Posted on 09/01/2009 4:56:09 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
ping to listen at home.
IIRC, in 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, Belgium and France, none of whom ever declared war on Germany. Only Britain did.
In 1919, the Versailles victors took note of Germany's culpability (or was it just stupidity?) and made them pay.
Well, the Germans might have been slow, but 20 years is a long time to mull things over, so beginning in 1939, Hitler declared war on nobody except, IIRC, the United States.
But didn't France and Britain both declare war in 1939 -- a "phony war" as it turned out, until Hitler got good and ready to punish them for it?
Not sure where you are going with that post. To continue with the juxtapositions, for Germany and the USA the declarations of war were reversed from 1917 to 1941.
My point was that the French had publicly and repeatedly declared their support of Poland. But on September 1, 1939, when Poland had clearly been massively attacked, what should have been an automatic declaration by the French government was instead a prevarication. You cannot be a “little bit at war” any more than you can be a “little bit pregnant.” Either you are at war or you are not. As will become quite evident, the French never really considered themselves to be at war with the Germans because from the outset they really didn’t want to be.
Wow... just... wow.
Took some doing, but found Buchanan's article.
In it he asks a lot of silly questions, which I'm certain many posters here could answer... ;-)
Certainly not to disagree with you. Just to point out that where Declarations of War had previously been considered diplomatic necessities, by 1939 it was apparently strictly optional, and often not so desireable, and sometimes didn't even mean real war -- as your example of the French demonstrates.
Even Roosevelt in 1941 did not ask for a straightforward "Declaration of War" on Japan, but instead the rather curious turn of phrase he asked for was: Congress to declare "that since the...attack... a state of war has existed."
I conclude, the declarations themselves, when they even happened were meaningless, and that may explain why we've seen none since?
OK, I get it now (you can visualize me smacking myself on the head).
Back in the day a “Declaration of War” had meaning. Up through the Napoleonic Wars it took months to get the armies in position to fight. Up to World War I, the doctrine of mobilization meant it would take weeks to get the armed forces ready to fight.
By the time of World War II, with modern transport and communications equipment, and the fact that so many countries were democracies with deliberative forms of government, the idea that you would “debate a declaration of war” just invited a quick attack on your forces before they were ready. The lesson of World War II, carried through the Cold War, was that you were always ready because in the era of ICBM’s equipped with thermonuclear weapons, war was going to come very quickly and without warning.
I guess the “Declaration of War” has become obsolete by the pace in which we now live. Any modern country that has to go through the motions of “Declaring War” doesn’t really have the stomach for one. France 1939 invented the axiom.
You got that! Just this morning I was watching the History channel about Hitler and Hitler with the Occult, it was chilling to see true comparisons with Obama and Hitler. I suppose there is so much talk about Hitler because of all the serious evil he brought to the world and everyone wants to use it to throw out against their enemy,but there really are things about Hitler and Obama that are similar. I am so excited to see the American people have found their voices. I am praying for more people to see the truth and light about Obama and especially those around him.
I put the nameplate into a box on the top lefthand side and I'd shrink a story like an entertainment story for the biggest part of the rightside.
I would still have news on the front page instead of just a large photograph. I could probably do it better if I took more time but this is basically what I'd do to the WashTimes.
BBC - Alvar Liddell Reports on Evacuation of Children
BBC - Alvar Liddell Reports on the Invasion of Poland
BBC - Ignace Paderewski Reports on the War Looming before Poland
BBC - S.J. deLotbini Reports on Evacuation of School Children
BBC - S.J. deLotbini encourages the children as they evacuate
CBS - Reports Adolf Hitler's Declaration of War with Poland
Herbert Hoover Speaks at the Onset of War
PPR - Radio Warsaw Reports on German Invasion
Polish Ambassador to U.S. on War with Germany
Singing of the Nazi National Anthem at the Speech
I'll post the U.K. Telegraph article as soon as I get home tonight. I'm out at a test facility and I cant seem to get that page to load for me to link it up.
Page 17 - "a German declaration of war against Poland probably will lead France and Great Britain to take new military measures"
Uh, if you call fortifying behind a World War I defense in a World War II world then yes, otherwise I think that reporter is going to be disappointed.
Page 11 - "Much was being made of alleged deficiencies in the German Army equipment and the the condition of German airplanes, which according to a source close to the government is far from what 'German propaganda' has represented."
There is a degree of truth to this point. Keep in mind that at this point the best tank in the German army is the Panzer IV and there are not that many of them. The bulk of armor is the Panzer II with a small 2 cm gun and the Panzer I which only had twin machine guns. But that was still more than enough for the Polish equipment and training.
Page 4 - "The new bridge joining the cities of Lunde and Sandoe across the River Aangermann, which has could have had the larges concrete span in the world, collapsed today, killing thirty-two workers who were completing the structure.
There, I fixed that.
In general I'm taken by how the newspaper articles seem to emit a "long war" mentality. This should not be surprising since they had no idea that within two weeks this will all be over (for the most part). But notice how there is talk of "skirmishes" and scattered artillery fire. The true scope of that fight and how efficient the German war machine is to be in this battle is about to be realized. I will be very interested as to the "flavor" of the reporting as this reality comes to light.
As we move forward here I will continue to post links to radio broadcasts from the Old Time Radio web site as well as headlines from the U.K. Telegraph from the time. I also will occasionally be giving analysis based on Frieser's "Blitzkrieg Legend" as well as Gurderian's "Auchtung Panzer" to give a better feel to the tactical aspects of these events.
For anyone who can read Polish, this is the September 1, 1939 edition of the “Kurier Warszawski”, the Warsaw newspaper.
http://www.rzeczpospolita.pl/pliki/var/kurier/kurier_warszawski.pdf
Blitzkrieg. The original shock and awe. We took the same concepts and principles and applied them to Airland Battle doctrine just in time for Desert Storm.
I am curious to see how the war reporting develops over time. I would expect a rapid divergence of reality and reporting and then a gradual return to accuracy as war correspondents learn the ropes. That is aside from government censorship, of course.
I also look forward to learning who those war correspondents are. I once saw a story written by Frank Kluckhohn in 1945 datelined Saipan. In 1938 he was writing from Mexico City. Next month he will be in Washington. He will be putting on boots and a steel hat to do his writing in a few years.
That gets me thinking in big picture terms. How would people in this country have reacted if they knew what it would take to get from 1939 to 1945 - from Poland to Saipan? Did they have any idea what these strange and scary reports from Poland portended? I have a page full of letters to the editor from the Sept. 10 issue to post. Maybe that will provide a hint.
May still be resting up from the plane ride. "21 Arriving on the American Clipper..." Probably a bit behind on the news after a record setting 29 hour and 53 minute transatlantic flight.
The thing that strikes me from reading the papers and listening to the old broadcasts, is how sad the state of journalism is today compared to back then.
Whoa, what a catch. Extra credit for PAR35!
Don’t recognized the CBS announcer. Maybe Robert Trout?
At least put up a link
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