Savage Continent

The book can be brutal!

As you may have noticed, the election this week brings a whole group of euro-skeptics into political power. It might be a good time to read about the savagery that went on in Europe in the late 1940's. But VE Day was not the end of the killing and even the ethnic cleansing.

Europe is a fascinating place. It's really not all
that large, compared to the US. Yet each and
every country has it's own distinct and different
language. England, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany,
Italy, Norway, Sweden, Finland, on and on.

How is this even possible. They had to be isolated
from each other for millennia, clannish in the extreme,
for this to happen. The study of how all these separate
and unique languages evolved has always intrigued
me. And they continue on, each clinging to their
unique heritage. It's basically the same race of people,
yet so different from each other.

Quote: Evenbob

How is this even possible. They had to be isolated
from each other for millennia, clannish in the extreme,
for this to happen. The study of how all these separate
and unique languages evolved has always intrigued
me. And they continue on, each clinging to their
unique heritage. It's basically the same race of people,
yet so different from each other.

It goes to show how for many years travel was not possible. Consider how the same thing happened in pre-1492 Americas, Asia, and Africa. You didn't travel and you stayed with your own kind. That was the way it was.

The savagery of post war Europe was little different than the savagery of post war United States.
Look at the German butchers who were boycotted in the USA as we renamed "Linden" to 'Liberty" and renamed sauerkraut as Liberty Cabbage. Bad enough during each of the wars but utterly vicious after each of the wars.

European countries differ in that they allow laborers to cross borders as non-citizen immigrants who might live in a country for a decade but will never be given full citizenship.

France shaved the heads of women who slept with German soldiers and shot men who had been collaborators and black marketeers, except of course much of this was done by the more successful collaborators and black marketeers. Most French nightclubs were owned by Germans, just as many works of art now had new documentation.

Peace is simply war by less than ultimate means.