November, 2005.indd

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November, 2005.indd

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

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• Publié par: ojuhyfub
• Nombre de lectures: 97
• Langue: Français
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

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page one

November O 2005 LD NEWS $ 3.75 Churchill Expects Trouble from Nazis by Brenda Ralph LewisThe handful of people who agreed told Parliament: “The removal of the be privy to state secrets because he In July of 1932,Winston Spencer just grievances of . . . the vanquished with Churchill included members was not a cabinet minister—he had Churchill visited Bavaria in southern [Germans] ought to precede the disar- of the British intelligence service, not headed any ministry since 1929. Germany to conduct historical mament of the victors. . . . [To disarm] whose agents discovered in 1933 He nevertheless obtained a detailed research. Churchill, a British while those grievances remain unre- that the Nazis were defying the ban analysis of the Nazis’ plans for their politician and author, was writing a dressed would be almost to appoint on weapons imposed on them at air force when a British army intel- biography of his ancestor the first the day for another European war—to Versailles. The Nazis were secretly ligence officer, Major Desmond Duke of Marlborough, who had led fix it as if it were a prize fight.” building a new war machine, including Morton, illegally gave him classified his forces to victory in Bavaria at the Churchill’s recommendations were an air force, which had been specifi- documents. Later, Churchill got Battle of Blenheim in 1704. not popular in Britain, which was in a cally forbidden under the treaty. The more information about the German During his visit Churchill became pacifist mood. Few people, including British government, committed to military buildup from other British alarmed by events in Germany. politicians, shared his belief that disarmament, did nothing to counter civil servants and military officers Bavaria was the home of the Nazi Hitler was a serious threat to peace, this threat. who were so disturbed by their Party, whose leader, Adolf Hitler, was and they favored continuing repa- Churchill was not supposed to government’s pacifist policies that promoting an agenda of militarism, rations to punish Germany for the autocracy, and racist violence towards damage she had caused in the First minorities such as Jews and Gypsies. World War. To Churchill’s dismay, Hitler At the end of January of 1933, had become very popular among Adolf Hitler succeeded in grasping Germans who were angry over the national power, becoming chancellor terms of the Treaty of Versailles, of Germany. For Churchill, this turn which had ended the First World War of events made his warnings even in 1919. The treaty was forcing the more urgent, but he found himself Germans to pay crippling reparations a solitary voice in the political that were harming their economy, wilderness. He was dismissed as an causing widespread unemployment alarmist warmonger by politicians and poverty. At Nazi rallies, Hitler from his own Conservative party, as whipped up Germans to a frenzy well as by opponents in the Liberal with speeches in which he promised and Labour parties. to avenge Versailles and to restore Churchill’s doom-laden message Germany to wealth and power. seemed preposterous to many Britons Churchill feared that if Hitler and the who thought that the chief threat to Nazis ever took control of Germany, democracy in Europe came not from they would not only terrorize many of the Nazis, but from the Communist their fellow Germans, but also launch party that had seized power in military attacks against neighboring Russia after a bloody revolution countries. in 1917. There was a widespread As a member of the British belief in Britain that the virulently parliament, Churchill hoped to anti-communist Nazis would serve use his influence to weaken Hitler. as a bastion against the spread of He returned to London and began communism. making speeches urging the British Churchill was unfazed by the government to take immediate action enmity his anti-Nazi stance attracted. to neutralize the Nazi threat. He His character was well suited to advocated that Britain—which had fighting a lone battle and defying reduced military spending after World any brickbats that came his way in War I—rebuild its forces to discourage the course of it. He was a thorough- German aggression. He also recom- going maverick. Stubborn and self- mended that Britain undercut Hitler assured, even arrogant, he was the politically by softening the harsh sort of character who attracted either terms of the Treaty of Versailles. devotion and admiration or hatred Winston Churchill as prime minister of the United Kingdom during World In November of 1932, Churchill and jealousy. War II. Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museum.