Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.
A History Lesson
By Suzie2b
The Rat Patrol was taking a break in the shade of a waterhole. The canteens and jerry cans had been filled and the jeeps taken care of. Now the four Allies sat munching on their K-ration lunches in companionable silence.
Out of nowhere Hitch suddenly asked, "Who started it?"
Troy looked at the private. "Started what?"
"The war. Who started World War 2 … and why?"
Troy, Hitch, and Tully looked at "Professor" Moffitt, who normally had an answer for just about anything. The sergeant smiled at his friends and said, "The main event that triggered this war was Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939."
Hitch shifted on the rock he was sitting on as he said, "I know about that, but there must've been other things involved. Like, why exactly did Germany attack Poland?"
Tully offered, "Didn't it have to do with some treaty that was signed after World War I?"
Moffitt nodded. "Yes, the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, placed some very harsh restriction on Germany. This created resentment among the German people. Due to the financial depression of the 1920s, Germany didn't have the funds to pay the reparation fees demanded by the treaty."
"What's 'reparation'?"
"It basically means 'payment for damages'. There were countries that were sympathetic and acted lenient towards Germany. They overlooked clear violations of the Treaty, such as the union with Austria. And decided not to interfere when Hitler began to expand his army and, because they were afraid of starting another war, did nothing when he claimed back former German land from Czechoslovakia. However, when it was realized that Hitler was setting his sights on Poland in his desire to expand his empire, this was the last straw. As soon as Hitler attacked Poland, Britain and France declared war against Germany."
Troy, finished eating, lit a cigarette and said, "Huh, I don't remember learning all that in school."
Moffitt again smiled. "It's required learning in British schools."
Hitch said, "So, this whole thing started because people felt sorry for Germany and Hitler took advantage of it."
"That's it in a nutshell."
Tully asked, "But if Germany didn't have the money to pay for the damages they caused, how could they pay for an attack on Poland?"
"Hitler was, and still is, a smart man. He got the German nation to support the invasion with some very clever marketing in the form of propaganda."
"He dropped leaflets on his own country?"
Moffitt chuckled and explained, "Not exactly. Manipulating public opinion was innovative in the 1930s, and nobody perfected this practice better than the Nazis. They are actually known to devote entire offices to propaganda and treat it with the same scientific thoroughness as weapons research."
Hitch said, "So Hitler simply lied to his own people to get their backing to go to war."
"Yes, before the invasion of Poland, Hitler and the German press accused the Polish of performing violent 'ethnic cleansing' of Germans that were living in Poland. Hitler also ran false flag operations such as the Gleiwitz incident, where he dressed his own men in Polish uniforms and ordered them to attack German stations. Needless to say, the Germans believed that Germany had to retaliate and that war with Poland was justified."
"Wow … Hitler may be smart, but he's evil through and through."
Tully asked, "Why is it that schools, at least where I'm from, only teach what happened after America got involved?"
Moffitt replied, "I don't know really. Perhaps it's felt that what happened before America's involvement isn't important enough to discuss."
Hitch frowned. "That's just stupid. The war started before we even got into it. There's a lot of details that aren't being taught that should be."
"I agree. Perhaps one day that will change."
Troy stood up and dropped his cigarette butt. He crushed it into the sand under his boot as he said, "Well, as interesting as it's been, I think it's time to end this history lesson, professor. We need to get going."
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Stay tuned for "Triggers and Treaties"