No change in the balance of political parties can alter the general determination that no class should be excluded from contributing to and sharing responsibility for the state.

Voices were heard from the United States of America which made it clear that America wanted a peaceful and united Europe as a basis for mutual cooperation.

The concept of active cooperation has taken the place of opposition to the new form of government and of dreamy resignation entranced with the beauty of times past.

I must begin by saying something about the old Germany. That Germany, too, suffered from superficial judgment, because appearances and reality were not always kept apart in people's minds.

A people that has experienced all that the Germans have been through, naturally offers fertile soil for the extremists.

Historians still often see the end of the war as meaning nothing more for Germany than lost territories, lost participation in colonization, and lost assets for the state and individuals. They frequently overlook the most serious loss that Germany suffered.

Here we encounter two conflicting concepts with which we must come to grips in our time: the idea of national solidarity and the idea of international cooperation.