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One wholly separate point, when do you think WW11 started?

I have never seen any photographs of Hitler eating chicken's feet..........Hence I'm sorry, it's a myth.

As for WWII, look no further than 1919. Woodrow Wilson's 14 points, the founding of the League of Nations and the lack of planning by Mr Wilson on the de-mobbing of the US Expeditionary Force.

14 Point/League of N, stopped France in particular from making a proper job of dismantling Germany's capacity to make war and allowed Adolf to spread the lie that Germany was never defeated and it was all the Jews fault on the home front. The de-mob debacle, led to the collapse of the US economy ( eventually ) riots across the States and eventual withdrawing into their shell with the policy of isolationism.

In addition the L of N allowed democratic governments across the world to believe somebody else would fight for them, hence the awful state of both the British and the US armed forces in the thirties. Poor old Neville has been slammed by piss poor historians for appeasement, but he was a WWI war hero (MC) and in no way a weak individual. He saw he needed to buy time to build from next to nothing forces ( RAF in particular) to challenge the coming tide.

In the East ? Well, we all know how good the L of N was at stopping Japanese expansionism.

Yes, my dear American friends on the Board, 1919 not your finest hour in the global sense ( 1956 only slightly better ).

Edited to add: 1919 also saw the emergence of the US as a global super power able to politically dictate to the old European powers who to a man were virtually bankrupt from WWI debt ( to the US )

People born after Hitler died are now reaching retirement age.

Soon there will be few of us left who lived through that era, and all memory will be confined to history books and lousy movies.

The youth of China wants heroes and leaders and all they have is bureaucrats and apparatchiks. Of course they will look abroad for their idols and Hitler had a very compelling message - even if it was so very misguided.

Who should they look to - Ghengis Khan? He was a local-boy-made-good.

As for WWII, look no further than 1919.

A good post s', but not what I thought people would post regarding the sub topic, some might say 1939, others 1941, I never thought of 1937 and never even thought that it might be related to 1919.

Although, it is well written Hitler worked on the fact that Germany wasn't military defeated in the first WW, just let down by politicians.

Have to add to 1919, in the mid-thirties both the French and believe it or not the Czechs had powerful military arms, more than capable of stoping Adolf. The Frogs had the best ( and most numerous ) tanks in the west, a huge standing Army, the world's largest submarine, the list goes on.........

However what they did have in addition, was a geriatric General Staff who believed they could withstand the German thrusts from giant fortifications a la Verdun. The " Limoges " always the downfall of the dear old Froggy.

These European powers could and should have stopped young Adolf in his tracks ( if they would have shown any fight fairly well documented his own General Staff would have overthrown the little corporal by themselves ). We ( the Brits ) were spread too thinly losing our Empire, and had little political will to maintain a force large enough in the European theatre to make a difference. However, the Royal Navy and in particular the Merchant Marine, were still the finest in the world. Hence Adolf like his forbears before him, had to push for Antwerp ( the key to the Western European theatre ) to have a port good enough to get his fleet to see without being blockaded by us Brits in his only ports available in the North Sea. Lack of access to the Ocean always the Jerry's Achilles heel. Can't have an empire if you can't get your little boaties in the ogin.

Adolf thought we Brits would eventually see his point of view and fight the jolly Russki as brother master races hand in hand. Ooops. Never going to happen, as the invasion of Belgium gave him the sea access he desired and an access we could never let him have if we as we did then still believed we ruled the waves and had overseas possessions to protect. The inability to get to sea for a greater germanic Empire led him to look East..........fate sealed, WWII up and running.

The Japs...........? Island race, pretensions of Empire, no natural resources to speak of to fuel that desire bar a martial population........War.