Comments by "Jim Taylor" (@jimtaylor294) on "The Spectator"
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@susannamarker2582 It's also worth noting that having a chip in one's shoulder means nothing if you lack the ability to do anything about it.
The French for instance are still rather salty about losing the Seven Years War to the British, and aided rebels in 1776 partially in retribution to it... but never got back what they'd lost, as they knew they couldn't. Indeed French possessions in the Americas only declined after the Seven Years War.
(even Napoleon failed to reverse that, despite seriously trying in places like [what's now] Haiti)
Similar thing with Spain: losing not only their empire but their status as a 1st rate geopolitical power post-Napoleonic Wars grated... but they were unsuccessful in doing anything to reverse it, thus eventually had to accept their lesser place in the world.
Germany too would have had to accept such a fact, sooner or later, had they been denied any oppotunity to rearm, or faced with force on their first attempt at land grabbing.
Again: not comparable to Russia though, as they have native Oil, H Bombs, and more besides.
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@susannamarker2582 Well people tend to focus on the NSDAP getting into power as the key detail in Germany rearming... yet the Communists had similar ambitions, and Weimar Germany had already been putting some of its US loans into rearming.
(case in point the secret Tank, Aircraft & Submarine development pacts with third party countries like the USSR, and a certain class of overgunned Cruisers)
Germany only got enough arms to be a threat again though, because the countries supposed to enforce the treaty were so divided:
• The French favoured a hard line, and did where they could.
• The British were less & less eager to be firm on Germany (until being blindsighted in 1938), and opposed French measures in the '20's.
• The USA pretty much did nothing after the early '20's , favouring isolationism.
• Italy did basically nothing, as only Austria remaining seperate from Germany really mattered to them.
(until Hitler won Mussolini over to letting that happen)
• Russia was by then communist and thus was shunned by most, and had no baring on the treaty.
• Belgium wanted Germany kept weak but also didn't want to be on bad relations... plus had no teeth to enforce anything.
• Romania had not had any real say at the peace talks and thus was external to it all, was more concerned with Hungary, and had gained a lot from Bulgaria.
...which all led to a weak front re' German rearmament and re-expansionism; despite Germany being relatively weak for most of the interwar period re' Oil supplies and actual fighting power.
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