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Henry Morgenthau, The German Character
Five chapters from Morgenthau’s book, Germany is our Problem, here published with an introductory note by Ellopos. Emphasis, in bold or italic letters, by Ellopos. Complete book in print.
52 Pages
Page 15
That fact, however, only lends point and emphasis to the equally pertinent fact that Germany's industrial machine in not much more time was converted into a weapon that crushed the proud French Army theoretically safe behind its Maginot Line. Soldiers understand this very well. For every big air raid on a fortress or any army camp that we used to read about in the newspapers, we saw accounts of hundreds directed against important industrial centers.
The Allied high command knew where Germany's real strength lay, and pounded at production accordingly. That being so, it would seem rather obvious that to disarm Germany in any real sense of the word is to remove the industries that would make rearmament possible. It is all very well to confiscate guns, planes, tanks, submarines, military installations and so on. It is even more important to remove or destroy the German plants where new and more horrifying weapons of war could be forged. It is most important of all to keep those plants from being rebuilt. Germany's real armament is a triple threat of metallurgical, chemical and electrical industries. The prewar Reich dominated Europe in those fields. Therefore, she dominated Europe militarily as well, until she challenged even greater industrial powers. Without these factories, the Germans could not have indulged their lust for conquest in 1914 or 1939. Without these factories, they could not do it again.
The specific factories which will always be a threat to peace in German hands are:
1. The Metals Group. Blast furnaces, open hearths, blooming mills, forges, rolling mills—all the plants used in turning iron ore into finished primary iron and steel products—operate exactly the same for war as for peace. To carry through disarmament of Germany in this area, she must be deprived not only of these basic establishments but also of all factories capable of making machine tools, airplane engines, airplanes, locomotives and other heavy railroad equipment, Diesel engines, steel rails, heavy tractors, automobiles. They can be converted to war too fast for our safety.
Cf. H. Arendt: totalitarianism reduces men to impersonal natural forces * German philosophers in support of Nazism * Beethoven and Mauthausen * The Superior Race of Germans * Kalergi, European Spirit must Precede Europe's Political Unification * La Construction de l'Europe selon Jean Monnet * Plan Fouchet * Mitterrand and Kohl urge European Political Union * Il Manifesto di Ventotene
