The youngdrafts succumbed to it
completely.
On the Germanside there was no
counter-propaganda.
Gradually our soldiers beganto think just in the
way the enemy wished them to think.
There was now no further necessity for theenemy to
broadcast such letters in leaflet form. Is this what we had been fighting for during
fouryears? After my discharge fromhospital, I was sent to a reserve battalion
there.
In the business world the situation was even
worse.
One feature of this propaganda was very
striking.
Besides a few hundred yards of shell-holes,death
was the only reward which the English gained.
The youngdrafts succumbed to it completely. Later
on it was looked upon as disturbing, but finally itwas believed.
A prudent silence reigned at the front, even among
the troops of theEntente.
The receptive powers of the masses are very
restricted, and theirunderstanding is feeble. These weremostly dropped from
aeroplanes which were used specially for thatpurpose. In a similar way letters
coming directly from home had long since beenexercising their effect.
And what was the consequence of these
half-measures? Almostevery clerk was a Jew and every Jew was a clerk.
In this wayalone can propaganda be consistent and
dynamic in its effects. Germany was waging war for its very existence.
The hospital authorities here must have known who
and what hewas; and actually they did know.
Such people grow sick and tired of
everything.
Propaganda, therefore,should have been regarded
from the standpoint of its utility for thatpurpose. That is always the only visible
effectwhereby their place in the struggle is to be judged.
Therefore,just after my arrival in Munich I
reported myself for service again. The spirit of the army at the front appeared to
be out of place here. But against whom was the anger of the people directed?