tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post2448227241075501977..comments2024-03-08T15:43:20.236+00:00Comments on Keynesian Liberal: VE Day in perspectivePeter Wrigleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481117156930677255noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-79442955921462465172020-06-08T16:07:56.851+01:002020-06-08T16:07:56.851+01:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11387853590870115012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-73340224136700990762020-05-12T07:38:27.715+01:002020-05-12T07:38:27.715+01:00A cousine who lives in Canada takes much the same ...A cousine who lives in Canada takes much the same view as I do with regards to the Poles and sends me this information about books on the subject:<br /><br /><br />Dear Cousin .. .<br /><br />For your blog readers and yourself. Concerning VE Day "celebrations".<br /><br />BOTH the books I read ages ago with great enjoyment, and referred to in<br />my recent "Blog Blethering" of today.<br /><br />It turns out (memory failing, so looked at my notes) that both books<br />were by the SAME female author. The American historical writer, former<br />Washington journalist and all time well respected research person. Lynne<br />Olson.<br /><br />You can get them via the dreaded Amazon, or just look them up on the<br />less dreaded Google or similar. Enter "Lynne Olson" and there's an<br />avalanche of information.<br /><br />_________________________________<br /><br />1. (Re: Polish Airmen WWII) By Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud 2003<br /><br />"A Question of Honour" subtitle .."The Koskiusko Squadron".."The<br />Forgotten Heros of WWII."<br /><br /><br />2. (Re: the 3 Americans in London, who begged the US government to<br />help Britain towards the end of WWII - thereby saving the day.}<br /><br />"Citizens of London" By Lynne Olson (again).<br /><br />The three men were: 1. The rich and powerful Averill Harriman, doing<br />armament deals... US/Britain. 2. The famous CBS news anchor Edward R<br />Murrow. and 3. The charming and wistful John Gilbert Winant..who never<br />gave up, and indirectly gave his life for the British.<br /><br /><br />BOTH books very interesting, painstakingly researched, and extensive<br />reading material.<br /><br />To pass on to your friends and readers who might be interested. [Lots of time in this Covid 19 lock-down world.]Marilyn Hart<br />Peter Wrigleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16481117156930677255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-41546211489315866732020-05-11T17:11:01.414+01:002020-05-11T17:11:01.414+01:00To Anonymous (II?) Thanks for alerting me to '...To Anonymous (II?) Thanks for alerting me to '52 Times Britain was a Bellend.'<br /><br />I wasn't aware of this but have looked it up on Google, found it sounds interesting, so ordered a copy, from Waterstones, not Amazon. <br /><br />i think Orwell may have a point. Glibert and Sullivan said something similar (on the Lord High Executioner's list in the Mikado)<br /><br />the idiot who praises with enthusiastic tone<br />Every century but this and every country but his own"<br /><br />However I regard myself as neither an idiot nor an intellectual: I just try to be honest. I'm also patriotic, but in the understated, true Brit, way: not keen on waving Union Jacks but have framed my message form the King Emperor for, as a child, sharing in the privation of war, and it's hung on my study wall. Peter Wrigleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16481117156930677255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-26080848746466605122020-05-11T16:58:39.577+01:002020-05-11T16:58:39.577+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Peter Wrigleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16481117156930677255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-43153922955714198532020-05-09T13:26:10.439+01:002020-05-09T13:26:10.439+01:00Indeed, which is the problem with the self-loathin...Indeed, which is the problem with the self-loathing '52 Times Britain was a Bellend' school of distorted history. <br /><br />George Owell got it spot-on in his famous and recently oft-quoted passage: <br /><br /><i>England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality. In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during “God Save the King” than of stealing from a poor box.</i><br /><br /><br />In actual fact I think the main undercurrent to the celebratory nature of VE Day is that Britain actually failed in its war aim. Yes, we defeated Hitler in 1945; but we actually went to war to liberate Poland, and Poland was not freed until 1989. <br /><br />For half of Europe, May 1945 was not a liberation but sealed their abandonment to a Communist tyranny every bit as bad as Nazi tyranny. Yes, we should have celebrated yesterday; but we should still feel more than a twinge of guilt for what we did to the Poles and others at Yalta. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-23350667140901767032020-05-09T11:42:58.508+01:002020-05-09T11:42:58.508+01:00True but it needs to be an accurate view of its hi...True but it needs to be an accurate view of its history and not a distorted one.Peter Wrigleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16481117156930677255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-37794023904340851432020-05-08T02:18:06.525+01:002020-05-08T02:18:06.525+01:00A country without history is as helpless as an ind...A country without history is as helpless as an individual without memory.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-64748203532351915242020-05-08T00:34:26.501+01:002020-05-08T00:34:26.501+01:00The past is gone. Pride goes before a fall (us wal...The past is gone. Pride goes before a fall (us wallowing in nostalgia).The UK has to search for its future<br />Not wallow in its past.nigel hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09365383918453700768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-79082651321550793052020-05-07T16:41:18.113+01:002020-05-07T16:41:18.113+01:00In terms of war effort I tend to look first at the...<i>In terms of war effort I tend to look first at the total casualties caused to each nation.</i><br /><br />I personally think it's much more important when judging a nation to consider which side it was on, rather than how much effort it expended.<br /><br />And the Soviet Union was not on the right side. Not at the beginning of the war and not afterwards, either, and for the few years in the middle it only joined the right side because it was betrayed by Hitler. <br /><br />The Soviet Union was never a friend; only our enemy's enemy. <br /><br />And also, we should remember, the Soviet Union would have fallen to Operation Barbarossa if it had not been for the supplies and materiel provided by the USA and transported to them by the merchant navy at the cost of British lives. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-65266084190928846882020-05-07T16:28:39.618+01:002020-05-07T16:28:39.618+01:00Somewhat selective view of history. In terms of w...Somewhat selective view of history. In terms of war effort I tend to look first at the total casualties caused to each nation.Severn Boarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15542769703676984112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732407426313451205.post-49106838423867969422020-05-07T16:05:49.155+01:002020-05-07T16:05:49.155+01:00Then , of course by far the major part in the defe...<i>Then , of course by far the major part in the defeat of Nazi Germany was borne by the Soviet Union, something that we far too readily forget</i><br /><br />Actually what's more often forgotten these days is that the Soviet Union was, at the start of the war, allied with Germany and between the two of them they planned to carve up Europe, crushing half of it under a Nazi and half of it under a Communist boot. <br /><br />It should be remembered also that the Soviet Union called on the Communist Party of Great Britain to object to the war at every opportunity, and to sabotage the war effort wherever they could. <br /><br />And don't fall for any nonsense about the Soviet Union planning all the time to double-cross Germany and switch sides; it was Hitler who betrayed Stalin, and the Red Tsar who stayed loyal to his fellow dictator until the führer's treachery was undeniable. The lie that the Soviet Union was just 'playing for time' and pretending to go along with Hitler was post-hoc Soviet propaganda.<br /><br />The greatest thing the United Kingdom did during the Second World War was save the world from Communist tyranny; for if Britain had fallen, then there would have been nowhere for the Allies to launch their invasion of Europe from, Stalin would have won the race to Berlin, and would certainly not have stopped there but have continued on to bring the iron curtain down over all of Europe, a Communist Hell stretching from Brest to the Bering Strait. And in that situation it's entirely possible the Cold War would have gone the wrong way.<br /><br />So yes we should celebrate VE Day and we should be very proud of the part our little islands played: just one of the more recent outsize contributions we have made to world history. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com