Quote by Simon Heffer - 'The Easter Rising, decades of Anglo-Irish enmity and the cancer of IRA terrorism were but minor consequences of a war Britain didn’t need to fight. As well as having to fight or manage Nazism and Stalinism, Britain also eventually lost her Empire, was driven to the verge of bankruptcy and surrendered power in the English-speaking world to America. Had we stayed out, Germany would have been in Paris by Christmas. Russia would not have stayed in the fight alone. Britain’s strong commercial interests in Germany would have ensured a reasonable partnership between the two nations. Much of the rest of the 20th Century might not have happened as it did. So there is little to celebrate next year. But there is much to commemorate. The nobility of sacrifice, with such futility, is foremost among those things. And we should note that, 99 years on, the most powerful nation in Europe, with wide economic hegemony, is Germany. And another lesson resonates today as in 1918: of ‘war, and the pity of war’, and the tragic fallibility of politicians who play God with the lives of brave men.' Unquote
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 16:12:21 +0000
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