Is Tomorrow Hitler's? 200 Questions on the Battle of MankindKnickerbocker, H. R. (Hubert Renfro)
History
Is Tomorrow Hitler's? 200 Questions on the Battle of Mankind
Knickerbocker, H. R. (Hubert Renfro)
Europe -- Politics and government -- 1918-1945; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945 -- United States
A. Yes, he has set it forth very clearly in his “Letter to America”
published in _Collier’s_ magazine, where his principal ideas are
summed up, without any omission save the fact of his contempt for
the democracies and his admiration for the totalitarian system. It
runs as follows: England and France have only themselves to blame for
their defeat. (He takes for granted that England is defeated.) First,
because they did not make a reasonable adjustment with Germany while
there was still time. Second, because they made the Versailles treaty
too harsh to appease Germany and too lenient to hold her down. Third,
because when Germany rose under Hitler they did not take advantage of
the last chance to stop him when they could, at his reoccupation of the
Rhineland in 1936. They were always too late, and now we in America are
too late to stop him. We are unarmed and unable to fight. We have not
as many thoroughly modern fighting planes in our Army and Navy combined
as Germany produces in a single week. “If we enter the war now, it
would mean humiliation and defeat.” It is impossible for us to invade
Europe. On the other hand, it is impossible for Germany to invade us.
They cannot invade us by air over Greenland because it is too cold, nor
by way of South America because it is too far, and the South Americans
with our aid could prevent them from constructing landing fields. We
can stay out of the war, make ourselves impregnable, and afterward
force other nations to trade with us. That should be our policy.
Counterattacking, he demands to know if we enter the war, first, how
are we to defeat Germany? Second, how are we to “impose our ideology”
on our enemies? Third, what would it cost to win the war in American
lives and how long would the war last? Fourth, what are our war aims?
But he always comes back to the question: “How could we win the war if
we entered it?”
Q. _How can we win?_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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