Katharine Viner Quotes
During the Second Boer War, from 1899 to 1902, Britain was rampantly jingoistic: anyone who opposed the war was cast as a traitor. The 'Guardian' stood against it and ran a campaign for peace while the brilliant 'Guardian' reporter Emily Hobhouse exposed the concentration camps for the Boers run by the British.
Viner, Katharine. "A mission for journalism in a time of crisis." The Guardian, Guardian News & Media, 16 Nov. 2017.
Ironically, the fascist organizations that did form in America did just that. The American Firsters claimed patriotism motivated them to support Hitler and Father Coughlin and his fascist movement was his own version of Christianity—one which the Roman Catholic Church was so opposed to that they prohibited him from appearing on the radio with his virulent preaching. He was one of several who “hijacked” American Christianity not unlike the way radical Muslims would later in the century hijack Islam.
Virtually all of the worst dictators were welcomed by many when they first appeared on the scene. Human nature seems to have us all looking for exceptional leaders and statesmen and that is exactly what the dictator relies upon to acquire power, By the time most recognize the truth, the dictator has control of all the levers of compulsion. Many Americans were fooled just as the Europeans were. For others, see {623198}, {623202} and {623201}.
See {636935}for the policy decision that triggered this order.
In 1918 the Treaty of Versailles—peace treaty ending WWI—was signed. Many Germans felt that their defeat in WWI forced them to sign the treaty which weakened Germany and assured that they would be a 2nd rate power thereafter. After that Germans blamed every negative aspect of their government, economy and society on the treaty that was “forced” on them. Nazism was a consequence of these feelings, and the Nazis adopted policies and practices to get around their anti-military obligations and have a strong government so that the allies could not enforce the treaty obligations on Germany.
1914 was the outbreak of WWI in which all the belligerents had very different interests and reasons for war—even allies on the same side greatly differed as to their motivation for fighting.
The Hapsburgs were the ruling family of the Austrian Empire who wanted to invade Serbia in retaliation for their complicity in the assassination of the Austrian Archduke. This would likely bring Russia in the war in support of Serbia. The editor thought that there was no obligation to support Austria when they were planning a war of choice. What the editor did not know was that the German leadership very much wanted war at the time and supporting Austria was the perfect excuse to fight without them starting the conflict. However, the evidence became clear later than it was German aggression that turned the dispute into a World War.
Katharine Sophie Viner is a British journalist and playwright. She became the first female editor-in-chief at The Guardian on 1 June 2015 succeeding Alan Rusbridger. Viner previously headed The Guardian's web operations in Australia and the United States, before being selected for the editor-in-chief's position.
