p(-)0ENiX
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Yes, that Book is a really good read, especially for those who enjoy adventurous novels and are also into reading about the historical battles of WW2 and the personal experiences of those who fought in that war. However, what makes the author of this book, Leon Degrelle unique is that he was a well known Belgian Political figure of that time as well as a soldier who started off as a regular infantrymen and eventually fought his way up to the rank of General in the Waffen SS, participating on the Eastern Front, to this day the most bloodiest theater of conflict in human history, and that was no small achievement. He was one of the few surviving Axis leaders of WW2. He's also written a few other books and articles on WW2 and even on Hitler.
Here is a short English documentary on him, although it is polluted with bias and propaganda, nevertheless its the only English Documentary on him and it'll give you some basic background info on this man :
That was a good documentary, & I watched all 4 parts of it. While the documentary presents him in a bad light, 2 of the older interviewees do present their support for his decisions. From what I know about Belgium, the linguistic division that still exists there can be traced back at the most to Roman times. The tribes that lived there were generally Celtic, but the presence of both Germanic & later Frankish influence led to this division. The Franks themselves were Germanic but their own tongue mixed with Gallo-Roman, eventually leading to the birth of the French language. Moving on to the WWII era, the Rex party was initially choosing to keep Belgium united on the basis of Christian morals & nationalism, but would that have worked provided the German invasion never took place?
I gathered from the documentary that it was the ideological agreement with National Socialism which caused Leon Degrelle to join the army & later the Waffen SS. Of course, that is apart from the desire of keeping Belgium safe & gaining rank & influence. In any case, what is the binding factor in Belgian nationalism? There is one way I can see the country staying united & that's essentially the acknowledgment of the unity of the land when it was a Roman province (Gallia Belgica) coupled with Christian morals, & the celebration of the Celtic roots of the people alongside the various Germanic & French roots & influences. Perhaps being a unitary state could help?
This was a very interesting documentary. Arminius has been frequently mentioned in National Socialist (Nazi) literature along with other historical German leaders like Frederick II and Bismarck, all of whom played a significant role in protecting/defending Germany from foreign subjugation in their respective time periods, though the Germans refer to Arminius as "Hermann". The Nazis and Germans in general took great inspiration from the story of Arminius. However what bothered me about the documentary was the exaggerated description some of those experts gave of the Germanic tribes and even Arminius himself, accusing him of having a lust for power which partially motivated him to betray the Romans and attain leadership of the divided Germanic Tribes, for the most part. By betraying the Romans he had more to lose (a comfortable lifestyle, etc) than gain. He was genuinely compelled to bring an end to the brutal occupation and subjugation of his people, and that really is inspiring.
And i do believe that the Germanic Tribes weren't as savage like as the experts in the documentary described them to be. The Germans were perhaps the most civilized and disciplined of the Barbarians the Romans would encounter. The Roman Cornelius Tacitus described them as follows: "The peoples of Germania have never contaminated themselves by intermarriage with foreigners but remain of pure blood, distinct and unlike any other nation". He even praises them in another quote: "Good morality is more effective in Germania than good laws are elsewhere".
Yeah, Arminius's German name is Hermann, but at Roman times, the Germanic people may have called him "Irmin" or "Erminaz" from the Proto-Germanic language. That's one theory, whereas the other states "Arminius" may be a derivative of a Latin word referring to a blue pigment, which when applied to humans, probably refers to eye colour. It's true that Arminius's desire to liberate his people was noble, but he was heavily influenced by the Romans. It's quite common for those raised in two different societies to sort of associate with both cultures & people, especially at a younger age. Personally, I believe he was motivated by various factors including a quest for freedom, keeping his people safe, & attaining status as well because he would later become the chieftain of the Cherusci. That's a somewhat decent replacement for sacrificing the Roman way of life. Regardless, there shouldn't be any doubt of his commitment to Germania either. After the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Arminius continued to fight the Romans until his death, but within that duration, Rome lost all interest in occupying Germania east of the river Rhine. Instead, the Romans would continue to have influence there through client kings. Arminius was killed later on because people within his own tribe felt threatened by his ambition & influence, & there is a possibility that it was his absorption of Roman ideas that everyone else felt a bit terrified off. The Romans believed that they had been blessed to be excellent at governance, & the Roman concept of how a state should be run would have been an influence on those that were raised there. After all, if a warlord is influential enough to slowly gather support from all tribes, the chieftains would end up losing their power.
That's correct, the Barbaric nature of the Germanic tribes described in the documentary is essentially war time savagery. It was not their standard code of conduct because Germanic tribes held the values of honour & integrity in high regards. The Romans themselves were extremely violent during war time, whereas this documentary shows Roman soldiers as being somewhat cowardly, which is far from the truth. Behaving like a savage during wars was quite common in the ancient world. Many armies including the Roman army looted during times of war. Human sacrifice however was considered barbaric by the Romans & many other civilized nations. Another point to note is that even civilized nations like the Carthaginians have accusations of practicing child sacrifice on them. With all that being said, it was crucial to be tough in the ancient world, especially in an environment governed by the survival of the fittest. There are plenty of acts practiced by civilized nations that would be considered barbaric or at the very least, horrific today. For instance; the Spartans whipped male children till they bled to toughen them up. In this ritual, families would gather around their children to watch the whipping & provide moral support. Whichever child was able to sustain the full amount of whips without passing out was honored. In Achaemenid Persia, royalty receiving military training at a somewhat younger age were locked up in a courtyard with a lion that they had to kill, or they would end up suffering the consequence of failure (death). As far as I know, no one would intervene in that test incase it became clear that the subject was doomed to failure. I think King Xerxes of Achaemenid Persia underwent that particular test.
Yes, race is too obvious a reality to be ignored by anyone, there's plenty of evidence to prove this. And i agree with the notion that although humans have evolved and continue to do so, we are by no means descendants of apes or any other lower life form.
I agree, & the followers of Abrahamic religions can rest assured that no common ancestor of humans or chimpanzees has ever been found. Furthermore, any shared genetic material we have with other animals at this point from whatever I know isn't conclusive enough to point to any common descent. The human genome isn't entirely understood, neither is the chimpanzee's genome, so people should expect changes in the future as new evidence pops up.
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