83
votes
Does the German President Steinmeier's apology for WWII reflect the prevailing views of the people of Germany?
Outside a small fringe group, there is a broad consensus in Germany that starting WW2 was wrong.
That is not incompatible with the idolization of German soldiers who fought in the war, though. For a ...
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65
votes
Accepted
Did Poland ever apologize for its alliance with Germany before 1939?
Yes, in September 2009, at an occasion to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of WWII, then-President Lech Kaczyński gave the following speech:
Two generations have passed but the Second World ...
CDJB♦
- 109k
48
votes
Is Japan still bound by the terms of its surrender in WWII?
Yes
Pacta sunt servanda, agreements must be kept. The Treaty of San Francisco is 70 years old which is young compared to many older treaties. Agreements have a few "outs," neither of which are valid ...
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39
votes
Whose photos are carried by Vladimir Putin and those by his side in the May 9, 2022 Moscow Victory Day Parade and what are their significance?
The idea of this specific parade is to carry the photos of your relatives who fought in a war (usually WW2).
In this case it seems to be a photo of Putin's father.
I suspect there is no other ...
- 18k
38
votes
Accepted
Why wasn't Hirohito tried at the end of WWII?
It was partially MacArthur's idea. I suspect that, aside from considerations regarding internal Japanese stability the swiftly developing Cold War (things soured as soon as Germany surrendered) ...
- 92.7k
36
votes
Whose photos are carried by Vladimir Putin and those by his side in the May 9, 2022 Moscow Victory Day Parade and what are their significance?
Alamar has covered the significance of the parade and of whom the photo Putin carried was.
The man on Putin's left in the red jacket is Gennady Ivanov, one of the co-chairs of the Immortal Regiment ...
CDJB♦
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32
votes
Does the German President Steinmeier's apology for WWII reflect the prevailing views of the people of Germany?
You are completely misjudging the intention of these memorials.
In one of the articles you linked, a politician talks about the placement of one of these memorials:
Es mache Sinn, dass Passanten ...
- 1,823
32
votes
Is Japan still bound by the terms of its surrender in WWII?
Is Japan still bound by the terms of its surrender in WWII?
Yes, but...
Can the Japanese legally build an offensive military force to counter those threats? In other words, are they pacifists by ...
- 30.7k
24
votes
Accepted
Why was an inscription commemorating Dresden's bomb deaths removed?
Removal of the inscription had been planned since 2019, but the city failed to inform about it being put into action now. An information stele near the bench that had been removed temporarily will be ...
- 9,313
22
votes
Accepted
Did most French people change their opinion about who contributed most to the defeat of Nazi Germany?
In short, yes the information presented in that graphic is well sourced and appears generally reliable.
The creator of the graphic is Olivier Berruyer who is French political blogger. His source is ...
- 124k
20
votes
Why wasn't Hirohito tried at the end of WWII?
Because of fears of instability and communism spreading to the area. Treaties ended up being signed to turn it into more of a democracy which was more in line with what the US wanted.
https://www....
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18
votes
Does the German President Steinmeier's apology for WWII reflect the prevailing views of the people of Germany?
Somewhere around a 70/30 split, I would say. The exact numbers depend on just what sentiments are classed as not feeling sorry.
I think a majority is truly sorry.
There is a minority who is only ...
- 116k
16
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Why was the USA planning on attacking Japan *before* Japan's attack on Pearl Harbour?
Halfway compentent military staffs have more plans than they ever expect to use. Until 1939 or even later, the United States had a plan for war against Canada and the UK. Relations between the US and ...
- 116k
15
votes
Why wasn't Hirohito tried at the end of WWII?
Remember Hirohito was regarded as "divine" so keeping him around to instruct the Japanese civilian and military population was seen as critical in retaining control without an enormous ...
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13
votes
Why is Japan more revisionist about its World War II era actions than Germany?
I would have preferred to post this as a comment, but alas, I don't have enough reputation. There are a few other things to consider:
Germany is a member of the European Union, and before that other ...
- 171
13
votes
What legal accountability was available for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Here's my best shot at answering your question:
Since the bombing was a military act carried out during wartime, it's highly unlikely that any legal action could have been taken. Nuclear bombs were ...
- 923
13
votes
Accepted
Why does Russia bother to justify the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact?
Basically, as the article you mentioned explains further, it's part of the Putin-era effort to [re]glorify the Stalinist legacy, and in particular the WWII aspects thereof.
Also, the trend appears to ...
13
votes
Did Poland ever apologize for its alliance with Germany before 1939?
Czechoslovakia was occupied by both Nazi Germany and Poland.
Wrong. Actually this little area has been occupied by Czechoslovakia since 1920 as they needed a railroad placed there. During the 1920-21 ...
- 303
12
votes
Does the German President Steinmeier's apology for WWII reflect the prevailing views of the people of Germany?
This answer has 3 parts, the first two answering the question in the title, the 3rd tackling the issue of glorification/(in)compatibility of memorials.
Steinmeier as president represents the Federal ...
- 1,385
11
votes
Does the German President Steinmeier's apology for WWII reflect the prevailing views of the people of Germany?
As the other answers already say - yes the majority of germans are truly sorry about what Germany caused by starting WW2 - Of course there are some people still claiming the war was inevitable due to ...
- 211
10
votes
Can a treaty between sovereign states be anulled in the future on the basis that one of the signatories was not a democracy or otherwise "free"?
As a practical matter, international law is irrelevant except as PR for countries doing whatever they want to do in this situation.
Nobody is going to invade a country or force a regime change because ...
- 88.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Does the German President Steinmeier's apology for WWII reflect the prevailing views of the people of Germany?
There is indeed a disconnect between these monuments honoring German soldiers and Steinmeier's apology to the victims of German tyranny, and that disconnect is very much a representation of how ...
- 37.4k
9
votes
Is Japan still bound by the terms of its surrender in WWII?
can the Japanese legally build an offensive military force to counter those threats?
No. But it's trivially easy to build a large defensive force to protect yourself, your friends and your interests, ...
- 653
8
votes
How are people in Germany educated about crimes of the Wehrmacht?
Schools
In Germany, what should be taught is regulated in what is called Lehrplänen or Bildungspläne. These are different for each state and type of school, and they change over time. Additionally, ...
- 37.4k
8
votes
Does "The Holocaust" refer only to the genocide of Jews or does it also include the killing of other persecuted minorities?
This is a point of significant contention. It would be inaccurate to claim that there exists consensus among scholars, Jews, or even, occasionally, within individual sources. To provide an idea of the ...
- 18.1k
7
votes
Does the German President Steinmeier's apology for WWII reflect the prevailing views of the people of Germany?
Speaking as an American whose only connection to Germany is that I had a great-grandfather who was German ...
One can respect the courage of a soldier and honor his sacrifice without approving of his ...
- 1,112
7
votes
Why wasn't Hirohito tried at the end of WWII?
This is not an "answer" exactly, but consider it American folklore... it's how I understood it from my family who lived through and fought in WWII -
Hirohito was considered an actual god, ...
- 217
6
votes
Accepted
What Japanese government members have visited Pearl Harbor?
Four* (NYT)
There have been several less public visits to the historic naval base:
Yoshida (1951)
Yoshida (center right) in Honolulu in Aug. 31, 1951. From AP.
"Japanese Leader’s Pearl Harbor ...
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6
votes
the status of Taiwan and the Treaty of San Francisco
Short answer is "China"
It's therefore an internal matter for China to sort out. It just happens that there are two governments that have opposing claims to be the "Government of China", and neither ...
- 124k
6
votes
Can a treaty between sovereign states be anulled in the future on the basis that one of the signatories was not a democracy or otherwise "free"?
That is indeed a good question and I'm looking forward to see answers better than this one.
For the time being the relevant treaties seem to be the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and the ...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible