Zee view from Berlin: circa 1940

I have mentioned before that I am reading Volker Ullrich's biography of Adolph Hitler and it is fascinating, not least for the chance to view WWII from a totally opposite direction.  Through my increasingly long life I have read an enormous number of books on WWII but, in confirmation of the  truism that it is the victor who gets to write the history, they have all been from our side.  Of course, the best of them seek to explain what was going on 'over there' as 'we' fought our war but when the central character of the history is actually Adolph Hitler then the view changes.

It also makes me ponder on the choices Hitler and his Generals had before them at different times - not that the Generals had much say in the decisions!  Yes, Hitler was 'bonkers' but it is amazing how many of the German leadership, military as well as civilian, went along with his lunacy.  Needless to say, the more incredibly successful he was in the early stages, the more any criticism was silenced.  Also, it is fascinating to view Europe as seen from Berlin!  There was a sort of logic to Hitler's plans and the fact that he was just intelligent enough to take one bite at a time hid the fact that his over-all ambition to swallow the whole of Europe was quite mad.  That idea alone demonstrated his lunacy but as 'success' built on 'success', first with Czechoslovakia, then Poland, then France, then Scandinavia, virtually none of the so-called German 'intelligentsia, let alone the people, ever had the courage to shout "HALT!"

I will add one last thought which is the way this Germanic view of history emphasises how absolutely and totally critical it was to the entire continent, or even the world, for us Brits to stand firm and defiant.  Of course, all of us have long admired the courage of those Battle of Britain fighter pilots, and the numerous 'brainiacs' who invented and built the radar network but this book makes it startling clear how absolutely crucial they were.

 

 

 

Comments

[Whitewall]

According to some of the reviews, near the end, Hitler wanted to punish the German people for "their shortcomings" and not his. Today it seems like Frau Merkel has a bit of that mentality with her open door attitude to the virus that is Islam. Must be a German thing.

[Whitewall]

Kinda lonely here so far...

[Mary]

My husband's father was an RAF man stationed in Malta fixing the aircraft. He was a fixer. The way it worked was if it was fixed, and you had fixed it you had to be confident enough to fly the thing. He took the aircraft back up.

And my old dad, a medic, one of the last to leave the beach in Dunkirk a fact that we've only recently become aware of..such was his reticence to say anything

You Brits did stand firm with a little bit of help from my Irish father, my very English Jewish father in law (even though we didn't know) and my English mother who used to patrol the streets and urge people to close their curtains and stay calm.

[Loz]

I know what you mean, Mary, the country-bumpkins have a habit of getting others to do all the dirty work for them and then whinge about it. Look at the 3.5m ex-Ost Bloc-ers picking fruit and wiping bums for example.

I'm a quarter English, Irish, Scots and Canadian.

As you can infer, the Gaffer's half Scots and half Canadian - about as English as a croissant.

Funny how the mongrels think they're thoroughbred and despise yet more mongrelization of the nation. I mean look at the Yanks for example.

"Mongrelization of the nation", now there's a phrase for a Sunday morning.

I'm going to roll over in bed now and tweak Fluffbun's toosh and say, "Shall we play mongrelization of the nation?" right now as you're reading this.

SoD

[Loz]

Back again, that went well - not.

Whiters, I'm working with a pair of Muzzies at the moment and a softer more gentlemanly pair you couldn't imagine.

Any power that an individual hands themselves over to is capable of atrocities in direct proportion to the power it receives. 1/3 of peeps died in the Christian Wars or Religion and follow-on 30 Years War. Or was it a 1/3 in each? Can't remember how far the "share the Love" of Jesus Christ went off the top of my head.

Best not to hand over one's self over to power, I guess?

SoD

[JK]

"Can't remember how far the "share the Love" of Jesus Christ went off the top of my head."

Not familiar with the phrase, 'Praise God and pass the ammunition' SoD?

And, just my general opinion but it seems to me from my reading of History, however many of the *religious wars got the names quite a number of 'em (whichever the specific religion) more frequently than not mostly had to do with conquest than saving souls.

[Loz]

Ayyyyee, spoken like a Muzzie JK!

"Alhamd lilah watamaru aldhakhira"

What goes around comes around.

SoD

[JK]

Andra?

https://itaintholywater.blogspot.com/2020/03/aussie-meltdown.html

[Andra]

Wasn't me!

[GWC]

Whitewall, the difference between Islam and a virus is our leaders invite Islam.

[Mary]

SoD, I'm shocked. Not.

We've become complacent and over-protective of our off-spring. My daughter is 27 now but I still think of her as a vulnerable being who needs my support and protection. (Mind you, she still can't buy a drink without ID). My mother was sixteen years old when she started to patrol the streets, knock on doors, and tell people that there was a crack of light visible underneath their blackout curtains.

Ethnicity is a bugbear. Ironically it's more of a problem for those who can't be distinguished on sight. An African person cannot pretend to be English. There is a sizeable cohort of people in England who are ethnically (probably an oversimplification) Jewish, who have quietly inhabited England for a couple of generations and become assimilated. No holocaust trauma. Unfortunately, ancestry.com revealed the lie.
My MIL knew full well that she and her husband were Jewish but she covered it up. At some level I also knew, probably because I have eyes. Funnily enough, they were the most opposed to any Irish genes contaminating their gene pool. Until they met my Dad and then relented. But by then it was too late for me.

[Whitewall]

GWC, the link among leaders, viruses and Islam can be summed up in this piece: https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/03/merkels-left-wing-coalition-partner-calls-for-pact-for-humanity-as-migrants-amass-at-eu-borders/

Nihilism is rampant in Leftism and it will eat Germany alive.

[Pat]

Isnt it strange that remainers think it's all about blood and soil, when the people leading leave have backgrounds refuting that. Leavers voted for a man born in New York and with both Swiss and Turkish antecedents. They are quite happy to have a Foreign Secretary with a Czech father, a Home Secretary with Gujarati parents (and a woman to boot) together with a Chancellor of Indian parentage. They weren't all that unhappy about a Chancellor of Pakistani extraction either.
Which brings me to a further point. The behaviour of educated Muslims, such as Javed and Khan and I presume SOD's workmates is very different from that of illiterate Muslims. We judge people by their behaviour not their label.

[Loz]

Ayyyyeee, Pat: "Viva Mongrelization of the Nation!"

By George and all the Saints, a Libertarian revolution on D&N!

"If I can make it there I can make it anywhere!" as the old song goes!

SoD

[Glesga]

Loz, I doubt you would have time to comment if you had to pray five times each day. You would probably lose your shoes often.

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