AJP Taylor: The Origins of the Second World War

A summary of his argument and its significance

Category:

Education

Tags:

• ajp
• taylor
• origins
• world
• war
• two
• second
• hugh
• trevor
• roper
• robert
• kee

[danieleatsbabies21]

im sure if the germans won the war there would be a german historian being criticised for say that churchill wasn't all that bad as well.

[randy95023]

So many people, including myself, have studied WW2 in depth. My home library has several hundred books about military and political matters of the 19th and 20th century. I consider myself as a very well informed layman/historian. We KNOW the reasons of WW1 and WW2 but all have our own concepts of cause. It depends on where you emphasize the pieces of the puzzle, and what weight you assign to all the inputs. 50 Historians may give 50 "causes" for WW2 and none would be technically "wrong".

[truthlover72]

Just one example of 'hidden history' is that on AUG. 29, 1939, Polish officials PRE-RECORDED the public announcement that Hitler had attacked Poland SEPT. 1 between 4:-5: a.m. On Sept. 1, Hitler publically announced that Poland had attacked Germany through the night and at 5:45 a.m. he issued the order to Germany's soldiers to "RETURN fire" and ANSWER 'bomb for bomb'. How is it that Polish officials recorded an announcement of an 'attack' TWO DAYS BEFORE the 'attack', to the very HOUR of it???

[truthlover72]

The 'official version' of WWII comes with built-in clubs of shame & ridicule, weilded by the propagandized mob to ensure no challenge of it ever reaches the public mind. Michael Walsh has done a fantastic work gathering and compiling a history of the WWII era composed almost entirely of actual quotes of statesmen, journalists, etc. of the time, in his book, "Witness to History". Let the fearless dare to read accounts other than the 'approved' version & come to his own conclusion.

[truthlover72]

The volatile reaction to Taylor's book is itself evidence of the same attempts at censorship we are hammered with today where it is considered a cardinal sin to question the 'official version'. Like trusting fools we've accepted the training to parrot the 'official version' & have become volunteer censors to silence anyone who expresses an independent thought or question. It is frightening to consider how many 'believers' insist they already 'know' all there is to 'know' & are now 'authorities'.

[MultiStessi]

i don't know what to think when it comes to Hitler. In consideration of his foreign policies, most of it, with consideration of A.J.P Taylor, seems to be that Hitler didn't predict other countries would go to war. However, when looking at such events like, the Rhineland, Hitler was right about other countries and how they were not going to get involved. However personally, i'm edging more to the idea that Hitler planned the war. This can be assumed from his autobiography Mein Kampf.

[maosef]

@germanysjim Back to /b/ with you.

[PYATES13]

@germanysjim yeah that's a real credible line of thought, absolute bollocks.

[MTSCMIH]

Had Taylor not produced this, would any other historians have done so? It took someone with Taylors credibility to have this sort of revionist argument taken seriously. Had a lesser historian put their neck on the line and done so, they would have been mauled. AJP Taylor, father of the revionist approach to Hitler and Nazism, and to a large extent responsible for a large part of the heterogenous views on this topic we have today. Which has led to a better understanding of the topic area overall.

[WLCJasper]

this is a great video! thank you so much for posting it! :)

[DAandFrank]

@JimmySmers You know absolutely nothing about historical investigation. States in the modern west have no control over the direction or conclusions of historical research, and now more than ever historians disagree violently over major issues in countless areas of research. True, there is usually consensus about broad outlines, but this is because the evidence tends to point towards a single general conclusion, and when it comes to specifics debate thrives.