• @BananaTrifleViolin
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    1655 months ago

    No one seems to have actually read the article, just the headline. This is the ultimate click bait title - kudos to the headline writer in 1939.

    The tl/dr: It’s saying Hitler’s authoritarian actions were galvanising other countries to step up and protect democracy after the failures after WW1.

    In the final paragraph:

    It is one of the most interesting phenomena of Hitler’s political activity that it has resulted in bringing about so soon such an overwhelming and unprecedented manifestation of defensive solidarity amongst the democratic peoples.

    And the final line of the article:

    It would be the height of paradox if Hitler, of all persons, were destined by his statesmanship finally “to make the world safe for Democracy.”

    The article is surprisingly prescient.

      • qazOPM
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        115 months ago

        In my defense, the contents were blocked by a paywall

      • Titou
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        25 months ago

        Nah, NATO is a really bad example, it’s not union it’s usa controlling others members

        • @eric5949
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          45 months ago

          Go tell that to France.

    • @vxx
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      5 months ago

      When the headline of an article is a question, the answer is always “no”.

      Interesting that unwritten rule applied back then as well.

  • @[email protected]
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    405 months ago

    I think I get the point they’re trying to make, democracy had become complacent and Hitler gave it a common threat and enemy, but in retrospect… Didn’t work out that great now, did it

    • xor
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      5 months ago

      It’s difficult to quantify, but I think there is a compelling argument to be made - just off of my head, WW2 led to:

      • the fall of German autocracy/restoration of German democracy (though Hitler did kinda break that one in the first place)
      • Italian and Japanese democracy
      • redistribution of wealth/power in Britain
      • the 4th french republic
      • alignment of the European democracies
      • establishment of the UN
      • @[email protected]
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        285 months ago
        • end of the British empire
        • eventual formation of the EU to replace the League of Nations

        But also

        • invention of the nuclear bomb
        • by extension, escalation of the cold war
        • numerous coups against democratic leaders and proxy wars due to it
      • Zagorath
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        205 months ago

        Italian and Japanese democracy

        And, albeit on a longer timeframe, Taiwanese and South Korean democracy.

    • @[email protected]
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      65 months ago

      It worked fine at the time, the problem is that all of that motivation to defend democracy was artificial, and slowly faded from the public as the war faded into the past.

  • @Hubi
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    155 months ago

    That’s either an April fools article or the dumbest take ever.

    • qazOPM
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      5 months ago

      It’s a real archived article from April 1, 1939

      • Zagorath
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        145 months ago

        A real archived article from…1 April, 1939.

        I don’t think it’s an April Fool’s article, but from just the headline it would not be unreasonable to conclude that.

        • @[email protected]
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          25 months ago

          It’s a clickbait title. From what I see it basically says that Hitler gave democracies a common enemy to fight against and rally to defend their system

        • qazOPM
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          05 months ago

          deleted by creator

  • @[email protected]
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    55 months ago

    Journalism has an adage that any headline ending with a question can be answered “no” by the readet who then safely ignores it.

    I guess this article was from before they figured that out

  • @ZILtoid1991
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    35 months ago

    Soon, we will get the same with Trump, Putin, etc.

  • @Etterra
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    25 months ago

    Man history is a flat circle. That looks like a headlight that would be written by either Fox News or an AI.