Biggest Mistakes the Axis made iyo.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
I think you'll find the German tabloids are just as bad - in fact it was German tabloids that named Ratzinger the "Panzer cardinal", long before he became Pope.

How utterly horrible!!!
The man was posted to an anti-aircraft unit.
He should have been referred to as the "Luftwaffe cardinal".

[Ned]

Originally posted by molly bloom



Which is truly absurd, given the ridiculous shameful lengths that Chamberlain's government went to in order to mollify Hitler, despite his having broken the Versailles Treaty, despite his illegal Anschluss, his gobbling up of Czechoslovakia and how they even at the last minute attempted to browbeat Poland into submitting to Hitler's will.


Really, Ned, you can formulate a theory (thesis was a bit overstated for your 'idea') but unless and until there's anything like historical evidence for it, all you have to show to back it up is less substantial than a Fata Morgana on an overcast day.

OK, why didn't the Brits make peace after the fall of Poland when Hitler offered to make Poland free again and was willing to discuss Czechoslovakia. The Brits responded with a public statement about the government of Germany being the problem and declined to engage in peace talks.

This seems very clear that Britain decided on war, not peace, so long as the NAZI governement was in power.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse


I've read some revision recently on Chamberlain. Appeasement was traditional British foreign policy for rising continental powers over 4 centuries. Chamberlain's approach was quite orthodox. It was only when a Napoleonic figure emerged that looked like dominating the continent i.e. Hitler after 1938, that Britain's policy shifted. The other traditional strand, coalition building and containment, was also evident in Chamberlain's approach.

The strong reluctance to confront Hitler stemmed from 2 main sources - Britain's military unpreparedness was one big factor- behind the scenes Britain was rearming fast however it was not ready until 1939 to take a stand - Chamberlain was acutely aware of this because he was driving the re-armament program - for background read up on Royal Air Force development during this period - fighter strength particularly for home defence was rapidly, not to say frantically, built up between 1936 and 1939.

The second factor was the spectre of world war I. "Peace in our time" was more than a slogan, it was a heartfelt plea and made politicians in Britain and France, even more so in France, not to mention ordinary people -extremely reluctant to risk war with Germany.

To Chamberlain's credit, once it became clear that Hitler was not going to honour international agreements he signed - which was confirmed when Germany occuppied the rest of Czechoslovakia - British attitudes hardened dramatically and Chamberlain stood by Poland even though Britain had very little to gain from doing so.

This latter point explains the pressure Britain applied for the Poles to come to terms with Hitler. There was room for compromise - particularly over the Danzig corridor which was a very peculiar arrangement and bound to cause trouble whoever was in charge of a resurgent Germany. Chamberlain's government still honoured their commitment to Poland, in a similar way to Britain's honouring of security guarantess given to Belgium which dragged Britain into WWI. Its simply wrong to see Chamberlain as spineless and weak. Popular memory has rather misjudged him. I find it hard to be critical of a man who tried so hard to prevent a war that cost the lives of 50 million people. Even if he failed.

Agreed. Chamberlain did a masterful job.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Saras
Ned's performance in this thread was surreal.

I think AH has come around to my view that the biggest single mistake Hiterl made was underestimating Britain, and in particular, Chamberlain.

[Alexander's Horse]

er, no Ned

[Fake Boris]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove


How utterly horrible!!!
The man was posted to an anti-aircraft unit.
He should have been referred to as the "Luftwaffe cardinal".

Nope, Flak Cardinal!

[Ned]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
er, no Ned

Then, is it your view that Hitler overestimated Chamberlain?

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Oncle Boris


Nope, Flak Cardinal!

I don't recall the German term for a flak gun unit. I'm sure there is one though. Both the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe manned AA batteries in Germany I'm not sure how they divided up the responsibilities.

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove


I don't recall the German term for a flak gun unit. I'm sure there is one though. Both the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe manned AA batteries in Germany I'm not sure how they divided up the responsibilities.

They do have one : flak or Fliegerabwehrkanone

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by BlackCat


They do have one : flak or Fliegerabwehrkanone

So that would make him the "Fleigerabweherkanone Cardinal"? Can't we just stick with "Luftwaffe Cardinal"?

[Ned]

Why not His Holiness, the Fuhrer?

[BTW, I also like Robert "KKK" Byrd, the well known racist/Democrat Senator and former majority leader.]

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove


So that would make him the "Fleigerabweherkanone Cardinal"? Can't we just stick with "Luftwaffe Cardinal"?

You make it much worse than nessecary, there are an excess e in your spelling

[Alexander's Horse]

he's certainly going to catch some flak