In our day there is such a blur of information coming from all directions. How does one make sense of it all? And yet, for those elected officials entrusted with the welfare and safety of millions in our nation, making sense and making decisions based upon that information is absolutely essential.
Lest this statement be seen as abstract, a vital lesson can be drawn from the history leading up to World War II. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's "Peace for our time" speech and the pact he signed with Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany is the prime example.
On September 30, 1938 (71 years ago now), Chamberlain returned from Munich after having agreed to the Munich Pact the day before. Standing before the Prime Minister's house at 10 Downing Street in London, he said,
On September 30, 1938 (71 years ago now), Chamberlain returned from Munich after having agreed to the Munich Pact the day before. Standing before the Prime Minister's house at 10 Downing Street in London, he said,
"We, the German Fuehrer and Chancellor and the British Prime Minister, have had a further meeting today and are agreed in recognizing that the question of Anglo-German relations is of the first importance for our two countries and for Europe.
"We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again.
"We are resolved the the method of consultation shall be the method adopted to deal with any other questions that may concern our two countries, and we are determined to continue our efforts to remove possible sources of difference, and thus to contribute to assure the peace of Europe.
"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time . . . Go home and get a nice quiet sleep."
A year later Germany invaded Poland, a clear violation of the Pact. Britain was forced to declare war on Germany. The German army had been building up for this since the time Hitler had signed the Pact a year before. The rest is history.
My forthcoming novel is set in the United States in the fall of 1939, during that very time when the British Empire has declared war on Nazi Germany. There is strong sentiment that the United States stay out of yet another European war. A little more than two years after that, on Dec. 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States was forced to declare war both on Japan and upon Nazi Germany, Japan's ally.
The lessons from this recent history for us all are many. Many of us have heard Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana's quote, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." We've also encountered Henry Ford's comment, "History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history we make today."
By the way, Henry Ford was awarded Germany's highest decoration for foreigners, the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, in July, 1938, on his seventy-fifth birthday.
A year later Germany invaded Poland, a clear violation of the Pact. Britain was forced to declare war on Germany. The German army had been building up for this since the time Hitler had signed the Pact a year before. The rest is history.
My forthcoming novel is set in the United States in the fall of 1939, during that very time when the British Empire has declared war on Nazi Germany. There is strong sentiment that the United States stay out of yet another European war. A little more than two years after that, on Dec. 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States was forced to declare war both on Japan and upon Nazi Germany, Japan's ally.
The lessons from this recent history for us all are many. Many of us have heard Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana's quote, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." We've also encountered Henry Ford's comment, "History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history we make today."
By the way, Henry Ford was awarded Germany's highest decoration for foreigners, the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, in July, 1938, on his seventy-fifth birthday.
"Peace in OUR time", who does not desire it? Only ONE peace that counts is available..."the peace that passes all understandng" - "being justified by faith, we HAVE peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ".
ReplyDeleteAnd in terms of poltiical peace, peace in this world, just who are the "Chamberlains" of our day?