Readers respond after the outgoing German ambassador says some Brexiters were motivated by a sense of national identity built around the UK standing aloneWill continental politicians and diplomats ever realise that the UK is not abandoning Europe,but leaving the EU (German ambassador tells Brexiters: stop fixating on second world war, 30 January)? whether the German ambassador wants to understand the “finest hour” legend, and he should inspect for the truth beneath the mythology. In standing alone the British people do the interests of Europe first,resolving to die fighting rather than allow the Nazis to dominate the continent.
I shudder to deem what might have been. Lord Halifax did have a point: we had secure links to a maritime empire and pacifist public opinion throughout the Anglosphere would have allowed Hitler to dominate Europe. With entente with the Nazis, Britain could have reaped the profits of empire, or dealt with the real threat to their imperial and commercial prosperity in the Far East.
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Source: theguardian.com