大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War website by the Stoke CSV Action Desk on behalf of John Pound and has been added to the site with his permission. THe aithor fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

During this time a ferment of change was sweeping the globe. The stuffy old Victorian world that we had known in England was thrust aside by the amazing picture that science waas revealing. Anything was being shown to be possible to contemplate.
Invention after mechanical invention poured from factories. Nothing stayed the same; any new way was called an improvement on the old.
What? In society have each going their own way regardless of what others thought? How ridiculous! Surely it was obvious that if the best way was found it would be clean and efficient for eveyone to follow? All would benefit!
And in that sea of uncertainty there was no shortage of Hard Men to stand up and shout that they would give peace and order in place of dispute. And Hard Leaders always have Hard Followers to help impose 'order.'
In Italy, it was the self named Fascist Party with Mussolini at it's head. They ensured that opponents kept quiet by pouring castor oil down their throats.
The Nazi's in Germany and in Britain Oswald Moseley's Blackshirts had their ways with clubs. In Spain, Franco appeared as Dictator and in Japan, although the Emperor remanied as a sacred figure, totalitarian rule was established.
Only in Britain and America we stubborn steady headed Anglo Saxon peoples kept our heads and refused to let ourselves and our opinions be drowned by the shouting.
And how quaint that in the end all that unity in other countries, that efficient, central direction under rational National Leaders should crumble when it threw intself against us...
The end of that dreadful period is what we celebrate today, the end of foul experiment and obscene force masquerading as efficent government, at least in Europe.
Looking back how fortunate we have been and what horror our children escaped. good reason indeed to fill our churches and give thanks. For it was not our brilliance which saved us, it was our stubborn, half asleep, half aware instinctive nature of decency.
Economic conditions imposed were even more destructive-galloping inflation reached the point that wretched German's drawing money from the bank for living expenses were said to be carrying Marks away in wheelbarrows.
The French Statesman Clemenseau spoke truly when at the signing he muttered, "I seem to hear the sound of children crying."
In that misery and chaos a man of power was bound to arise and hard men were bound to attach themselves to him. One did - the son of a house painter called Herr Schicklegrubber, one Adolf, who renamed himself Hitler.
The German peoples watched the Nazi Party invent itself as a supreme power and dictatorship in the country and they cheered until the echoes were heard with alarm by Germany's neighbours.
Hitler's first act of defiance was to march into the Rhineland and dare the Allies to respond. They did not, in fact one doubts if they could have could have against the new sprung Nazi Army.
Germay was one of the vast arms factory turning out planes, battleships and submarines (the deadly U-boats) and designing the feared Tiger Tanks.
His next act was to invade the northern part of the newly created Czechosovakia, the Sudetenland, because lots of Germans lived there. The Allies protested again half heartedly.
When Hitler proclaimed that, "I have no more territorial ambitions in Europe," how many tried to believe him? When our Prime Minister came back from Munich to wave a piece of paper and call out, "This is peace in out time," we all cheered him, but did we really believe it?
Britain began rearming just in time to send troops when Hitler sent his forces into Poland and then the cockpit of Europe, Belgium.
The Great World War, 1914 to 1946 had resumed. Since that time we have had sixty years of peace; sixty years in which no nation invaded another in Europe.It had cost twenty million dead, but we had at least learnt our lesson. Our young could have been caught up in two great wars in that time! We elders shudder at the thought and mutter thanks to Heaven. But, one must wonder, have our young studied history sufficiently to avoid the old ways?
Perhaps when they look abroad and see the small, distant countries behaving as Europe used to behave, invading and looting their neighbours, starving those at home who disagree with them, they will take the point.
And our new generation of leaders in Europe; are they all so well indoctrinated? The great De Gaulle, who inspired and led the Free French during the German Occupation, he always resented the fact that it was the 'Anglo Saxons' who handed France back to him.
Afterwards, he tried to keep Britain out of the European Economic Community and spoke of France's destiny of regaining "le glorie." And even now when Britain, Germany and France are in conference, we see France quietly nudging Germany into agreements which favour them to Britain's detriment.

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