I've just finished 'Chapter One: Poland Betrayed' of Hasting's Inferno. Feels like I'm off to a good start, considering that before now I didn't really know anything about the start of the war, Poland's involvement, or other countries' attitudes. It's fairly disgusting. Germany wanted to conquer Poland, and Russia would let that happen if it got a hefty chunk of the territory for itself. Although they didn't want to be partners, the two countries made a non-aggression agreement. England and France did next to nothing even though they'd formally promised via treaties to defend Poland against Germany in the event of an attack. Poland fell in less than a month, with the western part under German control and the east under Russia's. The "Allies" just basically hemmed and hawed and went about their lives with a casual, "Well, there's nothing to be done now, is there? There's no more Poland to defend. What a shame." Plus, Hitler went straight to carting off & killing Polish Jews asap after splitting the country with Russia. What an asshole. All of this makes me want to visit Poland, particularly Warsaw.
[That was written a few days ago, but it felt incomplete. By now I'm halfway through Chapter Two.]
Anyway, reading about WWII is like finally reading the book when I've already watched the movie version of something. I mean, I've seen plenty of WWII films already, and I actually, you know, live in this world, so... I know Poland is its own country, I know Russia fought Hitler, I know we ended things by bombing the absolute shit out of Japan. But in life, as in film, I expect 'the book' to be a totally new experience. It doesn't matter that I know how it ends; I'm still eager to see how we got there. In my current ignorance, WWII is like the Holocaust + Pearl Harbor + Normandy + Atomic bombs = we win. That's shameful. I need to see the steps from point A to Z. I need to know why everyone did what they did. The book so far is great - and I'm still happily geeking out. That's right, you heard me. Reading military/world history doesn't feel like being back in school, but it feels like I'm finally educating myself. And that's a good feeling.
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