Back to the colourful version
of this file.
This is a papersaving (printerfriendly) version
(added on in februari 20001).
Having used lots of light colourtones in that file I decided (februari
2001) you might like this here version (and that means no <p>'s
what soever. Just some spaces to denote alineas and such.
In other words; my device is: get the paper formated as densely info-packed
(uniformly grey to denote optimally efficient use of (caring n carrying)
capacity) as possible.
If you go ahead and print this please do so double sided (remember
to print half of it at a time, return the paper to the printer in turned
over position and print the second half...). pensievepiet@netscape.net
Beckerath
(Bth) on detente and disarmament issues (translated
by J Zube in his early English speaking days, which means an awkward phrasing
here and there) Some sample of Bth's writings in German appended as
an encore They are taken from 4000 pages comprising a 40 piece peace-plan
fiche batch by John Zube, one he sold me in a San Franciscan hotel
room almost decades ago.... (My attempt to help work on the second batch
failed; see
heavy heaves for some silly gossip and hopefully succesful forewarning
to accompany and arm ensuing attempts)and contain correspondence between
Beckerath and a number of people like Rittershausen, a well known professor
and prolific author of lexica and textbooks, all of which are a lot less
radical than the document cited in full here. In my eyes...err..ears rather,
Beckerath was an unsurpassed composer of cadence and meaning; the former
quite lost in these and surely in any, translations unfortunately; the
London translater: G Spiller is therefor much less to blame than to thank
which I hereby (posthumously?) do of course.
Excerpt from one of the first and few publications on paper about the threat
of nuclear war, by JOHN ZUBE (Bth was his mentor), who thereafter
went 'FICHING',
(Libertarian Microfiche Publishing), proud to outproduce and outpublish
anybody alive or dead. This file was created in nov 98;
last minor changes dec 98
Go
see what else poetpiet can puzzle you with here......or
here....or
check the intro to this file and all the others in my first batch of guest
appearances which happens to concern currency issues.
A P P E N D I X 10 SECTIONS OMITTED IN THIS BOOK A number of related alphabetical
entries were intended and prepared for this book. But they were not included
for lack of space and time. They may be included in the next Peace Plan
issues, Hints for more such entries are welcome, Aggressiveness / Allegiance
/ Asylum / Atrocities / Choice / Coercion / Collaboration / Collectivism
/ Competition / Cruelty / Destruction, discriminating / Disposal Suggestions
/ Distrust, justified / Embargoes / Freedom of the High Seas / Furnaces/
God / Hidden Bombs / Immunity against Class actions / Independence / Integration/
voluntary vs. compulsory / Legislation / Membership, compulsory / Militarism
/ Military Obedience / Military Training / Nationalized Defence / Objections
/ Oppression / Organization / Overkill / Parades / Peace Programmes / Personal
Thinking / Private Enterprise / Public Services / Questionaire / Refusal
to Accept Paper Money / Sabotage / Search for Hidden Weapons / Self-government
/ Self-reliance / Self-responsibility / Separate Development / Strength
/ Suspicion / Treaties / Unconditional Surrender / Vhemic Courts
Most ideas in this book can be traced back to the writings of Ulrich von
Beckerath ( who died in 1969 ), his extensive correspondence and the numerous
discussions I had with him between 1952 and 1959. To give you some impression
of his way of thinkinq I give you here a rough translation of some of the
notes and comments he added to his minutes on a session of a small society
to which both of us belonged : Berlin Society of 1952 to fight the causes
of unemployment, Session of May,
For a long time we have been aware that at the outbreak of the next war
a military insurrection or strike would not be improbably in the authoritarian
states We have developed a programme how these strikers could finance their
strike We have also considered that such a strike should not be identical
with subordination to the governments of non-authoritarian states. We would
expect that whole armies of the authoritarian states would organize themselves
as autonomous communities. These would then negotiate, as equals, with
governments, especially on the provision within days, of non-exploitative
employment and support for the millions of members of the new communities
"Autonomous communities in the form of independent armies are nothing new
in the Eastern world. The Red Army was originally an autonomous community,
although in a very primitive form. The armies rising against the Soviets
did also organize themselves as autonomous communities, e,g, the armies
of Denikin Judenitsch, Wrangel Machnow and others. Also the Czarist army
retreating after WW I into Serbian territory persisted for a long time
as an autonomous community. (Among the thousands of publications on details
of the first W.W. and its consequences there is apparently not even one
providing some details ''The ''Belgische Kurier'', the organ published
by the German Supreme Command for German soldiers, published a long article
on a petition of the Jewish population of eastern territories which sought
permission to organize this population as an autonomous community, in 1916
or 1917 . ''The members know that the German philosopher J.G. Fichte demanded
autonomous communities in 1794 (in his work : Contribution to Correct Public
Opinion on the French 220 everybody's right not to belong to any autonomous
community but rather to submit to a state government. "Further discussion
dealt with the question whether and if then in what way the autonomous
community would be suitable to realize the aims of our society even in
a world situation like the present one. The first aim was to find out why
the numerous conferences of the last few decades attempting to reduce armaments
and the danger of war remained without success. The unanimously accepted
result of the discussion was : The delegates and those who sent them were
neither worse human beings than the average man nor were they any more
stupid. But the Political system of the world wIth its division of the
Earth's surface among States makes world peace impossible, What makes this
worse is the fact that the inhabitants of each State see in it their fatherland,
so much so that a great number of them - and certainly not the worst -
is prepared to sacrifice their lives. Moreover, almost all inhabitants
see in their state government their rightful representation towards the
inhabitants of other States. "The best result which might be achieved in
a peace conference would be a treaty according to which on a predetermined
day all states would disarm, render theirmilitary installations useless,
and oblige themselves to submit their arguments of all kinds to an internationaL
arbitration court for settlement. Under present conditions it is impossible
to achieve such a contract and to carry it into effect. ''First of all
it would be impossible to arrange for the begin of the disarmament in the
whole world at exactly the same moment. It is as impossible as getting
a great number of horses in a race to start off at exactly the same moment
as soon as it would become clear that a sile government would have delayed
its disarmament, and be it only for some hours, the other governments would
immediately cease with their disarmament and accuse this government of
breach of its treaty obligations. ''One of the reasons why the disarmament
particularly in the big states cannot be started punctually is the political
motivation of a great part of the army the public service, the youth and
of the people in general. Al these groups consider the destruction of weapons
the dissolution of troop units etc. as an attempt to make the fatherland
helpess. They would consider it as their patriotic duty to counter any
such efforts. Thus the disarmament would be sabotaged by these groups.
These groups would also attempt and to some extent succeed in hiding weapons,
especially nuclear weapons At the same time they wouLd be likely to accuse
the governments of other States of hiding atomic weapons. Such accusations
would very soon bring disarmament to a standstill. The Political atmosphere
of the world wil then be much more loaded with tension than it was before.
"Already when the League of Nations was established it was realized that
contractual agreements with no other base than the good will of the contracting
governments couLd not prevent any war whenever influential and in the old
sense patriotically (better: nationalistic) groups seriously expect an
attack by other governments. Thus right from the beginning there were .talks
on the possibility of organizing an armed force under the excLusive command
of the League of Nations. But nothing more than this discussion took place
and could take place One cannot expect any government to help organizing
a power which one day might restrict that government's freedom of action
in any important affair On the other hand it is clear that without the
organization of a positive force, superior to that of single governments
of today, world peace cannot be achieved and the nuclear weapons especially
could not be destroyed without it.
''Only one way out remains : The appeal should not longer be directed,
as was usual so tar, to the governments but to every single human being
who is seriously willing to save himself, his fellow citizens and also
his State, and who understands that this is impossible under the present
system even of one could reckon on te good will of governments.
We are in a situation more dangerous than that of Holland durin the hi
h tide of last year. (1953)
An appeal was made : Everyone who has eyes and hands to the dikes It was
not made in vain, Everyone who could help did help and today Holland has
the areas which were then flooded again under cultivation. The utilitarians
of the world suffered a great defeat. This defeat was further enlarged
through the action of the Dutch people who in the middle of their own catastrophy
sent the qreater part of the food, clothing and blankets sent to them from
many countries on to Berlin, asking to provide the refugees from the East
with them, as the Dutch people were aware that these were still worse off
than they were themselves. The world has not experienced a greater example
of international solidarity. It was proof of the awakening of a new spirit
in mankind.
Therefore an appeal should be directed to all friends of peace in the whole
world to organize themselves into an international militia which would
make all Preparations necessary to make the next war,and especially nuclear
war, impossible to make a start sections of the militia should organize
themselves as autonomous communities An internationaL association of lawyers
could alreadY now orqanize itself as an arbitration court for autonomous
communities, in a suitable locality, perhaps in Hague,Afterwards some principles
were discussed to which the international militia would have to commit
itself. Some of these are: 1, The militia
recognizes the principles of the Hague Convention on Warfare.
2, The militia will not use any weapons or tolerate the production of weapons
which cannot be used without endangering non-combatants.
3, The militia declares that it considers the inclusion of women and children
in fiqhtinq units or their use for the fabrication of war materials as
contrary to internationat law. It appeals to the women of the world to
refuse such war services Misguided women who were fighting and then captured
will be immediately release ed by the militia provided they promise that
henceforth they will only engage in peaceful labours. , The international
militia will prepare organizations in all countries which will make it
possible for all those refusing to serve in the armed forces to find labour
which will support them. "It
was confirmed that our society does not have to fear being accused of involvement
in any communist conspiracy. On the contrary, its programme offers the
only really effective weapon aaainst the Soviet system economically as
well as militarily Instead of referring the peoples captured by the Soviet
system to the atomic weapons of the West as means of "liberation', it refers
these peoples and every one of their members to their own strength and
also shows them how tu use it.,..," "The governments that insist
on continuing atomic tests, or on subsidizing further atomic development,
must be publicly branded ( even if the countries are our own ) as the criminals
they are in fact..,." Mary Hays Weik, Window on the World,9/73. What is
usually called "nuclear strength'' as nothing but a scientifiic preparation
for mass murder. ''The world has achieved brilliance without conscience,
Ours is a world with nuclear giants and ethical infants.'' Omar N, Bradley,
address on Armistice Oay, 1948, "My God, do they really believe there will
be anybody around to either pay or collect tensions if the big boys press
the buttons?" - GH Smith: The Coming of the Rats. The following is
the translation of a Letter by Ulrich von Beckerath to Mrs. V., written
on 11/12/1954, a letter which well integrates some of the ideas in this
programme: ''On the possibility to influence governments or the UN
to do something to abolish nuclear and similar weapons:
Suppose one succeeded to initiate, as the Soviets proposed an international
convention in which all governments obliged themselves -to destroy the
nuclear weapons producing factories in their countries and Likewise their
stocks of nucleaar weapons (something that would not be very simple), and
also to tolerate an internnational control of this disarmament. Then suppose
that a single government would break this pact and marufacture such weapons
secretly and that this fact would finally be discovered by the international
control commission. What would happen then?
The situation would be rather simple. The cheating government would be
the master of the world and it would simply give its orders to the other
qovernments In case any government would not obey, it would be destroyed,
together with its subjects and then wiped out of the registers of the UN.
This is the situation. Is there
any likelyhood that not at least one government would break this pact?
Even the small section of world history which both of us have experienced
lets me guess that at least one government would break this convention.
Suppose, furthermore, that either you or I were dictator of any large power.
We would naturally, be under an obligation to protect our subjects from
wrongful attacks and also from dishonesty, contract breaches and changes
in the mentality of governments in our neighbourhood. An Instance: Czar
Nicolas II was openly pacifistic at the beginning of his rule and he called
for the famous Hague Conference. But only a few years later this same Czar
became quite passive and left the government to his ministers. The war
of 1914 was obviously prepared especially by the Russian government. I
rcmember very well an article in the Frankfurter Zeitung in April of 1914.
which pointed out lhat at least 1.5 miilion Russian troops were assembled
in Poland, the Russian government did indeed assert that it would have
to conduct military exercises in Poland. But for this purpose the territory
around the Urals would have been decidedly better. In Fact when the war
began in August 1914 the Russian Army was the only fully mobilized one,
(Ed 's comment: At least by that time, some researchers asserted no full-scale
mobilization was ever reversed, i,e , it always led to war) "Nothing was
amiss. If the shots at Sarajewo hadn't been fired the Russian government
would have found some other pretence Consequently, we as dictators, would
feel obliged to protect our subjects from breaches of contract by the governments
in our neighbourhood. Could we, in our case act o1herwise than secreting
away a considerable numbor of atomic weapons and thus evading the nuclear
disarmament agreement. "Wouldn't our
supreme rule be : ''right or wrong - my country!"? Wouldn't we be bad rulers
if we didn't accept this as the maxime for our government? As we would
feel obliged to think, so do all governments think indeed, even if they
have as much good will as we can ascribe to ourselves.
What I stated here is nothing new. Wiser men than myself have explained
long before me that in the principle "Right or wronq - my country!'' lies
the impossibility to seriously conclude any disarmament agreement. Any
ruler who would renounce this principle would soon be overthrown - whether
he openly confesses that he is not committed to this idea and would rather
stick to his contractual obligation or merely showed his attitude in his
actions. (The misguided loyalty of emperor Wilhelm II did cost him his
throne - which was already rather wobbly for other reasons also).
When two imporant moral principles contradict each other then at least
one of them is wrongly founded. The principle : "Right or wrong, my country!"
presupposes :I. That the subdivision of Earth into States is morally unobjectionable
and does not infringe the rights of men and citizensII. That the inhabitants
of a State's territory are obliged to obey their government unconditionally
III. That the decision and initiative in all public affairs belongs to
the government (including parliament) and exclusively to it and that it
is the government's business to declare what public affairs are or are
not. IV. That all obligations
arising out of nationality take precedence before all other duties, for
the head of state as well as for all subjects.
All these points have a religious foundation. Apostle Paulus taught (Romans
Ch 13) "Let every sould be subject unto the higher powers. For there is
no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
These principles were applied for centuries without arousing any opposition,
But today perhaps for the first time in history, the question arises: do
these principles still apply, even when the existence of mankind is not
only at risk but certainly at an end provided these maximes are any
longer applied when, in other words the slogan ''right or wrong,
my country!'' is any longer adhered to and when men continue to accept
the present political order as something God-given, really self-evident
and in any case irreplaceable? I say : N O !!!
What reforms in political thought ( and not only in this ) are to take
place and how the new thinking is to be realized, follows t o
d a y easily from the nuclear war threat. In no other age were the
probLems confronting us as clearly revealed as in ours.
When the best, cleverest and most energetic governments which are at the
same time benevolent are unable to preserve mankind from extermination
through atomic bombs expressly because of their position of governments
- then one can no bnger appeal to them. No animosity is implied in this
statement. On the contrary: Whosoever would now take a new initiative would
also have to feel obliged to save the governments especially his own. Even
in considerations how to save mankind he would have to begin somewhere
and the obvious thing would be to begin with that part of mankind which
in the narrower sense embraces his fellow citizen.
What is to be done? I will express myself on this without much ado :
I propose a public appeal - by a group to be formed - to all soldiers entrusted
with the stockpiling of atomic weapons, an appeal requesting that they
destroy these weapons. This group should also contact the workers in all
nuclear bomb factories with an appeal to destroy them. These
appeals should be directed primarily to the workers and souldiers of those
countries and kingdoms there were likewise, for hundreds of years, autonomous
communities, among? the Franks there were the communities of
the Burgundians, the Alemanni, even of Romans and others, Details can be
found in Gibbon (Ed.: The History of the De-and Fall of the Roman Empire,
Vol, VI, chap. 38" reprinted as plan 136 in PP. 6,) was probably the first
German who represented the idea of the autonomous com-( in 1794 ( Ed.
: See plan 198 in PP 12 )pointed out that the Jews in many countries
found themselves in a legal situation, deplorable as it was in many respects,
nevertheless left to themselves theof their own legal disputesEuropeans
in Oriental countries formed up to 1914 autonomous communities. Consul
jurisdiction was especially developed in Egypt and in Marocco. Germans
should also, as fast as possible, establish citizen armies and get thefor
this from the Allied Forces. When e.g. America sees that here is the real
weapon against the Soviets then America will do everything to support this
movement. America will remember its own militia and the world historic
role it played. Let me to leave you with these hints for today.
*********** "You're
a Quaker?" "No. but I like all of them I've met, They're decent as individuals
and also as a group, which is much rarer. They care about what happens
to human beings, they don't like murder in the name of one-eyed ideologies
and a lousy, make-believe sense of duty...."
"Most people got to feeling it would never happen after all - I know I
did But it was a fools' paradise, wasn't it? If the thing is there, it
only becomes a matter of time...."
"If I can't see it. it isn't there,' could be the national motto. That
and 'don't rock the boat ", "it's been nearly thirty years since those
bombs fell, and a quarter of a century since there's been much serious
debate about the effects of nuclear war. Since then a highly effective
soft-pedalling job's been done almost everywhere. Now a qeneration has
entered into its responsibilities which knows next to nothing about what
would actually happen if there were a major atomic war All the nasty stuff,
those highly-unpleasant facts about what really happened to the people
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - I haven't so much as heard them mentioned for
years, People would rather not"
''Moscow had been predictable. It had given its orders, and he was a man
under dis_ cipline, pledged to obey them. It was a qreat killer of the
people, this sense of discipl~ne, he reflected. The mad thought crossed
his mind that he could take NOVGOROD to some neutral port, scuttle her,
desert." ''Heaven knows he said.
It sounds insane - but take my word for it. the military planning of the
nuclear age is insane. Once you penetrate the jargon of any modern book
on strategy it all boils down to sheer, illogical horror. Megadeaths, for
example. One megadeath means the inevitable, premeditated killing of a
million people, from babies taking their first breath to the aged. The
textbooks already list numbers of megadeaths regarded as 'acceptable' in
the case of war . ." The above are all quotations
from Colin Mason's novel . HOSTAGE, on how WW III could start First published
1973 by Macmillan, London, Sun Books, 1973. Reprinted
238 A P P E N D I X 17 MONEY AND THE NUCLEAR
WAR REVOLUTION AND RELIGION
The following is another vision by Ulrich von Beckerath in a letter to
Mrs. V. It also helps to show some of the basic ideas in this book
in combination.16.12,''It is not my intention to disturb your rest through
frequent communications on the nuclear war threat and war financing, I
only desire to iustify the enclosed booklet by Zander on the railway money
issued in Germany in 1923", (Ed.: See plan 192 in PP No. 9,) shows in his
booklet that there is a very simple means to abolish unemployment quickly
and thoroughly : Enterprises suffering from it issue value tokens typified
like money. With these they pay their expenses including wages. These certificates
are not to have legal tender. But they will be covered by the readiness
of the enterprises to accept them like cash when anybody buys their goods
and services, The railway is such a productive enterprise. During 1923
it has provided work for about 700,000 workers by issuing "railway money",
The details are explained in Zander' s booklet, work cannot be denounced
with the objection common among ''practical'' men that it would contain
only ''theoretical garbage". This railway money was a reality and these
700,000 workers of the railway were also a reality That they worked and
had enough to eat was also a fact and no theory. It is not easy to determine
how many employees outside the Railway were also indirectly provided with
work by this measure but I am convinced that there were several million
of them. During that time the railway had permission to issue railway
money - until Schacht withdrew it. What could be done when there is no
authority for such issues of means of payment? The answer is that wherever
human rights are recognized and thus there exists at least freedom of expression,
one tries in a legal way to obtain the required permission, But wherever
human rights are not recognized one goes ahead on one's own initiative,
This would be a monetary revolution, in the communist countries one could
not proceed without this, page 15, chapt (?) of his work (p. 83 of PP No.
9) Zander indicates shortly that the principle explained by him can be
applied not only by the railway. Indeed, it is of universal importance.
Every large enterprise and every large association of small enterprises
can protect itself against the need to dismiss workers by properly applying
Zander' s principle. Zander did not get around at that time to describe
the application to the retail shops. He had to solve a more urgent problem
: to organize and finance his emigration and thereby to save his life,
Zander were in Berlin now he would scarcely fail to explain to his fellow
citizens that the principle of railway money, suitably applied, would also
remove threat of nuclear war.
Let me give you a concrete example: Suppose, the workers of Russian atomic
bomb want to strike and declared: "We will no longer produce this rubbish
but will instead provide ourselves with some useful jobs" What would then
happen? At first there would be a repetition of the events in Germany after
June the 17th, 1953. How was the rising defeated? Russians played hardly
a role in this, Their commander even fled to West Berlin, as you know.
The whole unit was "unreliable" according to the terminology of the
? , To shoot striking workers? This they did not
like at all'victor over this uprising was a lady : the president of the
East German Bank in Jaeger Strasse, Berlin East. She instructed all bank
branches in (239) the insurrectionist areas to block all wage payments
for the time being. With this the uprising was finished. The few East German
Marks which the workers had stilt in their pockets were rapidly spent and
from then on "General Hunger" fought for the Soviets.
Whether I control a man or the money circulation on which he depends that
is one and the same. Whoever supplies the means of payment is the master
of the other and the other must follow all his orders. Thus the Russian
Central Bank of Issue would no longer issue notes for wage payments in
the revolutionary zones. The next day would be the decisive one for
the rising workers, for Russia, for the world and for the future
of mankind. If the workers or some of their leaders know Zander's principle
then the retention of the State's exclusive paper currency would be received
with amusement. After destroying the nuclear bomb factories they would
spread to the bakeries, other food production centres, to State farms etc
and initiate the issue of value tokens analogous to the German railway
money and in accordance with the technique described by Zander.
The printing of these certificates could be done within an hour as was
shown by the issue of stable value currency in Hamburg in October 1923
and also in the Ukraine when consumer co-ops in Ukrainian towns issued
goods warrants and loaned them to the factories when the money supply from
Moscow faltered through some or the other bureaucratic bungle. All participants
were hanged because of "forgery". They had indeed unintentionally and unknowingly
shaken the very foundations of the Sovietst power. This happened in 1934.
If in our case and today the West would take a hand and send a message
to the workers inviting them to witness the destruction of the atomic factories
in the West and if otherwise, the West would declare that it does not intend
to occupy Russia and is ready to conclude a separate peace with every Russian
army, then in a few days, the revolution would become general. In the West
also nobody would then be able to mobilize an army for a war of aggression.
I have spoken here of "the Westi' but the governments in the West will
not recognize the situation fast enough. They will therefore have to be
supported by volunteer organizations, primarily by militias. They would
make the first public declarations to the Russian soldiers and workers.
The governments would then merely confirm them. (Ed : Beckerath was conditioned
to safely explain his real views even under Nazi censorship. He then adopted
the stance of the super-patriot. Compare plan 234 in PP No 14. Always write
as if a censor were peeping over your shoulder - was his oft repeated advice.)
Otherwise nobody in the West would think of abolishing the governments.
On the contrary, -the governments, through their declarations, would appear
as the saviours of world peace and really would be. At most a few Nazis
would go mad and would have to be sent to mental asylums.
A great change would furthermore occur, one unnoticed by the masses: all
note issue monopolies would be repealed and the legal tender of all notes
would be abolished Zander's payment principle: Payment through service,
not in the form of primitive tribal barter but through systematic clearing,
would be accepted as a fundamental principle in all constitutions.
If you should know of another means to prevent the destruction of all life
on Earth still within this century' then please, communicate it to me.
There is rothing more interesting for me. Abolotion of the nuclear bomb
threat by those threatened and by nobody else, this marks the beginning
of a new age, a new economic order, a new political order or even of a
new religion. Let me add a few words on this. Some days ago I read a leaflet
of a Christian Circle in Darmstadt. In it the Atomic Bomb was declared
to be unchristian and Christians were asked not to participate. It was
n o t said in what form this nonparticipation should be practised,
whether through a military strike (which the Soviets could defeat rapidly)
or how otherwise. This does not surprise anyone with some knowledge of
the religious books of the world. Neither the bible nor the writings of
the founders of churches, nor the papal proclamations, nor those of protestant
clerics, nor the Koran, nor the writings of Zarathustra, nor of Confucius
or Laotse, not even those of the otherwise venerable Schweitzer, contain
the least hint what should be done in a situation like ours. Do you know
any religious writings containing something useful on this ??? Foes could
become allies - with even greater speed than in the recent decades. - reversaL
of a saying by Paul Tabori in "the survivors", Consul Books, London, 1964
Let tolerance reign supreme! J~, 29/4/75'' The first order which the UPPR
troops broke in a peaceful and general mutiny was that of no fraternization."
- Paul Tabori, ibid, p 47. "Great and small states alike were making certain
that peace should not break out suddenly and catch them unawares " Ibid,
p 52 ''The constantly improving armaments were simply threats, blackmailing
or menacing instruments, but if they were never to be used who would ever
be frightened by them? . " Ibid, p. 53/ ''the rocket stations were activated;
the atomic subs cruised around like mad. . ." Ibid, p. 61. ''The ordinance
factories were working triple shifts to turn out armaments which all politicians
maintained, would never be used." Ibid, p 62 "Did
the politicians really believe that a sing le murder was a greater crime
than mass murder? If they did not, they gave a pretty good imitation of
accepting the double standards '' Ibid, p. 74. "The Achilles
heel of the powerful is their contempt for the weak." Ibid, p.83. ''I refuse
to believe that three hundred people can suddenly enter into a suicide
pact ." Ibid, p. 84. ''..Jeff ran into him at the Ministry for Humane
Extermination, There seemed to be feverish activity throughout Whitehall,
though Moriarty could not discover what aim it served. He only knew that
no one would take the responsibility of being the one person who would
refuse to be responsible for starting another war " Ibid, p. 106. ''If
truth is the first victim of a war, confusion is its natural condition''
"And the attacking forces were themselves mostly wiped out in the process.
Because of the isolation and the futility of the struggle, animal fear
and animal cruelty became the dominant emotions. Within a few days the
borderLine of aggressive and defensive warfare was completely erased. ".
Ibid, p. 122. 'Poison gas, microbe and nuclear
dust did not differentiate between enemy and ally.' bd, p. 123.
A P P E N D I X a b o u t MI L I T A R
Y J I U J I T S U or HOW CHINESE SOLDIERS DETERMINED
THE LIMITS OF MILITARY OBEDIENCE The following is an
extract of a letter written by ULrich von Beckerath in 1957, in German
and translated by the ed. (John Zube). 'Mao Tse Tung
applied the following tactic towards Chiang Kai Shek: He simply asked the
soldiers of his opponent not to let themselves be killed or crippled for
Chiang but to declare themselves neutral instead and to desert to him;
Mao, bringing their weapons with them, and to let themselves be supplied
with travel expenses and provisions and to go home. Success justified Mao's
policy to an extent which has possibly surprised even him. In less than
one year he conquered an area inhabited bv over 300 million people - with
less ammunition than was usually used in a single battle in WW 11, Mao
followed an old Chinese tradition. As Confucius reported in the Lun-Yii,
King Wen did something very similar. Wen's enemies could not keep their
soldiers. They all deserted to Wen because he kept his promises and, moreover,
ruled well, very much better than the ruLers opposed to him. Perhaps Mao
himself does not know that he had such a predecessor. It is quite possible
that he did not act in accordance with any principle but merely did what
for the time being was the most opportune In any case it is the task of
all peace lovers who take themselves serious to clearly recognize the phantastic
example set here, to put into the light the principle on which it rests
and to see to it - everyone in his circle - that as many people as possible
fully understand what has happened in this respect in China and consequently
try to achieve the same in other parts of the world, in areas where the
rulers put weapons into the hands of their subjects and tell them: 'There
-now attack each other, I have no other use for you but - if you win -
my advantage will be great'!
Mao acted upon the folowing fact: Soldiers in modern wars do not fight
voluntarily but under coercion. If they had a choice to go on fighting
or to return to their families then more than nine tenths of them would
choose the latter. Moreover, when those soldiers inclined to fight see
that right and left of them their comrades desist, then even those
inclined to continue the fight lose heart and desert likewise. Furthermore,
or,ce the units right and left have deserted, the remaining soldiers must
expect to be attacked within hours by supenior forces. There was much practical
experience with all this in both World Wars.
Especially during WW II could make my own observations I managed then -
for 11 months, the library of the military command in F. As I found out
later on it was one of the largest on the Western front. Only the one at
Lille was larger. I had discussions with hundreds of soldiers and sometimes
with officers also, They all trusted me I was careful not to discuss peace
topics with gossipers and other unreliable people. This reading room was
only 5 km behind the first trench and thus still in the fire zone. Anyhow,
for all frequenting it, the question existed. Do we desert t o d
a y or not? Very often English planes dropped leaflets asking the
German soldiers to desert. Good treatment was promised. Almost daily I
had a session with comrades who were considering: Do I make a run for it
today or do I hold out longer? At that
time I dissuaded them from desertion I told them: "look at these Russians
working here in F. They have to unload ammunition trucks within the fire
zone and do many other things which are expressly prohibited in the conventions
on prisoners of war. We have received information that the Germans on the
other side are not treated any better. Supposedly it is a "retaliatory''
measure. Anyhow, if you desert ....then you, (242) ....get fed worse? than
the Russians are by our side".
I have reason to believe that my words were effective. The reply was, of
course, almost always : What? Do you expect us to let ourselves be turned
into cripples fighting for these scoundrels? When they win they will treat
us like they treat the Russian prisoners today and when they lose for what
will we have been fighting? The hatred against those who prolonged the
war (ludendorff, Tirpitz, etc.) was unbelievable.
And t h e n we realized : Indeed if we could expect to be decently
treated on the other side, if we knew we wou~d not have to work against
our comrades e g by unloading ammunition (these people were all good Germans
with no international'' inclinations) If we knew also that after the war
is lost (only very few still believed in victory) Germany would be treated
fairly t h e n we would not stay a single day longer. Yes,
ours are scoundrels and those on the other side, too! These words I heard
often.
Some approached me later on and asked me: "Couldn't we stay in touch with
each other and work after the war for a declaration by all States assuring
we make no longer any prisoners of war. Whosoever comes to us voluntarily
and declares that he fought against us only under coercion, will be treated
by us as a guest and neutral foreigner. After our victory the enemy government
will certainly be disarmed but the country will not be treated worse than
our own. What government would under
these conditions still dare to declare a war? The war would be over within
weeks - because its soldiers will have deserted. And then the revenge comes:
A government which declared an aggressive war will be treated like a murder
syndicate. We will see to that. Any government which starts a war shall
remember that!" I ended up in hospital
and lost the addresses of these comrades. The pacifists whom I met later
had curiously no interest at all in this idea but merely discussed impractical
proposals like : converting the government to the philosophy of pacifism,
establishment of a peaceful world government with the consent of national
governments, etc., etc. You yourself have heard all this very often What
these peacelovers did not have was the experience of the immediate proximity
of the front line, the continuously dropped leaflets which asked soldiers
to desert, the daily arising question : Is there any rational sense in
continuing? Man, I mean the average man, depends very much on immediate
impression " Where they are amiss he is inclined towards obvious but useless
phantasies he does not consider the t e c h n i c a l aspects as
this would be uncomfortable. The world is supposed to be something very
simple and easily, comprehensible, something that only requires the evpression
of desires (later, as with the Nazis the shouting sufficed to achieve already
half of the aim. But now the world is very differrently organized.
During the second World War I spoke with many Nazis on this method applied
today by Mao That was not v e r y dangerous as it appeared
to the Nazis first of all as a proposal made in patriotic eagerness, as
an idea which although impracticable, was at least meant -to promote the
final victory (once indeed, ' came to the wrong address) The answer, particularly
coming from the most convinced Nazis, was in essence always the following.
Such ideas are very contrary to National Socialism. If they spread, they
could also influence the German soldiers, Very many German soldiers are
not National Socialists at all and anyhow, they would rather stay at home
than in the trenches. The enemy would only have to apply this method against
Hitler and Hitler would be in a very difficult position, Apart from this
it is the intention of National Socialism to increase the military spirit
in -the whole world, train (243) men to think like soldiers that
is, to become disciplined and obedient. To draft for the whole is not the
concern of just anybody, The Fuehrer appoints for people he can trust,
Thus let us talk about something else!
Nazis were quite right from their point of view, I recognized with great
satisfaction that Fashism cannot apply the system which is used today by
Mao, Fashism has to despise such ideas and even to prosecute them - for
the same reason as Napoleon despised and prosecuted the German ''ideology''.
He saw, riqhtly, that there was a power much stronger than his great army,
comparable to a heap of gun powder, This may lie, seemingly completely
harmless in some dry and quiet corner for a hundred years, Then a single
spark falls into it. No totalitarianism can then prevent this powder from
exploding.
The system is a kind of political Jiu Jitsu, it uses the enemy's own power
aqainst him, Once this principle has been widely spread only those governments
could conduct wars whose promises would be trusted even by the enemy's
soldiers and who would simultaneously have propagated a good peace programme.
It is possible to make all preparations for this in peacetime. Better still
these preparations can be made with the knowledge that the enemy cannot
interpret them as a hostile act. The advocates of the system will in their
own country be considered as super-patriots who want to lead their country
to victory under all circumstances, Thus they would play a role very different
from that played formerly by pacifists. A danger like that confronting
the old peace lovers does not exist for them.
As for myself, I will demand, as far as one will listen to me, that the
German Federal Government and also all German States declare publicly In
case of war all soldiers of powers hostile to us can call at all our offices
and troop units and declare that they wili no longer fight for the enemy
regime, We will not treat them as prisoners of war but as guests and neutral
aliens, They can go where they want to go, foreign neutral countries included.
During the first 6 months after their defection these soldiers should be
paid like civil servants, in cases of doubt like those of the Post Office.
In this period the soldiers need not work if they do not want to, Afterwards,
and without any qualifications, the rules for neutral foreigners should
apply to them. When
these soldiers want to return home they should be given sufficient funds
for travelling expenses, enough foodj and also a sum of money which would
permit them to live on it for 3 months Officers should get a still better
treatment in analogous application of the rules of the Hague Convention
on land warfare. Should
the war not be finished within the above-mentioned 6 months then these
soldiers should nevertheless have claims to the privileges listed here
for up to 6 months after the ending of hostilities in case they still reside
in the republic. After the victory over its
enemies the republic will endeavour to give the so far hostile countries
a constitution essentially like the own one. Under no circumstances will
the republic conduct retaiiatory measures after its victory or insist on
reparations. It will leave the punishment of war criminals to those countries
in which they can be arrested.
Such a declaration above only described in its essentials would have
to be supplemented by declarations on the payment of weapons brought along
by the defectors. It would be simple to compile such a price list. Weapons
handed over would be paid for at the same rates which the manufacturers
of war materials receive. Details would have to be publicized: an aeroplane:
1 million dollars, a machine gun: 200 dollars, a telescope: 10 dollars,
etc. (244) To atomic bombs
the following rule should apply: whosoever surrenders one thereupon and
for the rest of his life receive the same salary as the president of the
republic. Whosoever could prove that he destroyed one before it could do
any harm should receive the same.
Everyone should promote the inclusion of such clauses fn the constitution
of whatever country he lives in. He should also encourage his friends in
other countries to insist upon the same towards their governments. The
relevant articles of the constitution should be announced by radio at least
once every week and should be proclaimed in all civilized languages few
months later on every man on Earth will then know how to behave in any
future war. It seems to be that
such a procedure promises to be more successful than all petitions to all
the governments in the world to financially support peace efforts. How
far all governments are from such intentions is proven by the fact that
the UN is so insufficiently supported that it could not provide people
like the Count Bernadotte with a bodyguard.
The idea described here is in reality a very old one and was often put
into 2000 years ago by the R o m a n s Montesquieu remarked in his
'Consideerations sur la grandeur des romains', that it was always a tactic
of the Senate to constitute immediately, in case of war, a government-in-exile
opposed to the enemy government. With this counter-government they concluded
an alliance, Many enemy soldiers who would never have deserted to the Romans
did without hesitation defect to the alternative government. Something
similar was tried even in Europe now and then and mostly with success.
During the war against Napoleon I in 1814/5 the Bourbons were used as an
alternative government. Very many Frenchmen who would never have deserted
to the Prussians defected nevertheless without much ado to the Bourbons,
saying to themselves : Indeed, they did not rule very well but at Least
one could live under them and they are certainly better than the
Prussians Russians and Austrians. (It so happened that the government of
Louis XVIII was the best which France has had up to then, much better than
the rule of the famous Henry IV. During the 10 years of Louis XVIII France
could advance faster in every respect than during any former 10 year period.)
Jews have for their passover a special ritual. This is read in the family
circle. (The Jews form the only religious community known to me with such
a practice.) Subject of the ritual is the discussion of the general strike
of the Jews during the building of the two towns Ra-amses and Pithom under
the well-known Pharaoh. Families abiding by this ritual are thereby induced
to speak at least once a year on subjects outside of the ordinary household
sphere. In the families of other nations for thousands of years only household
matters are discussed. I envision a
ritual for use in peace loving families, read on a great holi-day , e,
g, the 1st. of May, in the same way in these families as is the pass-ritual.
After I am dead a better writer than myself will write this rituals.
Thus far my selection from the 4000 (and more coming) pages containing
the correspondence between Beckerath and a number of people like Rittershausen
(who is represented in this batch as well) as available from Libertarian
Microfiche Publishing, the socalled 'PeacePlans <PP>.
pensievepiet@netscape.net Stat installed near
the end of july 2001 (in about 18 files)