Book: when I read Churchill, Hitler, and "The Unnecessary War": How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World by Patrick J. Buchanan
What would your first impression be when you come across a book entitled "Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War: How Britain lost its Empire and the West lost the World"? Mine was pure astonishment.
I've been fascinated by WWII and all related aspects ever since I came across it as a part of my curriculum in X Grade. Over the years I've filled my mind with various perspectives, although most of them comprise the common, biased views of the victors of the greatest war of “our” time.
The Nazi State of Adolf Hitler was an abomination, born out of the First World War which was in its own way, “a war to end all wars” in that a war of an old world which was ruled and administered by Monarchs never again took place on this scale. This Nazi State embodied concepts, some of which befitted an old world state and others befitted barbarians, hence ending up, an abomination. Human rights, freedoms of various kinds, even the sanctity of human lives were utterly disregarded in a world, which post 1918, was rapidly evolving to embrace concepts of equality, humanity, peace, or so it was hoped.
The popular histories of both World Wars paint the Germans as the embodiment of evil and the British, Americans, French etc. as the warriors of all things good. The book, the subject of this blog, opened my eyes to many misconceptions I harboured. These misconceptions weren’t ill conceived, but were formed due to the biased writings of the victors, their accounts and their textual desecration of the vanquished, namely Germany.
At the risk of running the length of a thesis, I would highlight the following:
1. Hitler never wanted war with England.
2. Hitler never wanted war with Poland.
3. Hitler only wanted to take back fully, the possessions that Germany lost as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after WWI.
4. Hitler wanted to wage his war solely against the USSR.
5. The German economy rivaled that of Britain before WWI.
6. The German Kaiser did not want war.
7. Winston Churchill dragged Britain into WWI and WWII.
8. Hitler knowingly never built up a Navy to challenge Britain’s.
Many aspects of WWII which left me dumbstruck such as the British Expeditionary Forces’ escape at Dunkirk due to the sudden halt of the German assault have been explained as an intentional act. Hitler didn’t want to destroy the Forces. Hitler’s dream alliance was an Anglo-German one.
I do not, by any means, seek to justify Nazism and the evils that stemmed from it. The system and the horrors it inflicted can by no means be ignored and forgotten. This book essentially reveals how the Germany of pre 1914 was dragged down by the other powers and unjustly stripped of its power and assets after the war and the same led to a cataclysm 21 years later which would mark the end of an old world and usher in a New World, the American Century.
I highly recommend this book to history lovers and anyone who has read other accounts of the Wars and seeks to gain a new perspective. That’s all for now, till we meet again.
My first impression on seeing the above book would be...'quite interesting'.Hitler, I feel is an often misunderstood personality and after the devastating loss in World War I and the severe restrictions on Germany after that forced upon by the allies) made sure that a 'Hitler' was born. See, be it America vs Saddam, Sri Lanka vs LTTE the victor is always considered good, even though the victor may have also comitted several atrocities. But the fact of the matter is that modern day Germany chooses not to speak upon this topic and for good reason. Maybe Hitler didn't do all those things that you mentioned, but he committed several sins and broke Poland's peace treaty and he deserved to commit suicide when he came to know of the approaching allied forces.
ReplyDelete