Page 101 - Was Hitler a Riddle?

88 The British Diplomats

single most egregious violation to date of Germany’s treaty obligations,
lothian expressed regret that Hitler had resorted to such illegal methods
to attain his goals; but at the same time he contended that the “one-sided
demilitarization” contradicted the “concession of equal rights to Germany.”
therefore he opposed the imposition of any sanctions on Germany, a
stance that amounted to allowing it to escape any punishment for violating
international agreements.
a well-known appeaser by now, lothian had no difficulty arranging
a second meeting with the Führer early in May 1937. lothian was again
accompanied by Conwell-evans, and this time Hitler invited Göring and
schacht, the minister of economics, to attend. the stated goal of the eng-
lish visitors was to secure further information about the aims of the Nazi
leaders. at the start, Hitler was “in a grave mood,” but after an hour, by
which time he had no doubt sensed that he faced a very sympathetic audi-
ence, the “atmosphere became considerably lighter, and there were smiles
all around.”
the chancellor made the same speech he delivered to all foreigners he
sought to impress with his reasonableness: he assured his guests that he
wanted to preserve peace, that Germany planned to annex only territories
populated by Germans, and that his country aimed at nothing more than
the revision of the unfair portions of the treaty of Versailles and a reasser-
tion of its “rightful position in the world.” eventually, this objective would
mean the return of Germany’s colonies, without which the country would
not be capable of feeding its people. in resolving these issues, Hitler as-
sured lothian, “common sense would triumph, and . . . [t]he two peoples
[German and english], racially akin with the finest qualities, would not
commit suicide” by waging war against each other.
after returning to england, lothian wrote a report in which he conclud-
ed that the international situation “was both more dangerous and more
soluble than i thought.” He was certain that Hitler’s aims were entirely
reasonable. the chancellor was not interested in “dominating other nations
but only [in securing Germany’s] own rights and her place in the world.”
lothian was also convinced that National socialism was a “fundamentally
popular movement” and that “Hitler’s power rests on popular support.”
this was demonstrated repeatedly by the plebiscites in which Nazi poli-
cies received overwhelming approbation by the German people. lothian
cited without any critical comment Hitler’s claim that plebiscites should
be considered “the form of democracy appropriate to Germany.” in fact,
lothian asserted that if Hitler “disappeared, some of the extravagances like