This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Pro-Mole: Why haven't this trope been launched from YKTTW? Then we'd have examples!
fleb: I think this is Just in Time.
IBlameCommunism: Removed one of the page-quotes. Spiffing quote, and I'm sure it can find its home somewhere here, but its yet another case of "Imperial Germans are always villains".
Ross N: Imperial Germans were the villains in this case - they declared war on, and then invaded France. That is not to paint Germany as some proto-Nazi force of darkness and France as a champion of etness and light, but I don't think it is out of line to call the Germans the villains here.
I Blame Communism: During the Second World War, Britain declared war on and invaded Germany. true fact. There's more to being a villain than taking actions which were diplomatically and militarily necessary. Sure, one can debate all day whether Austria needed to fight Serbia, but Germany, in aiding Austria, needed to fight France. Revanchism and all that. I'm not actually a big fan of Imperial Germany, but if WW 1 had a villain, it was human stupidity.
Guillaume HJ: I redid the World War Two section to make it a little less Euro- (and Anglo-) centric: while the Battle of Britain was indeed the first undisputed victory over Nazi forces, and a great victory, the Axis remained on the offensive for nearly two years afterward, bulldozing over many regions of the world, and with the initiative squarely on their side. There's a reason the traditional view of World War II considers the turning points to have been Midway/Stalingrad/El-Alamein.
Also rephrased the Britain part: yes, they were the only allies left in Europe, but let's not imply Britain was alone (Canada, Australia, New Zealand...), or that all the rest of Europe was under Nazi rule (A few neutrals, although some of them had clear Axis sympathies).
