Tag: europe

Casus Belli

Today in History, August 31, 1939:

Casus Belli: : an event or action that justifies or allegedly justifies a war or conflict

“I will provide a propagandistic casus belli. Its credibility doesn’t matter. The victor will not be asked whether he told the truth.”

— Adolph Hitler.

The Gleiwitz incident, an assault on a German radio station near the border with Poland, as part of Operation Himmler, takes place.

The assault was conducted by GERMAN SS troops, posing as Polish troops, upon a German radio station. The ruse went so far as to leave Polish prisoners, captured previously, dead at the station as “proof” of the assault.

The next day, already prepared, German troops invaded Poland in “response” to the atrocity.

Thus began the conflict which would cost millions of military and civilian peoples of many nations their lives. In a real sense, WWII had been raging in Asia and through limited German actions already, but September 1, 1939 is considered the beginning.

The victors will not be asked whether they told the truth. Unfortunately this is usually accurate, similar to “to the victor go the spoils” and “the victors write the history books.”

Either contemporaries are actually trusting, or to fearful the wolf will turn on them, to act.

We should remember our history. We are MERELY human, and always shall be. It is arrogance to believe we will not achieve the same mistakes.

Hoover Saves the World…Again

Today in History, March 11, 1947:

Democrat President Truman writes a letter to former Republican President Herbert Hoover, thanking him for his efforts in helping to save Europe…for the second time.

It is so interesting looking at history absent the biased perspective we’ve grown accustomed to.

Most of us know Hoover…you know, “Hooverville’s” full of starving people, the man who was asleep at the switch and helped caused the great depression.

The story is never as simple as we are told.

Hoover made it to the Presidency because after WWI, he organized the assistance of a starving war-torn Europe, demonstrating his abilities.

As WWII ended, the same disastrous conditions, magnified, existed.

Truman, who had been a young artillery officer as Hoover was doing is good deeds in 1917, called upon his 71-year-old friend to repeat his actions.

Hoover worked tirelessly to create the conditions to feed a starving Europe and end their dependence upon America.

Truman then assigned the former chief executive to head the “Hoover Commission” to organize an objective Truman (D) and Hoover (R) shared…to limit the power of the Executive Branch and streamline the government.

Thus we find that a decent man, Truman, called upon another decent man, Hoover, to aid in helping the world and America.

And Hoover’s legacy should be different than what he has been given. I wonder what GW’s legacy will be in half a century, once the political expedience of demonizing him has passed.

NUTS!! Monty Shows His….Ego

Today in History, January 7, 1945:

The Battle of the Bulge.

After the American 101st Airborne held out against overwhelming German forces for days, refusing to surrender (Gen. Anthony McAuliffe replied Nuts! to a surrender command, confusing the hell out of the Germans); after American Gen. George S. Patton turned his entire 3rd Army 90 degrees and ran full tilt through winter conditions to reach his comrades; after American air power helped save the day when the weather cleared,

British Gen. Bernard Law Montgomery held a press conference during which he took credit for the hard won victory.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill had to address Parliament to assert the truth that The Battle of the Bulge was solely an American victory after the political fall-out of Montgomery’s typically arrogant statements.

All Hail the Glorious Potato!

Today in History, December 3, 1586:

Sir Thomas Harriott introduces the potato, previously only found in Columbia in South America, to England and Ireland. Sir Walter Raleigh pursued farming of the new staple in Ireland and before you knew it, they were every where.

This would become very important to American development as well. The potato became a staple food for the impoverished Irish populace. In the 1840’s a potato blight ruined the crops of potatoes in Ireland, resulting in a devastating famine. The famine caused approximately a million deaths and also approximately one million emigrants to America. The burgeoning Irish population in America would have a long lasting effect on our country, in labor, the military services and police forces.

Potatoes! Baked, French Fried, Potato soup, Potato Chips, Sweet Potato Pie, Potato Cakes, Mashed Potatoes, Scalloped Potatoes, Potatoes au Gratin….

25 Missions

Today in History, May 17, 1943:

The Memphis Belle, a B-17 Flying Fortress of the 8th Air Force, completes it’s 25th mission and it’s crew has the opportunity to return to the states.

The event would be documented in an Army Air Force documentary, and later a blockbuster movie. What wasn’t documented in the original documentary was the fact that over 30,000 airmen lost their lives taking the skies over Europe, 8,000 bombers destroyed.

More airmen died in the skies over Europe than Marines in the Pacific.

Today (literally) the Belle was unveiled after years of restoration at the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

Going Home…

 

Today in History, May 17: 1943 – The Memphis Belle returns from her 25th mission over Europe. The B-17 Flying Fortress, heavily armed with nearly a dozen .50 caliber machine guns and thousands of pounds of bombs, had survived what by all reckoning, could not be survived. Thousands upon thousands of airmen died over German territory, blown out of the sky or dropping thousands of feet to their deaths.  More airmen died over Europe than Marines fighting across the Pacific.  With ten men in each bomber that went down, casualties were so horrific that crews were only expected to fly 25 missions…if they survived that, they went home.  The crew of the Memphis Belle were some of those survivors.