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Entry: The Good War: A Cautionary Tale Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/the_good_war_a_cautionary_tale#29121 Post contents: In reviewing the events up to the beginning of the war, one is struck by just how moderate the Nazi demands on Poland were. The so-socalled Marienwerder points included a demand for Danzig and a plebiscite in the corridor region down to the town of Marienwerder. What is striking is the lack of demands for any territory around Posen (Poznan) and around Upper Silesia. The Posen territory awarded to Poland after WW1 hadn't even expressed its opinion in a plebiscite, unlike Upper Silesia, which voted about 59-41 for Germany, and yet Hitler didn't even ask for this in his demands (though perhaps he would have later once Danzig and the corridor were in the bag.). Another indicator of Nazi moderation that year was the fact that after Germany annexed Memel from Lithuania, Germany desisted from further aggressive acts against that country, did not turn it into a protectorate etc. Similarly, Nazi annexation of Austria did not unleash new demands for Hungarian, or Yugoslav/Slovenian territory. Of course all bets were off once the war started, but at least in the pre-war era, German moves, with the obvious exception of the unjustified and outrageous annexation of Bohemia and Moravia, were understandable from the perspective of Wilsonian self-determination. Sent at: 2009 01 08