"It is quite clear that you are today the one person who can prevent a war which may reduce humanity to a savage state. Must you pay that price for an object however worthy it may appear to you to be? Will you listen to the appeal of one who has deliberately shunned the method of war not without considerable success?" (Ghandi's letter to Hitler, July 23, 1939)
Germany sent troops into the Rhineland in 1936. Two years later, it invaded Austria. In 1939, it invaded Czechoslovakia. That summer, it was waiting at Poland's doorstep. Ghandi, who had demonstrated peaceful protest under the domination of the British in India, suggested that Hitler pause the war machine and follow his example (http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/06/time-mahatma-gandhi-tried-stop-wwii/).
Unfortunately the letter never reached its destination as it was intercepted by the British government. Within two months, Hitler called for the invasion of Poland, sparking the outbreak of the Second World War. Hitler, who took on a two front war despite the pleas of his generals, committed suicide in 1945 in the closing days of the war.
Ghandi's dream of Indian independence came true in 1947. However, the Indian leader was assassinated in 1948 by a militant Hindu nationalist. He will forever be remembered for his goal of world peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment