A statue in Libya that stands as symbol of defiance of western authority.
Recently the United Nations (UN) Security Council agreed to establish a “no fly zone” over Libya. This was done in reaction to the military actions that the ruler of that country, Muammar Gaddafi, has been taking against his own people. Some of the Libyans are taking up arms against Gaddafi’s leadership. In turn he is bombing rebel cities, killing hundreds of civilians. A no fly zone, if rigorously executed, will prevent any planes from taking off in Libya and Gaddafi’s planes will not be able to attack the rebels.
The UN resolution has two purposes. First, it has an immediate effect of preventing innocent people from dying. But the larger and more important effect is that it signals to the world that brutal military tactics are not acceptable. The whole world, represented in the United Nations, has taken a stand against a ruthless dictator killing civilians.
Last month when the people of Egypt protested against their government many other people throughout the world began to think that they could do the same thing. All over South Central Asia (The Middle East) and North Africa people began to shout out against repressive governments. Some met with success and other, like the Libyans, faced a brutal backlash. Here in the United States we take the right to peaceably assemble and protest the government’s actions for granted. Many people questioned if we should get involved. With two wars going and a fiscal crisis it’s no wonder that we are hesitant.
During the Egyptian uprising we did not side with the pro American leader. We sided with the people of Egypt. We did this with out launching a single missile or sending a single soldier to fight in Egypt.
President Obama claimed that we Americans would be viewed as being on the right side of history. That is, we were not going to support ruthless people as they cling to power.
Hitler and Chamberlin shaking hands as they begin to work out the details of the Munich Pact.
Can you imagine what it would be like to be on the wrong side of history?
Think back to what the world was like in 1935. America was in the throws of the Great Depression. England and France were still recovering from the effects of World War One and the Soviet Union was picking up the pieces of a shattered society after their revolution. While all this was going on Hitler rose to power and began to ram up his war machine.
The League of Nations did little to stop the Germans. They did not stop the Nazis as the took over the Rhineland, a direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles. The League stood by as the Rome-Berlin Axis was formed and Germans and Italians aided the fascists in Spain. The French and English argued with the Germans as Hitler marched into Austria, but they did nothing to stop him.
By 1939 the allied nations (primarily France and Britton) got an agreement from the Axis powers. This “Munich Pact” laid out what parts of Europe the Germans could take and what parts they were to leave alone. Later that year Hitler violated the pact and took all of Czechoslovakia.
All along the way, from 1935 to 1939 the Allies looked the other way, or tried to make deals with Hitler. This practice was later called appeasement. Appeasement is the idea that if you give someone what they want they will stop being aggressive. That is like giving a bully your lunch money on Monday and expecting them to stop asking for money. It never works.
After the Germans took Czechoslovakia The Allies realized that no amount of appeasement would stop Hitler’s war machine. They drew a line in the sand and warned Hitler that if he invaded any more countries they would immediately declare war on Germany. Hitler did not believe them and invaded Poland. We mark the invasion of Poland as the beginning of World War Two.
Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Britton in the 1930’s wanted peace in Europe. He wanted to keep his country out of another costly and bloody war. He agreed to allow Hitler to conquer most of Eastern Europe so that England could be free. Every step of the way he, and his contemporaries in the League of Nations gave into Hitler to avoid War. The tried to appease the Germans desire for territory. In the end they failed. Today we see that they were on the “wrong” side of history.
Tags: Hitler, World War Two
