War in Ukraine: The Darkest Hour
Last night, I learned that Putin’s war in Ukraine had started. I began to cry and couldn’t stop, and I woke up and cried again. I didn’t cry just for the land of my ancestors and the people in it, I also cried for our world. We’re repeating history and not in a good way.
I was born in Canada to Ukrainian immigrant parents during World War II. We’ve seen this story before, of how a madman took what he wanted and the world watched.
Hitler and Putin
Reflecting on history, I can’t help but see the parallels between Hitler and Putin.
Hitler and Putin felt humiliated
Pre-WWII, Hitler was very angry about what had happened to Germany after WWI. He and many Germans felt humiliated. Their currency had fallen dramatically, was almost worthless. He blamed the Jews for the troubles in Germany. Putin is angry about what happened after WWII, and the breakup of the Soviet Empire. He blames America and NATO, who he believes brought about the downfall of the Soviet Union. Russia is also struggling economically. It is not the world power it once was.
Hitler Took Austria & Sudetenland. Putin took Crimea, Donetsk & Luhansk
In 1938-39, the West let Hitler take Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia, without stopping him. Hitler said Sudetenland’s people were Germans and therefore should be part of Germany. A similar justification was used when Putin took Crimea. Putin said Crimea was mostly Russian and therefore people there should be under Russian rule. No one stopped him. Emboldened, Putin armed the separatists in Donbas. Again, no one stopped him. And now there’s a greater war in Ukraine.
Both Hitler and Putin Good at Propaganda
Hilter was a master of propaganda. He convinced the German population to help him in his quest to make Germany great again. To convince Germans of his right to invade Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia), this is what was being written in Nazi newspapers.
“Berlin, September 19— The Nazis, and quite rightly too, are jubilant over what they consider Hitler’s greatest triumph up to date. “And without bloodshed, like all the others,” they kept rubbing it in to me today. As for the good people in the street, they’re immensely relieved. They do not want war. The Nazi press full of hysterical headlines. All lies. Some examples: WOMEN AND CHILDREN MOWED DOWN BY CZECH ARMOURED CARS, or BLOODY REGIME—NEW CZECH MURDERS OF GERMANS. . . .”
So, Hitler painted the Czechs as murderers of Germans. All lies! Propaganda to justify his invasion of Sudetenland.
Sound familiar? Putin is no Hitler, but he seems to be working from a similar playbook.
Just as Hitler blamed the Czechs for murdering Germans, Putin blames the Ukrainians for murdering Russians in Donbas. Shocking, considering the Russian-backed separatists are the aggressors. He goes further and paints Ukrainians as Nazis, though we all know the extreme right exists everywhere, including in Russia. He believes by manufacturing lies about Ukraine in this way, his fellow Russians and others will support his so-called “de-Nazification and de-militarization” of Ukraine. And he has the audacity to say it’s Ukraine that wants to invade Russia. How insane is that, and yet there are many who believe him. To believe that Ukraine, who gave up its nuclear armaments in exchange for secure borders, would consider invading a nuclear power with greater military power than its own, is sheer madness. Putin proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk independent (though he had no right to) which gave him the excuse to move his military in deeper.
Illegal Referendums Used to Support Hitler’s and Putin’s Views
Before Sudetenland was ceded to Hitler in the Munich agreement, the Fuhrer took Austria.
According to Hitler, all Austrians wanted him as their leader.
A plebiscite was held to prove that. “In April, this German annexation was retroactively approved in a plebiscite that was manipulated to indicate that about 99 percent of the Austrian people wanted the union (known as the “Anschluss”) with Germany. Neither Jews nor Roma were permitted to vote in the plebiscite.”
The above reminds me of the referendum in Crimea, where the vote was considered illegal. BBC reported that 95%, according to Putin, approved of the annexation.
Hitler’s Plan to Conquer and Putin’s Plan to Conquer
Prior to Hitler taking over Sudetenland, he wrote an action plan, that of his desire to invade more countries. He had no intention of stopping at Sudetenland. In the movie Munich: The Edge of War, a messenger tries to get that information to England’s prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, before he meets with Hitler and signs an agreement, ceding Sudetenland to the Fuhrer.
And we know what Hitler did after he got Austria and Sudetenland. He invaded Czechoslovakia, Poland, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Yugoslovakia, Greece, and Ukraine and was only stopped at Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in Russia.
Putin recently gave a speech saying he doesn’t recognize Ukraine as a sovereign country. Sees it as part of Russia. Like Hitler, he wants more than what the world allowed him to take without so much as blinking an eye. Putin wants more than Crimea and Donbas and Luhansk, he wants all of Ukraine and if he’s allowed to continue shelling the country and cyber attacking it, other countries will also be at risk. Putin wants the Soviet Empire back.
Hitler had Stalin’s backing and Putin has Xi-Jinping’s
In 1939, just before WWII started, Stalin signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler.
Stalin signed it because he “ …was cool to Britain after his effort to create a political alliance with Britain and France against Germany had been rebuffed a year earlier.”
During the Olympics this year, Putin shook hands with Xi Jinping confirming they’d watch each other’s backs. Xi Jinping was also upset with the west, but for different reasons. The west had levelled many accusations at China, mainly about its cultural genocide of the Uyghurs. When diplomats from western countries chose not to go to China for the Olympics, it was a slap in China’s face. I’m still hoping China will do something to deter Putin, but it’s likely wishful thinking on my part.
Insanity that needs to be addressed
Putin won’t spill his blood but he’s responsible for the blood of both Russian and Ukrainian men and women being spilled in his war in Ukraine. I suspect he’s calculated what sanctions can come and decided he could manage despite them. Putin is a wealthy man. He may manage, but will Russia manage? War is disastrous for all. Putin’s moves are very dangerous. If he can’t be stopped, Ukraine is going down. And after Ukraine, who knows. Along the way, many people on both sides will lose their lives.
Praying for Ukraine
I can’t believe we are where we are right now. When I wrote my baba’s story in Sunflowers Under Fire (WWI) and my yet-to-be published Paper Roses on Stony Mountain (WWII), I thought war on that soil was done. Yes, there have been continuing conflict in the extreme east of Ukraine, but no one thought they’d spread. We should be uniting as a world to deal with the pandemic and climate change. Instead, it’s a war in Ukraine. Pray for Ukraine.
Excellent post! As I watch the news from Ukraine, it seems as if I am watching history. You have pointed out the comparisons between Putin and Hitler very well. I know your heart is breaking as you wrote this and watch the news. When I see a home destroyed or damaged there or see women with children trying to leave or hunkered down in a subway, I think of your brave grandmother. Expect for one of our ex-presidents, the US is standing with the people of Ukraine. Hugs to you in your pain. Sunflowers are surely under fire!
Thank you Jo for your thoughts. It’s a nightmare, a living nightmare. I so appreciate that the West is standing by Ukraine, but I believe that the sanctions western leaders have imposed are not strong enough. More has to be done. One of our Canadian journalists, Andrew Coyne, apty said, “Are you kidding?” Meaning why haven’t economic sanctions been place on Putin himself? And why don’t Western leaders do something about SWIFT, ensuring that Russians have no access to the worldwide banking system. These would be peaceful means to stop Putin. I think Biden is worried about the political fallout as it will financially hurt Americans with rising gas prices and the like. Imposing stronger sanctions, effective ones, would hurt us all, but isn’t that better than the loss of life and the refugee crisis and destroyed buildings and a change of power in Ukraine from a democratic system to a dictatorial one? And if Ukraine falls, there are other countries, like Georgis, Estonai, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland, that could be next. Much like what happened with madman Hitler. A dramatic change of world order.
I’m sickened by what’s happening. Frustrated that history is repeating itself. And saddened that the rest of the world hasn’t been able to protect a sovereign country from being taken by force. Which country will be next?
Exactly, Jo-Anne. Which country is next? Western democracies don’t want to risk higher gas prices, etc. at home. Don’t want their populations to vote them out of office. Afraid they’ll be blamed for going too far. But we all know you have to stand up to bullies or they keep going.