On This Day...

A lifetime ago today, on May 1, 1945, a German reporter announced this shocking news to his fellow countrymen: "The Fuhrer has fallen at his command post at the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for the homeland of Germany".

Six days later, on May 7, General Jodl signed the act of unconditional surrender which officially ended the Second World War in the European Theatre (Japan would not finally surrender until some three months later). World War II remains the signal event of the 20th century, and its effects are still felt today, 65 years after it ended.


How? There are many reasons, but consider these:

• The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council represent the victors of the Second World War: Russia, China, Great Britain, France, and the United States. Germany and Japan, arguably more powerful and influential than Britain or France, are conspicuously not permanent members.
• Some twenty years after the Berlin Wall fell, post-World War II tensions still exist between Russia and former members of the old Soviet Union. Georgia and Ukraine figure most prominently in the headlines.
• In recent years, the lunatic leader of Iran, President Ahmadinejab, has declared that the Holocaust is a historical lie foisted on the world by Israel and the United States.
• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization--NATO--which was formed in the immediate aftermath of the war to allow the USA to help protect its European allies from Soviet adventurism, still exists today--having substantially expanded its membership to include many former Soviet states and satellites, including Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Slovenia among others. Importantly, NATO also includes the nation of Turkey, the largest Muslim nation in the world.

One of the United States' most enduring historical triumphs was the Marshall Plan. A total of $13 billion--in addition to the $12 billion the United States had offered to the war-torn countries of Europe prior to the Marshall Plan's creation--was poured into Europe to assist the crippled nations of our former enemies rebuild their towns and cities and, ultimately, their pride and their livelihoods. The program's irrefutable success is measured today in the fact that Germany is one of America's closest allies--and a champion of human rights, including its recognition of the nation of Israel.