A Lesson Not Learned !

Germany emerged from the ashes of the second world war in ruins.  Its cities were bombed to rubble and invading armies from the Soviet Union and the Allies were discovering the atrocities perpetrated in concentration camps where millions were brutally murdered.  The horrors of Hitler's " National Socialist " regime were laid bare for all to see.

Germany started that war and it paid a heavy price for its defeat.  For decades it faced partition and it was the German people who enacted laws that forced its citizens to face the national shame of its departure from the code of civilization expected of a leading European country.  It is a law breach to deny the Holocaust and the collection of Nazi paraphernalia is forbidden.

Incredibly, the harbinger of National Socialism is again rising across Europe.  A small political party with National Socialist roots now sits in the German parliament and this is deemed a result of Angela Merkel's compassionate stance in opening Germany's doors to refugees from war in the Middle East. This same refugee rejection has seen borders closed in other European countries and now the most liberal in Europe - Sweden - has elected a new party with Nazi roots to where it will influence the policy of government.

We would do well to remember how Hitler rose to power.  A German defeat in the First Word War led to a very unfair Treaty of Versailles.  That was designed to keep Germany poor and disarmed and it produced weak government, leading to shambles when the great recession hit the western world. Hitler tried to seize power in a putsch and when that failed his oratory struck a note with the masses and caused the streets to be filled with his " brown shirts " with swastikas on their arms.

Hitler was simply a " strong man " with dictatorship in his sights, and similar figures ere emerging in several European countries.  The danger is that this looming trade war between America and China can very easily slip out of control and the rest of the world can not escape becoming involved.  It could easily lead to a severe recession with massive job losses as countries erect trade barriers to protect their own industries.

Another recession of the 1929 magnitude would be a total disaster.  The Communist party rules China with an iron fist and their greatest fear is mass unemployment that they can not manage. In such circumstances, countries often turn to nationalism and create an external enemy to blame. We saw that happen in Germany when Hitler began to invade surrounding countries to create " living space " for his greater Germany.

The signs are on the wall that " National Socialist " thinking is not dead and buried.  It is very much alive and expanding and the presence of foreign refugees is fast becoming the rally point for its standard bearers.   Free trade was the impetus for that successful world that emerged after the end of the second world war.  We restrict that now at our peril.  Unfortunately, some of our world leaders seem to have missed learning the message that the history books so clearly illustrated from our past !