The Truth About Spain

THE TRUTH ABOUT SPAIN SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE NATIONAL SOCIALIST PARTY CONGRESS NURNBERG, 1937 By DR. JOSEPH GOEBBELS PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY M. MULLER & SOHN, BERLIN SW 19 "Spain represents the world at the cross-roads.'' Thus wrote the Bolshevic press organ, Die Rundschau, in its issue dated July 22, 1937. That one sentence precisely defines the international signi ficance of the Spanish problem. It states exactly what the Spanish problem is. Here the final decision must lie either with Bolshevism or the principle of Authority. On the one side stands ruinous anarchy and, on the other, orderly constructive development. For more than a year the Spanish question has held the public of the whole world in suspense. Now, if we are to form a decisive judgment on the possible consequences and far-reaching effects of what is happening in Spain we must in this case, as in all cases where we have to deal with acute and complex problems, clearly differentiate between the opposing sides. And in striving to do this we must have the courage to call things by their names and allow nothing to remain obscurely in the background which might help to throw light on the whole situation. Above all, the, German people must be informed on the magnitude of this problem, which most surely is one of international and secular importance. That is why I am taking the present opportunity to present in its naked reality the whole complex of questions connected with the Spanish problem. In confirmation of the statements I have to make I shall appeal to a whole array of sources of information whose authenticity is undeniable. In order to make this testimony all the stronger I shall, as far as possible, quote facts and figures from the opposing camp. The picture thus formed will unfortuna tely portray a series of details that are terrible, indeed abhorrent 3 and nauseating. But this must not deter us from fearlessly facing facts which cannot be gainsaid. Bourgeois prudery and false squeamishness based on sentiment would be entirely out of place here. For the events that are happening in Spain today may be repeated tomorrow in any other country whose people have not such adequate knowledge of the facts as would enable them to understand the serious character of this menace and organise the means and possibilities of successfully counteracting its effects. Nations which in recent years have kept their eyes closed to the startling growth of the international Bolshevic menace will one day experience a terrible awakening from this moral narcosis. The fact that we, German National Socialists, as conscious and uncom promising protagonists against the Bolshevic world-front, are still condemned to play the part of a preacher in the wilderness, calling out to deaf ears—this cannot prevent us from seeing things as they are and calling them by their right names. For if the constantly increasing extension of this Bolshevic infection in Europe should cause still greater disaster, then future historians will be in a position to record the fact that we, German National Socialists, were not among those who allowed themselves to be led astray in the universal chaos of thought and mental fog purposely created as a sort of smoke-screen by an insidious epidemic of political propaganda. Nothing could make us deviate in the le^st from the straight road we have taken. From the very nature of the case it is obvious that the subversive forces of International Jewry will raise a tumult of rage when we clearly and dispassionately lay bare the background of this revo lutionary development which is extending through the world. For, after all, they are the only people who are drawing profit from this chaotic ruin which Bolshevism is bringing upon mankind. That on this account they will swamp us with a torrent of abuse and lies and calumnies is only an honour for us and a further proof that we are right in warning Europe against this peril. 4 There are many cases in history where nations have undergone great catastrophes and afterwards showed symptoms of paralysis which in their derivation and effect could not be easily diagnosed. But the fact that a political, cultural, moral and intellectual infection on a large scale aims at the destruction of a whole continent, is something which history can record for the first time only in our day. It is a mighty and satanical campaign carried on by interna tional Bolshevism against the moral principles of the civilized world. At the present moment Spain is the epicentre where this disease has broken out again. Here we clearly recognize the symp toms of this malignant infection. For this reason the Spanish problem must be viewed in the light of the revelations that have exposed the whole plan for an international Bolshevic revolution* of which the events taking place in Spain represent only a small part. I should like to begin with a brief historical sketch of the develop ments that have taken place in Spain. The more so because, for good reasons, the situation has been for a long time artificially and completely misrepresented by the Bolshevics. I need hardly .emphasize the fact that, in view of the terrible events which have happened and are still happening in Spain, we Germans are moved with profound sympathy for the friendly Spanish nation, and are deeply bereaved that such a fate should have befallen it. The fight which General Franco is waging, with the support of all constructive elements, against the Bolshevic menace to his native land is at the same time a fight for civilization. The sacrifices which Spain has to make in this struggle are great and terrible; but if this Way of Calvary should lead to a final triumph of the national forces, as we hope and pray for, then the sacrifices will not have been in vain. We have set ourselves the task of exposing in a clear and un mistakable manner the connections that lie in the background of this sanguinary conflict. Such an undertaking is far removed from anything in the nature of a tactless and uncalled-for interference in the internal affairs of Spain. It is far rather an effort to raise a 5 warning signal against the attempt to bring about an international Bolshevic World-Revolution, which at present has chosen Spain as a field for its experiments. The Moscow Comintern never tires of impressing on public opinion throughout the world the theory that the national move ment, which on July 17, 1936, intervened in the seething develop ments in Spain, was a military rising organised by reactionary generals and that this rising was definitely repudiated by the Spanish people. The truth however is that this national movement was in reality an act of self-defence on the part of the people, against the revolt which had been planned by the Spanish Com munist Party for that time and was subsequently postponed to August 1936. This communist revolt had been planned in Moscow several years previously, organised from Moscow and directed from Moscow, and is still being carried out in practice from Moscow today. In March 1931, Manuilsky, who was then General Secretary of the Comintern, stated before the Second Plenary Session of the Ekki (Executive Council of the Communist Inter national) in Moscow: "The Communist Party in Spain must immediately set to work to mobilize the masses of the workers and peasants to fight for the establishment of a Workers' and Peasants' Government on Soviet lines." In 1932 the Comintern announced that it was the duty of the Communist Party to proclaim the confiscation of the estates of landed proprietors, the monasteries and all government property and the organisation of an armed resistance. On September 1, 1934, a month before the October outbreak of the revolution in Spain, the Comintern made the following declaration: "It is a question of life and death for the working classes and peasantry to forestall Fascism and seize supreme power in the shortest possible time." At the 13th Plenary Session of the Ekki in Moscow the Spanish delegate, Dolores, announced the coming Spanish Revolution in the following terms: "The principal task of the party is the organization of the Revo- 6 lution." And at the 7th World Congress of the Comintern, in 1935, Ventura, the Spanish delegate, said: "Under the banner of Lenin and Stalin we shall march forward to victory with our heads held high." Affairs in Spain have developed in accordance with the plan of campaign laid down in Moscow. As early as 1919 the Spanish Trades Unions had already joined the Comintern. In 1923 the first Bolshevic armed rising took place in Spain, and led to blood shed. In 1931 red agitation led to the formation of a republic in the hands of the freemasons. In 1932 the youth organisations were militarized by the introduction of red militia among them. The years 1931-34 were filled with a series of constantly recurring armed risings in Madrid, Seville, Malaga and San Sebastian. In 1931 the number of votes cast for the Spanish Communist Party came to 280,000. In 1933 this total was increased to 402,000 and in 1936 the votes cast for the Bolshevic Front Populaire in Spain amounted to 4,365,000. On October 5, 1934, the red rising broke out, in which 1372 persons were killed and 2921 seriously wounded. This insurrection washoweversuccessfully suppressed. The grand rehearsal for the Bolshevic Revolutuion had failed; but the failure was taken as an occasion to strengthen and intensify the red agitation systematically.

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