[QUOTE=pr00ne;2954595] The Red Poppy was inspired by the First World War. A War that had NOTHING to do with defending freedom, democracy or free speech.
I had the impression that GB entered WW1 in fulfilment of a defence pact with Belgium and WW2 to honour a Treaty with Poland. Both these countries were democracies (of a sort) at the time - as was the UK. In no way could Germany under either Kaiser Wilhelm or Adolph Hitler be described as "liberal democracies" . It is perfectly reasonable to describe both wars as being "in defence of freedom". The Hunnish hordes rampaged across Europe twice in a generation and were treated with great generosity by the Allies in 1945.
My dear old Mum lost both her brothers in France in 1915/16 and a fiancé in the RFC . The experience was deeply traumatic and she was most reluctant to talk about them. She visited her brothers' graves once in about 1922 and could never bring herself to do it again. As for the glorification of war, I was with my mother when I was aged 10 on 3 Sep 1939 and listened with her to Chamberlain's broadcast announcing our declaration of war on Germany. The tears were streaming down her face. If anyone had dared to question the value of her brothers' and fiancé's sacrifice (like that adenoidal little twerp on Radio 4 this am) she would have torn them limb from limb. And she was big and feisty enough to do it!
