Dr. Goebbels' Christmas Cheer
The Christmas address delivered at the Ministry of Propaganda by the German Minister whom it gratifies The Times to style nudely "Goebbels " (though it so far relaxes as to call him Dr. Goebbels in an adjacent column) wears at first sight a pessimistic aspect. There was hardly anyone in Germany, said Dr. Goebbels, who was not suffer- ing from difficulties and hardships ; Germany's very existence was at stake ; her enemies were aiming at striking Germany down, at dismembering her and splitting her up and reduc- ing her to political and economic impotence ; and in all this there was nothing to choose between the warmongers of London and the warmongers of Paris. Here, at least, in these last words, a new note is sounded, for they write the epitaph on the assiduous efforts to represent France as the relatively blameless dupe of a chauvinistic Britain. Nothing else in the speech calls for comment except the profession of confidence in victory based on " the power of 9o,000,000 people " ; in regard to that it need only be observed that some thirty of the ninety millions are as much opposed to Hitlerism as France and Britain. To interpret the speech as defaitisme would be a profound mistake. It is true that some of the usual braggadocio is lacking, but in the main it is very much what a British Minister calling on his people to buy victory by sacrifice might say.
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