Book Review: The Origins of the Second World War
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206301800129 |
| Published date | 01 March 1963 |
| Author | Walther Hofer |
| Date | 01 March 1963 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK REVIEW
119
In
his
treatment
of
political
constants,
i.e.,
militarism, the
Church,
and
communism,
the
author
perceives
a Mexican stand-off:
"The
Revolution
could
not
extirpate
four
centuries
of
Mexican
Catholic
heritage,
nor
could
the
Church
reverse
the
Revolution".
(p.
177)
In
a
final
assessment
of
Castro-Mexican
relationships,
it
is
pointed
out
that
the
strategy
of
the
Mexican
Left
is
to
ride
the
coattails
of
Castro's
popularity,
so
as
to
influence
both
the
official
political
party,
and
the
government.
Former
President
Cardenas
made
a
pilgrimage
to
the
Castro
country
and
the current
President,
Lopez
Mateos,
said
that
within
the
American
community,
"Cuba,
by
right,
occupies
a
special
niche".
Foreign
Minister
Tello's
reservation
to
the
1961
Final
Act
of
the
Meeting of
Foreign
Ministers,
which
declared
totalitarianism
to
be
incompatible
with
the
Inter-American
system, was
to the
effect
that
it
"in
no
form
constitutes a
condemnation
or
a
threat
against
Cuba,
whose
aspirations
for
economic
improvement
and
social
justice
have
the
strongest
sympathy
of
the
government
and
people of
Mexico".
(Neither
economic
improvement
nor
social
justice
are
perceived
by
the
reviewer.)
This
neutral
or
pro-Castro
orientation
of
foreign
policy,
based both
on
a
traditional
sentiment
towards
non-intervention,
and
memories
of
Mexico's
own
recent
revolutionary
period,
appears
to
have withstood
the
efforts
of
President
Kennedy
during
the
latter's
visit
to
Mexico
early
in
1962.
University
of
Maryland
WILLARD
F.
BARBER
THE
ORiGiNS
OF
THi
SECOND
WORLD
WAR.
By
A.
J.
P.
Taylor.
1961.
(London,
Toronto:
Hamish Hamilton.
296pp.
$5.50.)
Mr.
Taylor,
whose
penchant
for
originality
and
extravagant
expression is
known
far
beyond
the
borders
of
Great Britain,
has
presented
us
with a
book
in which
he
attempts
nothing
less
than
to
question
the
results
of
all
the
research
on
his
subject
to
date.
For
him
the
Second
World
War
was
not
a
necessary
result
of
the
Nazi will
to
war
but
a
consequence
of
mistakes
made
by
statesmen
of
many
countries.
Hitler
neither
planned
the war
of
1939
nor
prepared
or
desired
it,
but
became
involved
in
it
against
his
will.
According
to.
Taylor, Hitler
had
absolutely
no
war
plans,
but
pursued
only
the
familiar
policy
of
treaty
revision.
His
foreign
policy
did
not
differ
from
that
of
Stresemann
or Brilning,
nor
was
he
more
evil
than
states-
men
of
other
countries
and
other
times.
For
him
Hitler
was
a
rational
statesman
who
always
demonstrated
patience
and never
took
the
initiative.
This
always
lay
in
other
hands:
in
those
of
Schuschnigg,
Benes,
Beck,
and
above
all
Chamberlain.
The
Austrian
crisis
was
provoked
by
Schuschnigg,
the
Sudeten crisis
by
the
Czechs
and
the
Sudeten
Germans
who
continuously
heightened
the
tension without any
assistance
from
Hitler.
The
crisis in
the
spring
of
1939
was
again
precipitated
by
the
Czechs
and
the
Slovaks,
and
Hitler
only
took
advantage
of
the
opportunity.
The final
crisis over
Danzig
was
the
result
of
Beck's
policies.
The
military
preparations
which
run parallel
to these
crises
Taylor
does
not
dispute,
but
according
to
him
they
were
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