Dunkirk evacuation

[Craig4]

Dunkirk? Come on. It was a defeat, but with the effects somewhat diminished by the bold and daring rescue mission.

Hans

That's probably the best way to describe it, a defeat followed by a successful rescue mission.

 

[ddt]

The biographical record of this leader of a "civilian administration", who was finally executed for crimes against humanity, indicates that Hitler was incapable of displaying solicitude, even when it was in his interests to do so.

Oh, that idea quickly went south, but Seyss-Inquart started out with a charm offensive and little in the way of oppression - except of course against the Dutch Jews who were removed from their government jobs within a few months.

 

[KDLarsen]

A damned sight less harshly than he treated the Poles or the Czechs. ISTR, also, that Denmark was given particularly light-handed treatment, to the extent that it wasn't till 1942 that the Nazis started arresting and deporting Danish Jews.

1943 and even then, high ranking German officials made sure that the Jews were given as much advanced warning as possible.

It's always been interesting to watch the public debate on the occupation of Denmark, especially as of late. Most politicians still condemn the policies of Prime Minister Scavenius, despite the fact that most historians agree that it was the only way to keep Denmark from suffering the worst of the war.

 

[TX50]

"We must be careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations."

Winston Churchill, 4th June 1940

 

[Hubert Cumberdale]

Part of the reason why it went so smoothly was Hitler ordering a stop.....

Hitler did not issue any stop orders. At this stage of the war, he wasn't about interfering with military decision making except at the highest level.

The stop order(s) were issued by Von Rundstedt for sound reasons.

 

[fuelair]

Sure. It's an argument that only makes sense knowing what was to come.

You could have coexisted with Imperial Germany, and avoiding most of WWI is a benefit in its own right, but the real value lies in no Hitler, no Holocaust, arguably no Soviet Union....

And a lot more men alive to produce children who might be able to fight in WWII. Though not predictable at the time.....

 

[thesplund]

Evan if we could have somehow avoided getting entangled in 1939, Italian expansion into North Africa would have inevitably drawn us into the war.

 

[Craig B]

Evan if we could have somehow avoided getting entangled in 1939, Italian expansion into North Africa would have inevitably drawn us into the war.

Can you justify that suggestion? The Italian colony of Libya had been in its possession since taken from the Ottomans in 1911; and absent a pre-existing state of war with France and the UK it seems improbable that Italy would have encroached on Tunisia or Egypt. Likewise it doesn't seem plausible that Italy would have attacked neighbouring territories in an attempt to expand its possessions in Ethiopia, unless already at war with the colonial powers.

 

[Border Reiver]

Can you justify that suggestion? The Italian colony of Libya had been in its possession since taken from the Ottomans in 1911; and absent a pre-existing state of war with France and the UK it seems improbable that Italy would have encroached on Tunisia or Egypt. Likewise it doesn't seem plausible that Italy would have attacked neighbouring territories in an attempt to expand its possessions in Ethiopia, unless already at war with the colonial powers.

Given Mussolini's propensity to attack when he felt that the other European powers were distracted, probably unable to mount a significant defence and therefore give him a bit of the international spotlight that the parvenu from Austria was hogging (the Italian contribution to the fall of France, and Italy's Albanian/Yugoslavian adventure spring to mind) I think it quite likely that if it looked like Germany was likely to win the war against Great Britain and the Commonwealth, that Italy would have launched an attack on British holdings in the Med if for nothing else then to ensure they got a seat at the table when said holdings were being distributed to the victors.

 

[dudalb]

BTW, we now have a full trailer for the upcoming Christpher Nolan film. Looks impressive.