The origins of the Second World War

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Last edited by ImportBot
October 17, 2022 | History

The origins of the Second World War

  • 0 Ratings
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  • 3 Currently reading
  • 1 Have read

Professor Taylor has put himself way out on a limb- and his book will unquestionably continue to arouse controversy on this side of the water as it already has in what is known as the British Battle of Oxford- with Trevor-Roper as chief combatant- in England. Taylor has been accused of pro-Hilterlism, of complete reversal of his own somewhat Vansittartism in an earlier book; scholars charge him with contradictions, of failure to substantiate his statements, of a mass of unsupported wishful thinking. Germany has hailed his position with considerable glee. Now- in preface to the American edition he opens a whole new territory going back to World War I in claiming that Germany would have own had not America intervened, that American membership in the league would have been detrimental to the Allies; that the election of F.D.R. was a victory for isolation- and that if he had stood pat on this ground World War II might have been avoided; that the Nuremberg evidence was collected so that lawyers could conceal the guilt of the prosecuting powers, and so on. The legacy of Versailles was the actual cause of World War II -- and Hitler capitalized on the mistakes of the Western Powers. He was -- says Taylor- no more wicked in principle and doctrine (he makes no mention of his national excesses) than other statesmen, though he outdid them in wicked deeds. Step by step Taylor traces the march of history between the wars,- Abyssinia, the Spanish Civil War, the death of the league, the reoccupation of the Rhineland, the Sino-Japanese War, the successive immediate steps to war with the Austrian Aruchluss, the Czechoslovakian betrayal, Danzig -- and war. Throughout he sees Hitler as making no plans, as unready; he accepts Munich as a triumph of British policy which desired to deter but not provoke Hitler. France's role, too, is not presented in complimentary terms. The give and take of negotiations, to determine where the Soviet stood, kept the Western powers jittery, and ultimately Britain was caught short. Nobody wanted to go to war over Danzig, but Hitler was betrayed by his own timetable. That ultimately he attacked Soviet Russia and declared war on the United States was an accident of history- not of a madman.... Taylor's book may deal with matters of historical curiosity, but scholars will rise up to dispute him.

Publish Date
Publisher
H. Hamilton
Language
English
Pages
296

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The Origins of the Second World War
The Origins of the Second World War
1983, Atheneum
Hardback in English - 1st Atheneum pbk. ed.
Cover of: The origins of the Second World War
The origins of the Second World War
1972, H. Hamilton
in English
Cover of: The origins of the Second World War.
The origins of the Second World War.
1964, Penguin
in English
Cover of: The origins of the Second World War.
The origins of the Second World War.
1962, Atheneum
in English - [1st American ed.]
Cover of: The origins of the Second World War

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Bibliography: p. 279-284.

Published in
London

Classifications

Library of Congress
D741.L65, D741 .L65 1972, D741

The Physical Object

Pagination
296 p. :
Number of pages
296

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL21119095M
Internet Archive
originsofsecondw0000unse_e2m1
ISBN 10
0471544698
LCCN
72002455
OCLC/WorldCat
482407
Library Thing
7506099
Goodreads
406062

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History

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October 17, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
May 27, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
October 5, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
March 19, 2019 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
October 31, 2008 Created by ImportBot Imported from University of Toronto MARC record.