Greatest Events in WW2 (Netflix, 2019)
We all know almost everything about WW2 and how humanity showed its ugly face in annihilating each other. What makes this offering unique is that, beyond the colourisation of old films, it gives a somewhat good account of why both sides acted the way both the feuding parties did what they did.
It narrates the sequence of events of the Second World War in Europe, on the Western and Eastern Fronts as well as the Pacific Wars. It tries to shed light, or at least give a viewpoint to the many controversies of the day and the many questionable decisions made by the world powers of the day.
In wars, they say, nobody wins. There is no doubt, however, that the act of war promotes technological advances and stimulates the economy while it lasts. The aftermath of war also is an advantage to the victors as they dictate terms of conquest and take the lion's share of re-development of the losers territories.
In essence, WW2 is the continuation of the Great War. German felt that the Versailles Treaty had unfairly blamed it for starting the war. Reparation payments had literally bankrupted the nation. In the midst of all these emerges a leader, elected all through the legitimate ways, a democratically chosen head who proclaimed himself as the Fuhrer. People were happy as the economy was improving, industrialisation was going full steam and Germans were getting employment.
Hitler managed to build a nationalistic spirit and managed to unite his people under the German flag. On the outside, Hitler seems like a nice chap who has cordial relationships with Russia and the British. But at the local level, he with Goebbels, his Propaganda Minister are hellbent in convincing the Germans that Jews are their enemies. The Jews had a steady hand in the Bolshevik Revolution and the creation of a fascist State. Hitler decries that the West is decadent.
The World, still reeling from a debilitating World War and the Depression of the late 1920s and early 30s did not think anyone would go into war. British PM Chamberlain had embarrassingly vouched for Germany that it had no expansionary intentions over its neighbours after it had annexed Sudetenland.
Sure enough, Hitler did not keep to his words. His Pervistin (an amphetamine) spiked Wehrmacht (army), and the spanking new and efficient Luftwaffe (airforce) literally steamrolled (blitzkrieg) through Austria, Czechoslavakia, Poland in the East and France as well as Belgium in the West. The Germans expanded North to conquer Norway and Sweden. In almost two weeks, the more significant part of Europe was under German control. The British were humiliated at Dunkirk when they had to scuttle away with civilian help when they were surrounded by the German Army. The Germans were controlling the whole of the Atlantic coast of Europe.
The first taste of German defeat came about when they sent their Luftwaffe to the thinly guarded Battle of Britain. The RAF managed to ward off the German's night raids in a heroic defence which gained points for Churchill as an excellent wartime Premier. The English were offered the olive branch but was blunted refused by Churchill.
Over at the Pacific end, the Japanese military was being hijacked by the extreme right-wing faction of the society. They had spread a Samurai-like unwavering loyalty to the nation and portrayed a God-like status to the Emperor in the eye of his subjects.
Industrialisation and the demand for coal and iron got the Japanese rampaging through Manchuria and Nanking. Germany made a pact with Japan and Tojo, an army commander became the PM of Japan. This further fuels its military agenda.
Pearl Harbour marked the entry of America into the war. The USA retaliated by flying deep into Japanese territory. The Battle of Midway showcased drama in real life as the US Army and the Japanese intercepted each others' messages and created elements of surprises to outwit each other. Even though many of the Japanese bombers failed to detonate at the most crucial moment, they were winning the Pacific War. By a twist of fate and element of luck, the US dive bombers caught up with the Japanese fleet and got the upper hand in the War.
In the earlier part of WW2, Russia and Germany had a non-aggression pact with each other and carved off Poland. The Nazis viewed the Slavs as inferior and the Jews as the conspirators of the Communists. Even though the Balkans and Central Asia (including Azerbaijan) were more exceptional spoils with their old-fields, Hitler decided to attack Stalingrad in Operation Barbarossa. History repeats itself. Attacking Russia in the height of winter was a big mistake as the Germans realised just like how Napoleon and his men discovered the hard way when the Russian natives abandoned their towns after torching them. This began the end of German dominance and the most significant turning point in the war. They were surrounded, trapped and starved to death. Like the Russian Matryoshka doll, the onion metaphor, the Russians came back with a vengeance.
Rommel was given the task of guarding the Atlantic Wall. There were four likely sites that the Germans expected to be attacked. Pas-de-Calais was thought to be the locality of landing. Through multiple military deceptions, false misinformation and the use of encryption devices (Enigma being one of them), the Allied Forces managed to plan in the French beach of Normandy.
The Battle of Bulge or the Ardeness Counteroffensive was the last German offensive campaign on the Western Front. After their disastrous stints in Russia, the Allied Forces ( the British, Americans and the Canadians) must have thought that moving in must have been easy. The Germans counterattacked with much vigour in the lousy weather, rendering the Allied airstrikes impossible to execute. Just when everything seems gone wrong, the weather cleared, and the Germans were defeated as the Russians advanced on the Eastern Front.
As the heat of the war escalated, it came to light that it was not the Axis Forces the evil ones. The RAF, through the leadership of Arthur 'Bomber' Harris, practised area bombing. His 'Operation Thunderclap' which involved night bombing and utter devastation of the cultural town of Dresden. Dresden was of no military interest. The carpet bombing of this town literally created a firestorm and cooked its citizens. Gobbles strategically leaked out pictures of Dresden carnage to neutral press in Switzerland and Sweden to garner world sympathy as well as to tarnish the squeaky clean image of the Allied Forces. The voice of dissidence grew louder.
It became clear through World War 2 that even civilised people fell into depravity when the situation is ripe. The liberation of inmates of concentration camps in places like Buchenwald showed how Man is coerced so easily into evil. Again and again, history has shown how we fall prey to the sweet talk and rhetorics of the leaders to sanction something, which in retrospect, is so inhumane.
The necessity of the need to drop nuclear bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki remains unanswered. The Japanese forces were already wearing thin. Their resources had already been depleted. The Empire was already a spent force. The Russians, after successfully completing their Eastern European front, were moving in from the North. Perhaps, the need to quash the Communist dominance over this area was urgent. Knowing the mortifying effects of the atomic bombs, the white men still proceeded with the mission. Perhaps the Asians were lesser human. Would they have done the same to their European brothers?
The lesson learnt at the end of the series is that Man's greatest enemy is Man himself. He is spineless, is easily manipulated and is hellbent on destruction. He will let past history pass him by and is cursed to repeat the sins of his fathers.
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"I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
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