The Order of the Day

By Eric Vuillard, 2017, Picador, 132 pages
Reviewed by Gary Davenport, September 6, 2020

Mr. Vuillard won the 2017 Prix Goncourt, France’s most prestigious literary award, for this short book. It was originally published in French, and then was translated into English in 2018. Lucky for me – not speaking a word of French.

The central theme of the book is how greed, the failure to recognize the true intentions of Hitler and Nazi Germany, and appeasement, paved the way for Hitler and his Third Reich to come to power in 1933. The result was the eventual annexation of Austria and the catastrophe of Word War II. In 1938, Hitler forced the resignation of Austria’s Chancellor Schuschnigg and replaced him with Seyss-Inquart. The new chancellor was a Nazi sympathizer and invited German troops to enter Austria on the pretext of law and order. It was called Anschluss. Thus the door was opened for Hitler to subsequently invade Poland, Czechoslovakia (1938-39), Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Holland, Belgium, and France (all in 1940), and the horrific bombing of England in 1940-41.

This book is a far cry from a dry account of dates and events. Mr. Vuillard is not just an excellent writer, but also a filmmaker. Throughout the book, in scene after scene, his skill is evident. Mr. Vuillard begins the book with a harrowing account of the 24 corporate leaders of Germany who attended a meeting on February 20, 1933, with Hitler and his henchmen and President of the Reichstag, Herman Goering. It is nothing but a fundraiser as the Nazi Party was broke and needed money. There is an upcoming election, and if the Nazi Party wins all will be well. It would be the end of a weak regime, the Communist menace, trade unions would be gone, and every entrepreneur would be “the fuhrer of his own shop.”

The 24 bought it lock, stock, and barrel, and ponied up. As Mr. Vuillard points out, these 24 were the high priests of major industry and “calculating machines at the gates of hell.” It seems clear had they not ponied up, the Nazi Party and Hitler would have fallen into the dust bin of history. No such luck!

What makes the book so compelling is how Mr. Vuillard humanizes all of the critical events. The scene where Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg is summoned to meet with Hitler at Berchtesgaden regarding Austria’s future is so vivid you can almost feel the sweat on the chancellor’s brow as Hitler lays out his demands. Hitler was out for blood and would have nothing less than total capitulation by Austria. He got everything he wanted.

Mr. Vuillard depicts the actual occupying of Austria by German troops in a chapter named “Blitzkrieg” (German for lightning war). It was anything but lightning war, and in truth, a total fiasco. The people at Linz and Vienna were vastly in favor of the occupation by Germany and had come out in throngs to see their beloved Hitler. When the German invasion fell into a mess of broken-down vehicles and tanks, the Austrians were totally deflated. Nonetheless, Hitler continued on with a tour of Austria to wildly cheering crowds. Not all bought in as there were 1,700 suicides in Austria in the week before Anschluss.

All the while, the 24 business magnates were carefully carving up Austria as they had intended all along. In the end, the war was very profitable to them. For example, one of the 24 was Gustav Krupp, who ran the industry that produced almost everything for the German war machine from guns to tanks to battleships and much more. (He appears on the cover of the book appearing quite pleased with himself, if I do say so myself.) In Mr. Vuillard’s view, these events are not a part of history one should think are beyond repeating. As he concludes in reflecting on the 24: “Look at them waiting, that February 20, calmly, sagely, while the devil passes right behind them on tiptoe. They’re chatting; their little consistory is just like hundreds of others. Don’t believe for a minute that this all belongs to some distant past … these names still exist. Their fortunes are enormous.”

This book is highly relevant given the times in which we live and our political climate. As Mr. Vuillard concludes: “This great jumble of misery, in which horrific events are already taking shape, is dominated by a mysterious respect for lies. Political maneuvering tramples facts.” The message of Mr. Vuillard is, I believe, to never let your guard down or believe it could never happen again.

I highly recommend this book.