wishing thread | Page 4 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Ron Nasty said
I find the beginning of the Second World War a fascinating contrast of both sides of the slides to war, drastically different.

It is an interesting thing to look at the Nazi and European Allies to war, considering had both sides had wanted to avoid war, what would be the terms, and what would be the cost. The Germans were led to war with propaganda, liars and demonisation of a people as evil, which led to one of the most horrific groups of genocide in history. We saw the coming storm but kept trying to put off.

Nevertheless, it came. It was an unavoidable clash of ideologies. All those chances to throw the handbrake avoided in the hope the brakes would work when applied. And they didn’t. We waited until the last moment to say stop, while they had been rearming, indoctrinating their people with a creed and an enemy, while England and France, both knowing war was increasingly unavoidable. But there were increasingly desperate attempts to prolong the farce of “Peace in Our Time”. And we weren’t ready for it. Even with all the months of the phony war, we still weren’t really ready for the onslaught because of all the disarming after WWI.

There is an argument that, had it been faced earlier, millions might have been saved.

Another moment that changes the course, and is where Hitler makes the mistake. He declares war unilaterally on America the day after Roosevelt has declared war on Japan following Pearl Harbor. Technically his treaty with Japan says he will, but look at what his treaty with Russia, and how quick that turned to toilet paper.

But Hitler stood by his treaties with the Japanese, and declared war on America in the wake of America declaring war on Japan. Mutual support. Mutual destruction. Hitler had missed the obvious, him declaring war on the Americans, allowed Roosevelt to say, “Europe First!”

You follow these things though, it’s all just mistakes and arrogance

I’m not saying it’s one side of the argument or the other that’s right. We just keep rolling the dice. Do we ever get it truly right or truly wrong? Examine the stories of ideologies clashing.

My only point is sometimes a wrong is right and a right is wrong. It is a confusing worlds. Decades written in seconds. The butterfly’s wing to the hurricane.

You end up with the question, do I react too early or too late?

And, in the end, you squint toward, “Yes, is the answer!” and  know that for sure.

In the end, the dice roll, and we cover our nuts!!! 

[Don’t where where that came from, or if it makes any sense, but there were some almost moments… I thought… when I almost said it right! ]

‘Man you should have seen them kicking Nevill Chamberlain’

His policy of appeasement we must remember was very popular in Britain……..Didn’t work though, as Churchill said after a vote in Parliament…..’You have voted for peace but you will get war’……..But appeasement didn’t completely fail…..It bought us time. 

Chamberlain, as Exchequer before he became PM knew we were on our knees financially with commitments all over the world and that if any war broke out in any one of them it would likely spread to the others and we couldn’t protect our country and our commitments. He raised the spending on the RAF from about 15 million in 1933 to over 100 million a few years later. Had he not done this even Churchill would have been buggared…..

Chamberlain tried through treaties to lessen the number of potential enemies and through an armed build up to deter and if necessary fight a war if it came. His mistake was an easy one to make…….. when you retreat……..When do you stand and fight back?

When you set a red line and someone crosses it with impunity ……..(Like Assad), does that make the world stronger or weaker?

History will decide.

I love Churchill and was glad he came along…He richly deserves his place in History (though Obama may disagree) but I think History has been a little harsh on Chamberlain and he is due a little more credit than he’s gotten.

As for wishes? Most of us wish for peace and love………But not everyone.

Paris was a wake up call…….My wish is that we don’t go back to sleep.

Annadog40 said

Annadog40 said
I wish I was omnipotent.

Still wishing.

 I can’t see you as anything but a cartoon John ( I hope that’s John) wishing to be omnipotent! (All in good fun of course)