+3 votes
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in Education ✍ by

It kept the Germans thinking the invasion would be at the Pas de Calais.

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3 Answers

+3 votes
by

Rooster, I may already know this one! 

Because Hitler KNEW an invasion would be coming, and that if it could be fended off then Germany could still win the war. (I may have some details wrong...) So, Eisenhower sent a decoy force to the north somewhere, was it Pas de Calais? Anyway, Hitler took the bait and sent most of his own might there...which gave the Allies less resistance at the beaches around Normandy.

Also (I still sniffle and cry just thinking about this) - it was the French Resistance who helped SO much...when the full D-Day force did land, Hitler sent a crack Panzer Division to meet them...but they had to travel in by train. Well, just one or two - a very few French, blew up the train tracks! And that held up the German soldiers by a few days, idk was it even more? A week or two?

Anyway by the time the Panzers got there, the Allies were firm foothold, could not be pushed back, and that meant Germany had no chance to win the war now.

+3 votes
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I think it was the fake rubber tanks and other vehicles that were being assembled in the southeast of England to fool German aerial reconnaissance into believing that the invasion was coming at Pas de Calais, under the command of Patton, who had no active command at that time.

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@Tink : That was the one I was looking for because the Germans kept such a good eye out for wherever Patton was!  Operation Fortitude! Very good.

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Good job, Other Tink!

...quantum field theory background and WWII also...impressive!

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Thank you, Rooster and Virginia. :)

Have either of you read Richard J. Evans's three books on Nazi Germany? The Coming of the Third Reich, The Third Reich in Power, The Third Reich at War.

They are fascinating and extremely well written. I couldn't put them down when I read them about five years ago.

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I have not read Richard J. Evans, Other Tink...but when I looked on Goodreads, ALL his books seem to get very high ratings. So I put him on my library list...Marianne and I are going to live a thousand years, just to get our book list accomplished!

Evans also has a title THE PURSUIT OF POWER: Europe 1815-1914...in other words the time of Napoleon, through to WWI. A period of special interest for me...how did we humankind make our way through the Enlightenment and into the Industrial Revolution, only to crash into the most horrific war-filled 20th century ever? (These are things you need to know if you are saving the world and only 90% joking about that...:))

* * *

btw, I have realized that Napoleon would be classed as one of those desperate scoundrels who rise to the top in the wake of a violent revolution, of the ilk of Lenin, Mao, Stalin...would you agree? Also, do you have any theories as to why that did not happen after the American Revolution? Is it because of the luck of the draw in that George Washington was around, refusing to accept a kingship and all?

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You are right, Virginia - also my bucket lists are getting too long ...


That reminds me of an old song composed and interpreted by Michel Fugain, (which, translated, says "I won't  have the time" - lyrics by Pierre Delanoë). A short, English version (with less emphasis on activities, travelling and discovering the universe and feelings) was sung, later, by John Rowles "If I Only Had Time".


Rowles:

Fugain:


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Marianne I enjoyed both versions...somewhat prefer the French, the singer's voice...although maybe too just because French is quite euphonious...(sigh) if I had it all to do over, I would make a point in my youth to learn French, German, Russian just to read the classics...along with Chaucer's Middle English...

Anyway, I recall you mentioned you like me are retired...how did we ever find time to work???

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@ Virginia,

I think the American revolution was different from the others in the sense that it was not so much from the ground up, but was led by people who were already at the top of the social spectrum. It was very unusual in that regard, because they could have led lives of ease. Instead, they risked everything, as they stated in the Declaration of Independence.

And indeed, Washington could have become a king, but fortunately he and the other Founders were not of Napoleon's ilk. They really believed in their Enlightenment philosophy, and did not cynically regard it simply as a means to personal power.

It's ironic that the leftish "revolutionaries" of today criticize the Founders as being a bunch of white slave-holders, while completely overlooking the kinds of leaders that revolutions most often produce.

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O'Tink, your comment brought to mind a phrase I had forgotten...quite certainly however, this is from one our founding documents...

"...our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

I truly feel like I am learning something(s) about social/popular evolution and revolution through your thoughtful insights, thank you.

* * *

Regarding the (so-far) failed Marxist stuff...have you read DARKNESS AT NOON, Arthur Koestler? Impressions?

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@ Virginia,

Yes, that's the closing phrase of the Declaration.

Yes, I read Darkness at Noon in college and was much impressed by it, especially the "grammatical fiction" of the "I" (or the individual) with respect to the collective under Stalinism, or for that matter under Nazism. This of course is diametrically opposed to the liberal (in the original, not the current, sense) value placed on the rights of the individual.

And as for Marx, I once wrote a dreary little poem about him:

     Karl's Lament

Karl Marx is the name,

And oppression is my game.

It's been proved, time and again,

From Stalin's gulags to Phnom Penh;

From starving Kulaks in Ukraine,

From Mao's cruel Leap, with millions slain;

From Berlin's wall to grim Pyongyang,

Even an orangutan

Can see the heinous crimes of shame

Done for my cause and in my name.

Karl Marx is the name,

And oppression is my game...


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O', O'Tink...yes your verse calls up the dreariness of the gulags/etc., and at the same time quite poignant...

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@T(h)ink

Impressing - excellent!

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@Virginia

Lol - yes, your memory is excellent, and I am also asking the same question to myself. :)

And - in most cases, the original song, the voice and the music are the best.



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Indeed the originals are often better than any covers!

@ Marianne...

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@ Virginia and Marianne,

Thank you,  :)

+2 votes
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Oh, Marianne...I just read your link about the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre...


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I know, it was one among so many senseless WWII massacres of defenseless people ...


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Marianne, yes. I have actually learned more about that right here on SOLVED.

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Lol - I am also learning, "updating" and remembering forgotten things. We are all learning from each other.

:)


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