"How British High Society Fell in Love With the Nazis" Topic

"Buckingham Palace has attempted to brush off the film of a young Queen giving a Nazi salute as ‘horseplay' and insisted that the family were simply ‘messing around' for the camera when the film was taken—apparently around 1933 when the Queen was 7 or 8.

And while there is little doubt that the Queen is absolutely not a Nazi sympathizer, it is equally true that there was widespread sympathy for Nazis and Nazism in the early and mid-1930s in the very heart of the British establishment.

As Frank McDonough, an international expert on the Third Reich whose book, The Gestapo: The Myth and Reality of Hitler's Secret Police will be published later this year, told The Royalist, "The British 'Establishment', including key figures in the aristocracy, the press were keen supporters of Hitler up until the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Few were supporters of Nazism, but they admired Hitler and felt he offered the best means of preventing the spread of communism. They tended to turn a blind eye to anti-Semitism and the attacks Hitler made on communists, socialists, and other internal opponents."…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Unity & Diana Mitford were not "playing around"

Neither was the Queen's Uncle – old Edward the abdicator

It's a pretty sorry story.

There were quite a few upper crust Americans flirting with the Nazi's as well.

Disgraceful, and you should be ashamed of yourself. Our future Monarch was a little girl when this supposed photo was taken, and once she became a young woman, served as a volunteer ambulance driver in the fight against Fascism. You're an absolute for posting this, I cannot begin to convey my contempt for you, but a start will be ignoring every single subsequent piece of ipso facto you post.

Whoa Legbiter. You are forgetting that in the 30's that Hitler was a hero to the German people and many non-Germans for the way he resurrected Germany in such a short time. The world was still suffering from the Great Depression and what the Nazi's accomplished seemed like a miracle to some folks. Vey few people foresaw what a monster hid behind the mustache. It is never good to believe that our ancestors saw things the way we see them today.

There was s lot of blindness to the flaws in the Nazi regime even in Germany where evidence was more readily available.

Not surprising that people in the UK or other foreign countries would only see the positives.

What is amazing is how long people ignored the flaws in the Soviet system (there are people who still don't acknowledge them)…

This 'news' broke over two years ago.

This 'news' broke over two years ago.

So is there some reason this nonsense is relevant now?

Are we so desperate for items to post that we're trawling through old "news"?

Really, some restraint is called for.

Lots of BS on this site.

'So is there some reason this nonsense is relevant now?

Are we so desperate for items to post that we're trawling through old "news"?

Really, some restraint is called for.'

Hits and web traffic?

@Legbiter – the footage of Princess Elizabeth making a Nazi salute also includes her mother (an adult, of course) doing the same – yes it's a "light hearted" home movie but it is interesting because Uncle Eddie (King Edward VIII) is egging everyone on – and he was genuinely keen on Hitler and the Nazis.

Compared to other supporters of the British Union of Fascists, the Mitford sisters got off relatively lightly – their family connection to a certain Mr W. Churchill may have had something to do with this…

It's a genuine story because it does reflect on a fairly commonly held attitude of tacit acceptance or even all out approval in the "ruling classes" of the country at the time. With the popularity of Very British Civil War wargames it's even miniature wargame related.

Quite a few folks were busy turning a blind eye to Stalin at this time. Some were even the same folks (or institutions) that turned a blind eye to Hitler.

The worst of the Nazi crimes were in the future at this point in time.

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20,000 Americans attended a pro-Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden on 20 February, 1939. Which is a bit after the point where National Socialism might have seemed like a Pretty Neat Idea.

As a balance, it should be noted that at least as many influential Britons and Americans were pro-Stalin.

And while that is a perfectly valid point we don't have film of the Queen mother (to be) and the queen (to be) making a red flag…and we do know that only by the greatest of good-fortunes (thank you Wallace Simpson!) did we not have a pro-Nazi king when Poland was invaded. Good old trustworthy Eddie the Abdicator was safely ensconced in France, soon to be sent to the West Indies to keep him out of harm / stop him making agreements with the Third Reich about what a post-victory Britain might look like. Doubtless we'd have needed a puppet king…where could we have found one of those….?

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(the picture linked to is post-abdication – the ex-monarch didn't have to go and meet Hitler…he wanted to….)

Control C

Control V

Two years old and totally irrelevant. More quality stuff to edify TMP.

Time to log out and stop visiting. Nothing about gaming just nonsense.

I'm surprised at the level of offense taken at this post. It's a bit sensationalised, but still interesting. It clearly states in the first paragragraph the now queen's war service and just discusses the optics of it and the various initial takes on the nazis before the atrocities and the war started rolling in. Clearly to my eyes not whitewashing everything into a binary state many years after the fact is important. The world at any given moment is full of greys and not black and white. It is valuable to see this and to use it to understand and act in the world today. Shame on you guys for trying to shout it down.

Glad you apreciate the article my friend.

Amicalement
Armand

"You are forgetting that in the 30's that Hitler was a hero to the German people and many non-Germans for the way he resurrected Germany in such a short time. "

Hitler voted man of the year 1938 by Times Magazine

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Diazepam, Lorazepam, Gin… And/Or take a deep breath.

Just understand that while some see the man (now person) of the year as an honor it was meant to indicate an individual (and in later years more than one) who had the greatest impact on the previous year.