During 5 days in May,1940 Winston Churchill stubbornly resisted the blandishments of the appeasers who proposed negotiating a settlement with Hitler via Mussolini. The French goverment was even more conflicted between the need to defend their honour and their inability to resist the German invasion forces. British troops were falling back on the Chanel ports leading to their entrapment and subsequent rescue from the beaches at Dunquerque.
Australia was far removed from these opening stages of this inter European conflict and whilst some of her youth joined the RAAF, the impending threat to the Asia Pacific region of growing Japanese Imperialistic ambitions was not fully anticipated.
Sixty-seven years on, as I set out to journey from my home of choice, in Melbourne, to the home of my birth, I am mindful of the contrast and connections between those dark days in London and the prosperous and domestically peaceful situation of the countries I am to travel between and yet which are both involved once more in global conflicts.
I came no closer to the London Tube Train and Bus bombings than the stream of horrendous news casts coming to me over my car radio as I drove away from Bristol on the M4 and experienced the bizarre coincidence of the failed copy cat event on the follwing Thursday on the same road in almost the same place. I am sympathetic to Philip Bobbitt's argument in his excellent book, The Shield of Achilles,that western democracies have been at continuous war for almost one hundred years against would be totalitarian dictatorships, including fascism and communism. Now it seems we are challenged by something different but no less insiduous and threatening to our way of life. I hope that I get no closer to such evil doings on this trip.
So What's different from May 1940? Germany is led by a woman and possibly France too when it concludes it's electoral decision whether or not to join the rest of us in the 21st Century( along with the Australian Trades Union Movement)Then we might see whether the feminists contention that a world run by women might be kinder and more peaceful ( Notwithstanding Elizabeth 1st, Maria Theresa of Austraia, Catherine the Great of Russia, and more contemporary wartime leaders-Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher,Mrs Nehru and the women leaders involved in current civil strife in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka-pity about them)Wonder what Hilary Clinton might do in Iraque and Afghanistan??
Such is the predominance of Scots in the British government and amongst the commentariat that I suspect like me, many English may pray for a Scottish Nationalist Party victory at the impending elections north of the border, leading to a successful devolutionary referendum that would free us fom captivity by the gaelic exiles in Westminster and the media and hasten their return north to celebrate in a dram or two with Shaun Connery et al. Then we can relax safe in the knowledge that excellent Polish waiters, Chinese and Portuguese market garden workers,doctors , nurses and soccer players from all parts of the globe will help entertain and keep us in the manner to which the English have become accustomed in Cool Britannia. BOOK REFERENCES:-Five Days in London May 1940 by John Lukacs.Publisher-Scribe 2001. The Shield of Achilles-war, peace and the course of history by Philip Bobbitt. Publisher-Penguin 2002
1 comment:
Barry
Fascinating to read of your adventure and how it fits with plans that emerged from your doctorate. I look forward to reading more and joining the discussion as it unfolds. Also interesting to reflect on the contrast of adventuring and blogging in this way compared to the 1950s Manchester world you started out in.
I first took a school trip to Russia in about 1974 - I was 14 and we took a tin bucket of a boat where everyone puked for 2 days and stopped off at Copenhagen and Helsinki briefly before going to Leningrad and Moscow then memories of a train trip back via Brest and Poland - seeing horse drawn farm vehicles and then to Berlin - going to checkpoint Charlie and look at the wall.
I am glad I went then - and my parents had the vision to realise letting me go on such trips would be 'educational' - I did not appreciate how it would be at the time - we just had a great laugh with a a few mates, met a girls school on the trip which led to some liaisons which lasted a bit beyond the trip - whilst the academics amongst the lads focused more on the cultural aspects. However I do remember things such as KGB watching you from any street you were on, the best tasting 'tub' ice cream in the coldest place you would eat it, taking lots of stockings to give to women and chewing gum to trade for Lenin badges. It was greyer than grey and Lenin in his mausoleum looked just like he did on the history books.
Then I went back more recently the same year you went linked to the Helsinki conference. I am pretty sure I ended up staying in the same big state owned hotel we stayed in on the school trip. It was fascinating and emotionally I felt very moving as a place - the contrasts in looking at the faces of the odler generation and younger generation was plain to see. You could see the history the older folk had lived through etched on their faces. It was in some ways similar to the mid 70s but in other ways very different - blacked out BMW 4 Wheel Drives, designer shops and obvious signs of wealth contrasting with the poverty of the have-nots and the haunting memory of the teenage girl openly sniffing glue on the tube. The ballet was a treat, the impressionists at the Hermitage were fabulous and the architecture was a wonder.
Shan and I were taken round on a trip in st Petersburg by a most learned young historian who was passionate about his country and I felt I did not do it justice in just a 3 day trip but felt St Petersburg had a real pull on me - more so probably than any other major city I have visited.
I recall in between these trips, around 1990 seeing the dismantling of the Berlin Wall,the final speech of Ceaucescau as the crowd turned and wondering then how this would change the shape of the world.
In the UK now we see Eastern Europeans we would never have dreamt of seeing as children, many working hard to make a new life here. In my boys' school there are Russian children being sent for a British public school education by wealthy Russians. It will be fascinating to see how the demographics here change as those of the former Eastern block integrate, mix and develop as entrepreneurs. It is also interesting to consider the contrasts they experience with their freedom to go west compared to that of their parents.
Keep blogging ....
Richard
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