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I have been following the writing and speaking of Victor Davis Hanson for twenty-five years. Hanson is a historian, classicist, and fellow at the Hoover Institute. He is famous for reflecting on our present circumstances in light of past people, places, ideas, and events.
In his book The Second World Wars Hanson points out what is imperative to remember about warfare. The strong appearance of power and the willingness to employ it might have stopped more conflicts before they began. Put simply, to deter conflict, a show of strength is necessary. Hanson states the obvious, that appeasement of enemies is nothing more than a lack of “willpower.”
To put it in very practical terms, everyone knows that the only way to stop the playground bully is to put him on his back.
It is not just strength that wins the day, it is the strength of will.
Thanks for spending this minute with me, Dr. Mark Eckel.
Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.
“Give Me a Minute” is an ongoing effort to simply, clearly, and quickly explain aspects of true Truth. [First published at MarkEckel.com]
Gratitude, as always, to my longtime friend, videographer, and tech guru Josh for his continued service.
Discussion (6)
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It is an interesting book which I enjoyed reading. It's amazing how France and the UK squandered their military superiority over Germany and basically brought on the slaughter they feared by not being more assertive.
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Deterrence needs more than words. Hanson is correct.
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I read this a few years ago and loved it. He describes how all the regional conflicts became known as world wars mostly because of our involvement, however reluctantly, in all of them. Very interesting read, especially the Japanese segment.
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We now know what Chamberlain was told in 38 by the British Chiefs of staff.
The Royal Navy. "Were goint to have to start convoying but we outnumber the Germans pretty badly."
The Royal Army. "We have at most 4 deployable divisions and wont make a meaningful effort to the continent.
The Royal Air Force. "The Germans have 4000 bombers and they will level London in two weeks. There will be a miilion dead and 2 million refugees in the countryside."
If your being told this by your chief of staff maybe appeasement starts to make sense.
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Chamberlain was overseeing an unprecedented level of defense buildup. Everything, particularly armored vehicles and aircraft, was being approved. The RAF ended up with some pretty demented aircraft and the Army's motor pool started to resemble a used car lot.
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