German Aggression Quotes
The then Attorney General had established a back channel to the Russian agent. There was genuine fear by the Russians and some in America that there were still many Nazis and German nationalists who would try and influence, if not take over, German politics to produce another aggressive German fascist state. The Russians had lost 22 million citizens to the Germans in the war and had faced a defeated Germany where virtually every German over the age of 30 had been cheering for and supporting Hitler a decade ago. Neither the Russians nor we and the other allies had not yet seen the remarkable turn-around that the German nation would make and the intense anti-fascist, non-military ethos that would be brought by the younger German generations. The direction of Germany was then very unpredictable.
Poland and most other European Governments and their people were very fearful of a strong Germany with WWII always present in their memories. However, at this time the Conservative German government had very passive policies with respect to the European Community and some German leadership and activism was thought necessary by many leaders of Europe. Germany was one of the strongest economies in Europe and without the WWII legacy of aggression would normally be expected to be more of a European leader.
Wilson did not threaten Germany when they invaded Belgium in WWI. TR thought Wilson “soft”. He entered the war 3 years later only after the Germans had torpedoed two American passenger liners. The Germans were hoping to keep America out of the war. TR would have threatened Germany at the beginning, and if they did not withdraw from Belgium, he would have sent American troops. Wilson was not sure public opinion would support American entry into the war, even after our first ship was sunk by German U-boats. It took two. Roosevelt, as he said in the letter, the American people would have followed him. He was probably right as his public popularity was very high and he had remarkable leadership skills. He did not assess public opinion. He made public opinion. Theodore Roosevelt, George Washington, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt are probably the only 3 American Presidents who had the trust and leadership ability to lead the country into a major war where we were not attacked first without lying as to the circumstances and the danger. President Clinton honestly led the country into the Balkan war, but it was to be an air war only with no soldiers fighting on the ground. It was a significant war that we won and did not lose a single fighter.
and later wife. Stevenson is describing the German foreign minister’s behavior at Versailles and Lloyd George’s angry reaction.
This was written after the war when Germany was divided into four parts, later to become East and West Germany. German historical and cultural aggression and militarism, most policy makers feared, would cause more war if Germany was unified and allowed to become a strong state. NATO and The European Union became the federations that Kennan was seeking. And Germany underwent a radical cultural and political change.
