WITNESS TO HISTORY
Michael Walsh
CHAPTER 12
THE PEACEMAKERS
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES
"The undersigned who believe that real friendship and co-operation between Great Britain and Germany are essential to the establishment of enduring peace not only in Western Europe but throughout the world, strongly deprecate the attempt which is being made to sabotage an Anglo-German rapprochement by distorting the facts of the Czecho-Slovak settlement.
"We believe that the Munich Agreement was nothing more than the rectification of one of the most flagrant injustices of the Peace Treaty. It took nothing from Czecho-Slovakia to which that country could rightly lay claim, and gave nothing to Germany which could have been rightfully withheld."We see in the policy so courageously pursued by the Prime Minister (Neville Chamberlain) the end of a long period of lost opportunities and the promise of a new era to which the tragic years that have gone since the War will seem like a bad dream." -- It bore the signatures of the following:
"Lord Arnold, Captain Bernard Ackworth, Prof. Sir Raymond Beazley, Mr. C.E Carroll, Sir. John Smedley Crooke, M.P., Mr. W.H. Dawson, Admiral Sir. Barry Domville, Mr. A.E.R Dyer, Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Viscount Hardinge of Penshurst, Mr. F.C. Jarvis, Mr. Douglas Jerrold, Sir. John Latta, Prof. A.P Laurie, The Marquess of Londonderry, Vice-Admiral V.B Molteno, Captain A.H. Maule Ramsey, M.P., Mr. Wilmot Nicholson, Lord Redesdale, Captain Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers, Capt. Arthur Rogers, OBE, Maj-Gen, Arthur Solly-Flood, Mrs. Nesta Webster, Mr. Bernard Wilson." The Times, October 6th, 1938
This letter was held up for five days before The Times reluctantly agreed to publish it.
BACKGROUND TO THE MUNICH AGREEMENT
The dismemberment of Germany following the Great War meant that the Sudetenland (Bohemia and Moravia), part of Germany for 700 years and with a population of over 3 million Germans, being moved -- against their wishes -- out of their homeland to become part of a newly-created country, populated mainly by Czechs and Slovaks, which was to be called Czecho-Slovakia.
The Sudeten Germans suffered greatly under Czech rule. On March 4th, 1919, public meetings calling for self determination were brutally broken up and 52 German civilians were murdered. Lord Rothermere described Czechoslovakia as a 'swindle'
Conditions imposed upon the Sudeten-Germans were so harsh that during 1919, 600,000 were forced to leave their settlements of centuries. Throughout the ensuing years, the Czech President, M. Benes, saw to it that conditions became so intolerable that even England and France felt it necessary to concede this injustice of Versailles and agreed to its return to Germany.
"The worst offence was the subjection of over three million Germans to Czech rule." -- H.N Brailsford, Leading left wing commentator
The Czech administration which wanted the German territory but not its population, agreed, but refused to do so and instead began a reign of terror aimed at driving the German population over the borders into Hitler's Germany in a program that has since been termed ethnic cleansing.
THE GRUESOME RESULTS
"Let us examine the gruesome tale of figures. On one single day 10,000 refugees, the next day 20,000, then 37,000. Two days later 41,000, then 62,000 and 78,000. Soon it was 90,000, 107,000, 137,000 and today the figure is 214,000. Whole districts are being depopulated. Villages are being burnt down and shrapnel and gas used to exterminate the German population." -- Adolf Hitler, September 26th, 1938
Similarly, when under the terms of the Versailles Treaty, a large part of Germany and its German population was awarded to Poland, so began an anti-German racist pogrom resulting in widespread murder and mayhem resulting in over a million Germans being 'ethnically cleansed' from their homelands of centuries.
"Let there be no mistake; the 30th January was not the beginning of the agitation against Germany; in 1923 over half a million Germans had to leave their historical homelands, Posnia-West Prussia, and this number increased -- according to Polish statements -- to a million by 1931." -- Heinz Roth, publisher
Hitler's Germany could no longer act as bystanders to the grim unfolding tragedy. When German troops re-entered their former territory, the Sudetenland, there was rejoicing in the streets.
THE TIMES RECOGNISED REAL POLITIK
"It was one of the mistakes of the Peace Treaty that though the principle of self-determination was much in evidence in Paris, the wishes of the Germans in Bohemia as of their fellows in Austria were never consulted; or, insofar as by their self-organised efforts those wishes found some expression, they were harshly brushed aside. What remains to be done is rectify the error of 1919." -- The Times, June 14th, 1938
[Note - JP: It wasn't a 'mistake'. It was ALL done intentionally laying the groundwork for what the perpetrators knew would result in a second World War]
THE MUNICH PACT
The Munich Pact is the name given to the agreement which recognised the injustice of that section of the Versailles Treaty, which had delivered over 3 million Germans and their homelands to a newly formed state, and subjected them to the antagonisms of a hostile government.
"The Munich Pact . . . was a triumph for all that was best and most enlightened in British life." -- Prof. A.J.P. Taylor, Historian
Neville Chamberlain on his return from Munich was denounced for having negotiated a peaceful settlement and his effigy was burnt -- in Moscow. On the strength of a report, later found to be false, Mr. Chamberlain guaranteed Poland's borders. The irony was that Hitler himself was prepared to guarantee those very same borders but had his proposals rejected.
LORD LOTHIAN
Lord Lothian, in his last speech to Chatham House, remarked:
"If the principle of self-determination had been applied in Germany's favour, as it was applied against her, it would have meant the return of the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, parts of Poland, the Polish Corridor and Danzig to the Reich."
"Personally I am sorry to say I am convinced that we cannot permanently prevent these Sudeten Germans from coming into the Reich if they wish it and undoubtedly, the majority today do so." -- Neville Henderson to Lord Halifax
"I am gratified beyond measure to observe that since the 7th March there has come in foreign countries a growing realization that Germany -- speaking through the mouthpiece of her Leader -- has a sincere pragmatic desire for peace for the worried, suspicious European countries." -- Douglas Chandler, American journalist
"I cannot see what else Europe could expect. No mobilisation except commonsense. We should take Hitler at his word." -- George Lounsbury, Ex-Chairman of the Labour Party
"The Locarno Pact is dead. It goes unhonoured and unsung into the tomb of political errors." -- Lord Rothermere's newspapers
"Hitler has given new hope to humanity. His points are inspired by a most generous spirit which, if accepted, will surely blow away the dark fears." -- Sir. Philip Gibbs
"There is no more reason why German territory should be demilitarised than French, Belgian or British."
"As one of Hitler's greatest friends put it to me recently; 'You can start a preventive war; you can bomb our cities and occupy our territory. But this time you will not break our spirit. There will be no November, 1918 in the next war." -- H. Powys Greenwood. Hitler's First Year
NATIONAL SOCIALIST PHILOSOPHY CONTRARY TO WAR AND CONQUEST
"The repeated declaration, for example, that it is against Nazi convictions to want to turn Poles, Frenchmen or Czechs into Germans is based on the idea that the process must lead 'to the destruction of the German elements, and that the 'victors would thus in reality become the vanquished'."When Nazis assure me that they regard the conquest of non-German elements as likely to weaken them, I am inclined to believe it, as racial purity is a fundamental article of their faith. It is this faith itself which is leading them to adopt a more conciliatory attitude towards the adjoining races." H. Powys-Greenwood, Hitler's First Year
"However, she does not want to fight at all if it can be helped; and the racial idea itself leads her to be thoroughly alive to the terrible threat of modern warfare to women and children, the bearers of the race, and to the dangers that would threaten the white races in the event of another internecine struggle." H. Powys-Greenwood, Hitler's First Year
"If their legitimate aspirations are thwarted and their tentative moves towards reconciliation with former enemies rejected; if their attempts to get in touch with other people -- the British people above all -- and evoke sympathetic understanding at least of some of their aims, are met by a persistent barrage of uncomprehending criticism; the chance of influencing the still young plant of National Socialism will be thrown away and the New Germany, leaders and led alike, may in despair turn to the blatant gospel of force."A preventive war, which always seems to me to be the acme of defeatism, the action of men or nations who have no confidence in their future, would at any rate be more logical." H. Powys-Greeenwood, Hitler's First Year
"One young S.S. Man from the Rhineland, who had been telling me harrowing tales of the Negro occupation, added that as a German nationalist nothing would please him better than a war of revenge against France, but as a National Socialist, with the good of the people at heart, he earnestly wished to end a thousand years of futile conflict with the hereditary enemy." -- H. Powys-Greenwood, Hitler's First Year
PRIME MINISTER CHAMBERLAIN
"In three days last week I had 2,450 letters, and 1,860 (76%) of these were 'stop the war', in one form or another." -- Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, October, 1939
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
"He (Hitler) is totally convinced that England wants to strike Germany down again, and that everything which he himself undertakes, therefore, has a defensive character. Nevertheless, not very long ago, in an intimate circle on the Ober-Salzburg, Hitler expressed this opinion:'A European war could be the end of all our efforts even if we should win, because the disappearance of the British Empire would be a misfortune which could not be made up again. If they, the British Government, force me into belligerency however, then I will seize the initiative and will use every means at my disposal'." -- Carl. J. Burckhardt, High Commission of the League of Nations, 1938
WHEN WAR WAS DECLARED (GERMANY)
When Britain declared war on Germany, (3rd September, 1939) and the contents of the British Declaration of War were read out to Hitler, it was, 'as if he had been turned to stone. For a while dead silence prevailed in the room. Finally, Hitler turned to Ribbentrop, his Foreign Minister, and said;
"What now?"
WHEN WAR WAS DECLARED (BRITAIN)
"In Britain, Lord Halifax was reported as being 'redeemed'. He ordered beer. We laughed and joked." -- H. Roth, Why Are We Being Lied To?
AND AFTERWARDS:
"I considered the Nuremberg Trials unjust for condemning the conquered Admirals as war criminals when, in reality, they did nothing other than defend their country with acknowledged patriotism." -- Vice Admiral Carlos Torres Hevia, Republic of Chile
BRITONS WHO OPPOSED WAR WITH GERMANY
During the war, thousands of British people were gaoled [imprisoned] under a hastily contrived piece of legislation entitled 'Regulation 18B', as being potentially sympathetic towards National Socialism or, simply but actively being opposed to war with Germany. They were rounded up and without trial imprisoned. It was said 'that every decoration from the Victoria Cross downwards, could be seen on the prison yard at Brixton'.
"Let us be fair to these people who were imprisoned under 18B, and let us remember that they have never been accused of any crime; not only have they not been convicted of any crime, but they have never been accused of any crime. This should be remembered in all fairness to them." -- Lord Jowett, The Lord Chancellor to the House of Lords, December 11th, 1946
BRITISH PEOPLE FOR PEACE
"The largest indoor meeting ever held in Britain occurred when over 20,000 people packed Earls Court in London, to support a peace meeting organised by the British Union." -- Michael McLaughlin, For Those Who Cannot Speak
DAILY MAIL EDITORIAL":
"A VISION WHICH EXCEEDED CHURCHILL'S
"I had the privilege of enjoying the close friendship of Mr. Lloyd George for nearly twenty years, and it is clear from Lord Gladwyn's letter (July, 28th) that he never knew him. He had all the courage of Churchill and even greater vision. Churchill once described him to me as 'our most illustrious citizen, who was always in the next field but one,' and Lord Birkenhead, when Lord Chancellor; 'I have not yet discerned his equal, and doubt if I ever shall.'
"Contrary to what Lord Gladwyn says, in the words of Harold Nicolson (who was there); 'He fought like a tiger' in Paris for a better peace treaty at Versailles. He failed, not because of Clemenceau -- a 'rude but reasonable man' -- but because of the obstinacy of President Woodrow Wilson. Afterwards he said to me: 'The world is too torn and miserable and hurt just now for a just and lasting peace. But this is not the end, it is the beginning.'"I asked him what he planned to do, and he said; 'Revise the Polish frontier in Silesia; abolish the Polish Corridor between East and West Germany, which is a running sore; abolish reparations, and with them all inter-allied debts; and get a good international monetary system. After that, we shall get, I hope, steady and agreed disarmament and closer European co-operation.'
"He started well at the Genoa Conference of 1922 which he dominated. Then everything crashed. Rathenau was assassinated. He himself fell from power, Stresemann died, Briand was consigned to the political wilderness. The era of the political pygmies had arrived.
"Lord Gladwyn goes on to say that he was an appeaser of the Nazis before the 1939 - 1945 war, 'when the Foreign Office was increasingly firm and resolute'. This is flatly untrue. Lloyd George was never at any time an appeaser, nor did he ever advocate unilateral disarmament.
"On the contrary, he frequently condemned Neville Chamberlain's disarmament, 'which I never would have allowed', and even Franklin Roosevelt's hinting at the possibility of Pearl Harbour. He was persuaded by Tom Jones, his Welsh Secretary, and later Baldwin's, because Jones, who accompanied him, thought he was the only man alive who could now prevent a second world war.
"But George gave nothing away, and afterwards Hitler said, 'what a pity for them that they have no one else like that now.' He reckoned without one.
"At the Foreign Office, Sir. Horace Wilson replaced Lord Vansittart. If this is Lord Gladwyn's idea of 'increased firmness and resolution' it isn't mine. I went to lunch later with Lloyd George and Vansittart in the South of France. On the way back Vansittart remarked grimly: 'We have no one of that calibre now'.
"I find myself in agreement with Lord Gladwyn on only one point. While the treasure has been almost consistently wrong over the past 50 years, the Foreign Office has had occasional flashes of sanity, especially under Bevin, Home and Carrington. But the real miracle is that the British people have been great enough to survive them both for so long." -- Boothby, House of Lords, Daily Telegraph
"Indeed he went even further (Con O'Neill 'brilliant Whitehall mandarin'). He told his boss, the then Foreign Secretary, Rab Butler, that Britain had always gone to war against cross-border organisations like the Community. Our traditional foreign policy, after all, had been to keep the continental powers divided." -- Daily Mail editorial. 2nd January, 1995
AMERICANS AGAINST THE WAR
Seldom in American history were the American people as united in their views as they were in 1939 about staying out of the war in Europe.
"When hostilities began in September 1939, the Gallup Poll showed 94% of the American people against involvement in war. The figure rose to 96.5% in December 1939. On June 3rd, 1941, 83% of the American population was against entering the war." -- Gallup Poll
"The entry of America into the war would lead to chaos lasting several generations." -- Charles Lindburgh
FRANCE
"All that is best in France is against war, almost at any price." -- Eric Phipps, Britain's Ambassador to France
HITLER ON GERMAN-BRITISH RELATIONS
"I feel it to be a great misfortune that on August 4, 1914, these two great Germanic nations (Germany and Britain) which, through all the fluctuations of German history, have lived in peace for hundreds of years, were plunged into war. I would be very happy if this unnatural state of things came to an abrupt end and our two kindred peoples found their way back to the old relations of friendship." -- Adolf Hitler speaking to a British journalist, October 18, 1933
THE BRITISH LEGION
"The English have fought against the Germans only once. We, the representatives of the British Legion, are of the opinion that it was a mistake. This mistake must never occur again. I can well speak in the name of the soldiers of the British Empire when I say that during the war we had an extraordinary high esteem for the German soldiers. For me this esteem was confirmed when I came with the army of occupation in Cologne and saw how the Germans know how to bear great misfortune and hard times." -- Major F.W.C. Featherstone-Godley, British Legion
"He (Hitler) disclosed on 20th January, 1943, that the Germans in 1940 offered to retire Hitler if by doing so they could make peace with Britain." -- Joseph E. Davis, U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1936/38
"Most Germans think the war is stupidly unnecessary and that the British were sticking their noses into what is none of their business. 'Just think of it!' they exclaim. Here we are so busy making over our country, and now we have to lay aside our fine construction plans to go and fight it out with those damned Englishmen'." -- Lothrop Stoddard, American philosopher, Daily Mail, January 1st, 1940
GERMAN/POLISH FRIENDSHIP
"On the contrary, he (Hitler) wanted to remove Danzig as an obstacle, so that he could strengthen their friendship (between Germany and Poland)." -- Lipski, Polish Ambassador to Berlin
Next -- CHAPTER 13 --- WAR! POLAND PROVIDES THE EXCUSE