Nigel Farage has released a new documentary on World War I, in which he argues that Britain should have fought the war for longer and that the Armistice was signed six weeks too early, potentially preventing the rise of Hitler and World War II.
The Reform UK leader presents We Will Remember Them, a documentary broadcast on his YouTube channel on Sunday at 5pm, in which he tours iconic battlefields and describes the suffering and bravery of those who fought for Britain, as well as the ongoing debates about the conduct of the war.
Farage's argument on the Armistice
At a screening of the documentary, Mr Farage revealed that when he leaves politics he plans to write a book and go on a tour to argue that Britain “should have fought the war for longer” and that the “Armistice was signed six weeks too early”. He contends that if the war had continued, there could have been “no Hitler” and no World War II.
His argument is that the rise of Nazism was “fuelled completely by ex-servicemen from the Western Front, on the message that it was the politicians in Berlin that had betrayed them”. They believed “the whole legend that the fighting German army had never been beaten”.
Documentary highlights heroism
Mr Farage acknowledged that if the fighting had continued “the cost would have been horrible” but “had we continued for six weeks, driven the Germans back over the Rhine, Hitler would never have existed, National Socialism would never have raised its head, there would have been no World War II”.
He said his film is “absolutely non-political” but concerns what he thinks “our country means”. Describing the heroism of Victoria Cross winners, he said: “These are things we should celebrate, these are things we should show kids. This is about courage, bravery, commitment, belief in fellow man, and all of those things. Whilst this whole subject is one of loss and suffering, [it] is also about the best in human beings, what they can be.”
Personal connection to the war
As a schoolboy at Dulwich College, Mr Farage was regularly reminded of the human cost of World War I. According to the school’s website, 3,103 former pupils served in the war, of which 534 died.
