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Slack.com slash DHQ. Charles Spicer, his book is Coffee with Hitler, the untold story of

the amateur spies who tried to civilize the Nazis. And their failure does not undermine

the credit they deserve for seeking peace. They couldn't see the future. They could know

the past, which was the horror of the Great War. A whole generation and a half dead on

the battlefield for nothing, no gain and a breakup of families and empires. We now come to

Victoria Station, Charles tells me. Victoria Station arriving are the ribbon-trops, and

at least a walk-in ribbon-trop to represent Germany as the new ambassador, replacing a man

who was extremely successful. What has ribbon-trops mission as he arrives? What has Hitler told

him to do, Charles? Hitler has asked him to forge an alliance with the British. And this

is a simplistic plan to just pick off all his potential obstacles towards continental

domination. If he can neutralize the British by whatever means, then he can do what he

wants on the continent. So the initial mission then is cynical on

the Hitler's part. He once Britain in some way blocked by a demonstration of friendship

so he can go ahead and persecute what we know to be his neighbors. It was starting with

Austria and Czechoslovakia and Poland and then eventually the low countries and France.

So it's an ribbon-trop perfectly aware of this that his job is to block and to fuddle

the English and not to be friends with him. It's to form an alliance by being friends

...