I too have dabbled in pacifism.
I did go through a long period of reading WW2 history .
I remember stocking the shelves with tinned fish from Latvia, the Balkans,the caspian etc and bunkering down to study Stalingrad .
The most intriguing thing about it for me was that they kept the music going in the streets,the Russian classics, even as they froze.
Just a cheery note to ring in the Christmas spirit.
"It's a grand old flag, it's high fly-ing flag"