Churchill, Hitler, and "The Unnecessary War"

April 15, 2008
Taking his swing at the origins of World War II, conservative pundit Buchanan incorporates the subject into his warnings, expressed in several populistjeremiads (State of Emergency, 2006), of the decline of the West. Certainly World War I, with which Buchanan begins, was a catastrophe for Western civilization whose ramifications continue tobe felt. Buchanans interpretation generally holdsthat British and American participation in both WWI and WWII was avoidableif British leaders had recognized that Germany was no threat to the vital interests of the British Empire. Banking his thesis on such supposed benevolence from Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler, Buchanan criticizes various British policies of the 1920s and 1930s (who doesnt?), and argues collaterally with Hitlers statements disclaiming fundamental conflicts with Britain. The weakness in Buchanans line of thinking, of course, is that by 1939, Hitlers internationalword was worthless; yet Buchanan hinges his case on what might have happened had Britain let Hitler go after Poland in 1939 as it had Czechoslovakia. Speculating abetter future had the West permitted Nazi Germany a free hand in Eastern Europe, Buchanan cites the historical costs of Britain and France having at last drawn the lineagainst aggression. Convinced? Controversial as is his wont, Buchanan reminds his large readership that the immediate ignition of WWII can still be disputed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)