The Question of Fascism-OPINION

In order to comprehend where we really are, we must first understand from whence we came.

With the emergence of civilization, we humans, carried centuries of evolutionary habit.

From animalistic urges to endlessly fornicate, to our predilection for high calorie foods, like sugar and fats. Individually and as a society, we are in a perpetual battle against primal and tribalistic tendencies, influenced through genetic code.

Of course, to be frank, we recognize ourselves as the most evolved species on Earth, based, on the evolutionary forces that we were beholden to as a species. Point in fact, these increased our chances at long term survival as a species.

Adding to the human paradigm, our evolutionary path is unique from every other species on the planet; diverging from standard evolution through massive social, and technological advancement.

Simply put, what we “need”, in order to survive, has drastically changed, as our lifestyles have improved.

Once we learned to sew seeds in the earth and harvest in excess, humanity's first collective revolt against nature began; breaking away from our nomadic lifestyles, once travel was no longer necessary for sustenance.

We revolted against our environment, through the invention of clothing, and the erecting of structures for homes; and in tandem with our endless revolution against the forces of nature, somewhere between 11,500 and 15,000 years ago, our populations began to flourish, into the first villages, towns, and cities, then nations.

As nations grew outward from the cradle of civilization, and formerly nomadic peoples settled at the land's ends, slowly, borders spread, and by roughly 600 AD, there were civilizations from the southern tip of Africa, to the northernmost livable peaks, of modern-day Russia; even scattering throughout the Americas through the ancient Beringia Land Bridge.

Only by 1570 A.D., a mere 456 years later, did civilization map the world in its entirety-- our nations, now speckling the globe.

As these nations prospered, and our populations multiplied, physical space, was slowly commoditized; for the borders of these great populations began to collide.

Nations rose, and Nations fell; and so did entire societies, cultures, and ethnicities. History, serves as society's evolutionary training-- what caused our failures, where we can find success, and what patterns are revealed through the lens of our past.

The lessons we learned, are retaught time, and time again through our ancestry; yet, we as a species, have a short memory.

From the triumphant conquests of Alexander the Great who's empire stretched from modern-day Greece and Egypt, to Northern Pakistan (326 BCE); to the effective fall, of the over 1,000-year Roman Empire around 461 AD; human greed has guided the globe.

For, at least the last-7,000 years, humanity's rule through mass murder, has been the primary driver for the growth of nations; if you needed more land, resources, or even women, you took them at sword point. Likewise, attempts to curb war and pacify each other, have been attempted in tandem, leading to the earliest non-aggression pacts between nations; dating as far back as 1259 BC in Ancient Egypt, almost 3,300 years ago.

The Commodification of Man

Effectively codified into the societal paradigm by the Catholic Church in 1452, the enslavement of human beings had, to some degree, always existed; however, with the papal bull "Dum Diversas", perpetual servitude would flourish globally.

Further emboldened by the accounts and writings of chief royal archivist Gomes Eanes de Zurara in 1453, global enslavement would begin to refocus on black and dark skinned human beings.

“…others again were as black as Ethiops, and so ugly, both in features and in body, as almost to appear (to those who saw them) the images of a lower hemisphere....” he further described them as “living in the perdition of their souls" and needing to be “…turned into the true path of salvation.”

The practice of owning human beings, had existed for at least 2500 years, but the church facilitated its growth on a global scale, in 1493, for Christopher Columbus and Spain. With yet another Papal Bull, entitling them to all occupied land within the Americas, Spain was granted any land or people, so long as its inhabitants weren't Christians or Catholic.

Thus, the bias of the ruling bodies, that "might makes right" would be reconfirmed, as the law of all the lands. In plain terms, a group's ability to overpower another, was the primary determining factor, in who ruled the land; the "balance of power" theory, was the standard of international relations.

"The path to Hell, is paved with good resolutions"- Johann Jacob Rambach(1811)

The Imperialistic and Murderous Beginnings of United States

In brief, to people who were raised within the United States, it is well known, that when the first European colonies were established, there was both peace and war between various Native American tribes and the colonialists.

Regardless of the legitimacy of the pilgrims existential need for religious freedom, economic opportunity, and second chances; history shows that the establishment and intent to expand their territories was always going to lead to war.

For the most part, Native Tribes had no belief in personal property or resource ownership; merely tribal territory. This is not to pretend that they did not wage wars or commit atrocities; one of the most prominent examples of hostile tribes are the Comanches.

The primary issue raised, is the right to self-determination; the people's right to form their own political governing body. This, fundamental human right, is what was strong-armed from the natives, along with their land, and their personal liberties.

From as early as October 1540, at the Battle of Mabila, where Spanish conquistadors demanded supplies, load bearers, and women from the highly influential hostage, Chief Tuskaloosa (leading to 2,500 dead) to the Navajo Wars starting in 1638, and spanning approximately 228 years; Natives were but "savages" to be used or dealt with.

From the inception of the United States of America in 1776, our country was immediately at war with Native Americans; gradual annexation and the dehumanization efforts by colonial entities, the U.S would carry this perpetual conflict well past the forced expulsion ordered by President Andrew Jackson, with the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

Countless wars were fought, however, in the face of a technologically superior and better supplied force, the Native Americans continually lost territories and their cultural identities; eventually ending with the decimation of all Native Nations into the modern Reservations through westward expansion on the theme now known as "Manifest Destiny".

Racial Discrimination within the United States

In the United States, particularly, but not exclusively, there is still a prevailing racial prejudice, that black people and generally darker skinned races, are inherently more violent and prone to violence, than white people.

This stems from pro-slavery propaganda that if enslaved blacks were released, that they would be unable to integrate in society, and instead, would slaughter to overthrow whites, "Indian Savage" rhetoric, and the American invented, Eugenics movement of the early 1900's.

Within the United States, racial discrimination was codified through "Jim Crow Laws" which disenfranchised and prohibited "colored" people using the same water fountains or schools, businesses, and allowed the formation of "sundown towns" where any entity could discriminate against any race, including Blacks, Mexicans, Asians, Jews and Catholics; and where signs were posted directing said races to leave by sundown.

Further reinforced through the Dred Scott v Sanford case, where the Supreme Court declared that Black people could never be U.S. Citizens, nor did the Constitution or civil rights apply to them. Racial segregation, divided people into completely seperate societies based on the color of their skin, and was codified with Plessy v. Ferguson where the Supreme court claimed that racial discrimination was legal, so long as facilities for "colored" people were "separate but equal"; even when they truly never were.

The adoption of Eugenics into legal and medical practices on a federal scale, attempted to make definitive scientific conclusions on every aspect of humanity, through genetics, was based off of agricultural, selective breeding science. Although the Eugenics movement expanded biological sciences, it's inventors and followers failed to consider major contributing factors like, socioeconomic status, a family's education, the state of the country at the time, and the conditions of the countries that a family emigrated from.

There was valid logic, but it was poorly designed and implemented in the end, and led to horrifyingly negative societal consequences including, forced sterilization and the commitment of healthy people, to mental asylums, and even lobotomies.

The Rise of Imperialism and First War, to end all wars...

United under the guise of peace, the nations of the world, would independently continue to subjugate weaker nations and their peoples; people who were seen as mere property and a means for production.

In the stead of peace, unions between nations, facilitated aggression for bad actors.

This primitive rule by nature, seen as early as the Phoenicians and Babylonians, was greatly propelled, during the age of discovery– the early 1400s. European colonialism first initiated by Portugal's conquest of Cueta, a North African coastal city, in 1415, would start a domino effect, and a race to rule every mile of land across the globe.

Likewise, within North America, Native Americans-- regardless of tribe--, would experience the same fate as the peoples of Africa and ancient Europe; the technologically advanced, killing, enslaving, and removing entire populations from their native lands for profit and territory.

European colonialists hadn't introduced slavery to the natives, they merely industrialized it; based on the demand for labor in the West Indies for sugarcane harvesting.

This region would lay the physical demand and groundwork for what would become the Transatlantic Slave Trade; a human exchange network, which would eventually enslave and sell approximately 12.5 million African men, women, and children-- accounting for about 25% of the entire population of the Western Hemisphere by 1825. The practice of human ownership would account for well over 60%, of the entire U.S. GDP by 1860, and establish the social hierarchies that persist to this day.

Fast-forward to November 15th, 1884 and all desire lays in Africa; in an effort to avoid open war by the major players, a panel of 14 countries, unjustly divides up the continent; none of the countries negotiated for, would be represented or have any say in their own fate.

By 1913, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and German Empire, then the Ottoman Empire and the Tsardom of Bulgaria's alliances, would be no more than tied fuses, to the cataclysmic powder-keg packed by all of the world's alliances, clustered through colonialism and treaties; ready to propel the world into chaos. One-by-one and then, all at once, 26 countries were at war; sparked by the assassination of an otherwise unnoteworthy leader, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Many of these countries, were forced, through their colonial rulers, who often shared no common heritage or ideal.

The New, Human Meat Grinder

Across Europe and the world, boys and men alike, volunteered for their chance at glory; propagated by recruitment efforts challenging all, in sport-like posters and radio calls. Humanity, mostly familiar with the battles fought in line formations, could never have prepared for the hell that trench warfare would unleash; two dug-in fronts, and the barbaric "No-mans-land" in between them.

The inevitable evolution of warfare, now directed from afar through field telephones; commanding mortar fire, cannon barrages, and for the first time, death from above.

Man's greatest minds, devised noxious gasses that chemically scorched the insides of human mouths and lungs, burned the skin and eyes, and decimated the nervous system; indiscriminately, and en masse. Likewise, firearms, would see massive leaps, from the improvements of semiautomatic firearms, to the inception of machine-guns which could shred a frontline in one sweep.

Secret directives, now intercept-able over invisible radio waves; bred new paranoia, and disinformation tactics. Logistics, no longer stifled by the limitations of the living, for the mechanization of railway transportation; men could no longer physically see the end of the enemy's might or numbers.

No longer were the ships of man, made of mere wood; instead, were floating steel fortresses, that steamed ahead in great fleets, carrying the firepower to decimate entire cities. At the end, even the first armored tanks, began to appear.

An estimated 15 to 24 million people would die at the hands of others in just 4 years; the reason for everything at its very core, the acquisition of land, power, and currency, for those, already, above all others.

The victors, would not face accountability, they would determine culpability.

The Paris Peace Conference of 1919

Like everything that ever was or will be, World War 1 had its end; a world in shambles, left in its wake. In response to the international crimes of multiple nations, the sheer violence on this new battlefield, and number of lives lost; the establishment of an ad-hoc international court to bring justice across borders, was viewed as an existential necessity.

At the very core, the League of Nations was an attempted societal evolution, written into international law to coincide with the Treaty of Versailles; the official representatives and lawyers, from The United States, The British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Ro(u)mania and Serbia, handed down a declaration to the world:

The majority, had agreed to a new age of peace-- anchored by the power of international coalitions, and the sanctity of human rights; however, they would disproportionately blame and set punishment for, on one of the most pertinent aggressors, Germany.

Disallowed from taking part in the post-war negotiations, an entirely new government, would be coerced into the concession of territories, colonies, a standing military, and the payment of almost $551 Billion, in today's US dollar ($33 Billion in 1920).

A Pot Set To Boil Over....

Following the end of The Great War (WWI), the general discontent of the German people toward the outcomes of Treaty of Versailles, and the Locarno Treaties, would fester for 17 years to come.

Adolf Hitler, a failed artist, turned wartime-messenger– amongst the many lied to, regarding Germany's failing frontlines– cried amongst fellow injured servicemen, and vowed to, one day, regain glory for the fatherland. Hitler, amongst many others within the ranks of government, directly blamed leftists and more prominently, the Jews of Germany and Europe; believing they were to blame for its defeat. Hitler falsely believed that they were winning this war.

After much success within a new far-right political party in Germany, Hitler would become the sole leader of the "National Socialist German Workers' Party"; a name meant to recruit not only the extremists on the right, but the disgruntled left-leaning centrists of Germany as well. This would go on to be called the Nazi Party.

After a failed Coup attempt by the Nazis in 1923, Adolf Hitler would serve a measly 9-months of a 5-year prison sentence (where he'd write Mein Kampf), and the Nazi party, the SA, and all Nazi publications, would be dissolved; a measure that would prove temporary, as it gave birth to newly emboldened extremists.

Arise, Fascists, Arise.....

While Hitler served his sweetheart sentence, comparable to a forced holiday at Landsberg prison; the Treaty of Versailles-established, Weimar Republic, began to stabilize into a time often referred to the "Golden Era", of its short existence. The economy began to strengthen, the mechanics of government churned forward, and as often is, when populations come together, the expression of individualism, sexuality, and diversity, flourished alongside art and novel culture.

This, to more conservative and newly urbanized generations, would feed fuel to already growing division.

After his release in December of 1924, and under his new vision, the Nazi party would re-strategize from insurrection by physical force, to a seizure by political force, and coercion.

In January of 1925, Hitler personally met with the Prime Minister of Bavaria, to lift the ban on the party, and by February, declared in-front of thousands, that the NSDAP (Nazi Party) had been fully re-established.

"We are going into parliament to arm ourselves with weapons from democracy's arsenal. We are becoming members of parliament in order to hamstring the Weimar way of thinking…. If democracy is stupid enough to give us free tickets and allowances for this disservice, that is its own business. We don't worry about it. We will use any legal means to revolutionize the current state of affairs."

—Joseph Goebbels, Nazi leader for Berlin

From this new position of "Legality", the priority of the newly "armed" Nazi party, was to discredit the authenticity of the Weimar Republic, blame party politics, and to claim that authoritarian rule, was the only solution to make Germany great again.

For physical force, the SS (Schutzstaffel) is formed, and in 1926, Hitler and Goebbels hunted for the minds of children, with the creation of the Hitler Youth; in tandem with the final declaration of his personal Unitary Executive Theory, Führerprinzip.

Like a fascist infection spreading from node to node, by 1928, their coordinated efforts had spread the reach of the NSDAP across Germany's electoral districts to siege and seize the bureaucracy of the election process.

Despite the spread and their best efforts, the extreme antisemitism and anti-democratic positions of the Nazi party failed to appeal against the background of a subjectively prosperous and stable country; marginalization would not be a winning scapegoat until harsher times, in 1929 when the U.S. "Great Depression", decimated the world's economies.

As happened in nations across the world, unemployment rose quickly in Germany, and in lockstep, confidence in the Weimar Republic, fell.

Within this context, and alongside their successful efforts to broaden voter appeal by downplaying their extremes, creating member-based organizations, and focusing on marking the government as weak and ineffective, the Nazi Party would net 18% of the 1930 parliamentary vote; making it the 2nd largest party in German politics.

In session, Nazi members were intentionally disruptive and rowdy, refused to support any of the governments measures, and consistently called votes of no-confidence to grind Parliament to halt, through irrelevant points of order.

Disorder breeds disorder, and by 1931, the political violence between Communists and the Nazi Party's brownshirts (S.A.), had grown unmanageable and civil-war-like.

S.A. members publicly abused Jews and destroyed their storefronts, brawled in the streets and even killed those who stood against them, most notably early on, communists.

In 1932, a new presidential election was set to take place, and the more energized, Hitler at 42, would go on, to barely lose to the incumbent, Hindenburg, an 84-year-old man, some believed to have been at the end of cognition.

Still within the midst of a global depression, conditions worsened, and violence increased; yet the Nazis would only win 37% of the election vote.

Hindenburg, having dealing with breaks within his ranks, fired his head of government Chancellor Heinrich Bruning, in preference for a more right wing loyalist, Franz Von Papen, and with the Nazi Party's electoral success in Prussia and their negotiated support, Von Papen, would proceed to concede to Hitler's demands for the overturning of the ban on the Nazi S.A., and a free redo of the election loss, by special parliamentary election, scheduled for July 31st, 1932.

In the time, that preceded the lifting of the ban on the S.A., political violence continued to escalate, and an S.A.-initiated bloody incident was used as a justification, for the use of Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, to take control of the Prussian state government; forcibly removing leftist and centrist politicians from office and setting a precedent Hitler would utilize in the future.

In July, the Nazis would see another loss at 37% in the special election, despite their upscaled their violent rhetoric, building on past themes, Hitler once again railed against the Weimar government, the communists, Jews, and renewed attacks on Von Papen and his cabinet. Enraged and humiliated, Adolf Hitler, rejected all other offers to lesser positions and continued to tactically campaign for yet another special election set for November 6th, 1932.

Despite all of this, the NSDAP would only win 33% of the vote in November.

By December of 1932, leveraging the survival of the old right wing, the new right, the NSDAP, were able to freeze the government through a lack of cooperation, and a stalemate crux-ed on the math prohibiting the formation of a governing coalition. Germany and the world considered this a loss, and the end of the Nazis.

Hitler, However, had effectively ensured control, purely based on the fact that the Nazi party held a technical majority of the parliament and that without their cooperation, Van Papen and Hindenburg's party, would be a minority against both the NSDAP and the Communist party.

President Hindenburg, appointed yet another Chancellor, to attempt to restore function to the government, and when he failed to alleviate the stalemate, Von Papen formed an unofficial coalition of politicians; absolutely convinced that Hitler was the only one who could rein in the Violent Brownshirt-S.A., and that after, he'd be under their control and his power, tangible. This would widely be considered, one of the most consequential miscalculations, in modern history.

January 30th, 1933, President Hindenburg would finally appoint Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor of the German Reich.

Hitler initially demands 2 Nazi loyalists be appointed; Wilhelm Frick as Minister of the Interior (homeland security and policing), and Hermann Göring as a minister. This is shortly followed by the successful demand for Hindenburg to once again dissolve parliament and call for new elections; the 3rd parliamentary election in less than one year.

Though Hitler held great power within this position, the true consolidation of unitary executive power wouldn't begin until a month later, on February 27th, 1933, when the German parliament building, was burned down in an arson attack.

Regardless of if it was only the man executed for the crime (posthumously pardoned in 1998), or as a former police chief testified in Nuremberg, a false-flag attack, concocted by the Nazis (a claim that was never substantiated), the end result, is what matters most.

Hitler and the Nazis would falsely declare, that this was a communist plot to overthrow the state, and convinced Hindenburg to once again, utilize article 49, to enact what would be known as the Reichstag Fire Decree.

This would greatly reduce personal liberty, and suspend constitutionally guaranteed:

• Freedom of expression
• Freedom of press
• The right to assemble
• The right of association
• Privacy of mail, telegram, and Telephone communications
• Removed warrant requirements for home searches
• Removed requirements for confiscation
• Restricted property ownership

Furthermore, it deemed that the Reich Government could "temporarily" seize the highest level of state power if any state failed to comply, and prescribed punishments.

Death For:

-"High treason"
-Poisoning or public poisoning
-Arson
-Using explosives
-Flooding
-Damaging railways

15 years, life imprisonment, or death for:

-Attempts, provocations, committing to, or conspiring to kill a member of the government

-Serious rioting or disturbing the peace, with a knowingly armed person

-Political Kidnapping

This decree would be the basis for the creation of the first Nazi concentration camps.

The last *free election under Nazi rule...

March 5, 1933, and another election is taking place, and everyone has about just had it; they are broke, hungry and angry.

Prior to the election, most of the Communist Party leaders, had been arrested, and the Reichstag Fire Decree, was utilized to stamp out the campaigns of the Social Democrats, and the Communists. Directly translating to "Coordination" or "Synchronization", the Nazis manipulated the corpse of democracy to create a single party state through the "Gleichschaltung" process; simply equatable to Nazification.

Violence was now skewed, as the SS and SA, now had the backing of the German government, to attack and intimidate leftist political opponents, as they were now, all suspected "terrorists".

When votes were counted, the Nazi party won almost 44%, and their right wing partners netted another 8%.

Just over 2-weeks later, through the contortion of parliamentary rules, and coercion by intimidation, persecution, and arresting of multiple elected politicians, Hitler was granted the authority to write laws without parliament, and to nullify the constitution.

Another 2 weeks, and he would enact the "Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service", allowing the firing of government employees based on politics or if they were Jewish, with many more to follow; eventually, combining the offices of the president, and chancellor, granting Adolf Hitler unchecked and absolute power.

In a successful effort to quell the division that he and his S.A. had directly caused within Germany, and in response to civil-war like violence in the streets, Hitler would betray Ernst Rohm an S.A. leaders across the country; ordering the open assassination, of the very same extremist leadership that'd directly coerced and intimidated his rise to power and those that threatened his power. This would be known as The Night of the Long Knives.

This is the road to power, that would lead to at approximately 6 Million Jewish people being gassed, shot en masse, individually, and toward the end of what was to come, marched until they died of starvation, disease, or dehydration.

In a direct violation of the both the Treat of Versailles, and the Locarno Treaties, on March 7th, 1936, Hitler Marched troops across the Rhine River in Mainz, Germany. The remilitarization of the Rhineland, was an agreed upon, justification for war. Despite this, France and the British Empire, falsely believing that this escalatory violation would be the extent of Hitler's ambition and simply lacking the regional military posture; merely condemned Germany's violation.

Emboldened by the lack of accountability from the victors of the first World War, the Nazis would embark on an aggressive, expansionist propaganda campaign across Europe.

Two years later, on March 12th, 1938, German troops marched into Austria, prepared to stomp out the choice of joining Germany, yet, met with cheers and applause in the streets. Austria was officiated into the German Empire the next day, and retroactively dissolved as a country, on April 10th; the reclamation of the Sudetenland had begun.

More. MORE. MORE!

The Sudetenland, was a bordering region of Czechoslovakia, a country with a German ethnic majority, and it contained the entire line of defense against German invasion.

Hitler, desiring territory, resources, and more people to rule over, demanded the "return" of the Germanic people, and the country they lived in.

With war-exhausted populations, still-recovering armies, and financially committed purses, France and Britain, would concede to Germany's demand for the Czech's defensive territory.

As the Nazis trampled on international treaties and sovereignty, their scourge would inevitably lead to "The Final Solution".

With what started at first, with the exclusion of Jews from society in 1933, Germans would go on to vandalize and confiscate Jewish businesses, passed the discriminatory "Nuremberg Race Laws" directly inspired by the America's Westward expansion, race laws, and Eugenics. Eventually, this would lead to Germans to physically attack Jews in a nationwide riot, later referred to as "Kristallnacht" or "the Night of broken Glass" (1938).

By the end of Kristallnacht, over 1,400 synagogues and 7,000 Jewish Businesses were damaged or destroyed, 91 Jews murdered, and approximately 30,000 Jewish men were sent to the first concentration camps.

Evil, left tolerated...

The day is August 25th, 1939; an old German battleship is at the Polish port of Danzig. As far as anyone is aware, the Schleswig-Holstein, celebratorily flagged and men in dress uniform are manning the rails; more than 200 German marines below deck preparing for war. A few days later, on September 1st, at 4:43 a.m., the Germans gently drift their ship to the nearest Polish military depot at Westerplatte, and without warning, launched an attack spearheaded by a beach assault of over 500 Kriegsmarines, and a barrage of 280mm cannon fire.

To the utter shock of the Nazis, Polish defenders successfully fend off the invading force at Westerplatte for 7 days; far surpassing the anticipated 6 to 12 hours; in the end the Polish persevered through 17 mass shellings, 14 attacks, and 19 night raids. In the face of an overwhelming and technologically advanced force, around 9:30 a.m. on September 7th, the post's commander surrendered under the white flag.

Unfortunately, the +50% larger forces of Germany, hailed approximately 2,750 tanks, 2,315 aircraft, and 9,000 guns. Abandoned by their allies, the French and the British, the poles would fall to a new war tactic; the "Bewegungskrieg" (Blitzkrieg). With their troops amplified in endurance and aggression, through the use of Nazi-issued methamphetamine Pervitin-- which allowed them to fight for multiple days non-stop– newly improved Tanks would pierce enemy lines at will, flood the line with Luftwaffe; rinse and repeat. While the defenders of the initial attack at Westerplatte held their line, the southern lines had fallen back to the Vistula River in just 3 days; the fall, solidified on September 17th, with the Soviet attack from the north, planned in unison with the Nazis through the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

For the Next 3 months, the occupiers, would face fierce, patriotic resistance groups, marked as terrorists. The capital of Poland, Warsaw, was seen as the rallying center and as a pre-determined consequence, newly appointed governor Hans Frank would direct the SS and the mobile execution unit, the Einsatzgruppen to round up unknowing intellectuals, social activists, and politicians alike, for mass execution in the remote forests near Palmiry. Just a year later, at least 2,115 people would be shot and discarded into mass graves as a part of this *one effort.

By the peak of Nazi conquest, Germany had defeated and occupied: Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia, and Greece. Great Britain, protected by the ocean, and it's Royal Navy, were decimated from the skies, but, were able to resist occupation; still, Hitler believed that they too, would soon sue for peace as the French had done, in may of 1940.

With this newly reinforced arrogance, the despot betrayed the Pact with the Soviet Union, fueled through his hate for the Slavic people, and the fear that it's growth would outpace Germany, attacked it's former rear guards on June 22nd, 1941. This plan, known as "Operation Barbarossa"", would bring the Soviet Union into the Allied Powers, once again put Germany in a two-front war, and would prove to be the gravest tactical mistake, any modern leader would make in World War II; rivaled only a few years prior, by the Japanese' decision to attack the United States at Pearl Harbor in 1939.

Fatal Consequences

Now, the Year is 1945, and after 6 years of hell on Earth, and between 35,000,000 and 70,000,000 dead as a result of war, the United States, The United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union, for the first time in history, convened in a unified court; for how else could justice be brought upon a nation, whose ambition and atrocities, knew no bounds, and whose policy was the extermination of entire peoples?

Now, just 25 years after the Treaty of Versailles, an ad hoc court is formed in Nuremberg, Germany, to prosecute the Nazi leadership– absent Hitler, as he had committed suicide– for their roles in:

• Violating international peace treaties through aggressive unprovoked wars (Crimes Against Peace)
• Plundering, destroying, enslaving and killing, entire villages and cities (Warcrimes)
• The murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against multiple civilian populations and the explicit genocide of the Jews (Crimes Against Humanity)

Under the authority granted through the United Nations, the Moscow Declaration of the 30th October 1943, and the territorial authority of all previously German-occupied countries, ruled the leadership of the Nazi Party, the Gestapo, the SD and SS, criminal organizations. The trials ruled for 12 hangings, 8 life imprisonments, and 77 lesser prison terms, up to 40 years and yet, justice could never truly, be served.

The Disillusionment of American "Morality"

In the immediate aftermath of the surrender of the Japanese in 1945, a formerly occupied colony of France; Vietnam's Ho Chi Min-- with the backing of deployed U.S. O.S.S. agents-- sought to follow in the footsteps of American independence.
However, with the Nazi War machine defeated and Europe in ruins, the Allies immediate fear, was the expansionist tendencies of the Soviet Union, and the Red Herring; communism.

[Clue 1985 Image Placeholder]

France; the very same, which played a pivotal role in our fight for independence against the British, now sought American assistance in regaining control over a colony of its own. This hypocrisy, directly contradicting the spirit of the Nuremberg Trials being assembled, and antithetical to our own spoken virtues, was apparent, and therefore, by 1954, the United States was funding 80% of France's War(pdf page 67).

With the 57-day, vicious battle of Dien Bien Phu ending on May 7th, 1954; the French were defeated with over 2,200 french dead, over 11,000 captured, and 5,100 wounded. By the end of negotiations for the end of the first Indochina War, only approximately 3,300 French prisoners made it home, and Vietnam, was divided in two; a "temporary" solution that would result in two distinct countries: Communist North Vietnam, and a faux democratic, South Vietnam.

With the Cold War "Red Scare" fully brewing in the United States, an otherwise great American, President Dwight D. Eisenhower would mistakenly entrust leadership of this newfound country to Ngo Dinh Diem; a Vietnamese Roman-Catholic of which there was no obvious alternate.

Once appointed, Ngo would quickly recognize his position of power over his domain, and would quickly move away from U.S. influence and direction; placing his sister-in-law, a former Buddhist, who would come to be known as "The Dragon Lady" as the unofficial first lady. All levels of government, would subsequently be replaced by roman-catholics, who would dictate the lives of a combined, 70% Buddhist and folk religious population.

Diem's legacy in Vietnam can be most consequently attributed to the 1966 Buddhist Crisis, preceded by years of Buddhist oppression, legislative repression, blatant nepotism, corruption within the ranks of government and growing economic inequality; the crisis would be set boil over with the 1963 Huế Phật Đản shootings when, 9 unarmed civilian protesters, were shot by the South Vietnamese Army, and the crowds grenaded and the Huế chemical attacks, where soldiers poured liquids from tear gas canisters, onto the heads of praying Buddhists, hospitalizing 67 people for blistered skin and respiratory ailments. 40 of the 67, sustained 2nd-degree burns.

Tensions were often stoked by Diem and his government directly, who effectively attempted to establish Catholicism as the state religion; legally repressing Buddhist and folk-religious displays and practices while creating exceptions for, and flying catholic religious flags at public events– when the Buddhist flag was illegal– and exclusively arming the catholic citizens against the North Vietnamese.

Widespread protests of the call for religious equality and government opposition grew, leading to the August Xá Lợi Pagoda raids, where the South Vietnamese army raided buddhist temples, arresting over 1,400 and killing/disappearing hundreds.

By September of 1963, Diệm's rule and actions became a major point of contention for President John F. Kennedy, who then launched a fact-finding mission to investigate the progress of the war by the South against the North Vietnamese insurgency; a mission which would return him starkly contrasting views of the war effort and raise the consideration of backing a culminating coup plot against Diem's government. The result would end Diem's regime, and lead to his violent assassination; shocking and disturbing President Kennedy. Kennedy's last known thoughts on the future of Vietnam, gives insight on how well The President recognized the reality of the ground:

"The question now is whether the generals can stay together and build a stable government or whether Saigon will begin– will turn on– public opinion in Saigon, the intellectuals, students, et cetera, will turn on this government as repressive and undemocratic in the not-too-distant future– period."

This foresight would be lost; extinguished by the assassin's bullets, that took J.F.K's life just 18 days later.

Kennedy's Vice-President and predecessor Lyndon B. Johnson, would rapidly seize control of U.S. policy on Vietnam, greatly splitting from Kennedy's handling, but riding on Kennedy's presumed objectives in the country; greatly influenced by the animosity of the execution of Diem and his brothers, and– later retracted– reported attacks on the U.S. military, Johnson would direct military attacks on the North Vietnamese and request congressional approval; knowing reports were contradictory, and as L.B.J. himself concluded, an attack on U.S. forces hadn't even occurred.

“Hell, those dumb, stupid sailors were just shooting at flying fish!”- L.B.J to George Ball of the State Department

This would set the theme for all U.S. actions throughout the Vietnam War and across 4 administrations; misinformed, contradictory, bullheaded, and misunderstanding. The unofficial U.S. policy would then focus on winning a war that was not ours, with no clear objectives, and justifying U.S. incompetence and atrocities on the premise of defeating global communism.

The War We Chose to Forget...

As every possible metric in the U.S.-Vietnam War was, the death toll of civilians at the hands of U.S. troops and allies is heavily disputed. The fact of this war, was that both sides obfuscated the reality on the ground; the North Vietnamese would intentionally hide the bodies of their dead to combat the U.S. "Body Count" measure of success, and likewise, U.S. troops frequently counted civilian murders, as enemy combatant kills.

The truth, shows that it was our troops directive to consider every man, woman, child, and elder-- not within the walls of allied towns or in war-shelters-- an enemy; subject to immediate execution.

The record, does not suggest atrocities were only committed by the United States. This war was fought by a population, culturally birthed from thousands of years, of fighting for self-determination against larger occupation. The jungles of Vietnam were prepared through over a decade of battling the French, fortifying the entirety of the country, and establishing thousands of miles interconnected tunnels, well before the United States placed Ngo Dinh Diem. The defenses deployed by the Vietnamese were devised from the desperation of overwhelming force by an always more technologically advanced occupier and therefore, every aspect of the brutality, was meant to break the will and sanity of their enemies. Plainly put, the psychological toll of jungles full of vicious fighters who would flood out of completely hidden tunnels, slaughter a squad of men and disappear again, coupled with the lack of a clear understanding of whom the enemy was, immense.

"Tunnel Rats" were generally smaller soldiers who would crawl into the treacherously small and dark tunnels with small caliber pistols, knives, and a flashlight to map and hunt down North Vietnamese combatants in what would be discovered to be massive subterranean complexes with hospitals, training rooms, entire headquarters, and barracks allowing them to deploy underground for months.

These tunnels were rigged with a plethora of explosives, and unconventional traps, like punji sticks which were lined with poisons or human feces to cause infection. Every aspect of the war in Vietnam, was meant to break the invader's mind, and generally would.

Fighting a war that we had no reason to be in, in a land that we had no right to occupy, against an enemy we did not understand is what directly lead to U.S. troops devolving into the same monstrous killers that the Nazis had.

U.S. Atrocities in Vietnam

The Incident on Hill 192

In November of 1966, 4 U.S. Troops killed 13 NVA soldiers, skinned their bodies, beheaded, dismembered and consumed parts of the corpses. They then gang raped a Vietnamese woman, Phan Thi Mao.

Thủy Bồ incident

On January 31st, 1967, U.S. Marines attacked a village described as friendly towards U.S. Forces; the attack lasted into the next day, February 1st. 145 civilians including children, elderly villagers, and infants were murdered in the attacks.

Although there are likely some, that are forever lost to history, amongst the most well known warcrimes committed by United States soldiers, is the My Lai Massacre.

My Lai Massacre

In March 16th, 1968, U.S. troops entered the village of My Lai, under inaccurate intelligence suggesting that an elite group of Viet Cong would be there. The troops of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade had recently lost men within the region, and authorized and primed for revenge, approached the village in the early morning, discovering no combatants.

Under the command of Lt. William Calley, charged by Captain Ernest "Mad Dog" Medina, was ordered to "kill everyone" in the village of My lai. That morning, Charlie Company entered My Lai, immediately firing their weapons any person they saw, including women, children, the elderly, and even babies. As reported by survivors, many old men were bayoneted, praying women and children were shot in the head at point-blank-range, a baby was used as target practice then shot in the head, at point-blank range, and at least one girl was raped, then killed.

Lt. Calley, who notoriously lacked the respect of his own men, was said to have ordered a group of villagers into a ditch, and subsequently massacred them with machine gun fire.

The barbaric massacre, would last for approximately 3 hours, and would only end when U.S. Warrant Officer, and Helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson Jr., who bore witness to the mass murder of children, landed his helicopter between fleeing villagers and U.S. ground forces, ordering them to stop or be fired on by he and his crew. Thompson proceeded to make multiple evacuation runs from My Lai, scooping up fleeing survivors and evacuating the victims to a hospital nearby.

Thompson reported the massacre to his superiors and an artillery chaplain, who eventually called for the operation to be halted, however by the end of the killing, between 300 and 500 non-combatant civilians were murdered, without a single shot being fired at American forces.

This would only be the most publicized act of mass violence, two years later, as a top-down cover-up and multiple derelictions of duty, from multiple superior officers, massively delayed outrage.

Sơn Thắng massacre

Despite fresh outrage from My Lai the war raged on; February 19th, 1970, U.S. Marines massacred 16 civilians, including 8 children. The official report made, was that the civilians were Viet Cong; 4 marines were charged; all sentences reduced to under a year each.

The American-Vietnam War, in the end, was fought for 20 years, across 4 administrations, resulted in an estimated 882,000-1,050,000 Vietnamese deaths, approximately 282,000 US/Allied deaths. A war fought without an actual "declaration of war"

War powers resolution of 1973

As a response to the massive backlash against the war in Vietnam and the concern that conflicts like this eroded the congressional power set as part of our system of checks and balances set in place by our founding fathers, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution.

The division of the power to wage war between the President and Congress, not only intentional, but originally codified within the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8 & Article II, Section 2), however, this war, made the necessity of legislative clarification clear.

This legally mandated resolution binds the President to notify congress within 48-hours of committing armed forces to military action, and forbids them from remaining in action for more than 60 days, with an additional 30 days to withdraw.

The two scenarios allowing extended military action under the War Powers Resolution, are an Authorization for Use of Military force from congress or the full Declaration of war.

To suggest that Thomas Jefferson was a perfect man, would be a disservice to history; he was, however, a great man in his own time.

"...What country before ever existed a century & a half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it's liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is it's natural manure. Our Convention has been too much impressed by the insurrection of Massachusetts: and in the spur of the moment they are setting up a kite to keep the hen-yard in order. I hope in God this article will be rectified before the new constitution is accepted. — You ask me if any thing transpires here on the subject of S. America? Not a word. I know that there are combustible materials there, and that they wait the torch only. But this country probably will join the extinguishers. — The want of facts worth communicating to you has occasioned me to give a little loose to dissertation. We must be contented to amuse, when we cannot inform." - Thomas Jefferson, 1787

The Insurrection act and its additions granted the President, an individual for which the Founding Fathers never predicted could, become compromised. Yet we face-- not a first-- but an extraordinarily corrupted, self-enriching, and morally bankrupt man who has abused his position of power for far too long.

Utilizing the mechanisms of social engineering through the power and reach of algorithmic social media feeds, afforded to and directed for him, by other abysmal men like; Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen Miller, Larry and David Ellison, and all authors of the plan to dismantle the America we have known and loved; Project 2025.

The Time is Now.

We revolt against our reproductive instincts when we chose one lifelong mate, and when we decide to have fewer children.`

We chose the path of evolution against our tribal instincts-- the notion of “might equals right”. During the 1946 Nuremberg trials against the Nazi Party, by formulating and reinforcing laws against international crimes including “Crimes against Humanity” and “Crimes against Peace”, we revolted; marking the first collective decision to commandeer the future for the good of all mankind.

Within the same breath, our leaders set us on the path of dissolution.

It is now. The year 2026, that we are once again at a crossroads, and once again, are positioned to either, unite against, or succumb to our lesser nature.

It is now, that We, the ordinary, must stand up against the scourge of material gluttony plaguing the Earth-- they, who are discontent with their fortunes.

They, who disregard the sacrifices of their forefathers, in favor of Nazi-style warmongering.

They, who tear down longstanding guardrails to take more land, and consolidate international influence.

They, who feel entitled to rule us, as they see fit; without comment from us, the piss-ants.

They, who place themselves above the laws that we, are crucified against.

They, who are building multi-million-dollar contingency plans, in case the citizens of the world wake up before they, the billionaires of the world, solidify their private capture of the governments of our nations.

They, who seek to sap you of your ability to think, and to rent “thought” back to you as tokens and subscriptions; seizing the means to own computational power, for data centers and the cloud.

What future is it, that lays ahead for you and I?

Friends, readers, and strangers; now is the time for humanity to revolt against our lesser nature, once more.

NOTICE & DISCLOSURE

EDITORIAL INTEGRITY & FAIR USE: This article is a work of evidence-based analysis. All conclusions are derived from a cross-reference of public records, declassified metadata, and documented kinetic events. This content is provided for educational and investigative purposes under the Fair Use doctrine (17 U.S.C. § 107). Provisional Record is an independent entity and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, or any federal administration.

NON-ADVOCACY: Documentation of civil unrest, military strikes, or institutional failure does not constitute an endorsement of such actions. This record does not provide legal or financial advice, nor does it serve as an incitement to illegal activity. Reality is evidence-based; the greater context is everything.

Due to the urgency to post this essay, minimal proofreading has been done after the completion of this semi-final draft. There very well may be unintentional errors which will be corrected at the earliest possible date. I simply do not know that I will have more time to complete a thorough proofread or add photos. I apologize in advance, and will promptly respond to, and correct any inaccuracies that appear evident in the future. - Culper Jr.