• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

C t a c c u m AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE STUDENTS’ PAPER gh pr; our C: ie wlul. X X V I11— No. 10 Auckland, N.Z., Thursday, September 17th, 1953 Gratis still Lceptic: even 2 to £ ands o: if m o : Germany...Bridge or Battleground? 11 hat -en at ! jn the resplendent Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Ver- odexe ^es> the second German Empire was proclaimed in 1871. st of d the crest of victory over France modern Germany was 1Chr'° r' Where liberal thinkers had failed to unite the German ^uate iople by peaceful means, Bismarck by his policy of “blood ls di id iron” had succeeded. The Benjamin of modern Europe, ghthai !rmany» conceived under the shadow of Mars, has since alone )d good reason to regret the constant brooding over her of idard )e g0d 0f War. redoes 831116 Hall of Mirrors, not fifty years later, the d psy; legates of a humiliated Germany were forced to sign a treaty rstood ready carrying in it the seeds of the war which has shaken Slight1 own generation. "the- Weighed down by foreign hostility and internal troubles, Ger- ther t: ls first democratic government struggled manfully, and with e vulf iderable success, to rehabilitate the nation. Several outstand- (igures, notably Stresemann in Germany, and Briand in France, ited themselves to creating a harmonious European community | [ations. However, behind the scenes sinister forces were at j1 tQ6‘ t even while the entry of Germany into the League of Nations m y o hailed as the beginning of a new epoch in European history. igth i iirblici the East the Soviet Union was the mighty pagan Germanic Empire .y rea:ling rapid progress. Between was proclaimed. German youth be­ ™ |ia and the West lay Germany, lieved they were on the march to new for as now, a trump card in the and greater times. The world looked ī by sing ! of power politics. The demo- on with wonder. The monstrous Fas­ 'y r Weimar Republic seemed to the cist machine-State became the world’s NAZI LEADERS ARE IMPRISONED AT SPANDAU to be a weak bulwark against No. 1 tourist attraction. The states­ pposit! . .“but the German people live for ever.” uch Bolshevik menace,” and could men of the West applauded. While inions ifore look for little real assis- German martyrs— Jewish, Christian, thing. From the West they expected the super fortresses had left of Ger­ ply‘ £ . Adolf Hitler waited in the Communist and Socialist— were dying liberation, democracy and practical man industry. These were the first Ly sul iws, ready to pounce. The in Buchenwald, foreign guests dined lumba Christianity. From the East they lessons the Germans received in the depression struck Europe’s in regal splendour at the courts of ;e thoi expected nothing but unmitigated new age of “Democracy.” The educa­ hey :st industrial nation a shatter- the Fuehrer. low, a blow which killed the Little did they guess what their terror and revenge. They got neither. tors had set to work in East and West. ilic and heralded the Nazi ur “bulwark against the East” had in CARVING UP THE COW . Russia’s Marshal Zhukov came With a programme of sweep- fore:- f1 store for them. A few saw into the quoting his master, Stalin, “Hitlers insoci reform, and an army of hench- The victors had nothing in com­ future, Winston Churchill amongst come and Hitlers go, but the German le, tat at its back, the Fuhrer came to them, but their warnings went un­ mon, other than a desire to keep the people live forever”— very impressive. self-rii (ri not yet with an absolute derno- heeded. marauding German “cow” weak, to Britain’s Field-Marshal Montgomery d mo: c majority, but with sufficient came, Bible in hand, quoting the sequi igth to eliminate all opposition, THE “PEACE-LOVING” DICTATOR extract from her as much milk as “good Book” and at the same time nan liberal thinkers knew that possible, and, wonder of wonders, to nore With the crooked cross at their turn her at the same time into a telling the Germans, “tighten your ral head the Nazi legions marched. First “democratic,” “peace-loving” animal. belts” and reducing their rations to ty. into the Rhineland, then into Austria, (A metaphor much liked by the Ger­ a Belsen level (under 1,000 daily cal­ iter The author of this article is a then into Czechoslovakia. The Ger­ !X U ialtt iior Political Science student at mans). To this end the allied lead­ ories, the figure for Britain was man Empire was on the move; so, goven ers met in Frederick the Great’s 2,800). In the winter of 1946 the ago University. He was born when it was already too late, was i of Germany, and has an under­ Palace at Potsdam and settled down German children in the British occu­ Chamberlain with his umbrella. The to carving up the cow. The historic pied, smashed industrial cities of the lying of the German people “charming” Fuehrer sent him home tiding German provinces of East Prussia, Ruhr starved, and many died. Demo­ emsi lied to most New Zealanders. with such kind assurances, “ a truly W est Prussia, Silesia and Pomerania cracy was a bitter pill. erant • print his article because it peace-loving dictator/’ A year later were annexed by Russia or given to tteous Bents both sides of a controver- Warsaw lay in ruins. DISUNITED NATIONS: subject, and does so without Poland as payment for Polish land For three years Germany lay broken concessions to conventional And six years later Berlin and all seized by Russia. and stagnant. During this time the ion. Hitler’s proud empire lay battered In Europe’s bitterest winter for 40 and crushed. The arch-criminal was years eight million Germans from self-styled peace-loving allies were dead, his divisions frozen in Russia, these provinces were forcibly expelled busy falling out with one another. In m had been dealt its death blow, burnt on African sands, the remnants, from their homes, and taken in cattle 1948 their quarrels came to a head western nations did not lift a a broken rabble, behind barbed wire. trucks to share what was left of Ger­ and four-Power government broke Once proud cities were reduced to down completely. A Germany, already I i to save it. many with their bombed-out country­ gaunt skeletons, their inhabitants unwisely divided into four occupa­ Lsy'ftJ 1 i left wing was liquidated, the men. Three million of them failed to is at were intimidated, and the living frightened lives under moun­ survive that winter. Meanwhile the tion zones, was now completely sev­ Decamfes won over to Hitler. The tains of rubble. Victorious armies cattle trucks were rolling back East ered in two; the “ iron curtain” had id lea of unemployed were given had come to impose their will on a filled with Germans to work in the come down. Americans and Russians we the Jews and the Treaty of hated people. mines and factories of Siberia; in welded it firmly from both sides. *, to lilies were blamed for all that The victorious statesmen went to special compartments were the cap­ Meanwhile, Germans (still patiently ratten in the state of Germany; work on their task of re-educating, tured scientists who weiqe to help learning “democracy,” both the “red” variety and the other) were begin­ 3. at irman “superman” and his wife punishing, governing and exploiting a Stalin build his atom bomb. In the igh it declared the masters of creation. nation of twisted metal and twisted W est the scientists were being flown ning to wonder whether Hitler had Auck [self-respect was restored with minds. Battered and beaten, the out across the ocean while the rolling not been right after all. ssocii jeance. In pomp and splendour German people were ready for any­ stock was taking away much of what (Continued on page 12) Page 2 CRACCUM Thursday, September 17, j^sdav. Exec. Meeting, NZUSNA Wisdor 4/9/53 Mr. Smith in the chair. STUDENT The meeting very thoughtfully JOURNALISTIC approved of N.Z.U.S.A.’s decision to Ctaeeum spend £20 to support the Inter­ national Co-ordinating Secretariat The following “Student Joe p (see the report on N.Z.U.S.A.). Auckland University College Students* Paper Code” was drawn up by the The Editors accept as little responsibility as possible for the contents of this paper, Men’s House Committee 1953 Council of the New Zeak: and the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Editors or of the A.U.C.S.A. Executive. The following Men’s House Com­ versity Student Newspapers §.. mittee was ratified: Messrs J. Dean, ciation. STAFF G. Goodfellow, D. Hackshaw, G. All student, editors are to this journalistic code. Editors: BRIAN SMART and PETER Hard, M. Hatton, M. Hawkins, C. BOAG MacLeod, T. Maingay, K. Pidding- 1. The editor should not pei Literary Editor: JACK LASENBY. ton, and D. Stone. paper to be used as an ment of propaganda fora: International Editor: RUSSELL COWIE. Social Committee. Distribution Manager: BRIAN HORTON, set of ideas, one group, MAURICE McKINLEY and DAVID The appointment of Mr. J. Mc­ person. STONE. Gowan and Miss P. Barnes as Vice- 2. No editor should suppre Chairman and Secretary respectively viewpoint merely beca; of Social Committee was also ratified. conflicts with his own SIGNPOSTS OF CULTURE Carnival Book, 1954. staff’s. 3. Except where published The question of what constitutes a cultured, “rounded” person, Mr. M. F.

Load more

  12

Copy Link