Dr. Walter Marinovic presented the following lecture on 15 April 2009 to the Austrian Parliament at the invitation of President Dr. Martin Graf.
Superpowers Then and Now
As most of us know from our school days, Arminius the Cheruskan liberated Germania from the Romans in the year 9 AD. Some people will object: "But that was two thousand years ago! What does that have to do with us today?"
In response to that question we should ask ourselves: "Was the political situation in those days really very different from that of today?"
The Roman Empire ruled almost the entire known world, which is to say that it was the superpower of its day. It extended from the Near East and North Africa along the Atlantic Coast to the mouth of the Rhine. It included West and Central Europe as well as Austria and the Balkan states to the Danube.
Militarily, economically and financially the Romans were vastly superior to all other nations. They strove constantly for new conquests, imposing a "New World Order" on the vanquished nations.
Latin replaced the native languages of the indigenous peoples as the Roman lifestyle and cult of emperor worship spread throughout the Empire. Rome conducted perpetual war against "rogue nations" and "insurgents." Does that sound familiar? Is this situation "contemporary" or not?
Conquest, Occupation and Re-education
In 58 BC Caesar became proconsul of the province of Gaul, which constituted today's southern France (still called "Provence"); and in the following years he subdued one Celtic tribe after another. In his writings he describes this campaign as a "war against terrorism," since Ariovist and his Swabians had invaded from the East.
That invasion was the "9/11" of those days! Caesar defeated Ariovist and conquered all of Gaul, that is present day France, as far as the Rhine. In 55 and 53 BC he conducted punitive and exploratory campaigns in the German regions, since they belonged to an "Axis of Evil."
Four decades later, Emperor Augustus decided to annex Germania as a Roman province. By 15 BC the Romans had conquered the entire vast approach to Germania: the Alps with foothills, present day Switzerland, South Germany, Austria and Hungary all the way to the Danube. The frontier of the Roman Empire extended from today's Regensburg through Augsburg and Vienna to the mouth of the Danube on the Black Sea.
In 12 BC he opened his campaigns against the Germanic tribes east of the Rhine, penetrating all the way to the Weser and in some places, to the Elbe. He conquered numerous tribes, including the Cherusker, after which the Romans considered Germania another province of their Empire. Still not satisfied, they aspired to further conquests. They now wanted a shorter border through Europe. It should follow the entire length of the Elbe connecting to the March River and then along the Danube, which they already controlled.
In 6 AD the Romans planned a pincers attack against the Marcomanni tribe, whose king was Marbod. They intended to attack from two directions: from the mouth of the Elbe to its source in the southeast and from Carnuntim (today's Hainburg) up the March river to the North. The legions were ready to march when suddenly an insurgency broke out among the recently pacified Celtic tribes in Pannonia south of the Danube. It took three years to finally suppress the rebellious tribes in 9 AD. After that, these remained obedient subjects, lost their languages and culture and became Romanized, like the Gauls and Hispanians before them.
It has always been the strategy of "globalizers" to first provoke war with weaker countries, then conquer and occupy them, then integrate them into their empire. If the conquered lands do not culturally and domestically accept integration, they rebel. That is what happened in Pannonia. By 9 AD the Romans had secured their rear and were once again preparing for the conquest of the region along the Elbe and March rivers. The Romanization of the other Germanic tribes had encountered difficulties, however. They had been under Roman domination for only 20 years; before that, they had been entirely free of Roman influence and unfamiliar with the Roman lifestyle. Having no cities and hardly any villages, they lived on remote farmsteads that were widely separated by plains and forests.
It is undeniable that the material standards in Rome were vastly superior to anything the Germans had. They enjoyed luxuries that included heated floors, a clean water supply delivered by aqueducts, grandiose public baths, extensive trade with distant countries, an efficient coinage and an elaborate transportation system. These benefits were comparable to today's global finances, free trade and freedom of travel. The Germanic tribesmen must have reacted to it the same way the Afghani tribesmen react to the technology of the USA today: they were shocked and overwhelmed, yet fascinated.
The Romans were very expert in exploiting their amenities. First they would win over the "barbarian" power elite, especially the more youthful members. They offered inviting careers to young leaders who entered Roman service with their followers, utilizing them as auxiliary troops attached to their legions. There were rich rewards for Germanic leaders of auxiliaries who distinguished themselves in the war against Pannonia; and when these leaders returned home they brought glowing reports of the "good life" under the Romans - a life the Germans could also enjoy if they complied with the demands of the Romans.
In his history of Rome, Cassius Dio describes the attractions of Roman service in detail. His descriptions suggest that conditions 2,000 years ago were not very different from those of today. Dio writes:
"Roman soldiers were quartered in fortresses, while the tribesmen began to lay out cities. The Germans began to adapt to Roman customs, became accustomed to the practice of holding open markets, and learned to organize peaceful and orderly gatherings. However, they still had not forgotten their old habits and native customs, their previous unhampered lifestyle that included the individual power that comes with bearing arms. They were not disturbed by the change in their lifestyle and they did not notice that they were becoming a different nation while gradually losing their customs."
It is easy to understand the rationale of adaptation. As seen through the eyes of an ancient German undergoing assimilation, it went like this:
We Germans must adapt to new realities. After all, life is more interesting, comfortable and convenient in these Roman style towns. In the new markets we can buy delicious fruits from the South, fashionable new clothing and smart jewelry. The Roman soldiers are not really so bad -- we mustn't be racist! What's wrong with working for the Romans if they pay us good money?
As Dio observed, the ancient Germans did not realize that they were becoming a different people. Occupiers always attempt to infect a conquered people with a new lifestyle that will give the conquered nation a different "soul." Of course the details were different two thousand years ago, but basically the same thing is happening to us now. The new occupiers have studied the Romans and are imitating them, adopting their strategy of "Conquer, Occupy, Re-educate." Ten years ago, following the American assault on Yugoslavia, Daniel Goldhagen indiscreetly blurted out that the Americans should treat the Serbs the way they treated the Germans after World War II: "conquer, occupy and re-educate." We must remember that the Frankfurt School defined their program as one of re-education and reconstruction. Their goal was to make contented slaves of the defeated Germans. "We have more material things than ever before," the re-educated German says. "What do we care about freedom? We are accepting reality."
Resistance Then and Now
When re-educators move too quickly they create resistance. The Romans learned this the hard way, when they accelerated the re-education of our Germanic ancestors. In the year 7, Quinctilius Varus became Proconsul of Germania. Velleius Paterculus, who knew him personally, described him as the kind type of politician that is timeless and familiar:
"Varus was not the type that despises money, as he demonstrated while proconsul in Syria... He arrived poor in a rich land and he departed rich from a poor province."
Cassius Dio described Varus's methods as follows:
"When Varus became proconsul of Germania, he insisted on accelerating the conversion of the people there. He ordered them about as though they were slaves and he taxed them as though they were subjects. However, the Germans refused to be treated in such a manner. They preferred the old order and they rejected foreign domination. They rose in revolt."
Imagine that: two thousand years ago our Germanic ancestors rose in revolt! But what about the re-educated, reconstructed Germans of today? Here I should include all Europeans, not just Germans and Austrians. I refer to the people of nearly every country in Europe since we came to be dominated by the victors of World War II and then the EU commissars.
All Europe has been reeducated since 1945! At first our re-education was gradual, but it became rapid after 1968. The EU preaches democracy but it forbids plebiscites on the constitution of our new central government. When the citizens of a country insist on putting it to the popular vote and the results do not suit the EU commissars, they change tactics. The commissars substitute a pseudo election in which the citizens are not allowed to participate, only the parliament. In this way they were able to change the defiant "no" of the French and Dutch people into a compliant "yes." When that did not work in Ireland, the Irish voters were subjected to perpetual elections until the results suited the EU bosses. While blathering about "freedom of opinion" they have established a dictatorship of political correctness and compliance.
Once they have established a dictatorship, the EU bosses decree prohibitions of politically incorrect thought and speech. George Orwell very accurately predicted this in his novel 1984 which he wrote in 1948, at the time when re-education was under way in Germany and Austria. This has prompted Andreas Mölzer to ask: What will 2084 be like? Will we still have any freedom at all? Is the end of European culture approaching? The end of European peoples, as immigrants overwhelm our entire continent? Have we already degenerated into a society engrossed with trivialities, whose rulers can manipulate us at will?
Decades ago, Ernst Jünger answered this question with a single sentence: "Auf den verlassenen Altären hocken die Dämonen" (Demons now squat on our abandoned altars.) The values of Western Civilization were once firmly established on our altars: love, loyalty, family, community, nation and home, as well as willingness to participate, assume responsibility and make sacrifices.
Re-education, re-evaluation, and a generalized contempt for tradition have now destroyed these values. Today the unholy trinity of the demons profit, sex and feel-good "wellness" or body-worship are enthroned on our new altars. "A healthy wholesome world," once our hope and aspiration, has become an expression of derision.
I ask you: is our world permanently condemned to degeneracy? Must we peak and pine forever, and never again be proud, confident, robust? Is nothing sacred to us any more? The word "God" is no longer allowed in the Constitution of the European Union. How can this be? Is this what we want: a godless, unredeemed world that has gone berserk where our traditional values are concerned? If profits and creature comforts are the only things that matter to us, we have allowed ourselves to be re-educated, like our Germanic and Celtic ancestors 2,000 years ago.
Today, a new factor has entered into the cultural equation: the Fata Morgana of prosperity and never-ending economic growth has vanished. At last we are forced to recognize that we have sold our intellectual freedom and Western civilization for a pot of material advantages. Now these too are crashing: the economy, money, and vocations are all vanishing. Now that we are approaching breakdown, we finally recognize that globalization and foreign domination can lead only to our total collapse. We have no choice except to liberate ourselves as our ancestors did thousand years ago!
Arminius the Liberator
In their time of greatest need, occupied and in process of becoming another soulless province of the Roman Empire, our Germanic ancestors found an intrepid leader in their own ranks who was able to unite and liberate them. Velleius Paterculus, who knew Arminius personally, reported:
"In those days there was a young man of noble blood who was decisive and valiant in battle. His name was Arminius and he was the son of the prince of the Cheruskans... His manner and his eyes reflected a fierce spirit."
Like many ambitious young Germanic nobles, Arminius had entered Roman service with his followers. In the Pannonian wars he won great distinction and rewards for his bravery, military prowess and ability to lead men. He also gained an intimate understanding of the way the Romans waged war, both their strengths and weaknesses. When deployed in battle formation in the open field their legions were invincible thanks to their superior weaponry, armor and discipline. However, they became helpless and overburdened in rough terrain, when unable to form their customary fighting ranks.
In the year 9 AD Arminius resolved to exploit this weakness. He lulled Varus into a false sense of security while secretly planning an insurrection for the fall, when the Romans left their summer encampment for winter quarters on the Rhine. Under pretext of quelling an "insurgency" among a remote group of tribesmen (and capturing additional slaves), he tricked the proconsul into leaving the principal march route and following rugged mountain paths through the Teutoburg Forest, along the edge of a vast marsh. In some places the Roman troops could march only two or three abreast through the tangled wilderness.
Varus's army numbered around 20,000 men and included three legions, six auxiliary cohorts and three detachments of cavalry as well as a massive baggage train and thousands of camp followers. The entire procession, interspersed with wagons and horses, extended approximately thirty kilometers. Communication between the units became difficult. The battle began near Kalkriese, north of Osnabrück, and lasted three days. With blood-curdling yells the Germanic warriors stormed the Roman troops from concealed positions while the auxiliary cohorts joined their countrymen, creating panic and confusion in the Roman ranks. The battle became a face-to-face struggle, a kind of "asymmetrical warfare" such as we see in Afghanistan today. Nearly all the legionnaires were annihilated. In true Roman fashion, Varus threw himself on his sword when he realized his position was hopeless.
The historian Suetonius called the battle of Teutoburg "a devastating defeat that nearly lead to the collapse of the Empire." The catastrophe threw Emperor Augustus into deep despair, causing him to wander aimlessly about his palace exclaiming "Varus, give me back my legions!" All Rome fell into a panic, terrified of being overwhelmed by the "Teutonic fury." It rushed all its reserve forces to the Rhine to secure the border.
In 14 AD Augustus died, Tiberius became emperor, and General Drusus, called "Germanicus" in hopes he would be able to subdue the Germans, invaded Germania in a series of costly punitive expeditions. The legions re-invaded the Teutoburg Forest, interred the remains of the legionnaires who had been killed six years before, and again did battle with Arminius. After some initial Roman successes, Germanic resistance grew ever stronger as the expenses of the war grew unbearable for the Empire. Finally, Emperor Tiberius ordered a withdrawal to the Rhine, which became the permanent border.
Germania remained free! Our German language and culture survived! Tacitus, Rome's greatest historian, created an enduring literary monument to the intrepid Arminius:
"Unquestionably he was the Liberator of Germania. Although not victorious in every battle, he nevertheless won every war; and the barbarian nations still sing his praises."
Discord Among the Germans
Tacitus noted that in his day, more than a hundred years after the battle at Teutoburger Forest, the "Barbarians" were still singing the praises of their liberator. Our Germanic ancestors were united in love of their hero. And yet, in Arminius's lifetime, many princes were envious of him. They fawned over the Romans, flattereing and collaborating with them. Because Arminius strove to unite the people in the struggle against Roman domination, they accused him of wanting to be king. Marbod, the prince of the Marcomanni, refused to enter into an alliance with Arminius, even though the Romans were threatening to invade his kingdom! Even Arminius's father-in-law Segestes and uncle Ingomer plotted against him. Tacitus reported that Arminius was killed by the treachery of his kinsmen, while Emperor Tiberius noted with satisfaction:
"We need not wage war against the Germans and Cheruskans... we can leave them to their own treachery and they will destroy each other."
Discord and dissension have been Germany's constant curse, and even Arminius became a victim of treachery. Nevertheless, his victory was a world-changing event, a major turning point in European history. It saved us from conquest and destruction. Unlike the Gauls and other peoples of ancient times, who lost their culture, language and freedom, the ancient Germans were able to retain their national culture. Thanks to Arminius, their descendants were able to create the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which defined Western Civilization during the middle ages.
We too must assert ourselves!
The history of Germany, like the history of all Europe, has been marred by dissent and war. That is why a "Europe of Nation States" is an indispensable idea: a confederation of free and independent states united in important questions and acting in concert, while retaining their language and culture. The concept of a Europe of nation states is like a spring meadow with a great variety of colorful blossoms. The EU bosses in Brussels have perverted this idea, however. They have engineered a Europe that is tied to the apron strings of a monstrous central state, after the fashion of the USA. Like the USA, it is a state dominated by lobbies of speculators and cliques of managers. With massive immigration, ethnic and racial intermixing these EU bosses are intentionally eradicating our national characteristics and Western civilization.
If Obama insists, we will soon be forced to allow Turkey into the EU. The result of such a policy will be to convert free and independent nations into a uniform faceless mass. The Goldhagen strategy is obviouslythe same as that of Varus: "Conquer, Occupy, Re-educate!"
How can we liberate ourselves from the monstrous superpower of globalizers and re-educators? Arminius set us an example two thousand years ago, an example that has been successfully followed many times.
Two hundred years ago, in 1809 Andreas Hofer and his Tirolean army defeated the presumably invincible French globalizers. A few years later Napoleon's empire disintegrated. Just twenty years ago, in 1989, the citizens of Leipzig took to the streets inspired by Friedrich Schiller's slogan "Wir sind ein Volk!" (We are a nation.) Almost immediately Soviet domination and the Berlin Wall collapsed without a shot being fired. A courageous determination to be free can bring down the super powers of the world.
Let us dare to perform a spiritual "about face" and return to the traditional values of our national culture! Let us throw down the demons of greed, body-worship and recreational sex from our high altars! Let us return to cherishing Volk and Fatherland, our European customs and the culture of Western Civilization! Let us make the Arminius bimillenium the commemorative year for the celebration and rebirth of freedom! Let us follow the examples set for us by courageous leaders 20, 200, and 2000 years ago!
VIVAT ARMINIUS, VIVAT GERMANIAE!
Long live Arminius, long live a free and independent Germany!
Walter Marinovic
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