tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993014.post7522961536599696315..comments2024-01-13T10:12:47.756+00:00Comments on Ranting Stan: Both necessary and honourableUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993014.post-11129132443602220882010-06-05T10:17:45.758+01:002010-06-05T10:17:45.758+01:00Yes, WW2 was a definite follow-on from WW1. That&...Yes, WW2 was a definite follow-on from WW1. That's why I wonder whether if Britain had just let the Germans and the French slug it out (as they did in the Franco-Prussian War), we might have avoided WW2.<br /><br />By the way, just read your latest retorts to Hitchens. I'll be interested to see if he decides to go another round when he comes back from his travels. Interesting stuff.Richard Matthewsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993014.post-90202190187011582592010-06-04T16:43:33.130+01:002010-06-04T16:43:33.130+01:00Hi Richard - I've been enjoying the debate too...Hi Richard - I've been enjoying the debate too!<br /><br />To be honest, I'm not so up on the First World War. Was it a mistake? Well, aren't all wars? Or, rather, aren't all wars the consequence of mistakes?<br /><br />My understanding of WW1 is that we did not go to war to defend France, but because Germany invaded Belgium - but we would probably have gone to war to defend France even if Germany hadn't violated Belgian neutrality.<br /><br />Whether it was avoidable or not I do not know. I think probably not as the plans to invade France had been around for a long time before 1914 - but it is certainly true (in my opinion) that WW2 was a "follow on" from WW1 (and that WW1 itself was a follow on from the Franco Prussian war of 1870).<br /><br />Even so, there were a number of points in time where we could have avoided WW2 - or certainly postponed it - but none of them were after September 1938 and the Munich agreement.Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15007863347348182876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993014.post-33916762179326809282010-06-04T14:31:40.498+01:002010-06-04T14:31:40.498+01:00Hi Stan
I'm rather enjoying reading the debat...Hi Stan<br /><br />I'm rather enjoying reading the debating match between Hitchens and you. I'd chime in myself but both of you seem to know your history far better than I do, so I'll keep out of it rather than being, inevitably, exposed as an amateur.<br /><br />What I'd be interested to know is whether you have a view on Britain's involvement in the First World War. After all, the Germans declared war on France and Britain stepped in on the side of the French. Might Britain's involvement in World War One have been the initial mistake that, in the long term, caused us to lose the Empire?<br /><br />Obviously, one can only speculate on what might have been had Britain stayed out of World War One - but we all know that Germany's dire economic situation post WW1 was instrumental in allowing Nazism to take root.Richard Matthewsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993014.post-57257042868684172752010-06-03T08:32:09.626+01:002010-06-03T08:32:09.626+01:00One of the things that annoyed me about the thread...One of the things that annoyed me about the thread on Peter Hitchens' site was the specualtion - if we hadn't done this then this might have happened - all of which is impossible to predict.<br /><br />However, I'm pretty sure that the war would have gone pretty much the way it did regardless of what we did. Hitchens - along with others - suggests we could have kept out of it or waited to join in at a time of our choosing, but that is a ridiculous assertion. Germany was the agressor - after the invasion of Poland our entry into the war was always going to be at a time of their choosing and would most likely have been in May 1940 when Germany invaded western Europe. As nothing much happened between the fall of Poland and May 1940 then it made no difference that we declared war in September 1939.<br /><br />We would never have been able to keep our Empire because the threat to that was from Japan - not Germany - and any guarantee Hitler might have given would have been worthless (as most of his guarantees were).Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15007863347348182876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34993014.post-8991200712507289442010-06-02T22:26:49.010+01:002010-06-02T22:26:49.010+01:00As I understand it RS Hitler was shocked that Brit...As I understand it RS Hitler was shocked that Britain declared war and had not counted on it. Some think that the Dunkirk evacuation was helped by Hitler hesitating not wanting to completely humiliate Britain as he thought he could negotiate a separate peace with Britain with a guarantee that Britain could keep its Empire. Still it is hard to know what to believe as there is no evidence one way or another.Antistheneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10120647617145756102noreply@blogger.com