World war question

[Ihatethenewlook]

The question my daughter has been given is how would we remember ww2 if germany and hitler had won. I’m not sure what answer they’re looking for.

Well we would probably all be speaking German

Would it be through the eyes of Hitler? Could imagine the propaganda if they had won. History would be completely rewritten. Concentration camps would be portrayed as necessary. We would be taught the Jewish are evil, Hitler is King, the need to live the Aryan way etc

“The Man in the High Castle” offers interesting thoughts on this, not suitable watching for a young one though

It’s a really weird question isn’t it? I’m not sure where they’re coming from. I mean we won the war and the Germans remember it? It’s part of history, the curriculum, there’s books about it. That’s how it would be remembered 🤷🏼‍♀️ or do they actually mean what would be different if hitler had won?

I think it’s what would be different if Hitler had won. We definitely wouldn’t have the history books we have now, etc.

it’s a strange question.

it is remembered now not because they lost, but for all that happened in Hitler and others pursuit of power.

So how I would answer that is we would potentially remember it the same way, as all of the atrocities would still have taken place except that instead of defeated, they were then in power with perhaps a whole different structure and way of life in place around the world

Her dads suggestion was as unhelpful as usual 🙄

😂 top effort from dad, he sounds a great laugh 👌🏼

I think this is the most sensible answer really. I’ll focus on this one and throw a bit of the other ones. Thanks guys. You’ve been a better help than dad 👍

I think you could approach this using the following as starting points:

We would think, as Hitler did, that the second world war was a necessity precipitated by the first world war. We would believe the land settlement at the end of WWI and the German reparation payments were unreasonable. We would believe that Hitler didn't invade Poland, but that he reunified Prussia as part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. We would believe fascism was "a different point of view" rather than an abomination. We would not believe the holocaust really happened (even in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary). Museums would talk about the "Battle of Berlin" rather than the "Battle of Britain" and we would say "France chose to join the German Empire" rather than "France surrendered under impossible circumstances to prevent massive loss of life."

Movies would be all about brave Nazi heroes and Indiana Jones would fight evil British zombies to give the Holy Grail to Herr Hitler.

It's an interesting thought exercise to look at the other point of view but I don't think this is necessarily the best topic to be doing it with lol.

No worries, I have a history degree btw 😂

They ask these weird ones now and again, they are designed to be insightful.

Another angle could be something along the lines of Winston Churchills “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it” or history being written by the victors etc.

Sort of to what extent would their propaganda machine attempt to re-write history the way they did with the German people to suit their own narrative, and would this be successful in convincing the world of a whole other story?

Tough one! Xx

I also think it's worth noting that these sort of big empires have declined massively toward the end of the 20th century (e.g. Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, USSR etc) and therefore that Hitler's invaded territory might have reverted to independent nations again by now anyway.

The holocaust would not have happened or at least would not be acknowledged to have happened.

Well you could look at it from another angle. Britain carried out atrocities across the world in the name of the crown. But as the victor it was never though of as genocide.
If Hitler had won the history books would teach it as a vital war. The concnetrquon camps are reduction camps to rid our society of corruption or somewhere propaganda.
History is always written by the Victor.

Hmm yes interesting topic. I grew up in the Soviet Union, in one of the occupied states, and based on how the history was presented to us, I can agree with WomenShould above. Invasion/surrender would be 'liberation' and you would hear how all the local people welcomed their Nazi liberators with flowers. Holocaust never happened - they were just work camps to educate people. There were no deportations to camps, just re-settlement of enemy classes. Nazi collaborators would be praised as heroes and we would not be reading about Anne Frank, but about the brave and loyal person who reported her.

I don't think we'd necessarily be speaking German. I'd have to look but I'm sure there's a school of thought that the Nazis never planned to invade the UK and actually saw the British as like the Germans. Still anti Semitic views in the UK at that time as well. This may be going beyond your daughter's homework question though.

Tomorrow I will be in Ypres. I doubt the remembrance would involve the same organisations but think by now as noted the Nazi empire would have ended.

I actually think it means how would we commemorate it if we'd lost. The words remember imply that rather than 'we'd all be speaking German' and the question is timely in relation to remembrance.

A good example to look at is how other 'losing sides' commemorate if at all. Also how we remember more tactical defeats like we remember Dunkirk as a triumph of small boats (the irony) going to rescue troops off the beaches facing huge adversity.

It doesn't mean "how would we remember it" because we would have forgotten it happened had Germany won.

But "how would we remember it" as in what would we be taught.

So currently we are taught (in simple terms) that the good guys won. The good guys being us and the other allies. The Nazis were bad. The Holocaust was an atrocity.
We 'remember' the war as a necessary fought against evil, that the good guys won.

If we had lost we would be taught that the good guys won. The good guys in this case being the nazis. The Holocaust would have been a necessity. The Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, disabled people etc would be the enemy.

We would 'remember' the war as a necessary fight against evil that the good guys won.

Just the good guys and bad guys are different each time.

Wow, I wasn’t excepting so many replies! It’s given us a lot to think about, I’m pouring a gin and having a good ponder. I asked her which way her teacher may have come across about it, and she did say he’s a bit of a tyrant who likes to give them awkwardly worded questions to try and trip them up. I suspect this question is going to turn into an essay as she hates getting anything wrong so we’ll try and cover all suggestions. Thanks for everyone’s help!

Good luck to her!