‘One might expect that interest in the allied invasion of Europe disminuyese. with the passage of time and the gradual disappearance of the participants, but there are more museums and more visitors than ever ‘, says historian Antony Beevor, who has managed to combine the popular success with rigor in works such as D-Day battle for Normandy (Review). “For us, still it offers all the elements of drama and sacrifice and still plays a very important role in our imagination paper ‘says journalist Rick Atkinson, author of a monumental trilogy on the liberation of Western Europe with the first volume, An Army at dawn (Critical), he received the Pulitzer prize for History. However, beyond the immediate epic on the beaches of the longest Day, the Battle of Normandy was much stronger and wilder than we tend to think. After the bridgeheads established on the night of June 6 and exceeded the initial confusion, the Germans launched a counterattack. Three months later, they had 37 thousand Allied soldiers died, 50,000 Germans and 20,000 civilians. As explained by historian Jean Quellien, an expert on the landing on which he has written several essays as Landing beaches or Normandy 1944 ‘at the height of the fighting, in August 1944, they fought two million soldiers, the same as in Stalingrad’ .
the myth of D-Day has left in the background the whole battle. First, its brutality is not just landing in hell Omaha Beach, Steven Spielberg portrayed with a display of special effects in Saving Private Ryan. The image of American paratroopers hanging from a tree with the testicles in the mouth, which Beevor recounts in his book, does not correspond with the general idea we have of landing. The other issue that has remained in the background were the civilian deaths and widespread destruction: 120 000 270 000 badly damaged buildings turned into ruins, 43 thousand hectares of ruined arable land … ‘The fate of civilians was forgotten by the powers public because the statute of victims does not match the glorious image that the state wanted to associate with the landing, ‘says one of the great French experts in battle, Olivier Wieviorka, professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure de Cachan and author of History of landing Normandy (Tempus). ‘Many monuments recall the heroism of the Anglo-American soldiers, but few commemorate the fate of civilians under the bombs. However, everything changes. In ceremonies this year, for the first time, President François Hollande will pay tribute to the civilians killed, “adds Wieviork
Only on June 6, they killed 3,000 noncombatants, many soldiers on the beaches. ‘Anyone visiting the region will realize that the vast majority of cities were rebuilt in the fifties’, accurate Quellien, professor at the University of Caen, the historic capital of Normandy, which was devastated by 75% in a as intense as useless bombing, because in reality only served to hinder its conquest by the allies because the Germans took advantage of the ruins to huddle. When he left his book on D-Day, in 2010, Beevor used the term ‘close to war crime’ to refer to the destruction of the city and had to apologize after the scandal was organized.
next to Stalingrad, it was one of the decisive battles of World War II. The unanimous impression of historians is that Hitler had lost but, without opening a second front, the conflict had extended more. Despite the planning and deployment largest naval history -5000 boats were launched against 80 kilometers from beaches-, the operation could go wrong, not least because Dwight Eisenhower gave the order taking advantage of the only day that June when a Navy could cross the channel. Shortly after a very strong storm that had delayed the operation and almost certainly ruined the secret as the Germans they did not expect the Normandy landings broke. ‘I do not think a failure in Normandy had changed the course of the war’ He points historian and journalist Rick Atkinson ‘but I have not the slightest doubt that Hitler had given a year or even more. That would have meant a year to murder Jews and other undesirables, to fight the Soviets in the East and to cause suffering to the people of occupied Europe. “
Beevor goes even further what it would have happened if the June 6 allies had not achieved its goal. ‘If the invasion comes to fail, with the Soviet advances on the Rhine, the postwar history of Europe might have been very different’
the military man who gave the order to attack one of the most difficult decisions of World War II later became president; but Ike did not want to attend the first commemoration of the landing, in 1954 (held every decade). As written by historian Michael Beschloss in The New York Times, found it hard to speak in public before veterans without collapsing (it happened in 1952 during the campaign) because it was always marked by the fact that their decisions, inevitable, fair necessary for any commander in chief, they cost the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers. Precisely the decennial commemoration of the June 6 this year has been especially important because it is the last in which participated many veterans, which gradually fade away. ‘The generation of World War II is dying very quickly. In the US, the number of survivors has dropped from 16.1 million who served in uniform as a million today, “says Atkinson. ‘This is the last opportunity to pay tribute and remember that generation which is, ultimately, what treat these ceremonies, but for politicians is an irresistible scenario’.
In addition to memory, this year’s commemoration is marked by this, by the return of war to Europe, 70 years after the landing that symbolizes the recovery of freedom in the West. The annexation of Crimea by Putin’s Russia and the separatists fighting in eastern Ukrainian soldiers have brought to mind the worst European past. Historians and politicians have drawn parallels between what happened then and what is happening now; although the distance between some events and other remains enormous. ‘There is an important difference: Hitler was determined to unleash a war. Putin, in my opinion, is more realistic and does not want a conflict “, Beevor explains.
comments in the section They pour above are the responsibility of the participants. Help us maintain a healthy exchange of ideas, denouncing, through a “click” ?? on the flag icon, each entry it deems inappropriate. If the comment does not comply with RULES , will be eliminated. Check here the regulations .
Welcome to our feedback service. We invite you to analyze, comment on and question the articles and reports published by El Diario. To maintain a healthy exchange of ideas for all our users, you need to follow the rules detailed below. By participating in the service comments you accept the application of these rules.
You agree that you are fully responsible for the content it publishes.
Not intentionally publish content that violates the copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property right of a third person.
No disseminate defamatory, obscene or aggressive violating the right of a third person to privacy according to municipal, state, federal or even international or is deemed inappropriate. It indemnifies Publications Paso del Norte (*), its employees and affiliates of each and every one of the demands and / or data (including, but not limited to attorneys’ fees) that are submitted by third parties in relation to the content you published. There will draft content that discriminates against others because of their gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual preference, disability or any other category.
You understand and agree that The Journal is not responsible for content posted by third parties.
it is his understanding that the discussion forums, El Diario published oversees the content and reserves the right to remove, edit or alter content that seems inappropriate for any reason without consent of the author . We reserve the right according to our own discretion to withdraw a user the right to publish content on our site.
You understand and agree that the discussion forums should be used for non-commercial purposes.
not request resources or financial support. It will not promote commercial enterprises or conduct business of any kind in our discussion forums.
You understand and agree that use of any information obtained through the discussion forums at your own risk.
Journal in no way endorses the content that users spread, and can neither be liable for its accuracy.
With every content that you post, given to The Journal without paying royalties irrevocable, perpetual, exclusive and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such content in whole or parts globally and to incorporate them in their work in any way now known or hereafter developed.
No comments:
Post a Comment