How hard was it to stop World War II? The 7 countries joined forces, the pope spoke, and none of them stopped Hitler!

Wen Chen Xiang

The situation in Europe was becoming increasingly tense, and Germany had gathered a large army and saw that it was ready to attack Poland at any time. On 23 August 1939, King Leopold III of Belgium issued a peace appeal on behalf of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

On August 24, Roosevelt sent an urgent telegram to the leaders of Germany and Poland, hoping that they would resolve their differences peacefully and not start a war easily. Roosevelt's proposal was a bit "muddy", seeing that both Germany and Poland were likely to provoke war, ignoring Germany's bullying. Poland replied, Germany did not respond, and Roosevelt sent a second telegram to Hitler.

It was also on this day that Pope Pius XII sent a telegram at the Vatican calling for peace to the world. "Justice is done by the power of reason, not by the power of weapons. Peace does not bring any loss, but war has all its consequences. May people regain understanding of each other and resume negotiations. He spoke more directly than Roosevelt, euphemistically pointing out that Nazi Germany was not, "May the strong listen to us, so as not to become weak in injustice." The "strong" in the pope's words, of course, refers to Hitler.

"For my part, I have always had a clear understanding of the sacred feelings of the German people for the honour of the country, but I also beg your excellency to understand that the French people value their national honour as much as the German people. Therefore, please do not doubt that, as long as our people make a solemn commitment to other countries, including Poland, we will do our utmost to defend that commitment. French Chancellor Eduard Ladadie advised Hitler, "25 years ago, the French people and the German people fought each other and stained the battlefield with blood, and if this tragedy were to repeat itself, the war would be even longer and more brutal." The peoples of both countries will fight to the death with the confidence of their own victory, but the ultimate victor will only be the destruction and barbarism of force. ”

"Although these statements are noble in content and form, I feel in Berlin that they are illusory and pathetic." William Scheyler, an American journalist based in Europe, did not believe that Hitler would be persuaded, "It seems that the heads of the pope, President Roosevelt and the small democracies in the north, and the people of the German Empire are not living on the same planet at all, and what happened in Berlin is like something on Mars, and they know nothing at all." ”