No D-day veterans on Normandy beaches as anniversary events cancelled
Official commemorations including small ceremony and flypast will be streamed online
www.theguardian.com
Fight fascism everywhere you see it, everyone.
76 years ago the Western Allies landed in Normandy to fight fascism
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www.theguardian.com
Fight fascism everywhere you see it, everyone.
Of 132,000 men who landed on the beaches there was 10,000 casualties, 2,500 dead. Of those that's 2,700 British, 6,693 Americans and 946 Canadians (correct me if more).
7,000 Vessels, 1,213 warships, 12,000 aircraft, and 23,000 airborne troops.
The invasion took place once the Allies had secured air superiority over all of Europe in the early spring of 1944. As the landing was going on aircraft blew up bridges, roads and more so that German reinforcements couldn't reach Normandy in time to push them off.
7,000 Vessels, 1,213 warships, 12,000 aircraft, and 23,000 airborne troops.
The invasion took place once the Allies had secured air superiority over all of Europe in the early spring of 1944. As the landing was going on aircraft blew up bridges, roads and more so that German reinforcements couldn't reach Normandy in time to push them off.
What's more sad is that new witnesses exist every single day around the world.
I wonder how they will get the public on board for 'invade all of europe again' without murdering many thousands of people
Yup always remember Pearl Harbor brought us into this and Hitler declared war on us for declaring war on Japan. There were fascist sympathizers literally here on Long Island or marching in Madison Square Garden.
Allies did some fascist stuff back then, too. See internment camps.
Yeah. Western front was also to prevent Soviets from conquering whole of Europe (and spreading communism with them).
Peak Harbor just formalized it. The US was involved in the war long before Pearl, being essentially the bread basket of the allies and raising a modern army to fight the axis.
For some parts of the world, the Allies had been the ones who had been maintaining colonial oppression.
Soviets had over two times more divisions at the front at the end of the war than western allies. Quick victory would had been impossible and it would have turned to total war between western allies and Soviet Union. Nobody had stomach for that.
U.S: We fight fascist, but we also plant fascist states in democratically elected governments we don't like.
This is so pedantic. Did the fascist leader not facilitate nearly every hostile action they took with unchecked dictatorial authority? Functioning democracies don't invade their neighbors unprovoked. The lack of checks and balances allowed Hitler to proceed on his warpath, so call it a chicken and egg scenario if you want, but fascism is the reason the world went to war.
2020 is one for the <checks notes> Book of Eli, Archives beneath the Planet of the Apes, shopping carts on The Road and for the Aliens* at the end of Speilberg's AI to ponder.
* They're aliens tho. They have a UFO, are exploring Erf and are shaped like that same director's aliens.
* They're aliens tho. They have a UFO, are exploring Erf and are shaped like that same director's aliens.
Some interesting takes here, but the US began participating in the war effort prior to Pearl Harbor. The isolationist movement certainly slowed us down, but not entirely.
en.m.wikipedia.org
en.m.wikipedia.org
There was certainly a lot of appraisal of figures like Mussolini and Hitler for their strength against the tides of communism, and their war crimes certainly weren't the basis of our intervention, but we did pick a side and that would have never been the Nazis given their aggression toward our valued allies .
Allied occupation of Iceland - Wikipedia
Atlantic Charter - Wikipedia
There was certainly a lot of appraisal of figures like Mussolini and Hitler for their strength against the tides of communism, and their war crimes certainly weren't the basis of our intervention, but we did pick a side and that would have never been the Nazis given their aggression toward our valued allies .
LMAO, yea, they only invade people of color's countries at least one sea away.
It's a shame our current POTUS thinks there were some very good people on those beaches.
Yeah, Nazi Germany is as close to a clean villain history's had in most conflicts. A genuine example of the absolute depravity that we're capable of as humans. There aren't many things that give me cold sweats but the gates at Auschwitz do that to me.
Yeah, Nazi Germany is as close to a clean villain history's had in most conflicts. A genuine example of the absolute depravity that we're capable of as humans. There aren't many things that give me cold sweats but the gates at Auschwitz do that to me.
Absolutely. That's why it's frankly shameful to see so many people quoting that in a time where the world is being gripped by a new wave of fascism and effectively saying, 'was fascism really the problem tho?' of course it was. Fascism fucking sucks.
Let me phrase it another way, if the Axis did not harm the allies, the allies would not attack them regardless of how facist they were.
I'm not belittling the allies, the Axis were definitely evil and definitely needed to be stopped, and I'm grateful the allies did, and they were heroes for doing so. I think it is heroic to protect one's family and country from real and deadly threats like Nazis. You don't have to pretend they did it to fight for democracy or to destroy fascism.
They fought against facists, and facism was one of their enemies greatest tools but they wouldn't have any qualms allying with a facist state if it suited them.
Im not sure the US soldiers invading Normandy where against segregation back home.
That reminds me of something I learned about a while ago. After World War 1, Japan pushed for something called the Racial Equality Proposal to be added to the Treaty of Versailles. It held for all members of the League of Nations to be treated as equal regardless of race or nationality.
The proposal wasn't really altruistic in nature. Japan wanted itself to be recognized on the world scale, and the world scale was dominated by European, so they wanted to be recognized by Europeans to satisfy their inferiority/superiority complex.
The majority of the League of Nations supported the proposal. The British Empire, the United Stated, Portugal, Romania, and Belgium didn't - although they didn't explicitly vote against it. The chairman overturned it, claiming strong opposition.
Bear in mind that this was before the Civil RIghts movement in the US and the Indian independence movement in British-occupied India. The US was under a segregationist president.
Japan's propaganda during World War 2 often included attacks on Western imperialism and racism - again as a front for their desire to be recognized, probably a factor for their military ambitions. This can be seen in the idea of the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere". Originally, the idea had been proposed by an anti-militaristic academic, essentially viewing all of Asia coming together and cooperating, throwing off the yokes of European intervention in the region. In practice, it was co-opted by the military, and used to claim that they were uniting all of Asia against Western imperialism - by replacing it with Japanese imperialism.
So you could probably respond to "why did Pearl Harbor even happen" with "because the Allies were racist" and you wouldn't be entirely wrong; it fed both the militaristic desire and the rhetorical justification that Japan held in World War 2.
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"the Axis could've been perfect democracies" so fundamentally changes the premise of what you're talking about though. Yes, the Allies invaded Normandy to protect their interests. Those interests happened to be survival and staving off further Nazi invasion.
There would've been steam rolling. Arguably one of the worst decisions Hitler made was to invade the USSR. The Germans were decimated by the attempt and, if there was any interest among the allies to attack the Soviets at some point, the German failure to do so made clear how stupid that would be.
There were certainly isolationists and Nazi sympathizers in America, but they weren't dominating the country. A majority of the public supported joining the war for more than a year before Pearl Harbor.
Agreed. There is no "Good" side of a conflict, but definitely Hitler and the Nazi army are probably the closest ever in history to be the essential "Evil" side of a conflict.
Exactly that. The US was knee deep from a materiel standpoint and had already participated in several engagements.
A "Neutral" Power? – American Involvement in WW2 Before Pearl Harbor - MilitaryHistoryNow.com
“Despite Washington’s official position of neutrality, in the weeks and months leading up to Dec. 7, 1941, American forces clashed with the Germans and Japanese.” THE JAPANESE SURPRISE attack on Pearl Harbor may have officially propelled...
militaryhistorynow.com
Well followed up.
People have to realise the Allies were not White Knights fighting for solidarity, equality and justice. It was Realpolitik. They were Facists as well, just a more diluted form than Hitler.
Look at how Left Wing politics were massacred in America in the decades leading up to World War 2.
If Hitler stayed within German borders, would the German Jews have ever been rescued? It's a poignant thought.
Exactly. Fascism needs to be disassociated with being exclusively seen as "EXTREME FAR RIGHT" in peoples minds. It's nuanced and not black and white, and most countries in history have been fascist and even to this day most countries in the World are fascist to some extent.
That's why trouble at Protests is so common, even in the "free West".
To be fair he said "functioning democracies".
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
More like fascists fighting other fascists. Especially the US. Fucking hate how americans tout themself as some kind of freedom fighters against fascism when it was the UDSSR that did most of the work. And they only joined the war once it hurt their own imperialist goals.
I've been to Normandy twice, seen the beaches, paid my respect to the fallen at the graveyard which is an endless ocean of crosses spanning as far as the eye can see. What hits me the hardest is seeing how young so many of the men were, so many senseless lives lost.. young boys in their 18 and early 20's who most likely had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Their sacrifice must never be forgotten, we owe everything to the men and women who fought against Nazi Germany. I hope I'll get to see Normandy again in 2024.
Not sure why point that out, because yes this include functioning democracies!
It was always crazy to me to learn of the tanks that were supposed to land on the beaches but never made it due to lack of foresight.
There's actually an enormous comedy of errors during WWII from pearl harbor and not listening to radar men due to pride, lining up planes due to racism and other lack of foresight. And France not ending the war before the blitzkrieg (they had the opportunity) because their general's refused to believe their scouts were right about the Germans getting there far sooner than they predicted. Because general's know best you stupid scouts. Don't challenge authority.
There's actually an enormous comedy of errors during WWII from pearl harbor and not listening to radar men due to pride, lining up planes due to racism and other lack of foresight. And France not ending the war before the blitzkrieg (they had the opportunity) because their general's refused to believe their scouts were right about the Germans getting there far sooner than they predicted. Because general's know best you stupid scouts. Don't challenge authority.
World War Two channel on YouTube is covering WW2 week by week, same guys behind it as for similar series about WW1: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP1AejCL4DA7jYkZAELRhHQ/videos
They are still years away from this point of the war, but very quality stuff so definitely worth of watch if interested in WW2 history!
Edit: Channel for that WW1 series: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar/videos
They are still years away from this point of the war, but very quality stuff so definitely worth of watch if interested in WW2 history!
Edit: Channel for that WW1 series: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar/videos
Let's take a moment to remember that Britain fed itself through the war and went through it not just due to "British wartime spirits" but also by starving India. 3 million people died of hunger and Churchill blamed it on Indians "breeding like rabbits"
Bengal famine of 1943 - Wikipedia
The romaticisation of the two wars as some pure heroic war on evil is really disconcerting and rose tinted glasses stuff. The young soldiers and civilians who died in it deserve recognition and respect but the war itself doesn't....especially the first war (which would inevitably lead to circumstances that caused the 2nd war through the massively unfair Treaty of Versailles).
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