This source focuses on Charles Lindbergh's perspective on Germany and his strong critiques of Great Britain's foreign policy leading up to the war during the critical years of 1939, 1940, and 1941. Context and Key Figures: The conflict detailed in the bo

PREVIEW:: America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War Hardcover – September 24, 2024 by  H. W. Brands  (Author)

This source focuses on Charles Lindbergh's perspective on Germany and his strong critiques of Great Britain's foreign policy leading up to the war during the critical years of 1939, 1940, and 1941.

1927 LINDBERGH


Context and Key Figures:

• The conflict detailed in the book covers the critical years 1939, 1940, and 1941, culminating in the Japanese attack.
• Lindbergh was the "hero of the age," while Franklin D. Roosevelt, running for a third term, was a "genius at political success."

Lindbergh's Perspective on Germany:

• Lindbergh held a "stubborn admiration for German culture," believing "the Germans knew how to do things right."
• He was "puzzled and dismayed" by the political changes in Germany, including the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party.
• He did not know what to make of the "strange and alarming turn" German politics had taken, or the "apparent obvious embrace by the German people" of these new movements.

Lindbergh's Critique of Britain:

• Lindbergh was "very discouraged" about Britain's approach to world affairs, believing Britain's "day was behind it" and its "great time was behind it."
• He felt Britain had allowed itself to fall into "complacency and apathy."
• He criticized Britain and France for establishing an "unrealistic postwar regime" at the Paris Peace Conferenceof 1919.
• They imposed unrealistic restrictions on Germany but then "refused to enforce them afterward."
• He suspected the British were attempting to "continue to cruise on the momentum" of their 19th-century empire.
• Lindbergh was puzzled by British policy, specifically that they made demands on Germany ("You must do this") while making promises (to Czechoslovakia and then Poland) that they could not fulfill.
• He was afraid that Hitler would "call their bluff" and Europe would be at war.
• Lindbergh strongly suspected that if war broke out, the British would look to the United States to "bail them out," repeating the pattern of World War I.