I want to point out some very important facts about World War II which are generally forgotten. Much is made of the NAZIs and how evil they were, but we forget that even Churchill also hated the communists. In fact, Churchill advocated after WWI that the West should invade Russia. Churchill was the one who decided to ally himself with the Soviets in order to crush the NAZIs which he saw as the greatest threat. Churchill mentioned that the Soviets were the lesser of two evils. What nobody points out is that the NAZIs were a great threat, not so much because of their ideology, but because they were so extremely successful. When war finally broke out, within 6 months, the Germans had invaded and conquered several countries, including France. The problem with Hitler and the NAZIs was that they were exceptionally effective. How else can one explain how a mere 80 million Germans ended up fighting all of Europe, Russia, Britain, America and the British Empire... and... they nearly won! How could the Germans fight almost 10 times their own number with such effectiveness? It should make you think hard.
Churchill hated the communists just as much, but I think for Churchill the real problem was that communism, while one could hate it, was actually quite weak. Communism destroyed its own host nation and so in the end communism wasn't such a threat. But NAZIsm was deadly. NAZIsm, if left unchecked, could probably have conquered the world if given a few decades. In terms of poison, communism was certainly more poisonous to the mind, but it lacked that energy which Hitler and the Germans unleashed. It lacked the military talent that some of the German generals had. Without the German generals, many of whom weren't even NAZIs, Hitler would never have got anywhere.
In Germany, the army officers, mostly of Prussian descent, really did not like Hitler. But it was really they who were the final talent that allowed the Germans to achieve what they did.
I once read a book by Fieldmarshall Erwin Rommel's aide. He made an interesting point. Rommel became very popular in Germany. Rommel did not like where the war was going and he and others plotted to assassinate Hitler. Rommel's aide mentioned something interesting that remained in my mind. He pointed out that Rommel had a plan of action of what he wanted to do when Hitler had been killed. His plan was to make peace with the Western world, and to then suggest to the Western world that they join Germany on the Eastern front and that they defeat the Soviets for once and for all to wipe out communism. Sadly, Rommel's plan to kill Hitler failed and Rommel was then told to either commit suicide or to be executed. Rommel chose suicide.
Many German officers really hated communism. And many German officers were not happy with the idea of going to war with Britain and America. Hitler, I am sure, was also stunned and emboldened by the fantastic successes of his military, which went far beyond what he had imagined was possible.
I knew nothing about General George Patton except that he was the commander of the most aggressive American army in Europe - and that he believed in reincarnation! Recently, a book was written suggesting that General Patton was murdered, possibly with the connivance of the US Govt and the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA. How accurate these claims are, I do not know. There may or may not be truth to some of it. I would not discount the idea completely, as you shall see.
I want to reproduce some pages from a popular book written some decades ago about Patton, and from which they made a movie. I will reproduce it because of the wording contained in it, which I think is most important.
But let me summarise: Patton was merely an American soldier fighting the enemy he was told to fight. So he fought the Germans and he called them names and said he wanted to crush them. And Patton fought with tremendous energy and motivation. When Patton reached Germany he and other senior army commanders were among the first to visit the concentration camps where they witnessed death and cruelty. It moved him and he wrote how terrible it was.
But then Patton met the Soviet officers, their allies, and it sent shockwaves through him. Patton developed an unbelievable hatred for these people. He called them "Mongolian apes" and he realised that he was looking at America's next enemy. And Patton realised that these were the people who America would have to fight in the next war. He knew his own country would demobilise so he said there was no point in waiting until America's army was down to 2 divisions. They must attack the Soviet Union NOW! Patton even started talking openly about creating incidents within 10 days which would give him the excuse he needed to attack the Soviet Armies.
And as Patton took charge of the Germans and looked at them, he said that America had fought the wrong enemy. He felt that the Germans had really had great potential. He actually felt sorry for them and was easy on them. Patton openly spoke about how the Americans should attack the Soviet Union and should forgive the Germans and ask the Germans to fight alongside them to destroy communism in the Soviet Union.
Patton's talk freaked out his superiors. They thought he was a mad man.
A friend of mine who has read the story of Patton, remarked to me that often, Patton was a man ahead of his time. Patton foresaw the Cold War long beforehand, and he wanted to solve the problem immediately while the American military was at the peak of its strength. And if Patton's plan had been followed and had worked, we might have been spared much pain across the world and in all of Eastern Europe decades ago, wouldn't we?
I think Patton was just a straight talking American. A man who loved his country, and who believed in what he was fighting for. He was a direct man, with no great airs, who said that which was on his mind. And what concerned him was what they had fought for, and whether what they had fought for would, first and foremost, be good for America, and secondly, whether it was the right moral thing.
Nobody has ever before mentioned that Erwin Rommel, a brilliant German military officer and George Patton, a brilliant American military officer, both, independently, thought and struggled (and perhaps even died for!), the same thing: That America and Germany should be aligned and should join together to destroy the Soviet Union and to rid Russia of the poison of communism for once and for all. Rommel died for his plan. If Patton was murdered, then he too died for his plan.
It was a plan that could have saved America, and much of the world, a lot of trouble. Could it have prevented China becoming communist? I don't know. But it could have saved several countries in Eastern Europe. It could have prevented Vietnam, and Cuba becoming communist. It could have prevented several wars in Africa and South America and in Asia. It could have prevented Middle Eastern terrorism. It might even have prevented among the recent wars we have, and future ones, like the trouble with Iran (because Russia sponsors Iran's nuclear ambitions).
It was a good plan then, and it still remains a good plan.