Tuesday, May 13, 2008

"Berlin Feels a Thrill of the Old Prussian Spirit as Troops Goosestep and Crowds Sing."

The NYT reports.

Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, in the seventy-eighth year of a life devoted to the cult of war for the greater glory of German monarchs, today, as Germany's President-elect, swore fealty to a republic reared upon the ruins of the monarchy and committed to the cult of peace.

THE YEAR THAT BLOG FORGOT IS: 1925.

6 comments:

Ron said...

Hindenberg, a man of his word...as far as that goes! Ahem.

rhhardin said...

For God's sake, close cover before striking.

- Hindenberg matchbook cover

The Obama float uses much safer helium.

Incidentally if you find any issues of the German photography annual _Das Deutsche Lichtbild_ for the 30s, it's all pretty upbeat progress. You'd be hard-pressed to spot evil in it.

Hitler even wrote the introduction to one.

My real camera is a Leica model F, which I think is from the era. Given to me by my father, who upgraded to an M.

Repaired by a Leica dealer in NYC in the early 60s for free. Coverage part of war reparations?

Ron said...

clanks steins with Chaplin-moustached fellow while we sing of piece... of the Rhineland for revenge for Versailles!

Paddy O said...

"committed to the cult of peace"

Ah, the hopes weren't entirely dashed by WWI.

Makes me nervous about present Europe. They're a warmongering barbarian people at heart.

History suggests we shouldn't trust when Europe says, "peace, peace".

Trooper York said...

Hey where's Cederford. If he reads this he will get a chubby.

Eli Blake said...

See how wrong Marshal Foch was?

After seeing the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the Supreme Commander of the allied armies in the Great War said, "this is not peace, it is a twenty year cease fire."

Clearly he knows much more about war than about peace, as we see here a Germany committed to peace.

And certainly if anyone believes Foch, only go down to the Cinema and watch, "The Big Parade" and understand why war is such a horrible thing. The filmography and depictions of the reality of the Great War are amazing and stomach-turning.