Lets go back to WWI, 1918. German troops are, on the western front, in france, belgium and on the eastern front, the German trenches and won territory stretches from Estonia to Kiev -- including all of Poland, Belarus, the Baltic states and western Ukraine.
Germany has been continuously fighting OUTSIDE it's borders. War has not hit the German heartland.
If you are living in Germany at that time, it seems like you are winning as life is normal. You hear of the battles on the front, but all the killing etc is far from home
however the Prussian high command realised they had lost and wisely decided to surrender (Armistice which we celebrated 4 days ago) while Germany is unaffected.
But the common people don't understand that if the army had not surrendered on 11 Nov 1918, the war would have dragged on to 1919 with Germany's definite defeat.
so started the myth of the "stab in the back" -- for an ordinary German, that's the only explanation for why Germany should surrender when German troops are occupying neighboring territory
the national sozialists etc. used this populist reasoning to win support
Germany in WWII needed to FEEL the pain of war and Dresden was the start of this.
The Germans suffered some pain, but they didn't suffer the hell that they put the blood lands (erstwhile Polish-lithuanian commonwealth) through.
And now German is militantly pacifist and its soldiers actually have to swear an oath to follow their conscience before commands.
Germany of 1944 needed Dresden as a wake up call. And that made the Germans of today different from the Germans of '44 -- utterly different
hence we cannot blame modern day Germans for the sins of the past
I appreciate your writing that. It is a very good input into the Dresden Raid. I totally understand what you are saying. Yes the Germans did not know what total war was until the bombs started teaching them what they had wrought on themselves. Thanks again.
I appreciate your writing that. It is a very good input into the Dresden Raid. I totally understand what you are saying. Yes the Germans did not know what total war was until the bombs started teaching them what they had wrought on themselves. Thanks again.