Chapter 27 Chapter 5 Defend against powerful enemies together 1

1 Public opinion surveys can be said to be a product of the United States in the 1930s, because the "sampling survey" originally in the field of commodity market research has only officially extended into the political field since 1936 when Gallup (George Gallup) began.Among the various public opinions collected based on this new technology in the early stage, there will be one result that may surprise the previous US presidents before Roosevelt and readers who were born after World War II. In January 1939, a survey was conducted with the question "If there was a war between Germany and the Soviet Union, which side do you want to win?" Among the American people who were asked, 83% said that they hoped that Soviet Russia would win, and only 17% supported Germany (Miller , 1989, pp. 283-284).In this century with the confrontation between the two camps of capital and communism as the keynote, in the confrontation between the communist camp headed by the Soviet Union that promoted the anti-capitalist spirit of the October Revolution, and the anti-communist capitalist camp led by the United States and set an example, American public opinion Isn’t it strange that Scheid chose the Soviet Union, not only did not support Germany, which was firmly anti-communist politically, but was recognized as capitalist economically, but expressed sympathy for the homeland of the world revolution, or at least was quite biased?What's more, at that time, Stalin was acting perversely in the Soviet Union, and most people believed that it was the worst time of his tyranny.

This period of public opinion history between Shed and the Soviet Union is naturally an exception in history, and it was quite short-lived. Until the official confrontation with the enemy.But to be more precise, it should only include the 10 years from 1935 to 1945.In other words, the scope of this period coincides with the rise and fall of Hitler's Germany (1933-1945, see Chapter 4).Against this background, the United States and the Soviet Union shared common goals, and both sides believed that Germany was a far more serious threat to them than the other. The reason why the United States and the Soviet Union had this kind of understanding at that time was really beyond the scope of traditional international political relations or power politics.And because of this, it is of great significance for countries to cooperate vertically and horizontally and fight hand in hand to win World War II.The real main reason why the countries united against Germany in the end is that what the German side did was not just an eagerness to find justice for itself under the premise of the unfair treatment of the last war.Germany's policies and ambitions are in fact completely swayed by a unique ideology - simply put, Germany is a fascist power at all.On the contrary, if fascism is skipped and the business calculations of real power politics are ignored, it can be done reluctantly.Therefore, under this background, the attitudes of various countries towards Germany, whether they are opposition, softness or confrontation, or even war or peace when necessary, all depend on the national policy of the country concerned and the overall situation.In fact, between 1933 and 1941, all major players in the international political arena basically treated Germany according to this principle.Therefore, the authorities in London and Paris blindly appease Germany (that is, make concessions to the generosity of others).Moscow also reversed its previous position of confrontation with Germany and changed to neutrality in order to recover something on its homeland.Even Italy and Japan, although they formed an alliance with Germany based on common interests, discovered the benefits in 1939. They might as well wait and see for a while, so as not to get involved in the first phase of World War II.But in the end, the result of the evolution of facts proved that everyone was not immune to the logic behind Hitler's launch of this war.Italy, Japan, and the United States have been dragged into the water one after another.

So in the 1930s, the general trend became more and more obvious as time passed, and the balance of international (mainly European) forces became more and more a big question mark.The political problems of Western countries—from the Soviet Union to Europe and the United States—can no longer be explained simply by the competition and confrontation between countries.Today's conflict must be explained in terms of a comprehensive international struggle between peoples and peoples (however, as can be seen from Chapter 7, the ideological perspective cannot explain the colonialism in Asia and Africa. political situation), and the development of facts has also proved that this is an internal civil war, and the distinction between the enemy and the enemy is not the so-called confrontation between capitalism and the social revolution of the Communist Party at that time, but a decisive battle between two opposing consciousness camps: one side It is the ideological tradition that has been inherited since the Enlightenment in the 18th century and many great revolutions (including the Russian Revolution, of course); the other side is the number one enemy of this revolutionary thought.To put it simply, the front line of the war between the two sides is not the struggle between capitalism and communism, but a desperate battle that, if we go back to the 19th century, will draw the line between "progressive" and "reactionary".It's just that in the 1930s, these two terms were no longer as applicable as they were then.

This is an international all-out war because it provokes the same set of problems within most of the West.This is also a civil war of the people against the people, because the forces for and against fascism span every human society.Never before has the so-called natural allegiance of a nation to its state and government—that is, patriotism—occupied so little importance.By the end of World War II, among the original European countries, the leadership of at least ten countries had changed, and the successors were at the beginning of the war (some, like Spain, at the beginning of the civil war) belonged to the opposition party or were in political exile. Even if the situation is not so extreme, at least these new powers are also a group of people who think that the previous government of the country is immoral or illegitimate.Men and women, often from the core of the political class in each country, chose the path of allegiance to communism (i.e. the Soviet Union) rather than to their homeland.Hence the so-called "Cambridgespies" - or from a more practical point of view, the Japanese Sorge spy network , but two of many examples.On the other hand, the term "quisling" - derived from the name of a Norwegian Nazi - was invented to describe the idea-based identities under Hitler's relentless aggression. , rather than a political figure who is purely greedy for life and afraid of death, willing to be the enemy's running dog.

This paradox is true even for those who are motivated by pure patriotism rather than global ideology.Because traditional patriotism is now split into two.Conservatives who adhered to the imperial spirit and strongly opposed communism, such as Churchill, and those with a deep-rooted Catholic reactionary background, such as de Gaulle, now chose to fight Germany.The reason why this type of people are anti-German is not because they have always been hostile to fascism; but because they have a certain "view" about the role and status of their own country in their hearts.Even in this category, however, the object they are striving for is a "civil" war at the international level; for their views on patriotism do not necessarily coincide with those of their government. Paris fell on June 14, 1940, and France began to seek peace on June 16, but de Gaulle went to London on June 18 to announce that "Free France" would continue to fight against Germany under his leadership.This action of his was actually a rebellion against the legal regime of France at that time.Not only had this government decided to end the war in accordance with the constitution, but its decision had the support of the vast majority of the French at the time.On the other side of the English Channel, Churchill, if faced with the same situation as de Gaulle, would have reacted in the same way.In fact, if the outcome of the war was a German victory, Churchill would have been condemned by his government for treason, just as the Russians who assisted Germany in fighting the Soviet Union during the war were condemned as traitors by their own country after 1945.In the same way, nations such as Slovakia and Croatia, under the wings of Hitler's Germany during the war, tasted the taste of national independence (although it was conditional independence) for the first time.Whether the leader of independence during the war is regarded as a patriotic hero by the people of the country, or a collaborator with fascism can only be determined by the ideological point of view: two completely different positions. Each has public support.

As a result, the hearts of the people in various countries were divided, and the reason why they finally merged into a comprehensive world war that was both an international war and a civil war was the rise of Hitler's Germany.To be more precise, the decisive key lies in the aggressive actions launched by Germany, Japan and Italy to annex other countries between 1931 and 1941.Hitler's Germany was the main force of aggression.Among the three countries, only Germany is the most blatantly ruthless, determined to destroy the institutions and value systems of "Western civilization" in the revolutionary era, and it is also the country most capable of carrying out its barbaric plans.So step by step, all countries that might become victims of the clutches of Germany, Japan and Italy watched these three aggressive powers, which were later called "axis forces", approach their iron hooves.At the end of the day, there is only one way out: war. Beginning in 1931, war seemed inevitable.As a popular saying at the time said, "fascism means war". In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, China, where it established a puppet regime. In 1932, Japan occupied Inner Mongolia and captured Shanghai. When Hitler took power in Germany in 1933, he was blatant and made no secret of his ambitious plans. A brief civil war broke out in Austria in 1934, and democracy was swept away and replaced by a semi-fascist regime.The biggest achievement of this regime was to resist Germany's ambition to annex; and with the assistance of Italy, it suppressed a Nazi coup that murdered the Austrian Prime Minister. In 1935, Germany announced the abolition of the World War I peace treaty, reappeared as a powerful army and navy, and (by means of a referendum) recaptured the Saar region on the western border of Germany. Withdraw from the League of Nations.In the same year, Mussolini also attacked Ethiopia with an attitude of contempt for international public opinion, and in 1936-1937, conquered and occupied the country as a colony.Following this act of aggression, Italy followed the example of Germany and tore up its League of Nations membership card. In 1936, Germany regained the Rhineland, and Spain, with the open assistance and intervention of Germany and Italy, launched a military coup, which opened the prelude to the Spanish Civil War-we will describe more in the next section.As a result, the two major powers of fascism entered into a formal alliance, namely the "Rome-Berlin Axis".At the same time, Germany and Japan signed an "Anti-Communist Pact" (Anti-Comintern Pact). In 1937, as expected, Japan launched an invasion of China. From then on, the Sino-Japanese all-out war did not end until 1945. In 1938, Germany also felt that the time for aggression was ripe, and annexed Austria first in March without any military resistance.Then, under successive intimidation, the Munich agreement in October finally ceded Czechoslovakia. Without any military conflict, most of the country's territory was transferred in a "peaceful" way and merged into Hitler's Germany; as for the remaining Parts, and also all, were occupied by Germany in March 1939.And Italy, which had been standing still for several months and had never shown its imperial wolf ambitions, was greatly encouraged by this and sent troops to occupy Albania.A Polish crisis followed, and Europe was paralyzed again by German territorial claims. The European War of 1939-1941 broke out and evolved into the Second World War.

In addition to the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany as a major factor, there is another reason why the political entanglements of various countries eventually developed into an international network: that is, the liberal democracies at that time were repeatedly weak and retreated to the point of lamentation (these country, which also happens to be the victor of World War II).They are neither capable nor willing to take any action against the enemy's attack, either alone or in a joint attack.We have seen earlier that it is precisely because liberalism is in jeopardy that fascism and totalitarianism have risen and their rhetoric flourished (see Chapter 4).So the two contrast each other, one side is full of confidence and ambition, and the other side is timid and afraid of giving in. The Munich Agreement in 1938 is the best portrayal of this situation.Since then, the word "Munich" has become synonymous with cowardly retreat in discussions of Western politics.The disgrace of the Munich Agreement was felt immediately, even by those who signed it.The source of this humiliation is not only because of giving Hitler a cheap victory, but also because of the fear of war held by everyone before signing the contract; The relief emotion of war.I heard that after the French Prime Minister Daladier signed the agreement to betray his allies, he said shyly: "It's crazy."He was ready in his heart to face the boos of his countrymen when he returned home.Unexpectedly, the crowd who greeted him not only did not boo, but the Parisians were excited and welcomed him back.Therefore, the reason why the Soviet Union was popular at that time, and the reason why everyone was unwilling to criticize the atrocities that occurred in its territory, was mainly because the Soviet Union insisted on opposing Nazi Germany.In contrast, compared with the hesitation of the Western world, the position of the Soviet side is significantly different.Therefore, when Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact in 1939, the shock was even greater.