'World War Two would never have happened' Nigel Farage reveals theory about end of First World War

It was on the 11th of November 1920 that George V formally opened the cenotaph, and it was always on this day. Armistice Day that it was commemorated up until World War II when it became Remembrance Sunday. And I was very pleased, as a party leader, to be able to go and lay a wreath this Sunday. It's a subject about which I've always cared enormously. I was brought up with my family talking about sacrifices that were made and how much it mattered. But you know what's really interesting? Over the last few years, suddenly it isn't just Remembrance Sunday, but it's on the 11th. And today. There were many, many thousands of people. You can see the picture now on your screens. And a friend said to me that they were coming up from Devon on the train this morning. And the train driver said, as they were going along, it's now 11 o'clock. I'd ask you all to observe a two-minute silence. So something very interesting is happening there. But I've long held this view that actually the armistice. Must have been a huge relief to enormous numbers of people. But actually, we should have continued for longer. Well, only one man in a senior position at the time thought that, and that was John Joseph Pershing. He was commanding the Americans, and he actually wrote in his diary. On the 11th of November, saying he thought the whole thing was a disaster. We shouldn't have done it. If they'd given us another 10 days, we would have rounded up the entire German army, captured it, humiliated it. The German troops today are marching back into Germany, announcing they've never been defeated. What I dread is that Germany doesn't know she was licked. Well, I think Pershing was right. And it's so interesting that in 1923, when Hitler leads the putsch, the attempted putsch. Down in Munich. And you see a photograph there of Hitler. And who's next to him? Who's next to him? Field Marshal Ludendorff. The great victor of the German armies against the Russians in the East and very nearly beat us in April of 1918. So I've long thought that actually if we had continued for another couple of weeks or whatever it took... That actually the German army would have known they were beaten, and that World War II would never, ever have happened. I'd love to get your views at home. Do you think I'm right? Do you think I'm wrong? Was the armistice too early? Tweet hashtag Farage on GB News, or email farage at gbnews.com. I'm joined in the studio by Sir Michael Ellis, former Conservative Attorney General, who's been leading... Our Remembrance coverage on this channel and doing it rather well, at least some people think so. I'm also joined by Kwasi Kwarteng, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Kevin Craig, Public Affairs Executive and former Labour Councillor. Amazing that the 11th itself suddenly is becoming a day. Nigel, you have a real passion for this subject, and it's a lifelong passion. And you talked about how the 11th of the 11th of the 11th hour has become a thing. And I think you can take some credit for that, because the Western Front Association in about 1994, was it 1995, took over from the old Contemptibles Association, that organisation which had started in 1925. Named after the saying of the Kaiser Wilhelm II that it was a contemptible little army, the British Expeditionary Force. And that's, I think you can, should take some credit for that. But on your point about Pershing, this is a very interesting point because it is arguable That if they had taken it through to total annihilation. There would have been a further view, which of course the Nazis took advantage of in the 1920s already, that they had been humiliated. They also took the view that they were humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles, and they pushed these lines to their people that they had to build up their ascendancy again. It's arguable that if they had been further punished by the 10 days extra that Pershing wanted... And of course, the Americans had only come in, as you know, they'd only come into the World War One in April 1917. The Brits and other allies have been fighting the British Empire since 1914. We were exhausted. I understand why the French, the British, the German politicians were keen to go. And we were we were succeeding by having a thousand killed a day. 1,000 killed a day, or virtually every day for the last 100 days. So I understand that. I just think the point is that National Socialism was built on servicemen who believed they'd not been defeated in the field. I think there's an argument that that is the case. But the counter-argument to that, and of course we'll never know, because, you know, history... That's the joy of history. That's the joy of history. But if they'd taken the Pershing approach of total annihilation of the enemy as they were retreating, There could have been an argument that the Nazis would have been further empowered when they started up in the 1920s by saying, look how we were humiliated even more, look how we were embarrassed and destroyed and how cruel we were treated, and that might have engineered a faster... Well, that's the counter-argument. I don't agree with it, but it's the counter-argument. Kevin, what do you make of this debate? I think you're wrong, I think, Nigel, because I think the last day... The casualties at that point were roughly over 10,000 a day. They would have been, for each day, extra four. Calculations are 2,500 plus fatalities. Yep. Across all sides. Yep. And so there were probably people listening to this today or watching it that wouldn't exist because back then, their ancestors wouldn't have made it through. And I think... It's a factor, and of course politicians take advantage of it, which the National Socialists did, but I would argue that the defining reason for the coming to power of Hitler et al. was the theories of racial supremacy. against the Jewish people, which they used to blame for all of Germany's economic violence. There's an irony in that. If you go to any German First World War cemetery, about 3% of graves are Jewish. All I would argue, Kevin, you're right that the daily casualties were horrific, but if it had stopped World War II, it would have saved tens of millions. I think Nigel's 100% right. Clearly the rhetoric in the 20s. was the of the stab in the back you know that was a very powerful thing and the whole point about the stab in the back legend was that as you said they could tell their people that we were undefeated in in the field you know we were undefeated and it was a bunch of Jews feeding into your rhetoric. They would have said that anyway, though. That narrative grew. Yeah, they would have. But I think what it was right. The Jews would have got the blame anyway. Whatever happened, these guys were focused on war. But I'll tell you what proves your point, though. What is an argument that proves your point is how the Allies conducted the end of World War II. That's right. And they absolutely decided… Unconditional surrender. That's exactly right. Unconditional. Nothing less than unconditional and total surrender. Yeah. So, to your point, maybe they learnt their lesson… They did. …from the end of World War I… That's right. …and that actually is the best argument that you've got… Yeah. …that there was a mistake in ending a bit too soon in World War I. It's almost like the railway carriage at Compiègne. It was almost like aristocracies and royal families of Europe deciding that really we ought to sort of find a way of ending this. Isn't that the point, Nigel? It isn't just the fact of when the actual fighting stopped. It was what happened with the agreements afterwards and the arrangements that were extracted from Germany. Yes. Did we shoot ourselves in the foot, the Allies, by the way that we... Yes. An unjust peace. Right. So, Clemenceau. Clemenceau. Le Tigre. He was the French premier. He was so enraged by what the Germans had done. I mean, people forget this, you know. The retreat to the Hindenburg Line, total scorched earth policy, burning down churches, destroying farms, killing the animals. They were so enraged, the French. They wanted some sense of revenge. And I think you're right that it's from that. That Churchill said, be magnanimous in victory. Well, they only did that because they remembered 1870. That's correct, yeah. And in 1870, the Germans marched through Paris, and they took the 5 billion of gold. And the Franco-Prussian War, exactly right. The 1870 Franco-Prussian War, then World War I. No wonder, by World War II, they made a decision that there had to be a total and unconditional surrender. I've got a final thought on this, gents. Do we think that, whether it's Remembrance Sunday or the 11th, do we think a younger generation still view this as being relevant? No. Sadly, not as much as they should. Yeah, sorry to interrupt, Mike. Not the First World War. And actually, too far ago. And also, we weren't a full democracy in this country. Women didn't have the vote. They did soon afterwards. But we were vastly different. It's unimaginable. If you actually look to how we went to war, and why, it just wouldn't pass faster now. But you know, there's an argument though, Kevin, that right now in Ukraine... The situation is not dissimilar to World War I conditions, how men are dying in large numbers in trench-type warfare. It's obviously not that similar, but there are similarities. It's lasted longer. The Russian-Ukraine war has lasted longer than World War I. What I would say, Kevin, is this. Actually, what I've discovered by talking to people about this... They start to do their own family research, and they start to discover extraordinary things about their great-grandparents, and so I think for those reasons actually it is quite important that we do remember. I don't know, one thing that did rather amuse me on Sunday, there were 10 There's a reason why it is relevant and should be relevant to young people. The average age of frontline casualties in World War One was 19. And we lost, you were talking about a thousand a day towards the end of the war. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, In 1916, we lost 19,000 men in one day. Dead. Dead. Let alone wounded. 60,000 wounded, 50,000 to 60,000 wounded on that one day. And that, through history, that should be relevant. And young people should be taught that because... We, you know, those who ignore history will be doomed to repeat it. Well, some schools do. I mean, it's actually interesting that sort of, you know, half terms, et cetera, there are coaches going over from Dover, taking school kids. I don't know, I'm not sure how many schools do it, but quite a lot do do it. Kevin, as you say, it's a long time ago. We shouldn't forget completely, though, should we? No, we shouldn't. But it's just in terms of, I think what young people do find interesting is how we went to war and how decisions were taken and the compliance of the population for the losses that were just remarkable and the lack of movement along the front for years and the lack of consequences to leaders for that. And, of course, massive consequences. Women start to get the vote. Women go to work. By the way, the leading families did suffer in World War I. I mean, Asquith's son, Raymond, was killed in World War I. It was cross-class, absolutely. It was totally cross-class. In fact, the aristocracy were severely affected by World War I. If you look around these country houses, something like 35 of these. Sort of houses, you know, families. I mean, Sir Arthur Bonar Law lost two of his sons. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think the criticism of this came from staff. Yeah. Staff were a long way behind the lines, and they had terrible gout and problems like that. But I think everybody else... I think people might... I mean, there were 48 divisional commanders killed in World War I. 48 generals killed in World War I, two in World War II. Gives you an idea.