Posted: Jun 02, 2016 12:18 am
Galactor wrote:jamest wrote:With hindsight one can say that acting against Germany in [say] 1936 would have been the correct course of action, but notwithstanding the fact that they didn't know the extent of Hitler's plans back then it is still utter folly to call the British & French spineless after the nightmarish horrors and losses both had endured during WW1 just two decades earlier. Indeed, once they had become fully aware of the extent of Hitler's plans, both threw themselves into the fray once more. Calling Britain and France spineless is utterly unwarranted.
You are making the same mistake as Spearthrower. Acting against the Germans in March 1936 was NOT the same as another full-scale war. The allies knew the strength of the Germans and they would have routed them. Yes, the previous war was horrific and if they had had any spine, they would have quelled any chance of it re-curing by standing up to Hitler instead of appeasing him.
And they would have had good legal cause to dismantle the German army and impose fresh sanctions and occupation if that was deemed necessary.
Instead, they gave the Germans three more years to re-arm and implied that they were unwilling to stand up to any threats.
It is NOT unwarranted to argue that the allies lacked spine at this crucial juncture in history.
I'm not questioning the [with hindsight] judgement that Britain & France probably should have acted quicker against Germany (even though beating Germany in 1936 would NOT have been a "rout"), but the fact that you've called these people "spineless" for not doing so. These people lived through The Somme & Verdun, etc., and/or had lost husbands/brothers/sons/friends. So what I'm really questioning is your inability to connect emotionally with people who lived through these worst of times. I myself have nothing but the utmost respect for these people, unlike yourself, sitting in your comfortable armchair condemning them for being hesitant and unsure less than two decades after those horrors which they had to endure, also deprived of the gift of hindsight. You really need to have a word with yourself, because without a doubt almost all of them exhibited their spine more so than you've ever had the need to do so. You really need to have a deep think about the shit that you are posting. An apology - to them - is utterly necessary. They made an error in judgement, probably, but these people were not spineless. The fact that they declared war on Germany just a few years later, when Germany was strong, bears testimony to this fact. So please, retract the offensive nonsense from your commentary. It's bollocks and if you can't see that then you should abstain from historical commentary altogether.