“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”
What many may not realize is that almost everything happening now in Ukraine has happened before with striking similarity.
In the aftermath of Germany’s defeat in WWI the Treaty of Versailles (the peace treaty that ended WWI) stripped Germany of its military and required it to pay reparations for the destruction and death it caused in the war. Its economy suffered. It was humiliated. In this context Hitler rose to power, rebuilding the military in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, and promising to restore Germany to its former greatness.
Sudetenland was the far western tip of Czechoslovakia that was inhabited by many ethnic Germans, so Hitler claimed that should be under German control. This was his first real power move where he tested the world powers. “All he wanted…” was to control that one teeny tiny part of Czechoslovakia. To avoid a major war, the West (France and the U.K. in this case) figured it was worth it. In the “Munich Pact” the prime ministers of France and the UK agreed to give Hitler Sudetenland to appease him with the hopes that he would stop there.
The Czechoslovak government was not really given any say in the matter other than “Accept this deal, give up part of your land to appease Hitler, or we (France/UK) won’t aid in your defense if Hitler comes for your whole country” (my paraphrase).
Czechoslovakia accepted the deal – basically at gunpoint – and Hitler seized all of Czechoslovakia anyway, and France and the UK did almost nothing to help.
This would be the unmistakable equivalent to now demanding that Ukraine give Russia Donbass and Crimea to avoid war, aka “Negotiate for peace.”
When Germany was rebuilding, growing, and modernizing its military in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, the European super powers of the day – France and the UK – didn’t have the stomach for confrontation, so they let it slide. The U.S. had ZERO interest, even though they were a party to the treaty.
Hitler went on to attack Poland in September 1939. Days later France and the UK declared war on Germany, but initially contributed little to Poland’s defense.
Throughout all this time the U.S. was debating its involvement. In congress they fought over the “Neutrality Act” which basically prohibited the U.S. from providing arms to any party in a war.
On one side of the debate they said that providing either side weapons makes it more likely that we would become directly involved in the war, while the other side argued that failure to provide aid to our allies enabling them to defend against the hostile aggressor nation is to implicitly aid the aggressor.
Hmm… No similarities to current times there… Let’s move on…
Hitler hid his expansionist ambitions behind clever propaganda that confused the West, and lulled them into believing what they REALLY WANTED to believe: That he was no real threat. He knew the West was weak and didn’t want war, so any explanation would do, so he said he just wanted some geopolitical tweaks to make Europe more fair. The now undisputed basic reality is that he was an ambitious monster with a taste for conquest no matter the cost.
Now with that refresher course in world history, let’s focus more on the present…
All this sounds eerily like Putin claiming he just wants to protect his borders from NATO, and if Ukraine takes NATO off the table, gives Russia the ‘disputed’ territories, we’ll all have “peace in our time”.
NOW LET ME ASK: Can we at least agree here that HITLER WAS BAD? Or might some think he kind of had a point? Would anyone today say of Hitler, “There was no justification for his invasions, but there were reasons?” Rand Paul says that about Russia and Putin.
Would anyone today go even further and say they would have wanted Hitler to WIN? Tucker Carlson says that of Putin and Russia.
Would anyone today agree with the advocates of the Neutrality Act and say that we should NOT provide military aid to the victims of Hitler’s brutal aggression, aid without which they would not survive?
Marjorie Taylor Greene and many other Republicans would agree with this Neutrality Act today and let Ukraine be wiped from the face of the earth at the hands of OUR greatest security threat.
Would anyone today mock Winston Churchill for not wearing a suit to important diplomatic meetings while his country is at war?
Michael Knowles, Matt Walsh (both political/cultural commentators), and I’m sure many others mock Volodymyr Zelensky for wearing his camo t-shirt.
I couldn’t possibly create a better example of what it means to be “on the wrong side of history.” These people – Ron/Rand Paul, Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Michael Knowles, Matt Walsh, and many others – WOULD HAVE SUPPORTED HITLER, or at least refused to help UK/France/Poland.
Sure, I assume today they might deny that, NOW that I’ve put it that way. Now we have the clarity of hindsight. But DO THEY have this clarity? They ARE supporting the “Hitler” of today. There is no difference.
Well, that’s not quite accurate. There are differences. Russia is MUCH WORSE than Nazi Germany could ever be.
I LIVED IN UKRAINE for five years and know many Ukrainians. Many of them – including my girlfriend – have grandparents who LIVED through Nazi occupation. It is the consistent report – believe it or not – that Nazi occupiers were ACTUALLY fairly civilized. When they needed to stay in your home, they apologized. They said things like, “Sorry ma’am, don’t try to hurt us and we won’t hurt you, and we’ll be out of here as soon as possible, and we’ll try not to get your home too dirty…” Russian/Soviet soldiers SHOOT YOU, TORTURE YOU, and RAPE YOU. When Nazi occupiers needed to take some of your food, they only took what they needed, and THANKED YOU. Russian soldiers steal your washing machine.
Ronald Reagan was on the RIGHT side of history when he said at the 40th anniversary of D-Day,
We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars: It is better to be here ready to protect the peace than to take blind shelter across the sea rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We’ve learned that ISOLATIONISM NEVER WAS AND NEVER WILL BE AN ACCEPTABLE RESPONSE TO TYRANNICAL GOVERNMENTS WITH EXPANSIONIST INTENT.
Have we learned those lessons? I guess we’ll see.