17 February 1933 Krupp Notes of Hitler's Speech to Industrialists

[Hitler said] It is not enough to say: "We do not want Communism in our economy." If we continue on our old political course, then we shall perish. We have fully experienced in the past years that economics and politics cannot be separated. The political conduct of the struggle is the primary, decisive factor. Therefore, politically clear conditions must be reached. 

As economics alone had not made the German Reich, so politics did not make economics. But each one built steadily upon the other. Just as politics and economics, working hand in hand brought us to the top, so the working of one against the other, as we have experienced it since the revolution, meant our continuous decline. As I lay in the hospital in 1918, I experienced the revolution in Bavaria. From the very beginning, I saw it as a crisis in the development of the German people, as a period of transition. Life always tears humanity apart.  It is, therefore, the noblest task of a leader to find ideals that are stronger than the factors which pull people apart. I recognized, even while in the hospital, that new ideas must be sought which are conducive to reconstruction. I found them in Nationalism.... 

Now we are facing the last elections. No matter what the outcome, there will be no retreat, even if the coming election does not bring about a decision. If the election does not decide, the decision must be brought about in one way or another by other means. I have decided to give the people once more the chance of deciding their fate for themselves. This move is a strong asset for whatever may happen later. If the election brings no result, well, Germany will not be ruined. 

Today, as never before, everyone is under an obligation to pledge themselves to success. The need to make sacrifices has never been greater than now. As for the economy, I have only one wish that together with the internal political structure, it may look forward to a calm future.  The question of the restoration of the armed forces will not be decided at [the Disarmament Conference in] Geneva, but in Germany, when we have gained internal strength through internal peace. There will, howÛ ever, be no internal peace until Marxism is eliminated. Here lies the decision  which we must face up to, hard as the struggle may be. I put my life into this struggle day after day, as do all those who have joined me in it. There are only two possibilities: either to resist the opponent by constitutional means, for this purpose, once again, the election is necessary; or the struggle will be conducted with other weapons, which may demand greater sacrifices. I would like to see them avoided. I hope therefore that the German people recognize the greatness of the hour. It will be decisive for the next ten or probably even the next hundred years. It will prove a turning-point in German history, to which I pledge myself with burning energy. 

Backed by the awesome power of the State, and with several million Reichsmarks raised from the industrialists he had so bluntly addressed,  Hitler unleashed a propaganda campaign which he was persuaded would win his party an absolute majority. But surprisingly, and despite the pressures daily being produced by official and party organizations, an equally strong campaign was waged by the anti-Nazi ˇ

groups.