Robert, Thanks for a fascinating post. I enjoy reading pre-war geopolitics, and just found a copy of Robert Strausz-Hupe’s “Geopolitics: The Struggle for Space and Power” from 1942. It’s very hard to find. This post reminded me it is waiting for me to dig into.
Again with Bastiat's box of chocolates... This one is a hoot. You need to enlarge Burke's map and read it all, which is much funnier and more imaginative than Viereck's. (I'm not sure whether my favorite is "Scheuenne," Wyoming or "Omahoch," Nebraska.)
I have been zooming in on the Burke and Life maps. They are a hoot. Viereck was just a pissed-off fanatic. That said, Nazi though he be, he was an interesting and somewhat accomplished figure with quite a life story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sylvester_Viereck. Not the disgruntled nobody type of fanatic, he had traveled in high circles. Among other things, in 1940, he persuaded several members of Congress to mass-mail Nazi propaganda on the taxpayers' dime.
He was also a poet who had been highly touted in his early days. In 1968, there was a film, TWISTED NERVE, made that was a decent psychological thriller, spoiled by its libelous suggestion that siblings of people with Down's Syndrome were prone to psychopathic criminal behavior. (I know of the film because, 35 years later, its haunting whistled song was used in KILL BILL. The film took its title and its perverse eugenics storyline from a poem by Viereck, "A twisted nerve, a ganglion gone awry/Predestinates the sinner and the saint."
Sinclair Lewis's "It Can't Happen Here", a counterfactual fascist takeover of the United States, was published in 1935. The fear of fascism was then very much in the air. Yet, the richest source of political surrealism in the Great Depression came from the politicians themselves. Huey Long's fanciful "My First Year In Office" (as President, not Senator or governor) was published posthumously but it gives one an idea of Long's platform. The most counter of the counter-factual political books, though, was Upton Sinclair's "How I Ended Poverty In California". He published it as part of his gubernatorial campaign. The California Authority for Land would seize and cultivate unused farmland. The California Authority for Production would seize and operate idle factories. The California Authority for Money would fund the other two with state scrip, bonds, and steep taxes. Fun fact: The Deputy Publisher of the EPIC News was Robert A. Heinlein, who ran unsuccessfully for the State Assembly.
I knew about Lewis's and Long's work, though I haven't read either. I knew about Sinclair's gubernatorial campaign, but not his book. In 2024, that would probably be a winner in California. I absolutely did not know of Heinlein's socialist period; quite the transition there.
The Democrats incorporated some of the utopians' less bizarre ideas into the New Deal and state laws. California levied a state income tax in 1935 and Social Security was largely based on the proposals of the Townsend Clubs. "President" Long, however, did not live to nominate Franklin Roosevelt as Secretary of the Navy.
I didn’t realize that Huey intended to pick FDR for Navy. Just looked it up, and he also wanted Herbert Hoover back at Commerce. Al Smith as Budget Director. Whole bunch other odd appointments.
One of the more fascinating cases was that of the great architect, Philip Johnson. From ardent Nazi sympathizer to friend of Jews and Israel. From Wikipedia:
...
During the 1930s, Johnson became an ardent admirer of Adolf Hitler, openly praised the Nazi Party, and espoused antisemitic views. He wrote for Social Justice and Examiner, where he published an admiring review of Hitler's Mein Kampf. In 1939, as a correspondent for Social Justice, he witnessed Hitler's invasion of Poland, which he later described as "a stirring spectacle". In 1941, after the U.S. entered the war, Johnson abruptly quit journalism, organizing anti-Fascist league at Harvard Design School. He was investigated by the FBI, and was eventually cleared for military service. He evaded indictment and jail, according to some critics, because of his social connections. Years later he would refer to these activities as "the stupidest thing I ever did [which] I never can atone for".
…
In December 1934, Johnson abruptly left the Museum of Modern Art and began pursuing a career in journalism and politics. He first became a supporter of Huey Long, the populist governor of Louisiana. He tried and failed to recruit Long to join the National Party, which he founded. Johnson unsuccessfully ran for representative of New London in the Ohio state legislature. After Long was assassinated in 1935, Johnson became a correspondent for Social Justice, the newspaper of the radical-populist and anti-Semitic Father Charles Coughlin. Johnson traveled to Germany and Poland as a correspondent, where he wrote admiringly about the Nazis.
…
Later in life, among other works with Jewish connections, he designed a synagogue pro bono and also designed Israel’s nuclear research facility.
I discovered the value of historical fiction in two novels this month. It puts context into history, especially for the people that lived it. The characters may be fictional, but, carefully done, the impact of events on people can be understood better.
The first is a novel about the Jewish population trapped in Europe:
"No Other Place on Earth" by Sheilagh Herrera
It provides insights into the real issues and how people were affected. It is not an easy read because you know it impacted real people. As you read the book you understand the reason for the title.
The second is a very inventive book that is a prequel to the book that inspired the movie "Jaws".
"The Book of Quint" by Ryan Dacko
The movie "Jaws" was a success because of one scene, the monologue of Quint about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis at the end of WWII. The author of "The Book of Quint" fleshes out the man.
The books sound interesting. And yes, Quint/Shaw's U.S.S. Indianapolis speech is one of the most haunting cinematic monologues I've ever heard. I have listened to it many times on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO60RohuARY. I love the look on Hooper/Dreyfuss's face when he realizes where the story is going.
Thanks for the shout out to “They Shall Not Grow Old.” It’s one of the most remarkable films I’ve ever seen. When I saw it in a theater while it played in selected cities, the film was followed by a feature which explained the extent of authenticity to which Peter Jackson ascribed — even to determining the regional accent that would’ve been spoken by the individual soldiers. Plus the authenticity of the explosions made by various artillery. Truly an amazing accomplishment, as well as a work of love for the history of WWI by Jackson.
I will have to search it out! I live in the Kansas City metro, the site of the National World War I Museum. (Which is why we were privileged to be one of the cities where the film was first distributed.)
It’s a fantastic museum which explains how this complex war began, as well as having an extensive collection. Not quite the Imperial War Museums but still an outstanding place.
I have read that the Japanese were reluctant to invade mainland USA because too many Americans owned weapons. If that is true then may it always be so. As far as the murder of all America’s Jews while it may have been possible in the past too many now believe in the second amendment.
Interesting supposition on Japan's hesitation to invade. I have often said that the best argument for the Second Amendment is to imagine how different the 1940s would have been if the Jews of Europe had been in possession of 6,000,000 semi-automatic rifles. The Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto gave us some idea in 1944, and the rag-tag Jewish forces in Israel five years later managed to repel five invading armies hell-bent on genocide.
While reading Breitbart one day I read a story about Jackson's film. Being a history reader i was excited to see the film . I was fortunate enough to have the film at our local mega-theater for a brief time. I went to a 1 pm showing and I arrived a bit late , but I figured no problem I will be the the only person there. I got the last seat on the front row. At the end we gave it a standing ovation.
So . . . you're saying that pre-WWII urbanites in the US had no better understanding of "the average AMerican" than the urban sophisticates of post-WWII?
Sorry. I meant that even around WWI people who lived in cities, nuch like today, have no real idea how the non-urban part of the US between the Alleghenies and the Rockies would react to an invasion.
Also, in 1915 the German population was around 65M, while the US population was around 100M. (One of my great grandfathers emigrated from one of the German states in the mid-1850s, mostly to escape conscription in various religious wars. The he fought in the Union Army.)
The Japanese population might have been 35M.
So, two imperial powers would fight a country with roughly the equivalent population AFTER hauling all their stuff across two different oceans? And a heavily armed popustion at that. With a history of guerilla warfare. Pardon me if I think that shows a real misunderstanding of war, and of rural and small town America.
Somehow, people who live in largish urban areas show little evidence of understanding those who don't live in such areas.
So. Go to those maps (or maps of the US in 1940) and circle the dense urban areas, then realize that invaders would have to fight for every inch of territory outside those circles (assuming they actually conquered the cities) from the moment they landed. With pretty much only the war fighting resources they could bring on their ships. Just how big was the merchant marine of Germany and Japan at either date?
SO, I'm saying that the referrenced maps/articles seem to me to be based on a severe misunderstanding of non-urban America. Perhaps it is different today, but I doubt it.
All good arguments, and probably correct. But, there are counterexamples. A small, determined military force, unconstrained by its home country politics, can overwhelm a much larger population that has lost its determination and willingness to fight. (1) With a few hundred conquistadores, Cortez overwhelmed the Aztec Empire, whose population was 5 to 6 million. They did so by striking alliance with disgruntled communities sick of being under the brutal rule of the Aztec rulers. They took advantage of the Aztec rulers' naivete at a time when the Aztec capital was likely the largest city on earth. (2) In other cases, when a country's population ceases to believe in the virtue of their own country, they lose the willingness to fight. Hence, the great empires in history that ultimately lost to small invaders. David defeats Goliath. (3) Sometimes, a prisoner's dilemma defeats a great power. In the 11th century Battle of Clontarf, an outnumbered Irish king was under attack by a powerful Viking Lord's army. The Irish king ordered his men to kill the Viking flag-bearer--an essential character in the attack. After killing a couple, no one would hold the flag. Frustrated, the VIking Lord carried it and was killed. The army fell apart.
The USA fits snugly into the description of the Great Whore in Revelation 17.
i was in one of the movements borne in the Jesus People days in the 1960s and 1970s and we were proclaiming a prophecy that America was heading for judgment from God. WIth the SCOTUS decisions expelling God and the Bible and the Commandments from government schools, the nation was on its own. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God".
And so now looky. Which society is more godly? THe one where the president celebrates sodomy and perversion on EASTER? Or the one where Putin brought the Orthodox church back in from the cold, and where in the early days of Glasnost put Bibles into all their schools?
Revelation 17-18 describes the fate of the last world power that is "destroyed" by fire by the ten kingdoms who then share power with the Beast.
Robert, Thanks for a fascinating post. I enjoy reading pre-war geopolitics, and just found a copy of Robert Strausz-Hupe’s “Geopolitics: The Struggle for Space and Power” from 1942. It’s very hard to find. This post reminded me it is waiting for me to dig into.
Cheers.
Sounds interesting. Let me know how you like it.
Again with Bastiat's box of chocolates... This one is a hoot. You need to enlarge Burke's map and read it all, which is much funnier and more imaginative than Viereck's. (I'm not sure whether my favorite is "Scheuenne," Wyoming or "Omahoch," Nebraska.)
Thanks for something to read besides politics.
I have been zooming in on the Burke and Life maps. They are a hoot. Viereck was just a pissed-off fanatic. That said, Nazi though he be, he was an interesting and somewhat accomplished figure with quite a life story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sylvester_Viereck. Not the disgruntled nobody type of fanatic, he had traveled in high circles. Among other things, in 1940, he persuaded several members of Congress to mass-mail Nazi propaganda on the taxpayers' dime.
He was also a poet who had been highly touted in his early days. In 1968, there was a film, TWISTED NERVE, made that was a decent psychological thriller, spoiled by its libelous suggestion that siblings of people with Down's Syndrome were prone to psychopathic criminal behavior. (I know of the film because, 35 years later, its haunting whistled song was used in KILL BILL. The film took its title and its perverse eugenics storyline from a poem by Viereck, "A twisted nerve, a ganglion gone awry/Predestinates the sinner and the saint."
Sinclair Lewis's "It Can't Happen Here", a counterfactual fascist takeover of the United States, was published in 1935. The fear of fascism was then very much in the air. Yet, the richest source of political surrealism in the Great Depression came from the politicians themselves. Huey Long's fanciful "My First Year In Office" (as President, not Senator or governor) was published posthumously but it gives one an idea of Long's platform. The most counter of the counter-factual political books, though, was Upton Sinclair's "How I Ended Poverty In California". He published it as part of his gubernatorial campaign. The California Authority for Land would seize and cultivate unused farmland. The California Authority for Production would seize and operate idle factories. The California Authority for Money would fund the other two with state scrip, bonds, and steep taxes. Fun fact: The Deputy Publisher of the EPIC News was Robert A. Heinlein, who ran unsuccessfully for the State Assembly.
I knew about Lewis's and Long's work, though I haven't read either. I knew about Sinclair's gubernatorial campaign, but not his book. In 2024, that would probably be a winner in California. I absolutely did not know of Heinlein's socialist period; quite the transition there.
The Democrats incorporated some of the utopians' less bizarre ideas into the New Deal and state laws. California levied a state income tax in 1935 and Social Security was largely based on the proposals of the Townsend Clubs. "President" Long, however, did not live to nominate Franklin Roosevelt as Secretary of the Navy.
I didn’t realize that Huey intended to pick FDR for Navy. Just looked it up, and he also wanted Herbert Hoover back at Commerce. Al Smith as Budget Director. Whole bunch other odd appointments.
One of the more fascinating cases was that of the great architect, Philip Johnson. From ardent Nazi sympathizer to friend of Jews and Israel. From Wikipedia:
...
During the 1930s, Johnson became an ardent admirer of Adolf Hitler, openly praised the Nazi Party, and espoused antisemitic views. He wrote for Social Justice and Examiner, where he published an admiring review of Hitler's Mein Kampf. In 1939, as a correspondent for Social Justice, he witnessed Hitler's invasion of Poland, which he later described as "a stirring spectacle". In 1941, after the U.S. entered the war, Johnson abruptly quit journalism, organizing anti-Fascist league at Harvard Design School. He was investigated by the FBI, and was eventually cleared for military service. He evaded indictment and jail, according to some critics, because of his social connections. Years later he would refer to these activities as "the stupidest thing I ever did [which] I never can atone for".
…
In December 1934, Johnson abruptly left the Museum of Modern Art and began pursuing a career in journalism and politics. He first became a supporter of Huey Long, the populist governor of Louisiana. He tried and failed to recruit Long to join the National Party, which he founded. Johnson unsuccessfully ran for representative of New London in the Ohio state legislature. After Long was assassinated in 1935, Johnson became a correspondent for Social Justice, the newspaper of the radical-populist and anti-Semitic Father Charles Coughlin. Johnson traveled to Germany and Poland as a correspondent, where he wrote admiringly about the Nazis.
…
Later in life, among other works with Jewish connections, he designed a synagogue pro bono and also designed Israel’s nuclear research facility.
I discovered the value of historical fiction in two novels this month. It puts context into history, especially for the people that lived it. The characters may be fictional, but, carefully done, the impact of events on people can be understood better.
The first is a novel about the Jewish population trapped in Europe:
"No Other Place on Earth" by Sheilagh Herrera
It provides insights into the real issues and how people were affected. It is not an easy read because you know it impacted real people. As you read the book you understand the reason for the title.
https://a.co/d/1bQz0MG
The second is a very inventive book that is a prequel to the book that inspired the movie "Jaws".
"The Book of Quint" by Ryan Dacko
The movie "Jaws" was a success because of one scene, the monologue of Quint about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis at the end of WWII. The author of "The Book of Quint" fleshes out the man.
https://a.co/d/6hBDGpv
Both these books are historical fiction of the highest order, and well worth reading.
The books sound interesting. And yes, Quint/Shaw's U.S.S. Indianapolis speech is one of the most haunting cinematic monologues I've ever heard. I have listened to it many times on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO60RohuARY. I love the look on Hooper/Dreyfuss's face when he realizes where the story is going.
Thanks for the shout out to “They Shall Not Grow Old.” It’s one of the most remarkable films I’ve ever seen. When I saw it in a theater while it played in selected cities, the film was followed by a feature which explained the extent of authenticity to which Peter Jackson ascribed — even to determining the regional accent that would’ve been spoken by the individual soldiers. Plus the authenticity of the explosions made by various artillery. Truly an amazing accomplishment, as well as a work of love for the history of WWI by Jackson.
If you weren't here then, go back and read the Professor's article about Jackson and his movie. Well worth your time.
I will have to search it out! I live in the Kansas City metro, the site of the National World War I Museum. (Which is why we were privileged to be one of the cities where the film was first distributed.)
It’s a fantastic museum which explains how this complex war began, as well as having an extensive collection. Not quite the Imperial War Museums but still an outstanding place.
There's a link in my description of the movie here. But, to save you a click, here it is: https://graboyes.substack.com/p/that-the-past-shall-not-grow-old
Thanks!
I have read that the Japanese were reluctant to invade mainland USA because too many Americans owned weapons. If that is true then may it always be so. As far as the murder of all America’s Jews while it may have been possible in the past too many now believe in the second amendment.
Interesting supposition on Japan's hesitation to invade. I have often said that the best argument for the Second Amendment is to imagine how different the 1940s would have been if the Jews of Europe had been in possession of 6,000,000 semi-automatic rifles. The Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto gave us some idea in 1944, and the rag-tag Jewish forces in Israel five years later managed to repel five invading armies hell-bent on genocide.
While reading Breitbart one day I read a story about Jackson's film. Being a history reader i was excited to see the film . I was fortunate enough to have the film at our local mega-theater for a brief time. I went to a 1 pm showing and I arrived a bit late , but I figured no problem I will be the the only person there. I got the last seat on the front row. At the end we gave it a standing ovation.
A well-deserved ovation.
So . . . you're saying that pre-WWII urbanites in the US had no better understanding of "the average AMerican" than the urban sophisticates of post-WWII?
Not sure what you mean.
Sorry. I meant that even around WWI people who lived in cities, nuch like today, have no real idea how the non-urban part of the US between the Alleghenies and the Rockies would react to an invasion.
Also, in 1915 the German population was around 65M, while the US population was around 100M. (One of my great grandfathers emigrated from one of the German states in the mid-1850s, mostly to escape conscription in various religious wars. The he fought in the Union Army.)
The Japanese population might have been 35M.
So, two imperial powers would fight a country with roughly the equivalent population AFTER hauling all their stuff across two different oceans? And a heavily armed popustion at that. With a history of guerilla warfare. Pardon me if I think that shows a real misunderstanding of war, and of rural and small town America.
Somehow, people who live in largish urban areas show little evidence of understanding those who don't live in such areas.
So. Go to those maps (or maps of the US in 1940) and circle the dense urban areas, then realize that invaders would have to fight for every inch of territory outside those circles (assuming they actually conquered the cities) from the moment they landed. With pretty much only the war fighting resources they could bring on their ships. Just how big was the merchant marine of Germany and Japan at either date?
SO, I'm saying that the referrenced maps/articles seem to me to be based on a severe misunderstanding of non-urban America. Perhaps it is different today, but I doubt it.
All good arguments, and probably correct. But, there are counterexamples. A small, determined military force, unconstrained by its home country politics, can overwhelm a much larger population that has lost its determination and willingness to fight. (1) With a few hundred conquistadores, Cortez overwhelmed the Aztec Empire, whose population was 5 to 6 million. They did so by striking alliance with disgruntled communities sick of being under the brutal rule of the Aztec rulers. They took advantage of the Aztec rulers' naivete at a time when the Aztec capital was likely the largest city on earth. (2) In other cases, when a country's population ceases to believe in the virtue of their own country, they lose the willingness to fight. Hence, the great empires in history that ultimately lost to small invaders. David defeats Goliath. (3) Sometimes, a prisoner's dilemma defeats a great power. In the 11th century Battle of Clontarf, an outnumbered Irish king was under attack by a powerful Viking Lord's army. The Irish king ordered his men to kill the Viking flag-bearer--an essential character in the attack. After killing a couple, no one would hold the flag. Frustrated, the VIking Lord carried it and was killed. The army fell apart.
The USA fits snugly into the description of the Great Whore in Revelation 17.
i was in one of the movements borne in the Jesus People days in the 1960s and 1970s and we were proclaiming a prophecy that America was heading for judgment from God. WIth the SCOTUS decisions expelling God and the Bible and the Commandments from government schools, the nation was on its own. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God".
And so now looky. Which society is more godly? THe one where the president celebrates sodomy and perversion on EASTER? Or the one where Putin brought the Orthodox church back in from the cold, and where in the early days of Glasnost put Bibles into all their schools?
Revelation 17-18 describes the fate of the last world power that is "destroyed" by fire by the ten kingdoms who then share power with the Beast.