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Original poster

To wonder why the Brits are so obsessed with WW2?

483 replies

MrsSchadenfreude · 08/05/2020 22:28

My Mum is 87. She was 12 when the war ended and went through it in London. She remembers being terrified and hungry and getting grief because her grandmother was German. Other elderly relatives don’t have lovely memories either, apart from relief when it was all over. So why do we glorify it all, at every opportunity? Why do we always look back instead of forward?

OP posts:
Crowbarred · 08/05/2020 23:18

Indeed, @MindyStClaire.

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 08/05/2020 23:19

Only thing positive about our history Hmm

No we never have contributed to the advancement of industry, science, medicine, technology, literature, scholarly, art

Today was about honouring all those that made so many sacrifices so we can have the freedoms we do today. In some countries we could not post on such a site as MN, in many countries we would be considered by law as second class citizens, in many countries people can not openly practise their religion.

mbosnz · 08/05/2020 23:19

You are most certainly disrespecting the Allies.

powershowerforanhour · 08/05/2020 23:20

It's noticeable the different light WWI and WWII are cast in.
The first one- Armistice Day, sombre wreath laying, mud, trenches, the Unknown Soldier, the landscape of Northern France blasted to shite, what passing bells for these who die as cattle.

The second one- fight them on the beaches, dashingly moustachioed RAF chaps in Spitfires, plucky Land Girls in headscarves posing on tractors, stockinged brainy young women Enigma cracking at Bletchley Park, digging for victory, bluebirds over, grab a GI for a street snog.

HopeClearwater · 08/05/2020 23:21

@Amatteroftime no one is visiting them CURRENTLY because of Covid.

That poster made a bloody good point. That’s how we treat the survivors of that war who voted to start the NHS and the welfare state. Running down the NHS year on year and failing to provide decent social care.

TitianaTitsling · 08/05/2020 23:21

@SwedishEdith of course the Great War is remembered.. the poppies that are the symbol of rememberance are due to this war. Flanders? 'in Flanders Fields the poppies grow, between the crosses, row on row'.

chomalungma · 08/05/2020 23:21

I do think out attitude towards it would have been very different if we had been invaded - and then liberated.

(Obviously the Channel Islands did experience such a thing)

I think the attitude in other European countries is very different to our attitude.

I can't imagine the horrors they went through - and I can imagine that it has played a massive part in their attitudes nowadays towards shared values.

mbosnz · 08/05/2020 23:22

The fact that the RAF (yes, with a lot of foreign aircrew in it)

Yep. That'd be my great uncle. Don't know where he's buried in France. He's from New Zealand. No, you didn't stand alone. Would it cost you so very much to acknowledge that? He was not British. He didn't have to come here. To fight here. To DIE HERE.

Justaboy · 08/05/2020 23:22

Well VE and for that matter VJ day will fade with time as that generation who lived through it dies off:(

I hope that remberance day will live on for evermore as a reminder of what man can get up to!

And lets hope that WW3, the nuke one, will never happen as they'll be sod all around to remember any damm thing!

SarahAndQuack · 08/05/2020 23:23

@flyingbuttress43, do you not realise that every invaded country had a similar experience?

No one defended their country thinking 'oh well, let's do a half-hearted jobs lads, it's ok because some other country has our backs'.

If the Battle of Britain had been lost, it is quite possible America would have been the country saying 'look how we beat the Nazis single handed and liberated occupied Britain'.

We just don't know.

It is as well to have some humility, and to remember the actual people who survived that war and did not want it to fuel further jingoistic nationalism.

Amatteroftime · 08/05/2020 23:25

People can't visit them because of covid. That's not exactly the visitors decision, is it?

That’s how we treat the survivors of that war who voted to start the NHS and the welfare state. Running down the NHS year on year and failing to provide decent social care.

That's certainly not a 'we'. That's a shitty tory government. I didn't vote for them, I don't like their policies, and I have spent time in care homes for free offering entertainment for the elderly just to do my bit and hopefully give them something to smile about that day. I wish I could do more but I'm not part of that 'we'.

onemorecupofcoffeefortheroad · 08/05/2020 23:26

Yes, I would want my children to know about significant historical events. I lived in Eastern Europe under communism and saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the impact this had on people’s lives
MrsSchadenfreude

In that case it must just be the glorification of the war you're against. You clearly understand the significance of massive historical events.

I'm with you there.

Asuitablecat · 08/05/2020 23:26

I think a lot comes from the 'boomer' generation; those who grew up just after the war and watched endless hero/villain films at the cinema. I.know my grandad barely spoke about the war, but my dad was fascinated. I suspect part of that was almost a kind of guilt and maybe even envy that they didn't play a part in.such a momentous event, but got to reap the rewards. The trouble with the next generation focusing on it, is that they put their own lens over it.

flyingbuttress43 · 08/05/2020 23:28

Not sure if you are referring to my post or earlier ones but I was absolutely acknowledging the huge part the Commonwealth and other allies played in it. I was trying to put in context what I think some of the posters meant by the "stood alone" bit, as we, as in in the island of Britain during the summer of 1940 was the only bulwark between Hitler and his chance of world domination.

If I did not make that clear I apologise.

TomTomRunner · 08/05/2020 23:28

'Lest we forget'

and

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”― Edmund Burke

Just this.

Pumpkintopf · 08/05/2020 23:28

Op you say So why do we glorify it all, at every opportunity?

I'm not sure we all do. A lot of the coverage has made the point about how hard, how awful, the war was. However, I am glad our country and the allies stood up to Nazi Germany, the alternative is absolutely terrifying to contemplate. I think we can be quietly proud of that without being jingoistic, don't you?

I agree this does not require street parties with Vera Lynn playing!

flyingbuttress43 · 08/05/2020 23:29

Oh bugger, posters are determined to misunderstand me.
I'll leave it at that.

Saladmakesmesad · 08/05/2020 23:30

I'm really uncomfortable with the talk of 'their sacrifice' when conscription was a thing. When young men were forced to put their lives in danger, can we really glorify it and thank them for what they 'gave up for our freedom'? They probably wanted to live, too. They were probably terrified. We should remember them and thank them of course, but I think we should also apologise to them and promise to them that we'll never let it happen again. I also think Brexit is the most shameful thing we could have done to their memory and it feels really hypocritical to be doing the whole VE day thing after breaking ties with Europe earlier this year.

MaxNormal · 08/05/2020 23:31

We stood alone against most of the world to defeat Germany.

That is so bloody offensive I don't know where to start.
I must have imagined both grandfathers serving Hmm

Peregrina · 08/05/2020 23:31

I think if you watch American films, you will find that they think they did win the war more or less single handedly. You won't get them acknowledging that because Hitler was stupid enough to open up the eastern front, the Russians had a part in the victory. It may be that the Americans are primarily responsible for the winning the war against Japan. The British did not do well there - Singapore was overrun - one of the great military defeats in history.

LagunaBubbles · 08/05/2020 23:32

Your post strikes me as quite nasty actually. Its like everything else on MN, always someone willing to try and put a dampener on something. If it's not the NHS itself it's now people remembering and celebrating VE day. I'm 49 and I've never seen war glorified either.

mbosnz · 08/05/2020 23:33

@flyingbuttress43

Get what you're saying there, fair enough. As a geographical bulwark.

However, there were an awful lot of shoulders from all around the world bulstering it.

Nsky · 08/05/2020 23:33

It’s to celebrated because it brought new freedom, at a cost to others.
Other countries were dictated too for years in the way we were not.
The sheer amount of effort, brains and sacrifice Of odinary folk

Kljnmw3459 · 08/05/2020 23:33

There's a lot of nostalgia for the ww2 era generally. I would think the reality wasn't as glorious as it now might appear.

TracyBeakerSoYeah · 08/05/2020 23:34

It's not the war that's being glorified, it's the people who sacrificed their time, effort, health, money and lives to try to bring lasting peace for others

I second/third/fourth/fifth/nth this.