"Nineteen months would elapse from the day Hitler grabbed control of the German Army until the actual start of World War II. During those months, Hitler engaged in a kind of gangster diplomacy in which he bluffed, bullied, threatened, and lied to various European leaders in order to expand the borders of his Reich.
His very first victim was Dr. Kurt von Schuschnigg, Chancellor of Austria, a country being torn apart from within by Nazi agitators and also feeling threatened from the outside by Germany's newfound military strength. Hoping for some sort of peaceful settlement with Hitler, Schuschnigg agreed to a face-to-face meeting at Berchtesgaden. The meeting was arraigned by Franz von Papen, the former ambassador to Austria.
On the chilly winter morning of February 12, 1938, Schuschnigg's car was met at the German-Austrian border by Papen, who joined him for the ride up to Hitler's spectacular mountaintop retreat. Papen informed Schuschnigg that Hitler was in a very good mood this morning. But, Papen added, Hitler hoped that Schuschnigg wouldn't mind if three of Germany's top generals were also present during the day's discussion.
Schuschnigg was somewhat taken aback by this, but it was too late to change anything now. He arrived at the steps of Hitler's villa and was greeted by the Führer himself. Standing behind Hitler were the three generals; Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the High Command, Walter von Reichenau, Commander of Army troops along the German-Austrian border, and Air Force General Hugo Sperrle.
Hitler led Schuschnigg into his villa and up to the great hall on the second floor, a big room featuring a huge plate glass window with sweeping views of the Alps, and in the far distance, Austria itself. Schuschnigg, taking it all in, broke the ice with a little small talk about the view. But Hitler cut him right off. "We did not gather here to speak of the fine view or the weather!"
Thus began two hours of hell in which the quiet-spoken Austrian Chancellor was lambasted without mercy by the Führer. "You have done everything to avoid a friendly policy!" Hitler yelled. "The whole history of Austria is just one uninterrupted act of high treason...And I can tell you right now, Herr Schuschnigg, that I am absolutely determined to make an end of this. The German Reich is one of the great powers, and nobody will raise his voice if it settles its border problems."
Read the rest of this history lesson Here
Does this sound like the current news about Russia.....? This isn't a political Blog, so I am not offering any opinions about what is wrong or right... I am just reminding what happened once before....
Retired Rod
I argued with myself on whether to post this blog.... I realize this is current news and controversial... But in the spirit of good blogging, if you find this objectionable.... Please say so in these comments... But no one is drawing this connection between 70 years ago and the Russian activities of today.... I can only hope they do not have the same ideas of conquest that the original Nazi party did...
ReplyDeleteThose who forget history are condemned to repeat it.
ReplyDeleteVladimir Putin pulled the same stunt with Georgia in 2008 while George Bush was President. He does appear to want to maintain Russian influence and control on states bordering Russia. I agree and am glad to see in comments that you say "no one is drawing this connection between 70 years ago and the Russian activities of today" as I think it's an entirely different situation.
ReplyDeleteSince the end of WWII both Russia and the USA have taken military steps to secure and control nations near or adjacent to their borders. In the case of the USA just look at Grenada, Nicaragua, Panama and Cuba.
There are no military options for the west as a result of Russia's invasion of the Crimea as even war-hawk Sen. John McCain admits.
Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, was unique and horrible but that's not what's going on now in Russia - even with Putin.
Finally, I'm glad you did post this blog as sometimes we need to write about more than hikes, rides, meals and meeting other bloggers just to remind ourselves, if nothing else, how fortunate we all are.
There certainly is a similarity between the Nazi takeover of Austria and Putin wanting to take the Crimea back. I was under the impression though, that the Crimea was "given" to the Ukraine when it split off, but there are actually more Russians there than those who aren't, and that the Russian people want to go back to being a part of Russia. It's all too darned confusing to me, and of course you can't trust anyone involved to tell the truth about it. Even our government slants it to look a certain way.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is a similarity between the two. And knowing people who live in both the Ukraine and Russia, we're hearing the stories from both sides of the border. And both are saying this needs to stop now, before it goes any further to the point of no return. My humble opinion is that we need to listen to the people who are experiencing this for themselves before we decide if this is a similar situation.
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