The Jyllands-Posten was once a newspaper that hailed fascism as a strong bulwark against communism (see below). The paper stood for fascism back then, and it now stands for anti-immigrant xenophobia.
<blockquote><http://home4.inet.tele.dk/jensguld/JyllandsPesten.htm> Jyllands-Pesten 1933 How Jyllands-Posten became Jyllands-PESTEN
By KR. Originally published in December 2000. Translated February 2006 into English by Jens Guld
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By thus arranging the election returns of the March 5th election Hitler and his party "won" a "great victory". Jyllands-Posten greeted it with admiration and praise:
'Hitler's victory is so incontrovertible, that it would be foolish to try to explain it away. Of course, the adversaries have been gagged the last few days before the election, but nothing indicates that the election returns would have been very different if they had had their full freedom. . .
"As far as the domestic policy is concerned, no one can deny that the German middle classes with an overwhelming majority have given Hitler the most extensive powers... The middle class has in other words placed it's fate in Hitler's hands. It has with no misgivings given him the carte blanche he demanded. And now it is up to Hitler to redeem the peoples' expectations. Expectations, which have not been created with promises, for he has given only one: the destruction of Marxism, but solely by his ability in a critical hour to unite the forces that want to uphold the state. The means he must choose himself and the near future will show if he understands to choose and apply them".
(Jyllands-Posten 1933.3.7 "Hitlers sejr")
Joy over the repeal of the constitution
Hitler promptly abolished the Weimar constitution. Jyllands-Posten greeted this with joy:
"There will only be cried dry tears at the funeral of the Weimar constitution... How strange it may sound the but twelve year old constitution with it's unicameral system, it's low electoral age qualification - 20 years - and the election by proportional representation is already outdated . . .
"And when you judge the present situation, it is well worth keeping in mind that the people itself has been involved in giving the Weimar constitution the coup de grace. We are not talking about a coup here, not at all; no armed minority has grabbed power with the aid of armed force and contrary to the will of the people. It is the great broad masses, voters dead tired of parliamentary misrule, who themselves have turned against the democratic principle in the form it has acquired at the present time. Of their own free will they have left the old political parties to join Hitler in order to fight Parliamentarism by means of the parliamentary system." (Jyllands-Posten 1933.3.9 "En forfatnings undergang")
Dictatorship "an advantage" for Europe
The communist parliamentary seats were declared invalid and all communist members of parliament had long since been imprisoned, when the German Reichstag March 23rd passed the law which gave the Hitler government a free hand to rule for four years without having to worry about the constitution or the legislature. Only the Social Democrats voted against the creation of Hitler's dictatorship.
Jyllands-Posten wrote:
"The dictatorship in Germany is a fact. All parties except the Social Democrats - as is well known the Communists have been thrown out into Stygian darkness, but their noes would in any case not have changed the result - have voted for the dictatorship law. After this Hitler can create the laws that suits him. . .
Say what you will about Hitler: He has made Germany recover nationally. What internal consequences this will have, if Hitler is as great a statesman as he is as an agitator is still up in the air . . .
The German dictatorship thus means both an advantage and a danger for Europe. An advantage because there is now a strong bulwark against Communism and at the same time the Social Democracy has been put firmly in its place. And a danger because the dictatorship for the time being cannot but increase tensions the worries about a new war. (Jyllands-Posten 1933.3.25 "Hitler-Diktatur")
The suppression of the labour unions is painted in bright colors. All leaders of the German labor unions were arrested, the union properties, banks and co-ops, were confiscated by the Nazis, while May 1st was changed into a massive Nazi demonstration.
Jyllands-Posten was overjoyed:
"Hitler has not yet given Germany a fully formed program laying down guide lines for what he will do. But on the other hand he has given it action and this at such a pace that the opponents have been knocked out of wind. The Reichsproblem has been solved in the gordian way, the Jews have been cast out into utter darkness, the powerful Stahlhelm-Verband has been forced to enter the Nazi ranks, Communism has been smashed, Socialism has been brought to heel, and now with the take-over of the labor unions the government has directed the last killing blow against Marxism. The revolution must be carried out all the way and not till that has happened, will it be possible in earnest and without hindrance to begin rebuilding.
These are the tactics. . . .
There is method in the revolution, and not least in the last part of it: The move against the labor unions.
There will by no means be a dissolution of the labor unions followed by a repression of the workers. On the contrary Hitler and the people around him emphasize that on every possible occasion that it is first and foremost about getting the workers involved in the rebuilding effort and that this shall be don precisely with the aid of the unions. But it is of course a condition that these unions cease their political activities and devote themselves to their natural union duties . . .
In other words Marxism is to be left not the smallest hiding place. They are to be smoked out of their holes and it's means of existence are to be shredded. But the unions will not be destroyed. They are, as Ley at the same time hinted, to be recast in new forms of organisation, which will a part of an "estate" based reconstruction of the German trade and industry.
This might seem to mean that the intension is to carry out a corporative organisation of the population like the Fascist. . ." (Jyllands-Posten 1933.5.4 "Fremstødet mod fagforeningerne")
Propaganda for a Fascist dictatorship in Denmark
Jyllands-Posten's enthusiasm for the black dictatorships to the South of Denmark and propaganda for something similar in Denmark culminated in a couple of articles in May and June 1933, where the newspaper made itself spokesman for a Danish dictatorship - and threatens the Social Democratic-Radical government with a fate similar to that of the German Weimar parties:
"The speech of the Radical minister of foreign affairs "convinces" of just one thing, namely that the present government is afraid of the development, but this it does to perfection. And it is only natural that Mussolini and Hitler for them are a double Mene Tekel. When the Italian and the German voters can give short shrift with the party-political folks, who in the name of democracy misgovern and exploit them, the Danish voters will naturally learn from it and perhaps follow the example. The more so since they know that democratic rule by and for the people, as we know it, is a luxury you can afford in good times, when there is a following economic wind. But to make an economy recover after a spending spree of many years duration you need a firm hand . . .
Mussolini saved Italy from the Communist deluge, for which a useless parliamentary regime had made it ripe, and can any one deny that his dictatorship has been a blessing for the Italian people. Germany faced a similar fate, when Hitler took power, and it is therefore not to be wondered at that he is vigorously purging the Marxist parties, who have the main responsibility for the fatal development. The party-political folks, who warble the most about democracy and freedom, are here like everywhere else the worst rulers of a state and they must therefore be put out of the picture entirely, before reconstruction can be done . . .
The crisis agreement, which is as costly as it is harmful, has created such a loathing for the whole parliamentarian regime, that a large majority af the Danish voters certainly would welcome a Mussolini, who would and could act in a socially responsible way, and therefore would have to give the politicians their marching orders. (Jyllands-Posten 1933.5.17 "Krise og diktatur")
The praise for the Fascist dictatorship and the dream of seeing it on Danish ground culminates with this rant:
"We Danes are given to laughter and we dislike the striking of attitudes, but our history shows that there are limits to how much the people will let itself be misgoverned and exploited and when the boundary is crossed, the action comes as an explosion regardless of mentality and political nonsense. And then you also have the man with the firm hand. That he should emerge from the existing political parties is unlikely. Both in Germany and in Italy the man was created by the situation and the same may happen here . . .
This is what it pleases the so called democratic politicians to call rule by and for the people, but the voters have long ago discovered, that it is actually a despicable party rule and next thing to political corruption. Against such a rule by party-politicals the voters of all parties react and this leads then to the dictatorship as the only way out of the party-political mess, here as in other countries . . .
Now the voters know that that the democracy has been changed into a purely party-political regime, in which objectivity has been replaced by party-political motives. And therefore one may assume that the majority of the voters sincerely want a dictatorship as the only possible means of getting healthy government. (Jyllands-Posten 1933.6.4 "Diktaturet under diskussion")</blockquote>
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