Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

422 DER FUEHRERJerusalem, Major von Papen is said to have saved himself at the lastmoment, awakened from sleep by a subordinate young LieutenantJoachim Ribbentrop.After the war, Papen attempted without success to return to thediplomatic service. His dream was to become ambassador to Luxemburg.From headquarters in the tiny neutral country, where the greatinternational iron and steel cartels of Europe had their business offices,he meant to intervene in high European politics. He believed he had thetalents and other requirements for bringing about a Franco-Germanunderstanding, based on the leading men of both countries; for he wasconvinced, as he later expressed it, 'that the man of good race and innerqualities is more highly suited to bear responsibility than the averageman. We must recover the habit of looking up to men who amount tosomething by their mind and character; who are masters because theycan serve. . . .' To lead Europe through such an international masterclasswas the aim of the German 'Herrenklub,' which Papen had helpedto found — the word 'Herr' meant gentleman with an overtone of'Master.' One of Papen's French friends was Paul Reynaud, who laterwon tragic fame as premier. In Luxemburg, Emil Mayrisch, one of theforemost iron magnates of the Continent, founded a committee forGerman-French understanding, to which Papen belonged. One ofPapen's publicist friends went so far as to maintain that his aims inforeign policy 'were not really German but occidental'; Papen tried to dowhat hardly another German statesman dared: to reach an understandingwith as bitter an enemy of Germany as Raymond Poincare. For hebelieved in what French fascist doctrine called 'le pays reel': the allimportanceof a superior leader class, beside which democracy was onlya pretentious sham. He hoped to arrive at an agreement with this leadingstratum of France on conditions such as Gustave Herve later proposedto Hitler: revision of the Versailles Treaty, return of the Polish Corridorto Germany, German rearmament, German-French military allianceagainst Russia, the overthrow of Bolshevism.Such an armed understanding between Germany and France waspossible only if democracy were overthrown in both countries. Foryears Papen had believed that the Third Republic in France would