Preface to Karl Heise's The Entente-Freemasonry and the World War

A contribution to the history of the world war and to an understanding of true Freemasonry, Basel 1919.

The insights that lead to an understanding of the great world catastrophe that befell us in 1914 must be sought in the most diverse areas of international and human life. The area that was considered to be the actual political area until that point in time contains only one of the currents that converged to bring about the devastating event. The thoughts that led to the confusion of July 1914 were joined by many other thoughts that had been seething for a long time, thoughts that poured in the forces that divided humanity. This book describes only one of the currents in question. The reader may decide to what extent it is important to direct the searching gaze to this current, to whom in the following, some factual material is to be presented, which can prove how certain secret societies of the Entente countries and their lodges turned an originally good and necessary cause into the service of national egoism and the selfish interests of individual groups of people. A cause that should serve all of humanity, without distinction of race or interest, turns from a good one to a bad one when it becomes the basis of power for certain groups of people. The foundations of certain insights were used by secret societies of the Entente countries to drive a political ideology and influence world events, preparing the world for catastrophe. It would be one-sided not to take into account that many other things have emerged from the places of origin of such attitudes and influences. The book that is hereby presented to the public does not comprehensively deal with the “guilt of world war”; but it wants to draw attention to things in which the one who wants to find this “guilt” must also look. And anyone who does this will have to combine what he finds here with many other things. But it should follow from the factual reports presented that anyone who, when searching for this “guilt”, which should better be called a search for determining causes, does not direct his attention in the direction indicated below, will ignore an important aspect.

Zurich, October 10, 1918.