You are speaking of the Second World War. (I have not yet reached there. still a long way to go. We were referring to the First World War.) What was being referred to was the battle of Marne and though portions of French territory were occupied, Paris itself was spared. Details as below:
The German occupation of north-east France refers to the period in which French territory, mostly along the Belgian and Luxembourg border, was held under military occupation by the German Empire during World War I.
Owing to the speed of the German invasion of Belgium in 1914, fighting reached French soil early in the war. Though their advance was stopped at the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, the Germans gained control of a portion of French territory, which remained under German occupation behind the stabilized Western Front for much of the rest of the war.
On September 9, the exhausted Germans began a fighting retreat to the Aisne River. The Battle of the Marne was the first significant Allied victory of World War I, saving Paris and thwarting Germany’s plan for a quick victory over France.
Having said that, why should faith shake because of history? Suppose you discovered that something said by Sri Aurobindo or the Mother does not match the description of history, we have one of the three options:
- Disregard History and trust the word of the Master.
- Take it that maybe there may have been a slip, but the Master is not meant to be an encyclopedia of the physical world and its happenings. His knowledge is in many domains and much, much vaster.
- Most importantly, we do not approach the Master to validate history or scientific knowledge or vice versa. We approach Him for what He is and can offer us, – the gift of Divine Life. The important issue is, do we feel within us an intuitive faith that He can lead us to that? If one has faith, even an illiterate (by modern standards) Master such as Sri Ramakrishna can create a Vivekananda who was indeed a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge himself.
Of course, my source material regarding this detail is George van Vrekhem’s book and I think he has researched his subject well. Besides the purpose of these talks on Their life is mainly to inspire us by the wonderful human example that They present before us. I myself cannot take full responsibility for historical accuracy, though I do try to do some research myself and as far as possible. But the stress is on awakening our souls to Their touch. The rest is incidental and, in the larger analysis inconsequential.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
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YT Link: https://youtu.be/t8CEPY7qshs
