Reference Material: A Historic Decision Part III - No Middle Ground Between Righteousness and Evil (Continued)

By Zhang Tianliang

(Clearwisdom.net)

It is necessary to recollect here how France was defeated. It is well known that France built a nearly 400-kilometer long defense line named the "Maginot Line" on its border with Germany. It was sturdy enough to withstand tank and heavy artillery. At the time, the British and the French calculated that if Hitler were to attack France, he could either go around Switzerland or attack France directly by breaking through the Maginot Line. Both plans were difficult to implement. The only other way was to seize Holland and Belgium, thereby sidestepping the Maginot Line on the northern side of France.

At the time, Belgium's stance was critical. On January 10^th, 1940, a German officer followed orders to go to the headquarters in Cologne, carrying very important documents with him. Having missed the train, he decided to take a flight. But his plane flew past the destination and was forced to land in Belgium. He was arrested by the Belgian military and his documents were confiscated. These documents contained Hitler's plans to invade Belgium, Holland and France. If Belgium were willing, both Britain and France would send out troops to help Belgium to defend itself. However, at that crucial moment, Belgium chose to passively wait and see, believing that Hitler would not attack because Belgium had maintained its neutrality. What followed proved this trust to be misplaced. On the night of May 9^th - 10^th 1940, large-scale air raids on Belgian airports, transportation lines, communication hubs and supply depots were launched. The German army then swiftly invaded Holland and Belgium without any pretext or warning. On May 28^th, Belgium surrendered to Germany. The German army quickly breached the French defensive line in Sedan, located on the border between Belgium and France, and promptly headed south behind the "Maginot Line." On June 14^th, the German army seized Paris.

The intent of this discussion is not to shift the blame from Hitler's crimes, but rather to point out how England and France adopted the appeasement policy at the outset, and that the Soviet Union silently cooperated with Nazi Germany. These two factors undoubtedly created the necessary ingredients for Hitler to start the war. These countries only became clearheaded when disaster was at their doorstep, but it was too late as their superior military strength rapidly disintegrated with their eagerness to appease, compromise and collaborate with the evil. They were left to face a formidable enemy under exceedingly difficult conditions. All the benefits acquired through cooperating with the evil went down the tubes the moment the war started. Churchill once alluded to the fact that if you are unwilling to fight for justice at a time when you can easily succeed without great sacrifice, if you are unwilling to fight at a time when you can win without having to pay too high a price, then one day you will be forced to fight under extremely disadvantageous conditions with only a slim chance to succeed. Even worse, you may even have to fight at a time when there is no chance to win at all.

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