This Week in History
By
Curtis James Hilton III
March 16-23
Hitler Orders the Rearmament of Germany
Hello everyone, this is my first entry in what will hopefully be a continuous and successful blog. My objective of this is to find an event in history every week that pertains to the world today and try to analyze and shed some light on how it affects us.
This week I will be discussing the rearmament of Germany under Hitler’s dictatorship, and the ongoing controversy in North Korea to compare how the situations are similar and why it is important to us now. On March 16, 1935 Adolf Hitler, who had at this point been in complete control of the German government since August 1934, violated the Treaty of Versailles by ordering the rearmament of the military and mandating conscription.[1] The treaty laid harsh punishments upon Germany, placing the blame for the start of the First World War on their shoulders, forcing them to disarm their military, concede any territories taken, and ordering payment of reparations of about 226 billion marks (or US $442 billion today). Many looked at this treaty as too aggressive and strict, most notably economist John Maynard Keynes who stated, “If we aim at the impoverishment of Central Europe, vengeance, I dare say, will not limp. Nothing can then delay for very long the forces of Reaction and the despairing convulsions of Revolution, before which the horrors of the later German war will fade into nothing, and which will destroy, whoever is victor, the civilisation and the progress of our generation.”[2] This could not have been truer, these restrictions allowed Hitler to play on German nationalism and promise the citizens of Germany to a rise back to power.
This German superiority ideology was fueled by the Nazi party’s relentless pro-German, anti-Jewish propaganda; Hitler took full power of the press and allowed nothing against his wishes to make it to film or print. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has recently broken The United Nations Security Council sanctions against arming and testing nuclear weapons.[3] He does this with the full support of the North Korean people who, just like the Germans under Hitler, are only allowed to see what propaganda Kim Jong-un allows. As recent as Monday, North Korea has released a propaganda video onto You Tube in which it shows a simulation of a nuclear attack on Washington.[4] Since the recent death of his father, Kim Jong-Il, his son has followed closely in his footsteps, continuing his father’s sungun or “military first” policy and denouncing the United Nations sanctions by continuing to build and test nuclear weaponry. Jong-un also follows in his father’s anti-American policy as well, making claims that South Korea is a “puppet of the American government” and has not allowed a South Korean into or out of the country freely since the end of the Korean War in 1953.[5]
While we all know of the travesties that took place in Germany during WWII perpetrated by the Nazi party, it is difficult to tell what exactly is going on in North Korea currently. There has been an effective media shield surrounding North Korea, allowing only what Kim Jong-un wants us to see (although we must keep in mind that for years most outsiders were unaware of how the Germans were treating people of the Jewish faith.) I’m not claiming there are mass executions happening inside North Korea, but if there were, how would we know? Only a few outsiders have been allowed into the country in the past few decades; most recently the odd request for Dennis Rodman to visit.[6] The occasional reporter will be allowed into the country and given a strictly guided tour showing how happy all the North Korean people are and how productive of a society they have; however, an unnamed reporter was recently taken off the beaten path on accident and was shown a different side of the regime. He states,
“Signs of hardship are evident even in the capital, Pyongyang. Commuters cram into decrepit electric buses, and pedestrians bow under huge bundles stuffed with goods for trade in private markets, which have eclipsed the ill-supplied state stores. Power shortages occur frequently. The pyramid-shaped, 105-story Ryugyong Hotel remains a shell nearly 25 years after construction began. Outside the city, other abandoned construction projects scar roads.”[7]
It is time we stopped ignoring problems that we know exist but do not see. The violation of the Treaty of Versailles was one of the major starting points for the Nazi party’s reign of terror, and some of the world’s greatest leaders at the time failed to see the importance of this action. Winston Churchill was in belief that the Germans had been violating the Treaty for years by buying arms from the Soviet Union. He had this to say on German rearmament and possible attack,
“That should not prove an insoluble conundrum. We are here five able-bodied men. The armoury at our disposal is not perhaps modern but none of us would be without a weapon. We should sally forth. I should venture to assume the responsibility of command. If the worst came to worst, we should sell our lives dearly. Whatever the outcome, I feel confident we should render a good account of ourselves.”[8]
In one paragraph Churchill acknowledges that a German attack would be detrimental, yet he shows little regard towards stopping it or preparing for it ahead of time.[9] The United Nations Security Council’s resolutions and sanctions are modern day forms of treaties, and the sanctions against North Korea are too similar to the Treaty of Versailles to go unnoticed. The German and North Korean people were and are both being feed lies from their governments to keep them complacent and docile, while shielding them from any outside exposure. These threats and behavior from North Korea need to be taken seriously, if not World War III won’t be fought with troops, it will be fought with nuclear weapons, and no one will win in that scenario.
[1] Adolf Hitler was made Chancellor in January 1933 in which he abandoned the former powers of the Chancellor position and was made far more powerful than anticipated, in March of the same year elections were held that allowed the Nazi party to retain control, then in July the government establishes the Law against the Founding of New Political Parties leaving Nazism as the only form of government in Germany. With Hindenburg’s death in August of 1934 Hitler was left as a sole power, though it is obvious he was in control far before his death.
[2] Keynes, John Maynard. The Economic Consequences of the Peace. (1919)
[3] UN Security Council Resolution 2094 –“Condemns in strongest terms North Korea’s ongoing nuclear activities. Imposes new financial sanctions to block transactions in support of illicit activities. Strengthens states’ authority to inspect cargo, deny port, overflight access. Enables stronger enforcement of sanctions by U.N. member states. Imposes sanctions on new individuals and entities.”
[4] This is a link to the North Korean video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd1qR66gcLQ, and here is a link to a Nazi military propaganda film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ8-9iy_YYs. The similarities are striking.
[5] The New York Times. North Korean News. (revised March 16, 2013).
[6] Dennis Rodman played professional basketball for 20 years and was known for his wild antics, late night partying, and the occasional cross-dressing; as well as being a beast on the boards, average 13.1 rebounds a game.
[7] The New York Times. North Korean News. (revised March 19, 2013).
[8] Johnson, Paul. Churchill. Viking Publishing. NYC, New York. 2009. (p. 92-93).
[9] Most of Churchill’s attention was focused on the struggles going on in India at this time.
Your History Today by Curtis Hilton 