Appeasement

 Churchill said, "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it." His history was brilliant. A lot of truth, but some lies of omission and some lies of commission, but the history made Churchill look very, very good. The worst lie of commission was Appeasement.

Some things, we know Churchill got right. When he wrote that, when Hitler said he would abrogate the Treaty of Versailles, the UK could have demanded regime change and Germany would have had no choice but to tell Hitler he was out and then pick some other Chancellor and then World War II would have been avoided with no lives lost, this is obviously correct. Churchill said he fought for this and lost, but I can't find any evidence he really did fight for regime change in Germany in 1933. But he was certainly right in his history that that would have been the best thing for the world.

Of course, as Orwell wrote, Airstrip One would ally with Eurasia against Eastasia, then ally with Eastasia against Eurasia, then back again. And Winston Smith had to rewrite all the history books so, when Airstrip One was allied with Eurasia, Airstrip One had always been allied with Eurasia.

So, when Napoleon was Emperor of France, Airstrip One was allied with Russia against France, or Eastasia against Eurasia. After Napoleon, Airstrip One allied with France and the Ottomans, i.e., Eurasia, against Russia, i.e., Eastasia.

In WWI, Airstrip One was allied with the Russian Empire against Germany and the Ottomans. Then, after WWI, Airstrip I allied with Germany against the USSR. The UK leaders were terrified of the USSR, saw it marching into Western Europe and taking over most of Europe and maybe the UK. So letting Germany rearm in 1933 as a bulwark against the USSR seemed like a good idea at the time. And the rabid anti-Communist, Adolph Hitler, seems like a good ally. Churchill might have vehemently disagreed, as he said he did in his histories, but I can't find any newspaper articles about Churchill speeches against letting Germany rearm.

By 1938, the UK and France knew war with Germany was necessary, but neither was ready. France would not support the UK against Germany until the Maginot Line was complete, i.e., 1939. And Chamberlain did not want war before the radar shield was ready to prevent a German bombing campaign that could destroy the UK: the RAF would have no idea when or where the Luftwaffe was attacking, so only a few would be able to fight, and could do very limited damage. Had the UK gone to war in Czechoslovakia without the support of France, there would have been no Miracle at Dunkirk. German bombing would have been devastating with very few Luftwaffe losses each bombing run.

So Chamberlain said he'd agreed to give Hitler part of Czechoslovakia (Czechoslovakia was divided up among Germany, Poland, and Hungary) and had gotten Hitler's assurances of peace.

Churchill's history said that was appeasement: in 1938, Germany was still very weak, and the BEF could easily have defeated the Wehrmacht. This is false, of course. Chamberlain did the right thing, but, after Dunkirk, the UK needed a scapegoat, and Churchill chose Chamberlain (who had died, so he could not defend himself).

In fact, the UK and France intended to go to war in 1939, when the Maginot Line and the British radar system were both ready. So they asked Poland to say Germany could no longer access East Prussia, Germany signed a treaty with the USSR, and they agreed to split Poland, with Germany getting the Polish land between Germany and East Prussia.

And as soon as Germany and the USSR attacked Poland, the UK and France declared war on Germany, expecting that the Wehrmacht would be unable to stand up to the Maginot Line and the BEF and the French military.

Things didn't go all that well. Belgium had an impregnable fortress all along the German border, but, while it was impregnable from the German side, it had no defences on the Belgian side, and paratroopers overran the fortress from the Belgian side and opened the gates.

The BEF and French Army lost, but at least almost all of the BEF made it back to the UK thanks to the Miracle of Dunkirk. And the bombings by the Luftwaffe had massive losses, since the entire RAF knew when and where the Luftwaffe were coming and managed to shoot down large number of the bombers until Germany ran out of bombers and the Battle of Britain worked out OK for the UK. Lots got bombed, but not nearly as much as before the radar was ready. Churchill, of course, since the radar was Top Secret, said the success of the RAF was because the RAF ate lots of carrots.

But Churchill's myth that Appeasement was the reason for WWII, that it could have been avoided if the UK stood up to Germany in 1938, has led to the War in Vietnam (not going to war would have been appeasement), and just about every other US war after WWII.

And now the US and the European neocolonial governments all say Putin wants to recreate the USSR and the Warsaw pact, and if we do not stop him in the Ukraine, that's appeasement, and we'll again be facing the Warsaw Pact and then they'll overrun Western Europe, then the UK, and then the US.

So every ordinary European (not the ruling elite, of course) must be willing to put up with cold showers, since not putting up with them would be appeasement.