Seattle Times Editor: 'Hitler's Demands Were Not Unreasonable'

[jmshepard]

Seattle Times editorial writer Bruce Ramsey, in an effort to defend Barack Obama against President Bush’s “appeasement” speech, actually ends up defending Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, and the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria): Bush, and His Use of ‘Appeasement’.

"Democrats are rebuking President Bush for saying in his speech to the Knesset, here, that to “negotiate with terrorists and radicals” is “appeasement.” The Democrats took it as a slap at Barack Obama. What bothers me is the continual reference to Hitler and his National Socialists, particularly the British and French accommodation at the Munich Conference of 1938.

What Hitler was demanding was not unreasonable. He wanted the German-speaking areas of Europe under German authority. He had just annexed Austria, which was German-speaking, without bloodshed. There were two more small pieces of Germanic territory: the free city of Danzig and the Sudetenland, a border area of what is now the Czech Republic.

We live in an era when you do not change national borders for these sorts of reasons. But in 1938 it was different. Germany’s eastern and western borders had been redrawn 19 years before—and not to its benefit. In the democracies there was some sense of guilt with how Germany had been treated after World War I. Certainly there was a memory of the “Great War.” In 2008, we have entirely forgotten World War I, and how utterly unlike any conception of “The Good War” it was. When the British let Hitler have a slice of Czechoslovakia, they were following their historical wisdom: avoid war. War produces results far more horrible than you expected. War is a bad investment. It is not glorious. Don’t give anyone an excuse to start one."]

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/edcetera/2008/05/bush_and_his_use_of_appeasemen.html#more

Okay, I'm glad this has been made clear for me.

[The Gaijin]

#1 it was unreasonable as it was the beginning of the larger plan that had been clearly laid out. It was nothing but an excuse.

#2 However unjust the peace was to that terrible war - borderlands had gone back and forth between nation state form all of European history. If a generation or two had gone by - maybe the sorting out of countries in Europe by lingustic or cultural groups would have happened by more peaceful means..

#3 if this was an excuse and a reason to start a nationalistic war - the odds of failure were too great. Many German speaking communites in central Europe and eastern Europe were destroyed during and after the ensuing warfare and settlement.

[jmshepard]

Israel should keep the land that they annexed. Borderlands had gone back and forth between nation states for all of Middle Eastern history.

[pwd72s]

You need to understand the leftist fascism of the Pacific NW...this editorial, tho I didn't read it all, merely reflects the political power structure in these parts. To the lefty fascist, individual rights should not exist...

Also, I didn't know that the French spoke German...must be why ol' Adolf took over there as well?

[boba]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Also, I didn't know that the French spoke German...must be why ol' Adolf took over there as well?

They had better wine and art.