EUROPEAN OBSERVATIONS

Charles Lindbergh loved the privacy that Europe provided but did not always embrace the culture. Lindbergh was an efficient man who relished organization and punctuality. He tended to find the British slow, inefficient, and complacent.He did not share the view that the British were the model for a world power. The issue he found most concerning about the British was their air power. He respected the strength of the British navy but believed that unless the British could strengthen their air power they would not have the capacity to compete in modern warfare.

In terms of the French Lindbergh was more forgiving. He was influenced greatly by Dr. Alexis Carrel. The two men collaborated on the scientific work The Culture of Organs. From 1936 to 1939 Lindbergh witnessed the political corruption, disorganization and disillusionment that was plaguing France. Lindbergh was more sympathetic to France because he felt that unlike England, they recognized their weaknesses but could not find an adequate way of repairing them. Lindbergh later said that in the prewar years that Britain had been blind to the impending conflict but that France had seen it coming could

Not organize to stop it.

By the late 1930’s, Lindbergh’s time in Europe had further convinced him war would be devastating for Europe and the rest of the world. Lindbergh tried to use his public persona to discourage war in Europe. Hitler’s remilitarization of the Rhineland marked what Lindbergh saw as the last opportunity for France and England to check Hitler’s power. Lindbergh was not a pacifist. He was against going to war if it was not a necessity or if you were going to be unsuccessful. He urged France and Britain to build up their military air power. Lindbergh believed that Germany and France needed to accommodate to Germany to prevent war. Lindbergh began writing letters to influential people such as the King and Queen of England in order to prevent war. He was convinced of German’s air power superiority and felt that resistance by other European nations would be futile. He believed that the United States was the only nation in the world that would have the capacity to compete with Germany.

From 1936 to 1939 Lindbergh observed the strength that Germany was acquiring and believed even more adamantly that they United States needed to stay out of the war. Lindbergh’s time in Europe showed him that the allies were not as strong as the world thought. Entering the war would not be a guaranteed victory for United States and in his mind a defeat of the allies.

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