Little did anyone reading these articles realize but Hitler had already set October 1 as the deadline for the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and he was not going to change it. He was a dictator whose iron will, once bent on this particular course, could not be swayed by any change of circumstances.
At the same time, it was all a colossal military bluff. His army was not ready to fight. The Czechs were actually superior in some aspects, although they were numerically inferior. It’s worth noting that after the fall of Czechoslovakia, Hitler was able to outfit several panzer divisions with Czech T-38 tanks. Those tanks saw action all the way to Stalingrad (although by that time they were obsolete, and had been pawned off to the Romanian armored division, where they went to their “death ride” in Operation Uranus).
Contrast Hitler’s iron will with the vacillation of the western powers. “Peace missions” from the British abound. French troops watch movies in their air conditioned concrete wall wide open at one one end. Cartoons featuring dead ghosts of all parties from World War I. Nope, no conflict up there in heaven! How foolish; they assumed Hitler wanted peace too. To quote Sir John Fisher, all nations want peace. They merely want a peace that suits them.
Nothing changes with mankind. Today, we have Achmedinijad’s iron will to develop nuclear weapons. We have Vladimir Putin’s iron will to reforge the Russian Empire and dominate western Europe through control of their energy resources. We have a weak and vacillating Barack Obama all set to appease them at every turn.
The result of this brew in 1938 was the costliest and most destructive war in the history of mankind. It began with cavalry charges and ended with the use of atom bombs. What fate awaits us at the beginning of the new century?
The result of this brew in 1938 was the costliest and most destructive war in the history of mankind. It began with cavalry charges and ended with the use of atom bombs. What fate awaits us at the beginning of the new century?
Well said. I am more optimistic now than I have been since Fred Thompson faded during the primaries. I believe John McCain understand the down side to kissing your enemy's posterior instead of kicking it.
And congratulations to meandog, member since 9/4/98. Ten years of standing up for America on-line.
First, excellent post, well said.
Now, on your point above, I tried to suggest the same thing in a previous post, because I'm sure I've read it somewhere, some-when, can't find it now...
But I was disputed, and didn't have facts to support my suggestion. If you know where that claim comes from, I'd be interested.
The reason is, it suggests that Chamberlain's grovelling at Munich in 1938 may not have been strictly militarily necessary.