Von Ribbentrop

[Peak_Oil]

Joachim von Ribbentrop
Nazi Foreign Minister

The Allies' plan to destroy Germany will be fought with all our power.

On April 27, 1940, just two weeks before Nazi leader Adolf Hitler ordered an attack on the West, Nazi Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop addressed the German people on what he called the ‘aggression’ of England and France. According to Ribbentrop, Germany's unprovoked invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, which had started the war, was in fact launched in response to an Allied offensive across the German-Polish border. Such propaganda, swallowed whole heartily by many Germans, was officially discredited at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial after the war. Ribbentrop, who had helped conclude Germany's alliance with Italy and temporary nonaggression pact with the U.S.S.R., was ultimately condemned for his planning of Germany's invasion of Poland. Convicted of ‘crimes against peace,’ he was hanged along with nine other Nazi war criminals on October 16, 1946.

http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/great_speeches/speech_47.php
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Ribbentrop.html

Ribbentrop played a particularly significant role in the diplomatic activity which led up to the attack on Poland. He participated in a conference held on 12th August, 1939, for the purpose of obtaining Italian support if the attack should lead to a general European war. Ribbentrop discussed the German demands with respect to Danzig and the Polish Corridor with the British Ambassador in the period from 25th August to 30th August, 1939, when he knew that the German plans to attack Poland had merely been temporarily postponed in an attempt to induce the British to abandon their guarantee to the Poles. The way in which he carried out these discussions makes it clear that he did not enter them in good faith in an attempt to reach a settlement of the difficulties between Germany and Poland.

http://www.adolfhitler.ws/lib/nsdap/Ribbentrop.html

The category of "crimes against humanity" is one of three classes of crimes for which war criminals were tried at the Nuremberg Trials. Under "crimes against humanity", the Nazis' policies of brutality and mass murder of unprotected civilians, both before and during the war, were considered crimes which threatened the peace and safety of the entire world.

http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/pages/t016/t01637.html

CONDOLEEZZA RICE: America and Europe have stood firm in the belief that the fundamental character of regimes cannot be separated from their external behavior. Borders between countries cannot be peaceful if tyrants destroy the peace of their societies from within. State where corruption and chaos and cruelty reign invariably pose threats to their neighbors, threats to their regions, and potential threats to the entire international community. Our work together has only begun. In our time, we have an historic opportunity to shape a global balance of power that favors freedom, and that will therefore deepen and extend the peace. And I use the word power broadly. Because even more important than military and indeed economic power is the power of ideas, the power of compassion, and the power of hope. I am here in Europe so that we can talk about how America and Europe can use the power of our partnership to advance our ideals worldwide.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/09/1458256

No comment from me necessary.