4 Jan. 46
All these events, by obvious inference, required the
closest collaboration between the military leaders and the Nazis. I need
not labor that point further.
But it is worth while, I think, to re-examine one or two of the
documents which show the state of mind and the objectives of the German
military leaders during this early period. One document read from by Mr.
Alderman which reflects the viewpoint of the German Navy on the
opportunities which Nazism accorded for rearmament so that Germany could
achieve its objectives by force or threat of force is a memorandum
published by the High Command of the German Navy in 1937, entitled The
Fight of the Navy against Versailles. That is Document C-156,
Exhibit Number USA-41. The Tribunal will recall that this memorandum,
this official publication of the German Navy, stated that only with the
assistance of Hitler had it been possible to create the conditions for
rearmament. The Defendant Jodl has stated this, better than I could
possibly put it, in his speech to the Gauleiter on 7 November 1943. That
is in Document L-172, Exhibit Number USA-34, from which Mr. Alderman
read at length.
Nor were the high-ranking German officers unaware that the policies and
objectives of the Nazis were leading Germany in the direction of war. I
invite the Court's attention to Document C-23, which is already in the
record as Exhibit Number USA-49. This consists of some notes made by
Admiral Carls: of the German Navy in September 1938. These notes were
written by Admiral Carls by way of comment on a "Draft Study of
Naval Warfare against England" and they read in part as follows —
that will be found, Your Lordship, on Page 3 of the translation of
Document C-23:
"There is full agreement with the
main theme of the study.
"1. If, according to the Führer's decision, Germany is to
acquire a position as a world power guaranteed by its own strength,
she needs not only sufficient colonial possessions but also secure
naval communications and secure access to the ocean.
"2. Both requirements can be fulfilled only in opposition to
Anglo-French interests and would limit their position as world powers.
It is unlikely that they can be achieved by peaceful means. The
decision to make Germany a world power therefore forces upon us the
necessity of making corresponding preparations for war.
"3. War against England means at the same time war against the
Empire, against France, probably against Russia as well, and a large
number of countries overseas; in fact, against one-half to one-third
of the whole world.