Gasparri cables Pacelli with instructions to have Erzberger’s Bishop order him “forcefully and with a loud voice” to desist from political activity - June 7, 1920
Source: Timeline
June 7, 1920 Gasparri cables Pacelli with instructions to have Erzberger’s Bishop order him “forcefully and with a loud voice” to desist from political activity.
English translation of telegram - Italian original at online Pacelli-Edition
Erzberger’s exclusion from the German Government is the pre-condition for the Catholic Bavarian People’s Party to cooperate with the Catholic Center Party in the German Reichstag, according to a report from Pacelli to Gasparri on June 12th. English translation - Italian original at online Pacelli-Edition
On June 16th, Pacelli reports to Gasparri that Erzberger’s Bishop has strongly exhorted him, and that Erzberger agrees he will “remain apart from everything” and will not accept a government position. English translation - Italian original at online Pacelli-Edition
June 7, 1920 Gasparri to Pacelli, encrypted telegram:
Not a few fear that Deputy Erzberger returning to the Reichstag would be a discordant element for the Center Party, all the more so in view of recently reported proposal. Extreme necessity of Catholic unity, which would require that Erzberger desist from this proposal, and it is considered most usefully opportune that you invite the Bishop of Rottenburg to Munich and ask him yourself to exhort Erzberger forcefully and in a loud voice to refrain from any and all activity harmful to the unity of the Center Party and Catholicism, adding that the Holy See would not be very happy, in the interests of the Church and Germany alike.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 1492. Note: Rottenburg, a town near the city of Stuttgart, was the Diocesan See for Erzberger's home province of Württemburg.
June 10, 1920 Pacelli to Gasparri about the June 6th Reichstag elections:
Most Reverend Eminence,
The German Reich political elections this time had a very special importance. They concerned the election of the first Parliament after the proclamation of the Republic and the National Constitutional Assembly, and moreover had to clarify the political situation following the attempted reactionary coup of Kapp and Lüttwitz, as well as the Sovietesque agitations of the proletariat in the Ruhr district. The preparations on the part of not a few parties were more intense and heavy than ever. Expectations were enormous. After the failed Kapp Putsch, the National Assembly, impelled primarily by the leftwing parties, set the elections for June 6, and they in fact took place with great calm as hoped. The definitive results will not be able to be known until after June 23rd. Meanwhile the current Ministerial Cabinet immediately resigned, because the early returns are clearly opposed to its political direction. It has been asked, as counseled, to stay to discharge ordinary business and to maintain order.
From the news thus far, it can easily be concluded what will be the character of the new Reichstag. The known results demonstrate the failure of the Coalition Government, which until now has been in power, and which, as is known, was composed of the Socialists, Democrats and Center Party. This failure is now irreparable, as it seems to exclude the possibility that a new and lasting Cabinet could be formed solely by the three aforementioned parties. On the contrary, the strength of the two parties of the right has been notably increased, namely the German National People’s Party and the German People’s Party, corresponding to the former Conservatives and Nationalist-Liberals. As is known, then, these parties were for the most part formed of Protestants, but recently a notable group of Catholics of conservative tendencies broke off from the Center Party and joined themselves, at least for this occasion, to the German Nationals, and also founded their own weekly periodical, “Mein Glaube,” [My Faith] whose first issue appeared May 25th. Also, the Independent Socialists have seen an increase in their ranks from all those discontented with the Majority Socialists. In sum, the elections have given a notable preponderance to the extreme parties of right and left at the expense of the parties in the middle.
The cause of this phenomenon is two-fold. It is to be found both in domestic policy and foreign policy.
In domestic policy, the election results signify a clear, open opposition of the great part of the German people to the so-called coalition policy, which was, and could not be anything but, a policy of half measures and compromises. It naturally could not satisfy either the right or the left: not the right, because it did not sufficiently pursue the interests of the bourgeoisie and the middle classes; not the left, because it did not sufficiently pursue the socialization that was in its program and in the expectations of many of its adherents. It was expected by both sides that the Government could do more than it actually could under current circumstances. So now the disillusionments of the one side and the other have been marshaled against the Government, and the one side with the extreme right, the other with the extreme left, have sought to bring about their desired policies: the bourgeoisie, that is, with the Conservatives or Nationalist-Liberals, the Socialists with the Independent Socialists. As for what concerns foreign policy, the result of the elections represents all too clearly the reaction of the German people against the peace imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. A rebirth of nationalism was almost inevitable following this peace, which was accepted only by force and against the will of the conservative parties and not only them. The agitation produced by the conditions dictated by Versailles, some of which are considered extremely harsh, and others even impossible to fulfill, has driven anew a large part of the bourgeoisie toward those parties that have been first and foremost strong proponents of the war policy of Germany.
Indeed the Center Party has suffered, as it seems at this point, significant losses in this election. Its policy, accused of being too favorable to the proletariat, has caused it to lose many supporters from the middle classes. Moreover the hostility to Erzberger, who is the object of hostility on the part of very large numbers, has also hurt the Center Party. Good results have been experienced by the Bavarian People’s Party, which, as is known, separated from the Center Party for its known federalistic tendencies. In the event that an alliance could currently succeed between the Bavarian People’s Party and the Center Party, this will also have a notable influence in the new Government. No party has an absolute majority. Neither the extreme right nor the extreme left can govern alone. The Socialists have declared they will not enter into a Cabinet together with the German Nationals (former Conservatives), whom until yesterday they have accused of being responsible for the enormous catastrophe to the German people. The Independent Socialists refuse to participate in a Ministry of the Majority Socialists, who do not believe they could accept their program of vast socialization. A cabinet of a coalition between the extreme right and extreme left is obviously impossible because of the enormous distance that separates their respective programs. There is thus much groping in the dark, and the most widespread prediction of what will soon be seen (if it is even possible) is either new elections or a profound class struggle, which could also lead to civil war.
In fact just two-thirds of the Parliament would be able to bring about an amendment of the Constitutional Charter of the Reich. In the program itself of the Independent Socialists, in which a vast plan of socialization and innovation is espoused in a more or less Sovietesque sense, there is not a word about religious issues. Nevertheless it is natural that, if the present dark situation should lead (as not a few fear) to violent conflicts, the Church also could easily experience extremely grave harm.
Humbly bowing to kiss the Sacred Purple, with sentiments of most profound veneration, I have the honor to avow myself
Your Most Reverend Eminence’s
Most Humble, Most Devoted, Most Obliged Servant,
+ Eugenio Pacelli, Archbishop of Sardis
Apostolic Nuncio
Source: Vatican Secret Archives, reprinted in Fattorini (1992), pp. 349-351; Italian original and German summary at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 1050.
June 12, 1920 Pacelli to Gasparri
Re: Political elections in Bavaria
The elections to the Bavarian Landtag took place, like those for the Reichstag, on the 6th of this month...
Indeed in Bavaria, as in the Reich, there has been grave dissatisfaction with the parties of the center, in favor of the extremes. Here in Bavaria, however, the most revealing victory has been that of the Bavarian People’s Party. It has not gained an absolute majority, but a plurality of votes ...
Given that the Bavarian People’s Party shall assume power, it is not without interest to know the directions that will guide its future policy and that are espoused by Deputy Held, the Head of the same Party's delegation to the Landtag ... The program of the Party will be a program of order and reconciliation... Maintenance of order and tranquility at whatever cost; the civic guard (Einwohnerwehr), the army (Reichswehr) and the police (Polizeiwehr) must not be touched. Bavaria must be freed from all threatening elements. There will need to be cultivation of a religious and moral renewal of the people by every means...
In the aforesaid Assembly there was also discussion of the direction to be followed by the Deputies of the Bavarian People’s Party in the German Reichstag and the question of eventual participation by this Party in the central government of the Reich. A Reichstag Deputy, Canon Leicht, said that if the Party is called to participate in the Berlin government, the first condition must be the preservation of Bavaria’s autonomy at all cost. For a closer collaboration with the Center Party (it is known that the Bavarian People’s Party is distinct from the Center), the condition sine qua non must be that Deputy Erzberger not have any post in the Government...
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 338.