JAMES LINDGREN EMAILS:
With all the talk of appeasement these days, it’s instructive to read the 2d book in William Manchester’s Winston Churchill biographies, the description of Churchill’s struggles in the 1930s while in exile from power. The extent of British appeasement was breathtaking.
1. Even AFTER war was declared against Germany in 1939, the British government still worried about putting someone in the British government or posting diplomats abroad who would get Hitler angry. I’m not kidding. Obviously, there are somewhat less outrageous parallels to today, when some people still don’t understand that we are waging a war against terrorism and thus worry that we might make an Iraqi dictator angry.
2. Areas invaded by Hitler were frequently blamed by British government officials as if they had provoked the attacks.
3. The British appeasers were always looking for root causes (the onerous treaty ending World War I was the chief excuse, but there were many), though I don’t remember if they used the phrase “root causes.”
4. One strong feature of the times was how desperately the government, the Parliament, and the press WANTED to be deceived. They would believe the most ridiculous things (including Hitler’s repeated promises that each of his many acquisitions was his last), if it meant that England should do almost nothing.
5. What also comes through is Churchill’s courage and clear-headedness in the face of seemingly more sophisticated thinkers (with supposedly better judgment), who thought Churchill’s view of the world simplistic.
These are just a small number of the dozens of parallels. Times and situations in the 1930s were very different from today (not the least of which is that George W. Bush is definitely not Winston Churchill), but the reasoning patterns by which commentators approach these challenges are remarkably similar.
The book is:
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-40 by William Manchester
Some things don’t change. There are always people looking for excuses not to do what needs to be done.