FIERCE BATTLE OF TANKS RAGES AT ST. QUENTIN; CHURCHILL WARNS BLOW AT BRITAIN IS COMING (5/20/40)

Microfiche-New York Times archives, McHenry Library, U.C. Santa Cruz | 5/20/40 | G.H. Archambault, Raymond Daniell, George Axelsson, P.J. Philip, James MacDonald, Guido Enderis

[Homer_J_Simpson]

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

[BroJoeK]

PAR35: "Here’s my comment that touched off the exchange:

“No, even after the crushing defeat of France, Hitler never sought the return of the European German territories given to France after the first World War."

That entire exchange began here:

Previous discussion relating to Buchanan's book The Unnecessary War

My original point was the following:

• "Buchanan claims Hitler did not want war with France & Britain, he simply wanted to restore Germany to its pre-Versailles (1918 Brest Litovsk Treaty) borders.
  But that would also mean those parts of France which Germany conquered -- and in which Corporal Hitler had served -- during the First World War.
  Such an outcome would have converted its Great War defeat into total victory -- an outcome which millions of young French and Brits had died to prevent.

  "Such an outcome was unthinkable to Neville Chamberlain, and to any reasonable person since."

To which you responded:

"No, even after the crushing defeat of France, Hitler never sought the return of the European German territories given to France after the first World War.

"Hitler did seek the return of the German colonies split up among the winners.

"Much of the carnage of World War II in Western (and even Central) Europe could have been avoided if the west had done two things -

1. forced the Poles into accommodating the demands of Germany for free access to Danzig and
   
2. a common front against the true enemy, and
3. more importantly, put aside (with the American elite) the antisemitism that prevented giving refuge to the Jews."

Eventually it all boiled down to the definition of the word "annex" -- did Hitler actually "re-annex" Alsace-Lorraine, or did it somehow keep another status, not part of Germany?

I maintain there was no need for Hitler to formally "annex" Alsace-Lorraine, because legally that was already accomplished -- simply by abrogating the Versailles Treaty, which had given Alsace-Lorraine back to France.

But regardless of legal niceties, Alsace-Lorraine was certainly ruled from Berlin during the period of German occupation.

And the importance of today's story is that it shows Hitler did indeed re-annex those former German territories given to Belgium by the Versailles Treaty.

Which validates my original point, highlighted above.

[CougarGA7]

Of all things. I forgot to post this yesterday.

Here's this weeks issue of LIFE. Some pretty good stuff in here including an article on Weygand which is what we were talking about in the first place.