Top left: German Panzer IV tanks passing through a town in France
Top right: German soldiers marching past the Arc de Triomphe after the surrender of Paris, 14 June 1940
Middle left: French soldiers on the Maginot Line
Bottom left: British and French prisoners at Veules-les-Roses, France
Bottom right: Column of French Renault 35 tanks at Sedan

June 22, 1940 (France) – Hitler gained victory over France through an “armistice” which was a treaty signed that would cease hostilities between Germany and France. At this time, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union’s Red Army had already invaded Poland in September of 1939 which ignited World War II. Even though France had built a concrete fortification along its German borders back during World War I, the Nazi army were able to enter France along the Somme River on June 5, 1940. The entry of the Germans on June 5, 1940 initiated a ripple effect that led to the signing of the French treaty with Germany. And thus began the French Resistance movement.

June 22, 2011 (NYTimes) – In reflection of the incident between France and Germany on June 22, 1940; there was a further discussion on how America had not gotten involved until a year and a half after the treaty had been signed. They didn’t get involved until Pearl Harbor, a major American naval port on the western American coastline, was attacked by the Japanese Navy. People would think that history shouldn’t repeat itself but even today, western countries including the United States continue to face difficulty in deciding whether they want to get involved in foreign conflicts that does not directly impact the national security of such countries.
They proceeded to ask, “What do you think? What is a “war of choice” and what should be the principles that guide decisions on whether, and how, to intervene?” (The Learning Network – NYTimes)

June 22, 2014 (DSTidbits) – There is a famous quote that says, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This was by George Santayana who had died back in 1952. As a philosopher, essayist, poet, and a novelist, this man was able to reflect and accurately portray events. While there is no actual flat out example of history repeating itself, the abstract idea is obvious. War upon war has always been about control.

The most recent example of somebody wanting to rule the world would be Hitler whom engulfed the world into a global war. He wanted to control the resources around Germany and create an empire to feed the “Fatherland” in order to lift Germany back to world power status after the first known world war. Japan played along with Hitler and attempted to gain control of the Pacific region by invading mainland China and all the Pacific Islands.

 It doesn’t stop there, Napoleon of France and Alexander the Great of ancient Rome wanted to be the rulers of the known world as well. These are people that came from radically different time periods with completely different socioeconomic infrastructures, yet they aimed for the same goals, control of available resources. Alexander the Great was born in 356 BCE, Napoleon was born in 1769 CE, and Hitler was born in 1889 CE (BCE refers to before Common Era, and CE represents Common Era; also formerly known as BC and AD, respectively). The furthest last known war on record, according to Homer of Greece, is that of the Trojan War, which resulted in the sacking and collapse of ancient Troy. There is much debate regarding what actually happened with the Trojan War. However, according to Homer, there were multiple vectors that led to the war, all central to the kidnapping of the most beautiful woman, Helen by Paris of Troy. The Hellenistic world was then turned upside down at that point. The Hellenistic world refers to these countries influenced by Greece of the time period.

With the ideology that history repeats itself, it is important to be educated on what happened and the price of
ignorance and appeasement which is what caused World War II. While some people may claim the nature of Alexander the Great’s campaign was not ill natured, he still thirsted for Persian gold and new resources to the east of the Roman world and invaded eastward, which resulted in a greatly expanded Roman Empire that enveloped almost the entire eastern Mediterranean Sea.

 It may seem like something that is transpiring halfway across the world currently has nothing to do with this country directly. However, if the government decides to stay out of the embroiling situation too long or does not pay attention to signs that history is repeating itself, we are doomed. Western countries will eventually get sucked into the current theater of war in the Middle East region, based on history alone with regards to current omens and portents.