Posted on 09/18/2002 1:39:55 AM PDT by philetus
Recent strident demands by German politicians for Germany to take over parts of the Czeck Republic and Poland should have Anglo-America and the whole of Western Europe up in arms. Instead, this specter of Nazi history hardly rates a mention in the world press. WHY?
In his first broadcast to the British people after becoming their prime minister, Winston Churchill, surveying the Nazi onslaught, rallied his nation to begin the task of rescuing " a group of shattered states and bludgeoned races: the Czecks, the Poles, the Norwegians, the Danes, the Dutch, the Belgians--upon all of whom the long night of barbarism will desend, unbroken even by a star of hope, unless we conquer, as conquer we must, as conquer we shall" (quoted by Martin Gilbert, Desent into Barbarism). Strong words--fighting words! The words of the political leader of the century--a defiant responce to the onslaught of Hitler and his Nazi cohorts as the German army cut a bloody swath across Europe.
Expulsion the penalty of war
As we know, the allies turned the tideof war and, within five years of the shattering of those European nations by Hitler's regime, gained the victory. In the insueing peace, Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia and Poland, both as a penalty for the Nazis' crimes and as surety that they would never be"shattered" nor "bludgeoned" again by their German neighbor. At the time this seemed more than reasonable, given that one of Hitler's staff officers, Col. Eduard Wagner, had penned in his diary following a meeting with with Hitler, " It is the Fuhrer's and Goering's intention to destroy and exterminate the Polish nation" (ibid.). Yet, a little over six decadesfrom the Nazi blitzkrieg of Europe, do we remember how it all started? It started with Hitler's seizure of the Sudetenland and Poland!
The Sudetenland is a region within Czechoslovakia which had a majority German- speaking population up to the time of their expulsion by the Czechs following Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II. In Poland, during the war, "It was intended by the masters in Berlin that within a decade, vast regions hitherto with Polish majorities would become 'pure and Germanic provinces'"(ibid.). But, as was the case with Czechoslovakia, the peace concluded by the allies via the Potsdam conference in July-August 1945 specifically demanded the removal of Germans from Polish territory. At the time, the division of territory by the victorious allies and the expulsion of German people from Czech and Polish territory was a deliberate strategy to protect Europe from ever again suffering from domination by Germany.
But that is not how certain German leaders view the situation in the 21st century. Witness the strident words of Edmund Stoiber, opposition candidate for the German chancellorship: "If, in the year 2002, anyone defends acts of expulsion and denial of rights which happened over 57 years ago, then they must be preparedfor all Europeans to question whether they are ready to be part of Europe"(Deutsche Welle, May21). Sound good? Well, that may be until you realize about whom Stoiber was speaking. It all hearkens back to a resolution passed by the German parliament in the run-up to the federal elections of 1998. "The joint Czech-German Declaration, signed in Jan. 1997, promised that the two countries'will not burdon their relations with political and legal questions arising from the past.' On May 29, an election-conscious German federal parliament, the Bundestag, put the past back on the front burner by approving a resolution that calls on prospective members of the Eurorean Union to recognize the right of Germans expelled after World War II to settle freely in their former homelands" (Prague Post, June 3,1998. This resolution was passed in flagrant defiance of the 1997 joint Czech-German Declaration, because it unquestionably burdoned the two countries' relations with "political and legal questions arising from the past"! Why deliberately drag up the past in a seemingly glaring reflection of Hitler's old dictum that such written agreements are " just made to be broken"? Very simply, the Germans' historic lust for an eastward land grab can no longer be contained. Just 12 years on from the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, the territorial advancement of Germany, under the guise of their European Union membership, is quite startling. Already having overseen the beating of the Balkans into submission toEU rule by the old policy of devide and conquer, Germany, feeling its newly regenerated oats, is straightforward about its claim to the territory itpreviously occupied under Nazi rule. The point is, the territory in question was deliberately placed out of Germany's orbit as part of the peace negotiations ostensibly designed, in the allies' terms, to prevent the German nation from ever again posing a threat to Europe and the world. Human beings have short memories. In this dumbed down, anti-history, politically correct 21st century, it seems our collective memory is very short indeed.
I believe it is startling and should give us all pause. Germany is the powerhouse nation in Eurpoe. We certainly need to be aware of and concerned with historical precedent.
I would stop short of calling it a "Hitler" type situation at this point at all beacuse quite frankly I see no leader like Hitler there for the time being. This does not preclude that possibility. Many biblical scholars in fact believe it is inevitable in Europe at some point.
Religious considerations aside, if a charismatic leader came to power and took the reins of the EU and brought the differing factions together ... (very difficult) ... it would be something to watch very closely. Perhaps these moves are the run up to some such occurance.
My read is, that when it comes at some point in the future in Europe, unlike WW II, most of Europe will welcome it and clamor for it.
Just my opinion.
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