Propaganda, Lebensraum, German imperialism
The myth of German imperialism was created and is upheld mostly by British born propaganda. The German Reich existed since 1871, after having defeated Napoleon III. Napoleon under the „threat“ of being surrounded by pro-German rulers in case that the Duke of Hohenzollern would climb on the Spanish throne had declared war against Germany in 1870. That must be kept in mind re evaluating how the Reich felt threatened after the French-Russian alliance treaty, which explicitly aimed to draw the Reich into a two-front war. That German nightmare materialised when Russia mobilised her troops along the borders of Austria and the German Reich after Austria's declaration of war against Serbia. A two front war was regarded to be unwinnable by German military leaders. For this event the „Schlieffen plan“ was prepared, which gave the German army a 6 week period to beat France before the Russian army was fully mobilised along the German east borders. These events led to WWI. For having used a shortcut through Belgian territory in order to keep the timeline, the British empire declared war aginst Germany. However, the British empire not being bound to any treaty, had to justify their military engagement on the continent, not revealing their true interest, which was the doctrine of the „balance of powers“, mainly to avoid the formation of a european continental superpower. For this sake the myth of German imperialism was created. A few details: To foster the alleged German guilt on WWI, the „blanco cheque“ of the German Kaiser, given to Austria is quoted frequently. It allegedly meant unlimited backup of Austrian activities aginst Serbia. However, the Kaiser had answered on Austrian request, how the Reich would behave in case of an Austrian attack: „We will remember our old friendship and stand firm to our obligations from the treaty.“. The German-Austrian treaty forsaw any assistance only for the case of one member being attacked by France or Russia. Any other attacks, like an Austrian war against Serbia, did not lead to any contractual obligation for the Reich. That is what the Kaiser said to the Austrians. When the Russian army mobilised along the German east border, which was and is a valid war declaration, the WWI spiral commenced.
But not enough:
At the end of WWI the British empire upheld the total sea blockade against the Reich until September 1919, leading to the starvation of 800.000 German civilians. In September 1918, one English journalist, in an article titled "The Huns of 1940," wrote hopefully of the tens of thousands of Germans now in the wombs of famished mothers who "are destined for a life of physical inferiority“. The famous founder of the Boy Scouts, Robert Baden-Powell, expressed his satisfaction that the German race is being ruined; though the birth rate, from the German point of view, may look satisfactory, the irreparable harm done is quite different and much more serious." In early March 1919, General Herbert Plumer, commander of the British Army of Occupation, informed Prime Minister Lloyd George that his men were begging to be sent home; they could no longer stand the sight of "hordes of skinny and bloated children pawing over the offal" from the British camps. (1).
Interestingly those who were addressed, the generation born in 1918 and 1919, allegedly started WWII, which included atrocities resembling their own misery during their first years of life. Today that is called „re enactment of trauma“. The post WWI treaties had driven Germany into a full scale civil war. The threat from the innner was multipled by the invasion threats from surrounding states, having to be taken seriously with an army half the size of that of Swizzerland defending German territory. Paying reperations in undefined amounts for an event which had happened before their lifetime, took off the last rest of hope from this generation. WWII and the famous „Lebensraum“-philosophy did not mean to conquer the world, but to find room where life is possible at all. From this perspective there was no war which had to be started. There was always war around. For those born in 1918, war was meant to be ended, not to be started.
Regarding propaganda, even WWII shows some interesting similarities to WWI. It was started by a foul guarantee of the British empire towards Poland, which immediately cut negotiations about a rather simple topic: a motorway through former German territories towards areas, still in German possession.
After having invaded Poland, Fance having declared war against the Germans, nothing happened for eight months, a period known as the „phoney war“. Not until the RAF bombed German industrial plants in the Rhineland from French airbases, the Wehrmacht invaded the French neighbour. In the armistice between both countries it was fixed that the occupation would be time limited until a peace treaty is negotiated and the Germans had settled their difficulties with the British Empire. Not to give away that option, the British Expedition Force was left widely unharmed and was evacuated at Dunkerque. However the British doctrine of balance of powers again required a total defeat and again the USA were the willing helpers. The rest is known. For having let the BEF escape unmolested Germany was rewarded with aerial bombing and the destruction of Dresden. Until present billions of hours of intellectual worktime are wasted to justify those engagements.
Today almost nobody is discussing the 30- years -war or even WWI. WWII has left an open wound to society. WWII propaganda has left the postwar generation in a state of deception. Thats why we talk about it until today. That wound will not heal by adding more deception. Germans did not intend to take over the world or intend to do so – truth will.
