle to this game of football? Isn't it possible, I added, that these men could have lived with the'idea of beating Notre Dame for a whole week, and that after the job was done relax so much that they couldn't grab the same spirit the following week? He laughed at that, too. "These men have been playing football week after week all fall and they realize what it's all about. They're not kids who have to be told to beware of a let-down in their emotional pitch. You sports-writers might better forget this, idea of mental let-downs and try to get a new approach to the matter of coverage- some innovation in sports-writing." Well, we hear a lot of talk about morale and how it is vital that this abstract something be maintained for the good of our soldiers and de- fenders of the home front. Undoubtedly, here is our human angle, our psychological element. We try to prevent mental let-downs among our fighting men by keeping up the morale. Soldiers or football players, they're all alike. Both fight battles to win, and the most important eleient outside of actual supply of fighting men and equipment seems to be the human one. It can't be scoffed down. What happened at Columbus, 0., last Satur- day? A Micigan team with the Big Ten title almost in its grasp played an Ohio State eleven that was primed for the game. The Wolverines were in good physical condition and at full strength. They were set up as slight favorites and all odds seemed to be in their favor.. Now, look at it from the Buckeye's viewpoint. Ohio State was pointing for that game all season. She had ,lost only one game and stood ready to grab Conference honors. It was also homecoming game for the Bucks, and they hadn't beaten Michigan since Coach Fritz Crisler took over. And don't forget the fact that Michigan had knocked off a powerful Notre Dame outfit the previous week. Every one of these factors was important in building up the Buckeyes to a fevered pitch. They were mentally alert and in- spired. They made no bad mistakes, and they capitalized '"on our many errors. It's almost im- possible to disregard the human element here. The Buckeyes had it, and the Wolverines didn't. This is not an attempt at Monday afternoon quarterbacking. It is simply an analysis of an obvious situation to prove what seems to be so. Isn't it possible that a sports-writer, trained to look atthe team from an observer's viewpoint, can detect something that may not be notice- able by the participant? IN ANY EVENT, the majority of the nation's sports-writers believe in this idea of a mental DREW PEARSON'S 0ih MERRY-GO-ROUND WASHINGTON- If Hitler moves in on Spain, he may accomplish at one blow what we have failed to do in nine months of diplomatic discus- sions with Argentina. He may force that South American country into a break with the Axis. It was Argentina which principally gummed the works at Rio de Janeiro last January, when astute Sumner Welles, Under Secretary of State, was trying to line up all 21 Latin- American countries behind a resolution to break relations. There Argentina Foreign Minister Ruiz Gui- nazu, insisted on "neutrality" and Argentina re- mained on the fence. Ruiz Guinazu is a great admirer of Spain, is proud of his own Spanish blood. Furthermore, he points to Spain's "tradition of neutrality" as the best guarantee of peace. So if the Germans now attack Spain, the Ar- gentine Government would almost be forced to come to the defense of the mother country by breaking relations with the attacking country. Note:' Resignation of Argentine War Minis- ter Tonazzi, a friend of the United States, is regarded here as the first important rift in the Castillo Government. Capital Chaff WHEN Paramount made a picture of Henry Wallace's "Free World" speech, the Vice- President spent seven hours "on location" in one day . .. The filming was done in Paramount's studios in Washington, after Wallace had spent many more hours committing parts of the speech to memory . . . Newsmen who know Assistant Secretary of War John McCloy agree with the sergeant in his office who says, "He's really rated as the most cleverest man in this building!" .. . (copyright, 1942, United Features Syndicate) et&teri 't~o thet o Debussy Praised To the Music Critic: YOU may be pleased to know that your para- graphs in Friday's Daily annoyed this reader considerably. I will concede that, omitting other slaps, you might have put even more venom into The President? Wrong. Harry Hopkins? Wrong again. The Democratic National Committee? You're not even warm. It was said by Representative Arends of Illinois, Republican, and a member of the House Military Affairs Committee. Who has just said, concerning the military conduct of the war: "I'm damn well satisfied"? Harold Ickes? Nope. Mrs. Roosevelt? No, she doesn't use that word. It was said by Senator Gurney of South Dakota, a Republican and a member of the Senate Mili- tary Affairs Committee. What newspaper has just discovered, after a survey, that most House and Senate Republicans agree, in private conversation, that the produc- tion program is at least "fair," and that some muddling would have been inevitable under any circumstances? The New Republic? No. The Chicago Sun? No. The Atlanta Constitution? Nah. The newspaper which has just made this survey and discovered this fact is the Wall Street Jour- nal., The President has just asked for power to sus- pendtariff, immigration and customs regulations] for the duration of the war. These routine regu- lations sometimes tie up ships and crews for weeks,'kdelay foreign personages whose presence is needed in this country, and make the govern- ment idiotically pay tariff to itself on raw mater- ials brought in for production of munitions. For requesting these new powers, the President has been attacked as a "virtual dictator." What newspaper has just said editorially. "Suspension of such legislation, wherever this is found desirable for the war effort, is a logical move at this time'? The Daily Worker? Wrong. The New Masses? Nuts. The Nation, perhaps? Bah. The quotation is from the Journal of Com- merce, a daily newspaper which knows more about tariffs, ,,shipping and the international movement of goods than any other publication in the country. I'll let you rest up now by giving you one or two easy ones: The Senate filibuster to save the poll taxes in eight Southern States has split the Democratic Party wide open. On balance, how would you expect the vigorous- ly Republican New York Herald Tribune to react to this situation? With pleasure? Displeasure? Wrong. With displeasure. The vigorously Re- publican Herald Tribune hates the filibuster. Maybe that's because the Herald Tribune has for years, sincerely, and with distinction, supported the President's foreign policies, and regards the war as current problem number one. On balance, how would you expect the New York Daily News to react to the filibuster? With pleasure? With displeasure? Right. That was too easy. With pleasure. In a long editorial, the News says not a word against the filibuster, and smirks all over its face at the .. 74 - :- f4--x.*M +T. (Continued from Page 2) reported to the school or college in which they are registered. Additional cards may be had at 108 Mason Hall or at 1220 Angell Hall. E. ,A. Walter, Assistant Dean Graduate Students who took the Graduate Record Examination in Oc- tober may call for their test scores in the Graduate School Office through Thursday of this week. - C. S. Yoakum Candidates for the Teacher's Cer- tificate for January and May 1943: A list of candidates has been posted on the bulletin board of the School of Education, Room 1431 U.E.S. Any prospective candidate whose name does not appear on this list should call at the office of the Recorder of the School of Education, 1437 U.E.S. Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, Engi- neering Seniors and Chemists: Rep- resentative of Carbide & Carbon Chemicals Corporation, South Char- leston, W. Va., will interview for prospective positions with that or- ganization today in Room 218 West Engineering Building. Interview schedule is posted on the Bulletin Board at Room 221 West Engineering Building. Lectures University Lecture: Dr. Alexander D. Lindsay, Master of Balliol Col- lege, Oxford University, will lecture on the subject, "Universities and Modern Democracy," under the aus- pices of the Departments of Philos- ophy, History, and Political Science, tonight at 8:00 in the Rackham Am- phitheatre. The public is invited. Lectures for Food Handlers: A course of instruction consisting of lectures for Food Handlers will be given during November on Tues- day evenings at 8:00 p. m. in the W. K. Kellogg Auditorium. All per- sons concerned with food service to University students are urged to at- tend this series. Academic Notices Biological Chemistry Seminar will meet tonight at 7:30 in Room 319, West Medical Building. "Choline" will be discussed. All interested are invited. The Botanical Seminar will meet tonight at 7:34 in room 1139 Natural Science Building. Professor L. E. Wehmeyer will give a paper entitled "The Genus Thyridaria." All inter- ested are invited. Dctoral Examination for Lester Eugene Hewitt, Sociology; thesis: "The Situational Correlates of Chil- dren's Behavior Problems," will be held today in West Council Room, Rackham, at 1:00 p.m. Chairman, L. J. Carr. By action of the Executive Board, the Chairman may invite members of the faculties and advanced doc- toral candidates'to attend the exam- ination and he may grant permission to those who for sufficient reason might wish to be present. - C. S. Yoakum Spanish Ia Extension Class: Span- ish Ia Professor del Toro will meet the Extension Class scheduled for Thursday, November 26, on Wednes- day, November 25, at 7:00 p.m. He Concerts Program of Recorded Music, In- ternational Center: This week, on account of Thanksgiving Day, the program of recorded music will be held tonight at 7:30. The program is as follows: Schubert: Quartet in D minor (Death and the Maiden): Busch String Quartet. Schubert: Songs: The Wanderer, ,Alexander Kipnis: Der Erlkong, Sigrid Onegin. Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor (Unfinished), Philadel- phia Orchestra, Stokowski con- ducting. Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream, San Francisco Orchestra, Alfred Hertz. Mendelssohn: Concerto for Violin in E minor, Fritz Kreisler. The Regular Tuesday Evening Re- corded Program in the Men's Lounge of the Rackham Building at 8:00 p.m. will be as follows: Brahms: Two Songs for Alto, with Viola Obligato and Piano. Bach: Violin Concerto in D minor. Handel: Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor for oboe and orchestra. Franck: Variations Symphoniques for piano and orchestra. Sibelius: Symphony, No. 3 in C major. Events Today, The Transportation Club and the American Society of Civil Engineers will have a joint meeting tonight'at 7:30 at the Michigan Union. Prof. Walter Lay will speak on results of seven years' research)"How to Sit." Sigma Rho Tau will hold its an- nual organization night for new members this evening at 7:15 in Room 214 West Engineering Building. At this meeting the organization of training units will be effected. The Cercle Francais will repro- duce some scenes of last year's play, La Belle Aventure, at its meeting to- night at 8:15 in the Michigan Union. There will also be singing of popular French songs, accompanied by the guitar. Mortarboard will have its picture taken for the 'Ensian at 5:15 p.m. to- day in the Council Room at the League. The Graduate Psychology Discus- sion Group will meet tonight at 8:30 in the East Conference Room of the Rackham Building. The discussion of experimental work on abnormal behavior will be continued. All inter- ested are invited. The Invitation to Learning Semi- nar will discuss "Virgin Soil" by Tur- genoff tonight at 7:30 at Lane Hall. Seminar: Emiliano Gallo will speak and lead a discussion of Dante's "Di- vine Comedy" at the meeting of the Theology Seminar at 4:30 p.m. today at Lane Hall. Scroll will meet at 5:30 p.m. today in the League. The Booth committee of the Jun- ior Project will meet today at 5:00 p.m. in the League for all women interested in participating. . Episcopal Students: Tea will be served for Episcopal students and eck assures us, but "Not only in Germany but in all lands national- ism passed from the humane, the peaceful and the tolerant to the war of all against all. From Her- der to Hitler in Germany, from Mazzini to Mussolini in Italy, from Wordsworth to Kipling in Eng- land". It makes noqdifference that even Spengler, who at first- ap- proved of the Nazi movement, re- pudiated it at the last; that Ste- fan George willed that he should be buried in Swiss rather than German soil; that Nietzsche want- ed a European League to "abolish Wagner, Bismarck and all anti- Semites"; that even Wagner made his peace with Christianity in Par- sifal, the Nazis were able to glean what they wanted from the writ- ings of the romatics and dis- card what did not suit their pur- pose. (After all, don't we all theorize selectively? Those who base their opinions on the Bible usually mean that they base their opinions on their favorite texts from the Bible. Those who profess to base their opinions on Karl Marx do precisely the same thing with Das Kapital). THE ELEMENT of the frustrated artist cannot be ignored among the Nazi leaders themselves. Hitler was an unsuccessful painter of pic- tures as well as of houses. Goeb- bels was a self-styled philosopher; so was Rosenberg. Rohm, Eckart and Schirach wrote verses. Funk, the Nazi Minister of Economics, was a musician. Hess was a poet. Streicher dabbled in water colors. Goring was the only major Nazi leader who cared nothing for the arts. To be sure, the actual Nazis are very inferior as poets and ar- tists to the proto-Nazi giants of the past from whom they drew their ideas and inspiration, but an inferior artist may (indeed, us- ually does) have more of the so- called "artistic temperament" than his successful rivals. Nero, like Hitler, was an unsuccessful artist. As Viereck puts it, in his lively fashion: "Germany would gain in both art and sane politics if she had either a lot more or a lot less of solid, stodgy, undilulated Bab- bitts. She needs a more unam- biguous dividing line between her spiritual Rotary clubs and her spiritual Greenwich Villages . In relative proportion to other countries, almost every Tom, Dick and Harry of the German semi-educated seems an ama- teur aesthete, a Greenwich Vil- lage Babbitt, unfortunately re- taining the knack of handling a machine-gut competently" (p. 153). On the whole, Viereck's book is one of the sanest, best informed and best balanced accounts of Nazi ideology which has yet appeared. He avoids the Van Sittart error of giving up the Germans as hope- lessly unregenerate; he points out that Nazi leaders have exploited the best as well as the worst German traits "forexample, their tradi- tional readiness to sacrifice ma- terial self-interest for an ideal", He is never content with explanations that go back only to yesterday. He traces anti-Semitism back to the reaction against the emancipation of the Jews by the French Revolu- tion; and German militarism and Statism back to the calamities of the Thirty Years' War. At one or two points this review- er might place an interrogration point Mr. Viereck may overesti- mate the anti-liberal element in the Liberation movement of 1813, the Revolution of 1848, and the Weimar Republic. After all, it is going a little far to say that "the long-range cause of 1848 Ger- many was not French liberalism but the very opposite: the revolt of the War of Liberation against the ideas of the French Revolu- tion" (p.60) or that the Revolution of 1818 was "stage-managed". It is also unfair to blame Presi- dent Wilson for "Balkanizing Eur- ope", when the unity of Austria- Hungary was already doomed by its own internal strains (plus de- feat in war) before Wilson ever 'reached Versailles. But, in general, 1the book is as sound as it is in- teresting, and that is a high com- pliment indeed! Preston Slosson Dresden of the physics department will lead the discussion. The Surgical Dressing Unit, spon- sored by the senior girls, will be open today, 1:00-5:00 p.m., in the game room of the League. All girls inter- ested in making -surgical dressings for the Red Cross are invited. Coming Events First Aid and Home Nursing classes will not meet Wednesday, November 25, or Thursday, November 26. Festival of Choral Music by eleven church choirs from the Ann Arbor n Tic+,'iett cf theMefthodist Chrc~h