Paul Cowan's Paris 1919
Had a chance to grab this piece of depression on the Military channel this morning. First, a personal comment: my father was born in February, 1919, which seems portentous in light of the fact that he would step off a landing craft at Normandy 25 years later. His father -- who served in the Army during the Great War -- said throughout the 20s and 30s, 'The Treaty of Versalee will cause the next war." If my grandfather had been in Paris, 1919, he would have advised against reparations, I'm thinking. When you hear someone say 'reparations', that usually means they're trying to start a fight. One has to wonder how things would have turned out if the French weren't staring at blood-drenched trenches and seas of crosses while they negotiated. Suppose the peace talks had taken place in Wichita, Kansas? The British were pricks, and short-sighted. The whole thing was a nasty mess. The seeds were planted for the Chinese-Japanese conflict, Saddam Hussein, and Mr. Tap-and-Dance, Adolph Hitler
Second, the show is a study in how sick and dangerous international players can be. Poor, idealistic Wilson was no match for cynical European assholes. As Cowan's documentary points out, even though no League of Nations was in place, in fact there was a World Government.
I don't know about you, but I doubt a world government today could be any more enlightened then what happened then. The leaders of those times were assholes.
Just like now.
Grimmest scene in All Quiet on the Western Front: the Graveyard Scene!
Poor idealistic Mr. Wilson locked up tens of thousands of people for speaking out against the war or even questioning his policies. The fact that he was a naive academic fool in the arean of international relations sort of pails in comparison to his role as THE prototype progressive fascist.
Posted by: K | 11/14/2009 at 12:56 PM
So, what you're saying is, 'Warm Fuzzy' Idealists can be assholes?
K! How intolerant!
Posted by: Irish Cicero | 11/14/2009 at 04:40 PM