Journal de Genève
- Seeckt and Severing
- The Parliamentary Week
- The Ricken Disaster
The front page of the Journal de Genève for 10 October 1926 carried an editorial signed W. M. on the fall of General von Seeckt. The writer argued that Seeckt's retirement was indispensable to civilian supremacy in Germany and to a sincere Franco-German détente, called it an inevitable consequence of Locarno, and read Stresemann's 'clever pretext' and Hindenburg's acceptance as pledges of good faith toward the Thoiry policy. A column from Bern reviewed the parliamentary week: the civil servants' statute had passed, but four salary disputes with the Council of States remained open. A report on the Ricken tunnel disaster relayed the experts' view that the train, at 252 tonnes against a 260-tonne limit, was not overloaded, noted that the limit would be cut to two hundred tonnes, and weighed whether carbon monoxide had overcome the driver.
Translation
Seeckt and Severing
…of his services and his character. His successor, whoever he may be, will not play the same role. It is unlikely that an officer who is neither a monarchist nor a nationalist will be found to put at the head of the German army. But that matters little, for the commander of the Reichswehr, once it is no longer Seeckt, will be a minor figure. General von Seeckt's retirement was indispensable to the supremacy of civil power in Germany. Above all, it was necessary for a sincere détente between France and Germany. It was one of the inevitable consequences of Locarno. By sacrificing General von Seeckt, under a clever pretext, Mr. Stresemann proves that he does not intend all these consequences to run in one direction only. He does what is in his power. He in turn gives his pledges of sincerity. And President Hindenburg, who must have found it hard to accept this resignation, gives, for his part, public proof of his agreement with the foreign minister and of his adherence to the policy of Thoiry.
W. M.
The Parliamentary Week
Bern, 9 October. The civil servants' statute has been adopted, but no one believes it has received its final form; indeed, while the legal part can be considered settled, all the questions relating to salaries will have to be reviewed; and they will be, for there are four important divergences with the Council of States: the Chamber adopted the Graf scale, the sixth residence zone, the 150-franc allowance for children and the maintenance of pensions for pensioners.
The Ricken Disaster
…it was — this has been proven — in perfect working order. The water or the fuel? To answer that, the results of the expert examinations are awaited. Was the train overloaded? The experts say no. They repeat that the load permitted by the regulations — 260 tonnes — is perfectly normal. Now, the stricken train carried 252. There was therefore, they say, no fault committed in this respect; the train could cross the tunnel without stopping halfway. For the future, as an additional precaution, this figure will be reduced to two hundred. One must then consider another hypothesis: the engine driver may have stopped the train because he felt himself poisoned. The effect of the carbon monoxide on him would have been very rapid. This is not impossible, for there is…
Context
Why Seeckt was forced out in October 1926
Seeckt, who had commanded the German army since 1920, resigned in October 1926 after Defence Minister Gessler and President Hindenburg insisted on it. The immediate cause was that Hohenzollern Prince Wilhelm had taken part in a Reichswehr manoeuvre without first getting the approval of the defence minister and the president. Relations between the government and Seeckt had already soured because he openly opposed the government's Locarno policy. That background explains why W. M. calls the prince affair a 'clever pretext' and treats the resignation as a consequence of Locarno. Seeckt was also a monarchist who kept up traditional links with the old Imperial Army, which helps explain the writer's doubt that any successor would be neither monarchist nor nationalist. The editorial goes further and credits Stresemann with sacrificing Seeckt as a pledge to France. That is the paper's own reading; a modern chronology of the Weimar Republic assigns the pressure to Gessler and Hindenburg.
What the 'policy of Thoiry' meant
The editorial closes by saying that Hindenburg, in accepting the resignation, publicly showed his adherence to 'the policy of Thoiry'. The village of Thoiry was the scene, in September 1926, of a meeting between Aristide Briand of France and Gustav Stresemann of Germany. During that meeting the two men discussed proposals for finally settling the various claims left over from the First World War. The editorial was written only weeks later, and it presents Seeckt's removal as Germany's part of that bargain: a sign that Berlin was willing to make concessions too. Later historical judgement has been less hopeful. Thoiry is now commonly seen as a missed chance on the road to European integration, a view the 1926 writer could not have had.
Carl Severing, the other name in the headline
Carl Severing, the second figure in the headline, was a Social Democrat who had become Prussian interior minister in 1920. After the Kapp Putsch collapsed that year, he initiated the dissolution of the 'Red Ruhr Army' and was then appointed to the ministry. The German Historical Museum's biography records that in 1926 he temporarily withdrew from politics for health reasons; this is presumably the change the headline refers to. Severing's withdrawal proved temporary. In 1930, amid growing political tension, he again took over the Prussian interior ministry at the request of Minister-President Otto Braun. By setting him beside Seeckt, the paper linked the departures of the army chief and a leading republican minister in the same year.
What later accounts found about the Ricken tunnel deaths
The accident in the Ricken tunnel on 4 October 1926 killed six crew members of a freight train and three rescuers through carbon monoxide poisoning. The load figures in the paper's report match later accounts: the train carried a trailing load of 252 tonnes, while the locomotive's maximum for the route was 260 tonnes. This is why the experts quoted in the paper ruled out overloading. Later accounts name the cause the paper was still waiting for the experts to settle: the train got stuck on the incline because it was burning low-quality fuel briquettes. The tunnel had no artificial ventilation, and on that day the lack of an air-pressure difference kept the toxic smoke from escaping. Forensic investigation confirmed that the victims suffocated from carbon monoxide. In this later reconstruction the train stalled first. That sequence differs from the paper's hypothesis that the driver stopped the train because he felt poisoned.
How the railways responded after the disaster
The paper reports that the permitted load would be cut to two hundred tonnes as an additional precaution. Later accounts confirm that the allowed trailing load was reduced after the accident and that train crews were equipped with oxygen masks. They do not give the new figure, so the 200-tonne number rests on the paper's report. Electrification brought a more lasting change. Because the tunnel lacked artificial ventilation, steam operation was the root of the danger, and the line was electrified shortly after the accident.
Original
Seeckt et Severing
de ses services et de son caractère. Son successeur, quel qu'il soit, ne jouera pas le même rôle. Il est peu probable qu'on trouve, pour mettre à la tête de l'armée allemande, un officier qui ne soit ni monarchiste, ni nationaliste. Mais il importe peu, car le commandant de la Reichswehr, lorsque ce ne sera plus Seeckt, sera un petit personnage. La retraite du général de Seeckt était indispensable à la suprématie du pouvoir civil en Allemagne. Elle était surtout nécessaire à une détente sincère entre la France et l'Allemagne. Elle était l'une des conséquences fatales de Locarno. En sacrifiant le général de Seeckt, sous un prétexte adroit, M.. Stresemann prouve qu'il n'entend pas que toutes ces conséquences soient dans le même sens. Il fait ce qui dépend de lui. Il donne à son tour ses gages de sincérité. Et le président Hindenburg, à qui il a dû en coûter d'accepter cette démission, donne, de son côté, la preuve publique de son accord avec le ministre des affaires étrangères, de son adhésion à la politique de Thoiry. W. M. La semaine parlementaire
La semaine parlementaire
La semaine parlementaire Berne. 9 octobre. Le statut des fonctionnaires a été adopté, mais personne ne croit qu'il a reçu sa forme définitive; en effet, si la partie juridique peut être considérée comme liquidée, toutes les questions relatives aux salaires devront être revues; elles le seront. car il existe quatre divergences importantes avec le Conseil des Etats; la Chambre a adopté l'échelle Graf, la sixième zone de résidence, l'allocation de 150 francs pour les enfants et le maintien des rentes aux pensionnés.
La catastrophe du Ricken
elle était - la preuve en a été faite - en parfait état de fonctionnement. L'eau ou le combustible? On attend, pour répondre, le résultat des expertises. Le train était-il trop chargé? Les experts répondent non. Ils répètent que la charge permise par les règlements - 260 tonnes - est parfaitement nor [?] ale. Or, le train sinistré en comptait 252. Il n'y a douc, disent-ils, pas eu de fante commise à cet égard; le train pouvait traverser le tunnel sans s'arrêter à mi-chemin. Pour l'avenir, à titre de précaution supplémentaire, ce chiffre sera ramené à deux cents. Il faut alors aborder une autre hypothèse: le mécanicien aurait arrêté le train parce qu'il se serait senti intoxiqué. L'effet produit sur lui par l'oxyde de carbone aurait été très rapide. Ce n'est pas impossible, car il y a,