To get a handle on WW2 I think some knowledge of WW1 is necessary. I know almost nothing about WW1. Ken Burns, are you listening? In my rah rah enthusiasm for accounts of WW2, some of which I actually remember; for example I remember my father telling me what Russia "sitting on the fence" [1939] meant; he told me his version of Hitler flirting with Russia in an attempt to prevent them from interferring with Germany's expansion plans, I forget that young people today would just as soon forget all about the embarrassing mess the whole thing turned out to be; embarrassing because of all the death and destruction.
After WW1 Germany almost starved to death. It was that starvation and humiliation, brought on by Allied reparation demands, which brought on, or helped bring on, the incomprehensible enthroning, exhaltation, of the cunning little rat, Hitler. What fun the dopey corporal had stamping his feet. It isn't just a joke, he practiced his act in front of a mirror.
My prejudice and contempt is so conditioned by having been alive all through WW2 I could never in a million years agree to drive a BMW. Ha ha ha ha ha. Toyota is the most popular automobile in California, but not with me! Mazda I've forgiven, ha!
It's stunning and sobering to realize what a dwindling minority one joins in old age. One has to steel oneself because young people know EVERYTHING! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha......
[TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH is the name of the Daryl Zanuch movie, released in 1949, which deals with training American bomber crews to be totally reckless with their lives: To the point of brain washing IMO.]
...to be continued.....
Barry
1 comment:
I think that you are correct in your analysis that to understand WWII, it is necessary to understand WWI. Certainly, the sound defeat suffered by Germany in WWI and the subsequent years of deprivation, fed the climate that nurtured the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. Maybe we learned something. The US was muich kinder to Japan after WWII. Of course, maybe it was just guilt after dropping bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima and killing all those civilians. I've only watched two episodes of Burns' documentary but it has been quite enthralling thus far. Twelve O'Clock High is one of my favorite war movies, perhaps because I also perceive it as an anti-war film.--Sheria
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