[StGeorge]

Originally Posted by angus58

You are correct that the precursors of what was to come were there for anyone with eyes to see long before the war started, and Chamberlain's foreign policy of appeasement and his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938 were fundamental errors of judgment which strengthened Hitler's hand and his belief that Britain would not intervene if they invaded Poland and continued their aggressive occupation of neighbouring countries. However, there was still a good chance that if Britain had engaged in diplomatic talks with Hitler in 1940 the worst of the atrocities may have been averted.

Its unfortunate that we will never know. Same as we will never know whether Saddam was intending to build bridges with the world and then become the next Nobel Peace winner. Who knows?

I think the politics of the time were very different to today as armourment mobilization and military means were the predominant policy of most of the nations at the time. But i cant believe that there wasnt at least some negotiations and diplomacy via all those mentioned before who were sympathetic to Hitler like the Prince of Wales etc.

[Angus]

Originally Posted by StGeorge

Its unfortunate that we will never know. Same as we will never know whether Saddam was intending to build bridges with the world and then become the next Nobel Peace winner. Who knows?

I think the politics of the time were very different to today as armourment mobilization and military means were the predominant policy of most of the nations at the time. But i cant believe that there wasnt at least some negotiations and diplomacy via all those mentioned before who were sympathetic to Hitler like the Prince of Wales etc.

That is the beauty of revisionism - the "what might have been" if such and such course had been pursued. We can all be wise after the event. But it's still fascinating to debate.

To paraphrase Burke "All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing", which is basically what the British government did in the 1930s.

[StGeorge]

Originally Posted by angus58

That is the beauty of revisionism - the "what might have been" if such and such course had been pursued. We can all be wise after the event. But it's still fascinating to debate.

To paraphrase Burke "All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing", which is basically what the British government did in the 1930s.

I love that saying, and its a shame that when good men do actually do something, their motives are questioned and they are called criminals because they havent got the appropriate United Nations resolution bla bla bla.