Marlborough High School - Marlborough High Yearbook (Marlborough, MA)

Page 21 text:

U N D- j KI ? u r 1 £ lv t f 5 I realize, of course, that many persons have bought round- trip tickets to somewhere or other, but I am sure that most of them bought, those tickets willingly. The two tickets which I am going.to speak about were not purchased willingly. In fact, I f m sure if their owners had realized what they were starting, they never would have begun their journey. One of these people was Napoleon Bonaparte—proud conqueror of France, heir of his underfed, starving people, and would-be master of the world, Napoleon had conquered almost all of Europe, but not being satisfied, decided to grind Soviet Russia under his foot as he had done other countries. And so, with thousands of his best soldiers heavily armed and confident of victory, he started off. What glorious triumphs his soldiers won; what wretched animals these Russians were! The Russians fought, but it was purely a defensive form of combat — nothing for Napoleon to worry about. The only disconcerting thing was that they ( the Russian peasants) burned or destroyed everything of any value, including food. But Napoleon would not let a little thing like that stop him. He marched on--on to Moscow—to what he thought would be his greatest triumph. He arrived at the outskirts of Moscow in early autumn, but unlike other conquered cities in other countries, there were no beaten and dejected people to proudly parade before; there was nothing- only a great emptiness. % The Czar had left Moscow and had gone to St, Petersburg, almost a thousand miles away, Napoleon realized then that he could not conquer the Russian people because of the immense terri¬ tory of their country and because of its natural elements . Napoleon stayed until early winter, against the advioe of his chief generals. Then, finally convinced of the hopelessness of the situation, he turned to sunny Franoe again. But where there was emptiness before, there now were angry Russians who hampered Napoleon’s retreat until he arrived in France with only a remnant of his forces with him. Who is the other holder of the famous round-trip ticket? You must have already guessed—Adolph Hitlerl Only his journey is on a larger scale. He brought more soldiers, munitions, and guns, but he did not even reach Moscow. He, like Napoleon, thought the Russians barbarious—and animals, because he could not understand their ways—could not understand why they would sacrifice their homes and their crops, their long years of labor, just to defeat someone who wanted only to civilize them. Hitler is not back to Berlin, ' yet—but he is fast getting there. And wheh he gets there, he, like Napoleon, will end his career in exile-still wondering how such ignorant peasants could ever have defeated him. Perhaps our infamous friend, Mr, Hitler, has not yet learned the axim, ”The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray,”, - ' ■ ’• 1 v --Nicholas Moffa