The Reichstag Address
By
Duchess of Zeon

Plenarprotokoll
Deutscher Reichstag
Stenografischer Bericht
Sondersitzung
Berlin, Freitag, den 12. September

I n h a l t :

Rede des Reichspräsidenten zur Invasion des Dominion der Draka

Der Reichskanzler erteilt dem Reichspräsidenten das Wort

„Abgeordnete dieser ehrwürdigen Kammern!

„In das Zentrum des tiefsten Friedens ist die Fackel des Krieges geworfen worden. Ein Verbrechen, beispiellos in seiner Unverschämtheit, zutiefst erschreckend in seiner Grausamkeit, ist dem Herz der christlichen Welt angetan worden.

„Das Dominion von Draka, übermütig in seiner kriegerischen Stärke, landete an der italienischen Küste an einem Platz namens Anzio, und trotz erbittertem Widerstandes gelang es ihm mittels seiner überwältigenden Überlegenheit an Mensch und Material Rom in einem Streich zu bedrohen. Der italienischen Regierung blieb nichts als die Flucht. In dem Versuch, die gemeinsamen Schätze Europas und der Christenheit zu schützen, wurde Rom zur Offenen Stadt erklärt.

„Es beschämt mich zutiefst, sowohl als Christ als auch als Europäer, dass wir solch eine verderbte Brut, solch eine Schlange es haben wagen lassen, sich an der Brust der heiligen Mutter Kirche und an dem Blut unserer Rasse zu nähren. Aber meine Beschämtheit kann die schrecklichen Tatsachen nicht auslöschen. Die Truppen des Dominion haben, in direktem Widerspruch zu allen Regeln des Krieges und den Gesetzen der Zivilisation, ihrer höchsteigenen Herkunft ins Gesicht gespuckt und mit der Plünderung Roms und der Heiligen Stadt begonnen!

„Ihre Sklavensoldaten, ihre Janitscharen – Männer, benannt nach den verdammten Truppen der Türken, gegen deren Ansturm sich schon einmal die Christenheit verband, um sie vor den Toren Wiens zurückzuwerfen, die das gesamte Mittelmeer mit ihrer Flotte bedrohten, deren Mittel nur Vergewaltigung und Plünderung sind, und deren Blutbäder an unbewaffneten Zivilisten selbst einem Genghis Khan die Schamesröte ins Gesicht getrieben hätten ob ihrer Lust zu Mord und Brandschatzung, ob ihres Hasses gegen alle Gesetze der Menschlichkeit!

„Selbst die Nationen des Morgenlandes, schon seit grauer Vorzeit an, haben es mit der Sitte gehalten, dass neutrale Bürger unversehrt und unbehelligt zu belassen sind, und dass die Rechte von Botschaftern, und die ihrer Gesandtschaften selbst, zu wahren sind. Doch nicht die Draka! Sie streckten den Gesandten dieser Regierung nieder und verschleppten ihn!

„Viele andere befinden sich ebenfalls unter dem Schutz der Rechte der Botschaften; Frauen, die verschleppt und beschmutzt worden sind durch ihre barbarischen Fänger, Männer des Friedens und der Kirche, Staatsbürger anderer Staaten, hilflos abgeschlachtet von blutdürstigen Janitscharen!“

„Mit erschreckenerregender Geschwindigkeit haben sich die Zustände äußerst verschlechtert. Die größten Schätze der Christenheit sind ein Raub der Flammen, die größten Kunstschätze und Errungenschaften unserer Zivilisation sind Fackel und Schwert zum Opfer gefallen. Drakanische Truppen schwärmen schon jetzt über Rom hinaus und zerstören und brandschatzen Jahrtausende europäischen kulturellen Erbes, eines Erbes das allen europäischen Nationen lieb und teuer ist und das in unser aller Erinnerung, und in der Erinnerung all derer, die unser Erbe über Europa hinaus verbreitet haben, zugegen ist!

„Nichts von alledem kann jedoch mit dem abscheulichen Verbrechen verglichen werden, welches sich im Herzen Roms zugetragen hat. Es ist eine Schandtat, vor der selbst die Mongolen zurückschrecken, die wildesten und gefährlichsten Barbaren der Geschichte. Wo einst selbst Attila an den Toren Roms auf bitten des Papstes stoppte kennt das Dominion keine Zurückhaltung. Diese Armeen der Finsternis und der Zerstörung, meine deutschen Freunde, sind in die Vatikanstadt eingedrungen – ein neutrales und anerkanntes Land, dem wir alle Rechte eines Staates zugestanden haben! – und haben sie, genau wie Rom selbst, geplündert und gebrandschatzt! In ihrer Gier und Verachtung für christliche Tugenden und Moral haben sie Krieg gegen das Oberhaupt der Hälfte der Christenheit!

„Es wurde jetzt bestätigt, dass Papst Pius von diesen Barbaren regelrecht abgeschlachtet wurde, direkt im Petersdom! Die Schweizergarde, mit den Tugenden und der Ehre, die auch der Schweizer Nation inne ist, hat bis zum letzten Mann zur Verteidigung des Heiligen Vaters gefochten, doch ihr Opfer, obwohl es in den Annalen der Geschichte für immer weiterleben wird, konnte das Leben des Papstes nicht retten.

ERZÜRNTE ZURUFE DER SÜDDEUTSCHEN DELEGIERTEN UND DER ABGEORDNETEN DES DANZIGER KORRIDORS

„Die deutsche Flagge wurde beleidigt, und das Deutsche Reich der Verachtung preisgegeben. Das alleine fordert ein Exempel, das alleine fordert eine Bestrafung und Rache. Aber es ist nicht nur das alleine. In der Tat ist es ein verschwindend kleines Verbrechen im Vergleich zu den Verbrechen des Dominion, welche Verbrechen gegen die Zivilisation und insbesondere gegen die Gesamtheit des Christentums darstellen. In den Taten des Dominion zeigt sich für uns das dort die schlimmsten Eigenschaften der Menschheit gefördert werden. Sie verachten unsere Moral und Geschichte, sie verachten ihren eigenen Glauben, und sie verachten ihre gottgegebene Pflicht, die Völker Afrikas in die Zivilisation zu führen.

„Wir hingegen haben unsere Pflichten. Es sind diese unsere Pflichten als zivilisierte Menschen, als Deutsche, als Christen, welche über Politik und Parteien hinausgehen. Ich rufe jene an, die in diesen fordernden Zeiten dem Geschlecht der Hohenzollern die Treue gehalten haben, und ich rufe auch die Sozialisten an welche das Leid in Russland kennen. Ich rufe sie an, dass sie sich im klaren über ihr gemeinsames Erbe werden müssen und darüber, dass ihre Ideologien von einer gemeinsamen Quelle kommen und eine gemeinsame Sittlichkeit, einen gemeinsamen Begriff des Anstands teilen. Dies ist eine Zeit in der die Bindungen Europas und ihre Interessen perfekt aufeinander passen.

„Wir sind dazu aufgerufen, meine Deutschen, uns als der Titel wert zu beweisen, welche wir als Spender von Zivilisation und hoher Ideale rund um den Erdball beansprucht haben. Deshalb bitte ich sie nun darum, Ungerechtigkeit zu vergelten, nicht in unwerte Zwistigkeiten zu verfallen und Entschuldigungen zu suchen, sondern vielmehr den Blick für das Wesentliche zuwahren; unsere transzendente Pflichten in der Verteidigung unserer Lebensart und unserer Religion; unsere Anstrengungen, die Versklavung von Millionen freier Menschen zu verhindern; und unsere absolute Pflicht, solch Übel zu vergelten und die grundlegenden Gesetzte der Menschheit aufrecht zu erhalten.

„Ich bitte euch, meine Deutschen, im Einklang mit der Verfassung unserer Nation die notwendige Kriegserklärung zu verabschieden, so dass wir diesen Krieg voll der Wut unseres rechtmäßigen Zornes, voll der Kraft der Gewissheit derer, welche nicht nur für die Ehre ihres Vaterlandes sondern wegen des Stolzes in jeden Wert und jede Tugend, die ihnen Lieb ist, beginnen mögen!!

RUFE NACH KRIEG VON DEN DELEGIERTEN

„Als Kameraden müssen wir voranschreiten, müssen mit der ganzen Welt zusammenstehen in Verteidigung unserer gemeinsamen Werte. Dieser Kampf betrifft die ganze deutsche Nation; er betrifft die ganze zivilisierte Welt. Vergesst nicht, diese unsere Prüfung ward uns nicht auferlegt wegen einer Beleidigung unseres Vaterlandes, auch wenn dies allein als Grund groß genug und gerechtfertigt wäre; diese Prüfung ist mehr noch als das, sie verlangt von uns die Verteidigung und den Schutz unseres Glaubens, und unserer christlichen Brüder in Übersee, die schon als Beweis ihres Glaubens das höchste Opfer im Kampf gegen die Draka gebracht haben und sich zu Recht Martyrer nenne dürfen!

„Denkt um so mehr an die Tatsache, ja, schließt sie in eure Herzen; doch denkt auch an unsere Ehre als Soldaten, denkt an diejenigen, die für diese unserer Nation schon zuvor gekämpft haben, und wieder für sie kämpfen werden. Unsere Soldaten, die ihr äußerstes gegeben haben, um unsere Ehre zuvor zu beschützen, müssen nun ins Felde ziehen, um die Ehre der Christenheit zu schützen.

Lasst uns also diese Wahl unter der Flagge und dem alten Leitspruch Brandenburgs abhalten: „’Vertaue in Gott, verteidige Dich mutig. Darin liegt all Deine Ehre! Denn wer auch immer mit Gottvertrauen geht, der wird nie brechen.’“

APPLAUS DES PLENUMS

„Ich danke ihnen allen aus tiefstem Herzen für diesen Ausdruck der Loyalität und Achtung. Im Falle des Krieges gibt es keine Parteien und wir werden alle Brüder – als Deutsche und als Christen. Manch eine Partei hat mich im Frieden attackiert, mich verleumdet – und ja, hat mich von meinem Throne ferngehalten – ich vergebe ihnen nun von ganzem Herzen. Nun da diese barbarischen Schlangen Mord und Brandschatzung gewählt haben, lasst uns hoffen dass unser gutes deutsches Schwert aus diesem Kriege siegreich hervorgehen mag!”

DER REICHSPRÄSIDENT ZIEHT DAS KAISERLICHE SCHWERT

„Das Schwert ist gezogen, und mit ihm kann ich nur beten, dass jeder deutsche Mann seine Scheide hinfort wirft und das Banner des Krieges aufnimmt – sich als Mann, sich als Christ beweist!”

The man who reached the dias was very frail. There was a hushed silence in the chamber, even from the socialists, as he surmounted it, that ancient form returning to the building which he had for so long disdained and now, ultimately, was forced to rely upon. His face, however, was reanimated with a certain form of vigour which crossed over the ages and annihilated, for a moment, the painful frailty of his form. He was wearing his uniform, which he had not done since he reentered politics at Chancellor Goering's invitation those years before.

He paused for a moment at the podium and then began to speak, with an intensity that none in the room could recall him as having had in the many years prior, an intensity which recalled his youth and middle-age. The Old Man was alive again, young again, in the brilliance and horror of the hour. The cold weather had bitten into his lungs on the journey over, dressed as he was in clothes that his tailor could not fit onto him quite right anymore, but it did not matter. Nothing mattered except for this single moment.

“You may sit,” Chancellor Goering called out after a moment's silence as Wilhelm stood at the podium. The amassed deputies of the Reichstag and the Bundesrat settled down with a great rustling in the awesome New Baroque chamber of the Reichstag building, called together in special session by Goering after news had reached Germany of the Rape of Rome, as it was already being called. The brutal attack on a city which had been declared open, the terrible slaughter and depravities which were still ongoing. And some other news, which would be soon to be unveiled by the Kaiser.

“Gentlemen of our august deliberative bodies,” Wilhelm began, his voice carrying with a haunting intensity, belying his age now for what would be the last time, the strength of distant days carried forth for when it was most needed.

“Into the midst of the deepest peace,” the Kaiser began, hardly truth, but it did not matter now, “the torch of war has been hurled. A crime unprecedented in its brazenness, horrifying in its cruelty, has been dealt to the heart of Christian civilization. The Dominate of Drakia, presumptious in their strength of arms, landed on the Italian coast at the place called Anzio, and despite determined resistance used their overwhelming strength in numbers to threaten Rome in a single stroke. The Italian government was forced into general flight, and in the interest of preserving the common treasures of Europe and Christendom declared Rome to be an Open City.

“I speak to you with deep shame, as a Christian man and as a European, that we could have nursed such a foul snake upon the breast of the Church and in the blood of our race! But this shame cannot erase the horrible fact. The troops of the Dominate, in direct contravention of the laws of war and of civilization, spitting in the face of their heritage, have commenced the sack of an open city! They have let their slave-troops, their Janissaries—those men named after the foul troops of the Turks whom all of Christendom united against to repulse, when they stood at the gates of Vienna and with their fleet, ready to overcome the whole Mediterranean—engage in wanton rapine and pillage, in the butchery of unarmed civilians such that even Genghis Khan might blush to see their lust for pillage, and hatred for the laws of mankind!

“They have shewn no respect for the customs of which even Oriental nations observed in ancient times, the sancity of neutral citizens and the rights of Ambassadors and Embassies. They struck the representative of this government and carried him off!” The Kaiser declared, the audience captivated, even the socialists who's comrades, after all, were already hotly engaged. The thunderous declaration seemed to strain the old man to the limit, but he was not through. “There are many others under the protection of the laws of embassies; women who have been taken and besoiled by their barbaric captors, men slaughtered helplessly, men of peace and of religion who bore the rights of foreign citizens!

“With fearful speed the conditions have become extremely serious. The greatest tresures of Christendom have been burned, the greatest art and Innovation of our civilization put to the torch and to the sword. Drakian armies swarm past Rome now, destroying and pillaging through thousands of years of European civilization's deepest heritage, through the common treasures and shared memory of every nation of this continent, and those we have spawned beyond it!”

There was a pause there, but before any murmuring could begin the Old Kaiser began to speak once more. “None of this, however, can compare to the crime at the heart of Rome. It is a crime to which not even the Mongols aspired, not the worst and most savage of the barbarians of history. Where once Attila stopped at the gates of Rome by the request of the Pope, Drakia has no restraint! These armies of darkness and savagery, my fellow Germans, have entered the Vatican—a neutral and sovereign country which we have recognized and granted all the rights of any other state!--and have proceeded to sack it! They have made war on the ruler of half of Christendom in their avarice and in their scorn for Christian morality and Christian virtue!

“It has now been confirmed,” Wilhelm continued, abruptly solemn and his voice lowering, as though the intensity of the last sentences was completely physically draining, “that Pope Pius was slaughtered, struck down by these savages, in the Basilica of Saint Peter's. The Swiss Guard, with all the customary virtue and honour of the Swiss nation, fought to the death in his defense, but their sacrifice, though it shall live in the analls of history forever, did not preserve the life of the Pontiff.”

There was a stirring from the South German and Silesian delegates. The Poles, to, elected in the restored Danzig corridor. Their hostility to the cynical trade of their government was erased in a heartbeat. These men rose as one, and slowly the Protestant delegates around them rose as well, looking on in a stunned sort of silence that hung perfectly in the Reichstag. A shock, that as they realized that what had been said must be true, slowly started to turn. It was in those minutes of silence that Wilhelm rested, breathing heavily, pushing himself well beyond what his doctors recommended. And then he began to speak again.

“The German flag has been insulted, and the German Empire”--for there he lapsed into the old modes of speech, forgetting that the Republic, for the moment, still stood--“held up to scorn. This by itself demands an exemplary punishment and revenge. But it does not stand by itself. Indeed, it becomes a crime of near irrelevance to the crime which has been committed by the Dominate; that is a crime against all of civilization and in particular all of Christendom. The worst traits of mankind have been fostered in the Domination. They have scorned our morality and our history, they have scorned their faith, and they have scorned their duty to raise up the races of Africa into civilization.

“We have our duty. It is the duty that we hold as civilized men, as Germans, as Christians, that transcends denomination and politics. I appeal to those who have remained loyal to the dynasty in these trying times and to the socialists who know the sufferings of Russia alike. I appeal to them to be aware of their common heritage and the fact that their ideologies have come from a common source, and share a common morality. This is a time when the bonds of Europe and her interests coincide perfectly.

“We have been called upon, my fellow Germans, to prove ourselves as worthy of the titles which we have claimed across the whole globe, as the purveyors of civilization and of all high ideals. Thus I ask you now to avenge injustice, to not turn away into petty squabble and excuse, but rather keep yourselves focused on a transcendant duty, on the defense of religion and way of life; on the effort of preventing millions of free men from falling into slavery; and on the absolute duty of avenging such a wrong as this, of upholding these basic laws of mankind.

“I ask you, my fellow Germans, to pass by the constitution of our nation, the necessary declaration of war which shall carry us into this conflict full of the fury of our righteous anger, full of the power of certitude which carries with those who fight not merely for the honour of their nation, but for their pride in every value which they hold dear!!”

The Old Kaiser tottered as if barely able to stand so great had been his effort. But his eyes were clear and his ears still functioned, and through them he watched and heard as the Reichstag exploded into a chant. It had started with Goering's men, of course, but spread of its own volition to the rest of the chamber. They were chanting for war, monarchist and socialist, fascist and trade-unionist alike, in a terrible thunder which represented the anger and determination of the German nation. It last for several minutes and only slowed died off; the Kaiser waited through it, drawing his strength once more.

“We must go forth as comrades with the whole of the world which stands together in the common defense of our shared values. This is a fight for the whole German nation; it is also a fight for the whole of the civilized world. Bear in mind that our struggle is not merely over an insult to our nation, however great that was and however just intervention would be for it alone; rather, let us also remember something higher--our religion--and the defense and protection of our Christian brothers overseas, of which many have stood up for their Savior with their life in the testament of martyrdom against their Drakian oppressors!

“Keep that fact well in your minds and hearts; yet remember also our military honour, of those who have fought for this nation before, and will fight for it again, those soldiers who did their utmost to preserve our honour before and now must fight to preserve the honour of Christendom. Let us then make this vote with the old motto of the flag of Brandenburg in the forefront: “'Trust God, defend yourself bravely. In that lies all your honor! For whomever ventures on God with a full heart will never be routed.'”

The chamber erupted again, the explosion of emotion, the raccous cheering mixed with chanting, some of the Catholic deputies weeping, the uproar of all of human emotion at its full sweep as the packed galleries either mimicked it or sat on in awed silence. Through it the Kaiser was silent, gathering himself yet again, and as the emotion faded after many minutes of outpouring, he yet again spoke, quietly at first, his voice filled with emotion:

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the expression of your loyalty and your esteem. When it comes to war, all parties cease and we are all brothers—Germans and Christians one and all. One or another party has attacked me in peacetime, they have slandered—and yes, they have held me back from my throne--but now I forgive them wholeheartedly. Since these barbaric snakes have chosen pillage and murder, then we hope and wish that our good German sword will come victorious out of this war!”

At that point the Kaiser drew his sword, a painful, terrible weight for the old man, and somehow managed to hold it high above his head. “The sword is drawn, and with it I can only pray that every German man shall also throw away his scabbard and take up the banner of war—shall prove himself a man, and a christian!”

Yet again the room was filled with the roaring voices of hundreds. The Kaiser felt weak, and tired. He did not want to go on anymore. Slowly lowering the sword, he held it out to Goering, who noticed the gesture and spoke over the surf's roar of the crowd. “Your Majesty?” Those were words that had not been used to Wilhelm in so long, and he was heartened by them.

“I will not live to see this war, Chancellor. Give my sword to my son when he returns from it, and...” The Kaiser's voice faltered. Goering reached out, catching the Kaiser's hand in his own, and thereby holding the sword up. Wilhelm grasped the side of the podium to steady himself in turn. The cheering fell away and slowly the deputies became aware of the drama that was playing out. As the voices drifted away the Kaiser regained his strength, somewhat, and finished the sentence: “Give him my Kingdom, also.”

The Kaiser faltered and collapsed; Goering caught him just in time, one of his hands gripping firmly upon the sword and the other steadying the Kaiser as his doctor, who had been waiting paranoiacally back from the podium, rushed forward along with several other functionaries. Carefully Goering, who felt almost saddened, and almost blessed, by what had happened, let go of the Kaiser for them to take care of, and moved up onto the speaker's dias himself, holding up the Kaiser's sword.

“Let us hold the vote by acclaimation!” He thundered, holding that sword high. “Shall the Kaiser's sword be sheathed!?”

The roar was a resounding No! That echoed through the chamber with the greatest of intensity, the shocked deputies caught up a rollercoaster of emotion.

“IS IT WAR, THEN!?”

And the response was clearly unaminous.

The Kaiser stirred faintly. He was in intense pain from pneumonia and he knew he was going to die. The number of days which had past since the speech had become indistinct, but it did not matter. The sound of military boots on the floor of his bedroom alerted him, vaguely, that it was someone other than the doctors who had been helpless to allow his frail body to recover.

“Your Majesty, it is I, Chancellor Goering,” the voice said softly, and politely.

“Chancellor,” the Kaiser weakly rasped, the simple act of breathing for that word causing incredible and intense pain in his lungs. “What news do you bring me?”

“The nation is at war; all the people are behind the effort,” Goering replied, kneeling by the Kaiser's bedside. “And your son has gone to his post in the Army. He shall carry the honour of the Hohenzollern name for you, Your Majesty, and carry it well as we both know.”

“Yes, yes...” The Kaiser replied ever so weakly; the pain, though, seemed to somewhat fade. “It is well that he goes to fight.”

“There is more, Your Majesty,” Goering continued. “As I promised you for your support in governing those years before, as I promised to restore the Empire... It has been done. There was only the least of resistance, now that the war has started and after your most splendid speech, Your Majesty. I.. I do apologize, that it could not be accomplished sooner. But the Empire shall stand again, with myself as Regent, until your son returns from the front and might be coronated.”

The Kaiser wheezed in with shock and pleasure in the news. He knew, then, that he would die soon. But it did not matter; he had done right by his family and his nation and God would judge him in that light. The blemish on the line of Hohenzollern was wiped away. “I... I know you shall serve my nation and my house in good standing, Prince Goering. My faith has been rewarded and I shall go to God with the comfort of that knowledge.” The pain was white hot, but for those words it did not matter. They were the last words that need be said, after all.

“Rest, Your Majesty,” Goering replied—though he could not help but feeling a welling at that title, within him. “You have served the German people well, and at last God has decided you deserve your reward from your long tribulations.”

Goering's politeness to the dying man was rewarded with a faint nod, the last that the Kaiser could force himself to manage. Then he rose, and made his way slowly from the room to speak to the doctors. The Kaiser died later that night on 20 September 1941, fourteen hundred and ninety years to the day after the Roman Army of Flavius Aetius had turned back Attila at the Battle of Chalons.