Sort of hard to take anything seriously right now when for the first time since 1939 a sovereign nation has invaded another nation in a full scale military operation. September 1st, 1939 Germany invaded Poland and the United States took almost the exact same stance that we are today. Worried about being dragged into another World War, and worried about recent investments overseas we had taken a isolationist stance. We started announcing trade restrictions against Germany and began to vilify Hitler in the media. Almost a complete repeat, today we are doing the same thing with Putin and Russia.
The scary reality is that on December 11th, 1941 (two years later) we declared war on Germany. We were then fully committed to war first across then the Atlantic and then in the Pacific. Similar circumstances today. Tensions on trade high between the U.S. and our distant neighbors across the Pacific, Japan then and China today. Does history truly repeat itself? 100 years ago in 1922, the U.S.S.R. was officially formed, the Japanese manufactured their first aircraft carrier, and Adolf Hitler took over control of the National Socialist Party in Germany. Pretty eerie to do the comparison.
What brings this really home is that it was in 1939 that the popular idea of a national draft took hold in the United States. After the declaration of War in 1941, the United States had a target of drafting 200,000 men a month. I really hope we will not get to that point in this latest European conflict, but it is sobering to think about.
Guy Reams
