At the conclusion of the First World War, nations gathered together and vowed "never again."At the conclusion of the Second World War, nations gathered together and vowed "never again."
They failed the first time. Now, I am afraid to say, we're fast approaching the moment when the second declaration will finally topple.
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Some History
The tyrannies that took part in the two World Wars now lie on the ash heap of history alongside the Soviet Union and every tyranny that ignored the rights and consent of the governed.
World War II largely took place because of mistakes made at the conclusion of the first Great War. Rather than rebuilding the failed German government, the victors demanded reparations that Germany could never pay. As a result, German land was reapportioned - an action that made it easy for voices of German nationalism to inspire patriotic duty and rage in the German people.
In the 20s, Adolf Hitler was only small potatoes - a fringe radical ignored by German politicians. Throughout the decade, he used his gifts of persuasion to build a following and used his gifts of ruthless and brutal oratory to destroy his enemies politically. By the end of the decade, his party had become a tool for his own ambition. Those who opposed him were subject to levels of violence that silenced all voice of reason.
In 1933, Paul von Hindenburg, the German President, appointed Hitler as chancellor. Once in power, Hitler dissolved the Reichstag government and named himself dictator. Democracy was killed.
Throughout the 30s, Hitler embarked on a campaign of fear-mongering the European community. In 1936, German troops moved into a demilitarized zone along the French border - the Rhineland. In typical fashion, the French barely blinked an eye. Hitler used this experience to build his confidence in the inability of the European community to take up arms in defense.
In 1938, Austria fell willingly into his claws. It was then that he announced his intent to reannex a section of Czechoslovakia - the Sudetenland. It was at this moment that the European community finally voiced outrage. A conference in Munich was called. The infamous Prime Minister of Britain, Neville Chamberlain, returned triumphantly home with the documents of promise that if Europe allowed the Sudetenland to fall into Hitler's grasp, there would be no further territorial demand.
But, as history shows that was not the end. In 1939, Hitler signed a nonaggression pact with the USSR. When the two nations moved into Poland, the rest of Europe was, once again, outraged. Britain and France finally made the decision to declare war on Germany.
The rest of the story is well known - Germany moves over the Maginot Line into France and takes hold of Paris; England is bombarded by fire bombing missions; North Africa falls into German hands; Holland and Belgium, despite being neutral, are brutally invaded.
Throughout his political career, Hitler had sought to inspire German nationalism by instilling the belief that the Aryan race was ethnically superior to all others. As a result, from the beginning, he had ordered the forced relocation of Jews to massive labor and death camps. Few were allowed to leave. The German people, in spite of their conscience, never lifted a finger to voice objections.
America, at this time, engaged itself in a partial-alliance with Great Britain. However, on December 7, 1941, the United States entered the war and officially joined the Allied powers.
Japan, prior to the war, was coming out of a time of massive economic turmoil which began in 1923. The Great Depression's worldwide effect worsened the conditions. The condition of the times made it simple for military rulers to take hold of the government.
In an attempt to flex their new military muscles, Japan took over a large section of the coast of China. In the midst of this, atrocities like the Rape of Nanking were commonplace. This "Second Sino-Japanese War" lasted, on and off, until 1945.
In 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam) upon agreement with the French Vichy government, and joined the Axis powers of Germany and Italy. These actions intensified Japan's conflict with the United States and Great Britain, who reacted with an oil boycott. The resulting oil shortage and failures to solve the conflict diplomatically made Japan decide to capture the oil rich Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and to start a war with the US and Great Britain.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor led to the United States' official declaration of war on Japan.
In July 1945, the United States succeeded in testing the first Atomic Bomb in the New Mexico desert. That moment was the official beginning of the Atomic Age. After issuing an ultimatum on Japan, the US dropped two bombs onto Japanese cities - coercing the Japanese into surrender.
In an attempt to avoid the mistakes made by the League of Nations and the Treaty of Versailles, the Allied Powers sought to rebuild Germany and Japan economically and influence the politics of those two nations in order to keep them from becoming belligerent again. This time, they succeeded.
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Today
Today, we are encountering similar situations;
1) The world is in the midst of an economic crisis.
2) A despot, racist ruler in Iran is seeking to destroy the credibility of democratic elections.
3) A crazy, unbalanced tyrant in North Korea is building up his military might using nukes.
These three claims are not far fetched or stretched to fit the mold I have created for them. For over a year now, the United States and the rest of the developed world has entered a recession of proportions rivaling the 1970s stagflation period. Economic turmoil eventually leads to political turmoil. People become frightened and will latch on to whoever will promise them stability and security - they become willing to give up freedom.
Meanwhile, previously marginalized nations will use the times to engage in saber-rattling campaigns. The problem with many of these nations is that they don't tend to bluff.
The first of the two nations that have the most capacity to wreak havoc this time around is Iran, led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Their current president has, on the record, advocated the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people. He has also made the infamous comment that "there are no homosexuals in Iran." Much like Hitler, his disdain for those who are different, ethnically, sexually, or religiously, is so deep that he'd like to see them die.
Also, much like Hitler, the recent elections in Iran have led to what are undoubtedly dubious results. An unnamed source has leaked that in this past election he has come in third place. The rightful winner's supporters have taken to the streets in protest of the government's apparent voting fraud. To mask his atrocities, Ahmadinejad has ordered all "independent media" to leave the country. President Ahmadinejad has ordered his troops to fire at will among those who take part in "unauthorized protest."
Ahmadinejad has reached the point that Hitler had reached in 1933 when the Reichstag was dissolved - he is now dissolving the democratic system of Iranian government. Israel, remembering Ahmadinejad's previous remarks, is rightly nervous. They are seeking assistance in preserving their existence from the United States. The only problem is they aren't going to get it.
Enter (Stage Left) Neville Chamberlain - President Barack Obama.
To assure the Iranian despot who is stuffing ballot boxes that the United States won't voice objections, President Obama has said the following:
"You've seen in Iran some initial reaction from the supreme leader that, uh, indicates, uh, he understands the Iranian people have deep concerns about the election. Uh, it's not productive given the history of US-Iranian relations to be seen as meddling, uh, the US President meddling in Iranian elections. My hope is is that the Iranian people will make the right steps in order for them, uh, to be able to express their voices, express their aspirations. I do believe that something happened in Iran where there is a questioning of the kinds of antagonistic postures towards the international community that have taken place in the past and that there are people who want to see greater openness and greater debate, uh, and want to see greater democracy. How that plays out over the next several days and several weeks is something ultimately for the Iranian people to decide, but I s-stand strongly with the universal principle that, uh, people's voices should be heard, uh, and not suppressed." (June 16, 2009)
In the past, when governments of dubious legitimacy meddled in their elections to affect the outcome, American Presidents of both parties have used harsh words to express the US' outrage at their actions. They did so because of the image Americans wish to project of a nation that believes the rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are unalienable to all people, in all lands, everywhere. Our current President is so enamored with his belief that "America is the problem" that he does not want to offend a modern day Hitler. President Ahmadinejad must be beside himself with satisfaction - knowing he has the President of the United States, "the great apologizer," on his knees.
President Obama has already determined what the “price of peace”, the modern day Czechoslovakia, is going to become. He has decided to engage Iran in diplomatic relations (which will result in Iran getting nuclear power) while not allowing Israel to defend itself. However, unlike the Czechs, Prime Minister Netanyahu has said, “You don't want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs. When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran." Israel has already thumbed its nose at Obama after his now-infamous Cairo speech when Obama told Israelis to cease building settlements in Palestinian territories. It is now apparent they are willing to do the same should Iran build nuclear weapons.
Israel is our only true ally in the Middle East. President Obama has already warned them that the US will not step in to help if Iran makes any move to question Israeli authority. He has done something no previous President has done – completely sold out an important ally. By doing so, should Iran take moves to destroy Israel, he has the blood of a second holocaust on his hands.
And all during this time, Obama has decided it is okay for this illegitimate president to hold nuclear power. Does Obama honestly believe such a man is going to forego creating his own nuclear weapons once he has the chance?
On the other side of the Asian continent rules a man with funny hair – Kim Jong Il. Ever since the Clinton era, Kim has sought the ability to create nuclear weapons to increase his military might (much like Japan during the 1940s). It is only recently that hard evidence has surfaced that proves he is extremely close to creating a nuclear weapon capable of hitting outlying Alaskan islands. Intelligence tells us that he is also working on the capability of creating a missile to hit the Continental United States.
This is a man that puts his own people into labor camps. A man who imprisons foreign reporters for preposterous reasons. A man who believes in his immortality. A man who believes he can have any woman he wants because he is irresistible.
And what does our current President do? Cuts down our missile defense system. It is now better that we do not offend a man who runs a government based on whatever his latest tirade has become rather than defend our own homeland.
In the midst of all this, what chance do we have of surviving?
The world averted a third World War during the 1980s when the coalition team of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, President Ronald Reagan, and Pope John Paul II solidified NATO in an alliance that resulted in the economic and political destruction of the USSR. The difference between today and then, however, is that the nations we are about to enter conflict with (whether or not President Obama has the balls to actually declare war) are nations with unreasonable leaders not afraid of their own deaths. Kim Jong Il is willing to bring about the destruction of the world to prove to the rest of us that he is not a man to “insult.” President Ahmadinejad is a Muslim radical willing to go to whatever lengths it takes to advance his agenda.
Today, we don’t have a Winston Churchill. We don’t have a Franklin Roosevelt. We have President Obama.
If these threads of history hold true – and Iran and North Korea actually plunge the world into another conflict – maybe Obama’s Harvard mind will be masked in favor of a man bent on protecting America and her people. More likely, however, he will be thrown out office and shown to be the appeaser that he is. In his place, hopefully, we will receive a president – man or woman – who has the capacity to deal with rogue regimes harshly and effectively, both diplomatically and at war. We averted World War III once when we adopted “peace through strength” – not “peace through understanding.” If President Obama realizes that the “charm offensive” he dreams of wagering on rogue regimes is not going to work, the war will be averted or made much shorter and less deadly.
The UN will fail much like the League of Nations failed. An international governing body will not avert a third World War.
All of the above is conjecture and based off of parallels drawn between today and then and should not be taken as the inevitable truth. However, we must be vigilant and watch these countries carefully. In America (as of right now) we can still peacefully assemble without getting fired upon (unlike our brothers and sisters in Iran) and try to influence the opinions of our Congress and our President. Let us use this to our advantage and make sure that history does not repeat itself.
Unfortunately, I don't believe Obama has it inside himself. He’s much too liberal and polluted by his Harvard education to think straight. He's the main reason I didn't apply to Ivy League schools even though I could've made the cut.
FOR FURTHER READING:
The Rising Tide – By Jeff Shaara
Fantastic book about World War II’s North African offensive. The introduction offers a concise and easy-to-understand history of the events leading up to the Second World War’s European theater.
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