In this segment, Hitler jokes (about 5 months before WWII) about a diplomatic note Roosevelt sent him.
This short speech before the german parlament is treated like a big joke. To me, however, it’s a very interesting document. It shows a demeaning view of the U.S.A. (by Hitler), a limited view of Hitler’s long-term goals by the parlament and a truly miopic grasp of international policy by Hitler.
Does anybody know what countries are really listed in Roosevelt’s note?
My debate point would be: Might this be one of the turning points (for Roosevelt) which made him prepare for war against Germany?
Mr. Roosevelt asks that assurances be given him that the German armed forces will not attack and above all not invade the territory or possessions of the following independent nations: Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Leichtenstein, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Russia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iraq, the Arabias, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Iran.
Here’s a link to an English translation of a webpage with Hitler’s speech in the original German.
In the video, Hitler appears to give the word “Palestine” a comedic emphasis. Given the Nazi belief that Jews are an “inferior race,” I am curious to know if the British plan for Palestine to become a Jewish homeland was well-known in other countries at that time, as I presume Hitler might be poking fun at that.
Could be, but I think he’s just doing it because Palestine is a longway from Germany, and so giving more emphesis to Palestine to make fun of Roosevelts letter basically naming enery country under the sun, even those Germany wasn’t at the time threatening.
It’s odd that nobody who translated it fully got the joke — not only that, the translations given so far have omitted an important detail which is crucial to understanding it (which is pointed out in the YouTube comments, but only in German, and rather obliquely).
Transcription from there (which appears accurate, and leaving in the emphasized word) :
“Herr Roosevelt verlangt endlich die Bereitwilligkeit, ihm die Zusicherung zu geben, dass die deutschen Streitkräfte das Staatsgebiet oder die Besitzungen folgender unabhängiger, UNABHÄNGIGER Nationen nicht angreifen und vor allem nicht dort einmarschieren würden…”
Notice that one word is repeated - “unabhängiger” - which means … independent. The first chuckles begin as Hitler repeats it, as it’s obvious what he’s about to highlight.
It is true that the length of the list - or the likelihood of invasion at the time by Germany is as humorous to them as the independence of some of those nations. It’s also true that publicly mocking the letter demonstrates his arrogance and disregard of international relations. But the joke itself is merely on the level of something the Daily Show would do.
Oh! I see. If one takes into consideration that many of the nations at the end of the list were still colonies of England and France (Iraq, the Arabias, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Iran), then I see how while at the beginning the joke is about the long number of nations, that towards the end the joke then turns into a parody.
By 1939 the British didn’t have much of a plan to found a Jewish state - that year saw the highest level of hostility on their behalf yet towards the Palestinian Jews, with the publication of the White Books prohibiting further immigration. However, it was obvious to everyone that the Yishuv very much wanted independence.
Not a parody in the sense that he’s exaggerating the truth though. The copy of Roosevelt’s letter linked above really did include all those countries and really did refer to them as independent:
Understanding political humor from 60 years ago is hard…
It’s only the last four or five nations on the list which at the time were not really independent, and the laughter begins long before he comes to those nations.
And, anyhow, the real question to me is whether Roosevelt could have forseen the magnitude of the coming war due to this speech.
Unlikely. Prior to the attack on Poland I think that military conventional wisdom was that a new European war would resemble a repeat of the Great War – a static, trench-based conflict that Germany was doomed to lose. I think the general impression at the time was that Hitler’s aggression toward Czechoslovakia and Poland was a form of brinksmanship – eking out territorial gains from his weaker neighbors by flirting with destruction from the major powers.
I don’t think most experts anticipated the transformative effect of the Panzer and the Stuka, and how mechanized warfare would allow Germany to project its military power far beyond what had previously been thought possible.
Of course, AFTER the invasion of Poland the writing was on the wall. France and Great Britain ignored it and as a result were really caught flat-footed by the Germans in 1940. But in spring of 1939 I don’t think most world leaders realized how dangerous Hitler had become.
So, I don’t think that Roosevelt was really worried that Germany could threaten ALL of the countries on his list. Rather, I think he thought that Hitler was playing a very dangerous and unpredictable game, trying to gain advantage wherever he could. The list was more of a “let’s cover all the bases because we don’t know where he might push next”, not a “wow, he’s powerful enough to strike everywhere”.
The speech was carried on American radio, so Hitler’s response was certainly taken seriously by both the citizens and the leadership. He clearly had rejected Roosevelt’s overtures and was moving steadily toward war. But I think that what was generally anticipated was another grinding war of attrition on Germany’s borders with marginal U.S. involvement – not a sprawling continent-wide bloodbath with Great Britain, France, Russia, the Balkans and North Africa all in play.
Like I said, that is only part of the joke (but a key part that had been omitted). And as I pointed out, the laughing actually begins when he repeats ‘independent’, so they’re set up for it. It also explains why Palestine gets one of the biggest laughs.
I don’t see how Roosevelt could have used this response to guess at the magnitude of the war, considering he came up with the long list. All it revealed was that Hitler had little regard for his message, something he was no doubt already aware of.
That might have been the prevalent conventional wisdom; however it is pretty obvious to me that it’s not what Hitler himself believed. And, on that note, I wonder how much U.S. intelligence and/or Roosevelt’s gut feelings thought about the whole matter.