That’s the question posed by Michael Howard in a London Times article this morning. I’ve been interested in the revision of World War II history–is what we’ve been taught all our lives really the truth? Was it really the “Good War”? That’s something Pat Buchanan tries to explain in his book Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War. I’ve been reading that casually in some spare time and I’ve been amazed at the depth he has went into to show that World War II might could have been avoided. There are plenty of harsh words for Hitler, but also for Churchill and Chamberlain for forcing Hitler’s hand instead of avoiding the deaths of dozens of millions of people.
Filed under: Geopolitics, History, Media, News, Politics
http://goesdownbitter.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/run-country/
We have no patience for alternate history, that’s best left to Harry Turtledove, and even less for revisionist history. To say that WWII could have been avoided means that WWI must have been avoided and that the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not dissolve and that Napolean… I mean how far back do you want to go?
The roots of WWII were grown directly in the aftermath of WWI when the allies sought to punish Germany instead of seeking to build a democratic country. The Weimer Republic was unable to effectively govern as violent conflict between the left and the right erupted constantly throughout the country. Hyperinflation and starvation lead to radical political parties and eventually to the rise of the Nazis who seized power by force. WWII could have been prevented if the Allies had not crippled German industry, demanded massive reparations and looked the other way as civilians died in politic strife.
We have no interest in reading this book, but have read his rational that by allying with Poland, Great Britain forced Germany into war. Really? So if Great Britain had stayed out of Continental Europe and allowed Germany to deal with the Soviet Union…
So what the author is saying, is that left alone, after the Nazis finished murdering all the millions of Germans who didn’t fit the Aryan race criteria in the 1930′s and spent the 1940′s building a stronger and stronger military, that they would just sit there? That the Germans had no science and no way of threatening the United States? Ever heard of U-Boats? The V-2 rockets? Jet airplanes? Hmmmmmmmm.
It is true that Hitler wanted nothing to do with America and were furious at the Japanese for attacking Pearl Harbor and dragging him into a broader war, but to state that Germany could never harm the U.S. is pure conjuncture. Germany would have created nuclear weapons and long range bombers and ballistic missiles and can anyone really believe that having all those shiny toys Hitler would remain tamely within his borders?
America before WWII was staunchly isolationist and the experience of WWI had left a very sour taste in the public’s mouth. We forget today that in the 1930′s not only was the Great Depression raging, but America had a very small standing Army and the Navy had been gutted by treaty, treaties that both Germany and Japan ignored; long before any conflict broke out. It maybe comforting in the 21st Century to sit back and envision an America free of entanglements, but a world with Europe dominated by a Nazi Germany and Asia split between the Soviet Union and a militarized Japan would not be a peaceful one.
There are no ‘Good Wars’ only Bad and less Bad.