| 73. "The French are trouble-makers; the Germans are really peaceful at heart." Who started the war anyway ? Who started the "trouble-making" ? The facts prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that the French wanted peace. From 1918 to 1939, they pleaded for peace, argued for peace, built for peace. Their army, their equipment, their fortifications, their entire military strategy was devoted to a war of defense. The Germans invaded France in 1870 ; the Germans invaded Belgium and France in 1914 ; the Germans invaded Poland and Czechoslovakia in 1939. Three wars started by the same nation in seventy years. This is strange conduct for a "peaceful" people. Incidentally, one of the most effective propaganda weapons the Nazis used, from 1933 to 1939, and one which pulled the wool over the eyes of a lot of gullible people, was the constant cry: "We Germans want peace. We will never go to war. Our aims in Europe are satisfied." The Japs said they wanted peace in 1931 - and they invaded Manchuria. The Germans said they wanted peace in 1938 - and they grabbed Austria. Mussolini said Italy wanted peace in 1935 - and invaded Ethiopia. Germany promised the world peace again in 1938, after the Munich agreement - and then invaded Czechoslovakia. It's all reminiscent of the story of the two drunks. The first kept beating his friend on the head with a club, wailing all the while: "You're my pal, my buddy, my best friend, and I love you." And the second replied tearfully, "I believe you -- but you have such a funny way of showing it." |