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Hinge of History

Reader comment on item: Europe's Civilizationist Parties

Submitted by JD Will (United States), Oct 19, 2018 at 11:19

I am doing a history reading project to better understand the 1930's lead up to June 22, 1941. I have gotten through two volumes on Stalin by Kotkin (and a lot of side reading), and am now focusing on Hitler. I am struck by the idea that the late 1930's were a great hinge of history where things could have gone several ways.

For example I hadn't known that Stalin was making formal alliance negotiations with Britain and France in early 1939 and if they had taken that deal, they might have together deterred Hitler and the bloodbath that followed. They wound up allied to him in the end and he got a large chunk of Europe as he had planned. A pact with Hitler may have been his second choice.

I do think there are some high level parallels between today and then. Then the old political order was collapsing or teetering, nationalism was on the rise, militant ideologies were pushing to control old societies that had lost faith in the old system. We could be approaching another hinge moment.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (23) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Regarding the UK and Spain [520 words]RobertNov 4, 2022 02:43288222
The First Time They Cried Wolf .... But Now the Wolf is Real [176 words]RobertNov 3, 2022 18:03288212
History lost or ignored so we're going to re-live it [105 words]CaraxFeb 4, 2019 02:29247516
Europe's Islamization -- any alternative? [162 words]Jeffrey SheffDec 7, 2018 13:48246424
1Jeffrey Sheff's legitimate question [786 words]PrashantDec 9, 2018 13:10246424
Nice analysis [127 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
M.L.LipsonNov 10, 2018 15:13245912
2A fourth point wrt [336 words]PrashantNov 14, 2018 00:09245912
Reaction. [79 words]AlbertE.Nov 9, 2018 23:02245891
2Theory vs the Real World [262 words]Sigmund DermanNov 2, 2018 14:04245772
Refreshing Observations [233 words]Al RodbellNov 6, 2018 20:37245772
Nationalist [24 words]Jan BlachaOct 31, 2018 21:46245755
Re: Nationalist [32 words]Globe ThrotterNov 9, 2018 15:02245755
Nationalism [21 words]John BlachaNov 9, 2018 17:04245755
Europa camina hacia la perdiciĆ³n... [75 words]alfonsoOct 31, 2018 15:52245751
2Nationalist, not civilizationist [125 words]G. LobeOct 25, 2018 16:01245698
2Regarding bloodlines [188 words]AnonOct 19, 2018 11:34245578
Hinge of History [181 words]JD WillOct 19, 2018 11:19245576
2What Needs Protecting And Why [237 words]DaveOct 18, 2018 21:10245557
1Patriotic Nationalism vs. the Uncivilized [184 words]RobertOct 19, 2018 00:43245557
1Yes, Nationalism Takes Many Forms [167 words]DaveOct 20, 2018 20:15245557
2Dialectics of Nationalism [275 words]RobertOct 22, 2018 16:16245557
2How Virtue Becomes a Vice [63 words]DaveOct 24, 2018 09:19245557
I guess culturalism has a point... [243 words]Peter HerzNov 3, 2018 23:24245557

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