I don't even know why threads spin into this bashing kind of nonsense. I find it shows a lack of maturity, unless when it is sometimes used in a humorous tone that draws another smart remark back. Some people just won't take the time to study history, and it is just really sad. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from the past.
I'm no Nazi supporter, but the Luftwaffe was a damned fine airforce, and most of the men that flew these planes did it for their country and for the future of their families, not for their leader.
If anyone takes the time to study history, problems in Europe can be traced right back to WW1. Germany was very discontent with the treaty it was forced to sign after the Kaiser abdicated his throne and Germany surrendered unconditionally. War reparations (forced upon Germany as war guilt by the Allies, except USA which signed a separate treaty with Germany), land siezures and other acts almost steered Germany down the path it took during the 1930's. When thinking about why people would do the things they do it is VERY IMPORTANT to understand the average German citizen's frame of mind during post WW1. With an economy almost strangled by the allied blockade of Germany (which still continued for some time after Germany surrendered), and later a world wide depression, it is almost impossible to imagine how Germans viewed the outside world simply through the treatment it was getting. The Allies tried to pin WW1 on the Germans, saying they started it, they lost, they'll pay, when in truth it was started by the assisnation of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand of Serbia.
No one really sees the war through Germany's eyes in WW2 because it is widely taught that Germany (the whole friggin country) during this time was EVIL, even though it was really only one man and how he implicated his policies. Germany was rebuilt on the sweat and toil of the common German citizen, who worked in the factory, worked in the mine, served in its armed forces, and there is no EVIL in that. They were doing just what we were doing in the United States, working, working and working...........Germany was a very nationalistic country, and the Germans loved their country just as much as we love ours, and were prepared to defend it at any cost.
So to all of you who shoot their mouth off at a whim, thinking they know all that cause they got the final jeapordy question right last night, do some research, think out your post, and then type it and I think you will get a lot more pleasent results.
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Meine Schwester hat keine kartoffel salat? Du bist eine lustige Buba!!!