Monday 5 November 2018

Think Mrs May how Hitler came to power post 1918

I write as my wife goes off on a trip round WWI battlefields. For why I do not know. It was an avoidable  war our military political elite got us into. Ask how many politicians or Generals lost their lives in that conflict? Precious few compared to the million plus dead British squaddies and junior officers..

There was never a peace treaty signed. The German army was not a defeated force. The ordinary German soldiers felt they had been betrayed by their political and military leadership. Sound familiar? It does to me.

Post 1918 a German leader arose and harnessed the feelings of betrayal of the ordinary German people. He was helped by a French political desire to punish the evil Germans.. If you  replace the word Germans by Brits 2018 feels like a rerun of  1918.

An out of touch bullying Franco Prussian political class is not new. Hollywood made a great film about it in 1957, Paths of Glory,The story is summarised below

During World War I, commanding officer General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) orders his subordinate, General Mireau (George Macready), to attack a German trench position, offering a promotion as an incentive. Though the mission is foolhardy to the point of suicide, Mireau commands his own subordinate, Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas), to plan the attack. When it ends in disaster, General Mireau demands the court-martial of three random soldiers in order to save face.

It was a great anti war film and so critical  of the French military  elite it was banned from being shown in France for 25 years.The French have not changed as Barnier displays today..

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8 comments:

L fairfax said...

Actually as a percentage the upper class lost more in WWI

"Although the vast majority of casualties came from the working classes, the war took a heavy toll on the British establishment. Around 12 per cent of the British army’s ordinary soldiers were killed during the war, compared with 17 per cent of its officers. Eton alone lost more than 1,000 former pupils and Herbert Asquith, Britain’s Prime Minister at the start of the war, lost a son, while the country’s future leader Andrew Bonar Law had two sons killed. It is interesting to note that four men who went on to become Britain’s Prime Minister saw active service during the war: Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan. For Eden victory came at a particularly high price, for he lost two brothers while another was seriously injured.

Read more at: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/our-yorkshire/heritage/world-war-one/homefront/the-politicians-who-went-to-fight-during-the-first-world-war-1-7060512"

WWI was an awful war, the only good thing was that the class responsible suffered more than those who were not responsible. (The idea that current politicians would suffer like that is laughable).

Eric Edmond said...

I counted the names on the war memorial at my old school last founders day. I gave up at 1200.

Every family in the country must have lost some sons in that pointless war. The political elite class however are still ruling us and there is a never ending supply of Royals

The day there war broke out the entire Hearts football team volunteered as Paxman pointed out in his recent documentary another thing that would never happen today. Patriotism is not confined to Old Etonians although they do seem to get more of their fair share of the gongs

Niall Warry said...

I agree with L fairfax and I'm afraid your class prejudice makes your reasoning unbalanced and kept alive by confirmation bias.

It 1914 was a different era but one should still not forget that nobody made young men under 19 sign up which apparently about 250,000 did with the youngest who fought being only 12 in the battle of the Somme.

If the soldiers thought their officers were all useless I doubt that order could have been maintained and the statistics are very clear:-

"The casualty rates among the junior officers were horrific. The title of John Lewis-Stempel’s book Six Weeks: The Short and Gallant Life of the British Officer in the First World War, perfectly describes the fate of most; the life expectancy of a lieutenant in the Western Front was just 42 days."

As to General 200 were killed, wounded or captured and their tactics, based on trench warefare, was current thinking and of course practiced by BOTH sides. Finally it should be pointed out that a senior officers place in battle is NOT to lead the charge, like Colonel H in the Falklands, but to stay above the fray and plan the battle.

Eric Edmond said...

Oh dear more ad hominen attacks from the Major

Niall Warry said...

Where is my 'attack' exactly apart from saying your views are biased??

Come on Eric you dish out the criticisms to me and now accuse me of ad hominen attacks ???

Pot and kettle me thinks ;-)

Eric Edmond said...

I am going round the big ball for the next 3 + months approx so I won't be in the UK annoying you Major

Anonymous said...

Another historical example of broken promises.
Radio 4 11pm 5 Nov (28mins)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000111w
Promises, Promises
When Greeks Flew Kites
As Brexit negotiations approach crunch point, Sarah Dunant examines the history of promises made between rulers and their people, and the bitter consequences when they are broken.

Niall Warry said...

Eric, 'Bon voyage' and I hope you come back refreshed and take the opportunity to reflect on the realistic options to maintaining frictionless trade with our 27 EU neighbours worth £270 billion to our economy each year. ;-)