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lego-man-speer · 2 days
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The Two Ministers: Galeazzo Ciano and Joachim von Ribbentrop
Probably the one of the two most interesting figures. Since I make researches mostly on Fascist Italy, it was intriguing to read Galeazzo Ciano's perspective and thoughts on Joachim von Ribbentrop, his German colleague Minister. One thing is certain: both men didn't like each other. It was a huge despise from both parties. Ciano thought of Ribbentrop as a "too cynical and suck up" kind of man. Meanwhile, Ribbentrop considered Ciano as a "hiding traitor, playing the double-agent role for the democratic countries". Fun fact: Galeazzo Ciano's diaries were used by the Allies as a proof against Joachim von Ribbentrop in the Nuremberg Trials.
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On May 22, 1939, the Kingdom of Italy and Nazi Germany entered into the Pact of Steel signed by their respective Foreign Ministers Galeazzo Ciano and Joachim von Ribbentrop. This agreement was greeted with great enthusiasm by the press: "unfailing friendship between our two peoples." Ciano wrote in his diary, a few days after his execution in January 1944: "The tragedy of Italy began in August 1939. On my own initiative, I went to Hitler's headquarters in Salzburg and was suddenly confronted with the cold and cynical Germanic determination to provoke the conflict. The alliance between Italy and Germany had been signed in May. I had opposed it, making every effort to delay such a step, or at least make it ineffective. There was no reason, on the other hand, in my opinion, to bind oneself for life and death to the fate of Nazi Germany. I had favored, it is true, a policy of cooperation, because of our geographic location, because we can and should detest, but not ignore that eighty million Germans brutally burden the heart of Europe. The decision to cement the alliance was made suddenly by Mussolini, while I was in Milan with Ribbentrop. Several American newspapers had published that the Lombard metropolis had welcomed the Reich Foreign Ministry with blatant hostility, and this was evidence of Mussolini's diminished personal prestige. He was in a state of rage. By telephone he ordered me to accept the German demands for an alliance, which I had held in abeyance for more than a year and hoped to send off again. Thus was born the "Pact of Steel." This decision, which was then to have such a disastrous influence on the life and future of the Italian people, was due solely to a spiteful reaction on the part of the dictator to certain rash and baseless statements in some foreign newspapers." Actually Mussolini is worried because subsequent to the Pact of Steel the Nazis assure him that they do not want to wage war for the time being, but he is beginning to be not so sure. Italy in 39' is completely depleted, exhausted by the Ethiopian War and the intervention in Spain on the side of Franco, later the winner of the civil war. Despite the positive outcome, wars cost huge sums of money and the Italian budget suffers greatly; entering a world war in this condition would be difficult to sustain. Galeazzo Ciano, Foreign Minister as well as Mussolini's son-in-law, writes in his diary in early August, "the time has come to see how things stand: the game is too big."
On August 11 Ciano flies to Germany, is sent to von Ribbentrop with instructions to explain to him that to wage war at that time would be madness. On the question of Poland, the Kingdom Minister asks his peer, "do you want Danzig?" von Ribbentrop replies, "not anymore, we want war." Later, during the reception, Ciano approaches one of his aides and says in his ear, "we are at blows." Ciano, worried, wonders if the Germans have considered the likely intervention of England and France and how they intend to deal with them. But Ribbentrop is sure, they will not dare to intervene, Germany will invade Poland and have a free field. It is a bet on the non-intervention of the Western powers, as in 1914, when Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany invaded Belgium sure of no consequences from England. This time they really make the bet: von Ribbentrop proposes to Ciano that if England and France stayed out then Italy would give Germany a Renaissance painting; if not, Germany would give Italy a collection of ancient German weapons. But Ribbentrop is sure: "We will wage war and it will not become a world war, because France and England will not dare to intervene."
Ciano returns to Rome, and it is now clear that the Nazis are about to invade Poland, as well as that Hitler expects Fascist Italy, as declared at the 1937 Berlin Assembly by Mussolini, to march with its ally all the way. But the Führer does not know that Italy is prepared to hold out to avoid imminent catastrophe given the weakness of the army. When the Duce finally comes forward and confesses his country's total unpreparedness, the Germans first turn up their noses, then they are fine with it as long as Italy's neutrality is not flaunted too much around. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland triggering the tremendous conflict that for six years displayed the greatest atrocities in human history. Italy would enter it about a year later when during the famous Piazza Venezia speech on June 10, 1940, Mussolini announced that "The declaration of war has already been delivered to the ambassadors of Great Britain and France." It was "the hour of irrevocable decisions" that led Mussolini and the Fascist regime to its fall.
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Sources: Alessandro Barbero, Galeazzo Ciano's Diaries.
QOD: What do you think about Galeazzo Ciano and Joachim von Ribbentrop?
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lego-man-speer · 2 days
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Hess's Birthday in Spandau Prison
Rudolf Hess spent almost half of his life within the walls of Spandau prison, meaning lots of prison birthdays. Eugene Bird tells us in his book 'The Loneliest Man in the World' of Hess's 76th birthday, and I decided to share it with you all for Hess's 130th birthday!
“It was Rudolf Hess's 76th birthday. He had put on his corduroy suit and after a walk in the garden enjoyed a lunch of duckling, red cabbage, dessert and a birthday cake made for him in the prison kitchen.
As he took his afternoon walk in the sun a group of about ten people had gathered in front of the gates demanding his release. They leaned two bunches of flowers against the gate and shouted over a loud-hailer about humanity. One bore a placard 'WHERE IS JUSTICE?'
Hess, continuing his walk at the rear of the prison, told me: 'I heard a loudspeaker and somebody's voice screaming. What were they saying? Were they protesting against me' I told him they were wishing him a happy birthday. 'They know?' asked Hess. 'Did they remember that?'”
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Happy birthday, Rudolf Hess.
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lego-man-speer · 2 days
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUDOLF HESS!!! 🎉🎉🎉
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lego-man-speer · 2 days
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EVERYONE SAY HAPPY HESS DAY RIGHT NOW!!!!
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WAKE UP ITS HESS DAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU CUTE LITTLE THING
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lego-man-speer · 12 days
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YES IT WAS ME I HAD THE SAUSAGE ROLL DREAM AND IT WAS GLORIOUS
(RIP Alfred Rosenberg you would’ve loved a sausage roll from Greggs)
Kennedy I just know it was you who had the sausage roll dream
EVERY TIME I GO BACK TO MY BLOG AND FIND THAT POST I CRY IN LAUGHTER ITS SO FUNNY
but it was defo kennedy.
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lego-man-speer · 19 days
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Hello! I'm sorry to ask. One of your blogs said that you could be asked a question. The fact is that the theme of "Hess's Flight to England" is revealed in different ways. Do you think it was a collusion with the British, an order or your own desire? Once again, I'm sorry for the question. You don't have to answer if you think the question is stupid.
Hi! The reasons surrounding Hess's flight have been subject to conspiracies since the moment the British knew he had been taken as a prisoner of war in their country. And as a result of this, people tend to believe a lot of untrue things about his flight, and I hope to clear a couple of rumours.
Overall, we don't know exactly why Hess flew, nor to we know for certain that Hitler had any knowledge of this prior to the flight (although evidence leans overwhelmingly to the side that he knew nothing of this and the flight was all Hess's idea). But I'll try my best to break down some of Hess's testimony as well as dispel rumours (because some rumours were wacky af)
The first of these myths (and the most popular one) is that Hitler knew about, and had planned, Hess's flight to Scotland. This has been a topic of disagreement even within Hess's own family. Hess's son, Wolf Rüdiger, argues that the claim that his father flew on his own initiative 'contradicts the laws of logic', whereas Hess's wife, Ilse, was firm in her belief that the flight was all her husband's idea. There is very little evidence to support the idea that Hitler knew anything about the flight before it happened. In fact there is more evidence to the contrary. First of which is from Hess's own testimony. An interrogation with Viscount Simon on the 9th of June 1941 has the following conversation:
Viscount Simon: “Would you tell me, do you come here with the Führer's knowledge, or without his knowledge?”
R. Hess: “Without his knowledge.” Adding: “Absolutely (laughs).”
Hitler having knowledge of the flight would have strengthened Hess's case, but he always denied any such thing. We should also look at Hitler's reaction to Hess's flight. For this we have Albert Speer's testimony which he repeated not only in his books, but also in television interviews. Speer, who was present at the Berghof when Hitler was made aware that Hess had flown to Scotland, recalled that Hitler reacted with an 'animal cry' and began shouting around asking “where is Göring? Where is Goebbels?”. Hitler also ordered the arrest of Hess's adjutants as well as ordering that Hess be shot on sight if he was to ever return to Germany. Along with Hitler's reaction, we also need to look at obvious practical reasons as to why Hitler would not have known. The first of which is that Hitler had previously banned Hess from flying as he considered it too dangerous. Hess had to use a pseudonym in order to participate in flying competitions (something he took great enjoyment in). The second of which is something pointed out by Hitler's biographer Ian Kershaw: if Hitler truly wanted peace with Britain he would have chosen someone more well-versed in foreign relations than Hess. I think this is resounding evidence that Hess chose to fly on his own initiative.
The second myth is that Hess was invited into Britain by the British government. A question that was raised by conspiracy theorists is 'why wasn't Hess's plane shot down when he entered British airspace?' There is some belief that the RAF were given orders to allow Hess to pass through the skies, however no such orders have been found. On the contrary, there were orders to shoot his plane down, which was confirmed post-war by the pilots involved. The reason why Hess wasn't shot down was because the pilots tasked with intercepting him were unable to make visual contact with him. Hess had noticed a layer of mist at a lower altitude and thus descended into it, preventing spitfires from seeing him from above (however, he was flying so low that he could be heard from the ground!). There are two more points surrounding this myth that we need to acknowledge. First, if the British had invited Hess into the UK, why was there no welcoming committee prepared for him? Although Hess had bailed out of his plane before reaching his desired location, no one was out looking for him, and the Duke of Hamilton (the man which Hess intended to make contact with) certainly was not expecting him. In fact, the British government were taken by complete surprise by this action and were unsure of what to do with Hess. The second point that must be acknowledged is that Hess attempted suicide twice while in British custody, this fact does not make sense in the “Britain invited Hess to negotiate” narrative.
This last myth isn't about Hess's flight, but it's still a conspiracy that I think is worth covering. This final myth is that Hess was killed at some point and replaced with a body double. This myth was started after Hess's death by a surgeon at Spandau, claiming that Hess's medical records didn't add up with his examinations. However, this was cleared up quickly with DNA blood tests that confirmed that the Hess who had died in Spandau was the real Hess. Adding onto this, there had never been any doubts from Hess's inmates that he was the same Hess prior to his flight.
I hope this answered your question! I'm sorry this took so long to respond to.
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lego-man-speer · 22 days
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Hi I’m tcc but can I follow your page? I’m interested in TR too
Of course!
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lego-man-speer · 24 days
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KRILLING MYSELF
I can't believe it. our Reich server went down 😭 the problem is that my acc got terminated and I used to be part of other more serious servers
Now I have the honor badge of the Reichblr ( got my acc deleted )
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lego-man-speer · 25 days
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I have started something…
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Rosenhess 🔥
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lego-man-speer · 27 days
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Least obvious Kennedy ask
Rosenberg had no business being a massive DILF at Nuremberg
No omg literally he was
ᵗʰⁱˢ ⁱˢ ᵏᵉⁿⁿᵉᵈʸ ʳⁱᵍʰᵗ
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lego-man-speer · 27 days
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That smile 😊
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:>
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lego-man-speer · 1 month
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Himmler's visit to the Netherlands
in colors
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lego-man-speer · 1 month
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Members of the Hitler Youth march in front of their leader Baldur von Schirach (right, saluting) and other Nazi officers, including Julius Streicher.
Nuremberg, Germany, 1933.
Source: US Holocaust Memorial Museum
I DON'T SUPPORT NAZISM,FASCISM OR ZIONISM IN ANY WAY, THIS IS JUST AN EDUCATIONAL POST
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lego-man-speer · 1 month
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Hey guys, tons of us got our discord accounts nuked, so my new discord is randomareaman20
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lego-man-speer · 1 month
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Going to add some of the caricatures I’ve found of Rosenberg!
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This last one has more of the defendants included.
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I don’t know the original caricaturists for these, but they’re definitely worth having a laugh at!
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I'm laughing way too hard at these
especially göring
fucking beautiful
(Drawings by David Low, 14 December 1945)
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lego-man-speer · 1 month
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TO PEOPLE WHO'VE SENT ASKS I promise responses are coming, I just haven't been up to writing much recently! But please keep asks coming because I like ramble and pretend I'm an intellectual!
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lego-man-speer · 1 month
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Older Speer seems so depressed for some reason
Losing the war will do that to a mf
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