What would have happened if the Axis actually won the world war, where they succeeded in defeating the Soviets through operation Barbarossa and then afterward moved on to force England to surrender? Obviously the way in which we will be learning history would be much different.There is so much we could discuss on how the world would be after a Nazi Victory but here i just want to address a few points on the way in which historical events and personalities are perceived. Would Hitler still be called an Evil Dictator? Will the Allied Forces still be hailed as those who fought for freedom and democracy? Would the holocaust remembered and commemorated?
I’ve heard a saying that the history is written by those who control the present, and if the Germans and their allies had actually won the war then the way in which we would be seeing the so called democratic and western powers would have been much different. For example how would they interpret the dropping of Nuclear Bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki? It would be depicted off as an example of American brutality and USA may very well be labeled equivalent to how Nazis are now. We now learn of internment camps such as Auswitch where millions of jews were killed, but speak rarely of how the American government rounded up Japanese Americans in internment camps seeing them as a collaborators with Japan. By all means we cannot compare this with what went through inside the hundreds of camps which the Nazis built to systematically eliminate the Jews but the point is that if the Axis won the war the way in which world history is interpreted would be much more different.
A Nazi Properganda Poster says in Ukrainian: “The oppressors ran away and they will not return!”. When Germans captured Ukraine those who suffered under Stalin welcomed the German occupation.
We speak much about the Nazi war crimes and how Soviets murdered in cold blood, but we rarely talk about the war crimes committed by the Allied forces. Most of those who were alleged of these were not tried or not punished the way in which they did for the Axis during the Nuremberg trials . If the Axis were in power it would obviously be vice versa.
The theory is simple; those who are in power control much of the past and future, and this is clearly seen in the aftermath of various conflicts across the globe. Its quite evident how different communities and countries perceived the Cold War, Vietnam War and even the war we fought here. It’s interesting how information can be controlled and perceptions are created, and ultimately the heroes and villains are defined at the end of each conflict. In my view the line between good and bad are very grey and it can also boil down to individual perceptions and understandings.
Just after Poland was invaded by Germany and Warsaw was just a blazing inferno, President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt who at that point declared that they would not want to enter into the war made an excellent statement about this..
"This nation will remain a neutral nation, but I cannot ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well. Even a neutral has a right to take account of facts. Even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or his conscience."
History is written by those who control the present - very true..
ReplyDeleteWho talks about the women and childern of Germany during red army invasions 1945?
Good post... but looking at what happened (The Nazi's lost but still managed to kill 6 million Jews) I guess there would've been much more of a bloodbath had the Nazis won. Their concept of a 'master race' was just plain evil...
ReplyDeleteOnce Germany had invaded France, it was really impossible for them to avoid war with the USA. The Tripartite Agreement brought the UK and France into the war on the side of Poland, but if Hitler had managed to negotiate a peace with the western Allies during the Phony War, it might have been avoided. Germany's invasion of Poland forced the UK and France to enter the war in accordance with the Tripartite Agreement with Poland. Hitler should have coerced Poland as he did Austria, and not invaded outright. With Poland as a vassal or ally, his invasion of the USSR would have been ignored by the western Allies. But with France occupied and the UK threatened, it was just a matter of time before the US entered the war.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's without even considering the Japanese factor.
However, it's still arguable whether Germany could have conquered the USSR alone. Germany lacked long-range bombers, and other strategic weapons which came into use only late in the war. Germany's offensive had stalled in the Russian winter long before the western Allies went on the offensive. It was the USSR that played the biggest part in breaking the Wehrmacht.
On the war crimes, you're right that there wasn't a big difference between Germany and the USSR, but both those countries were way ahead in the nasty stakes compared to the western Allies, and even Japan.
The biggest difference was motive. Most of the atrocities committed by the western Allies -- fire bombing of German and Japanese cities, and of course, the nuclear weapons use -- were byproducts of military strategy, and not based on ideals. Even Japan was merely brutal rather than calculated. However, Germany in particular -- but also the USSR -- exterminated whole populations just to be rid of them.
While it's true that the victors write history, the truth eventually comes out in time. The white Americans beat the Red Indians, but we now acknowledge the atrocities committed against those natives. Same goes for Australia. Rome conquered most of the known world, but history's view of them is fairly balanced. Just as the American mistreatment of their ethnic Japanese citizens is acknowledged, I think the crimes of the Allies too, have been acknowledged. It all depends which language you read your history in.
there's no good or bad... it's just the way we react according to the situation... isn't it???
ReplyDeleteYou have a soft spot for the Nazis, don't you? Bloody racists.
ReplyDeleteThe last stages of LTTE war that was fought and ended in May 2009, was a war without witnesses and now we have peace without witnesses. However, this is the 21 century and nothing can be kept in the dark forever. There are many thousands who went through the trauma and suffering first hand and witnessed it. They will speak out some day. The attrocities committed by the LTTE and SL forces would be made public. This may take time, may be decades but will be revealed. The days of history being written based on the fancies of those in power is gone.
ReplyDeleteOne more, if you read FDR biography, it was very clear he personally wanted USA to enter the war but bowed to the sentiments of the people pending the elections. Once he won the presidency, he took steps to move towards joining the allies. Pearl harbour was a blessing in disguise.
history repeats itself.
ReplyDeletejust too good to be true.
Things wouldn't have been much different for most people except of that we would be 30 years ahead in most fields of science. Don't forget that genocide and mass murder have been commited by almost every new empire, country or movement. Look at the Brits they killed more people than anyone, and the us, china, Russia. The ones that are tagged evil are the ones that lost war. And don't forget that Germany never even had a colony, their record is a load more clean than most other powers in the world.
ReplyDeleteThe victor writes history, as a history student i know not to believe anything you haven't witnessed yourself. And when you get most resistance you'll know you've got someting fishy. It's ridiculous that in europe people who doubt certain statistics of world war 2 get thrown in jail, while till the 80's school books told children in Auschwitz died 5 million people wich is now a million and a half. They found out that Soviets edited german lists to let the germans even look worse. Now i am no holocaust denier or something but it's strange that if i would say that stalin or mao did't kill as many people that no one would care and if i do the same about germany i end up in jail. This while the million and a half armenians killed by the turks don't even get recognized because politicians are afraid that turkey wont be happy about that. Hitler was no more evil or good than any other world leaders through history, he just got crazy after 1943. Oh and don't forget that half the world hated jews in world war ii, hitlers racial ideology mostly came form America and England and they never declared war on germany because of the cruelty, it's all about prestige, land and resources.
ReplyDeletei would have to agree war is not a pretty thought. Its an old mans idea, where the the young die for. a famous quote for this would be "when the rich rage war its the poor who die".
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