Nineteen Forty
“Nineteen Forty, Out Finest Hour” by Arthur MeeArthur Mee was a writer during the first half of the century, finally meeting his end in 1943. He became most famous for his ‘Children’s Encyclopaedia” which he write in monthly instalments. When not doing this he was a journalist, notably for the Daily Mail (which would of course in the 1930’s become the main supporter of Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists) …
posted by Benjamin Nakizo at 5:29 AM
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That he should write for the Daily Mail comes to no surprise when you consider that his list of publications, aside from the encyclopaedia tend to be highly patriotic. Indeed the opening sentence of this book would not look out of place in an American church. It reads, “It has been the dream of Christianity for nearly two thousand years that it should overcome the world”. It sets the tone for a horrible little book which paints Britain’s struggle against the Nazis as one of good versus evil. God versus the devil. He likens Hitler to a rival god that sought nothing more than to replace the Christian god. He makes no mention that Hitler’s anti-Semitic views had foundations in a wider, and all to Christian, anti-Semitism. Mee does however include English liberties, the right to voice ones opinions and to practice what one will, along side is Christian rhetoric, as if they were one and the same. Which of course is very far from the case.
It is a horrid piece of propaganda which while one can sympathise with why such strong rhetoric and comforting lies may have been appealing at the time, and perhaps vitally important to sustain morale, it makes for troublesome reading now. The book flows as a sort of diary of his thoughts in chronological order. Early in the book he writes that does not believe the Italian people would ever follow Hitler into war. One line I especially like reads, “It can hardly be possible that in this fight for the foundations of Christianity the Ark of Christendom itself, the Eternal City, should be on the side of the Pagan Nazis who have dethroned Right and Truth and worship Hitler as a god”. Oh Mee. Oh poor and shortsighted Mee. How wrong you were.
He does however have some wise words which apply today as they did back then, “War is won by material powers sustained by the undefeatable spirit of man. Peace is won by the quiet working of the heart and the mind. It we hate our brother there is no peace”. (Shame his beloved Christianity enshrines hate into its practices).
But having said all that, he does redeem himself with some impressive sounding passages of which I am insanely jealous because I know they would make good blog material. In fact it is a shame blogs were not around back then. Observe:
“It is when we are passing through the fires that we are tried and tested. How do we face the storms of life? Battered and beaten by fate, tossing on a sea of trouble, are we broken by emotions or sustained by an inward calm? Do we believe that this outer world about us, the material fabric of our civilisation, is the world itself or the expression of something that has made it?
If we believe that the tings we see are the world, that when we look at the dome of St Paul’s we are looking at a thousand tones of brick and wood and lead and stone and nothing more, we shall be cast down by the threat to these things, and the menace of the spirit of violence will break us. But if we believe that behind these things is something greater than them all, we should be tranquil under the blows of fate, for our anchor will hold fast to the foundations of the world…
As streams grow into rivers and rivers run to the sea, so our little lives, hour by hour and day by day, make up the rivers of influence that swell into the vast oceans of life. The boundless world with its unfathomable glory, its infinite opportunity, its treasure of happiness all untold, is in your keeping and mine. The future of our dreams is what we are making now.”
Brilliant. Utterly brilliant.
A lot of this writing focuses on boosting the morale of the reader, of insisting that no matter how grand an army Britain has or how grand the governments plans they can only be effective if people have the ‘will’ to make them so. It is a lot about the moral advantage the Allies should feel when faced with this enemy force which is, as Mee reiterates continuously – totally evil.
What makes Mee’s work unusual for the time is simply his continuous referral to the war as being a Christian struggle with men having to choose between the godly Allies and the heathen Nazis. There is also an underlying radical touch to his writing. He predicts a Christian Utopia where wealth is shared and men go without want. He, like many others saw the wartime spirit, and its resourcefulness and unity as an inspirational time. If men could push themselves to act with such great purpose during wartime why could they not apply the same determination to peacetime? This is what Arthur Mee occasionally suggests will be necessary if the peace is to be won the second time around.
I needed to back up every one of my points with quotes because in class the lecturer seemed sceptical of some of my points, but not having any quotes handy to support my case his authority took precedence and I my argument looked flimsy at times, despite the fact that I know full well what I was saying was true.
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