Peace in Our Time - Part 10

There are similarities between Germany’s 1938 annexation of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia and Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Before examining the similarities, we should note the differences. While Putin and Russia may be guilty of war crimes in Ukraine, nothing Russia is doing approaches the genocidal nature of the Hitler regime.

And while Russia may be trying to recreate at least some of the former Soviet Union, its aims are more limited than Fascist Germany in the 1930s. Germany sought domination over most of Europe.

Below we will compare Hitler’s justification for annexing the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia with Putin’s for annexing at least the ‘Russian’ portions of Ukraine. The quotations below are from Hitler’s 9/12/1938 and 9/26/1938 speeches. The Putin quotations are taken from his speeches of 3/18/2014, 7/12/2021, 2/21/2022, and 2/24/2022.

Both dictators wanted to assure other nations that their aims were limited. They only wanted to assist their ethnic brethren in other countries.

Both said they would respect existing borders:

Hitler	Putin
“ We… have assured all countries bordering on us that Germany will respect their territorial integrity. “	Russia has done everything to preserve Ukraine's territorial integrity …."
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“ We want nothing of France! Nothing at all! ”	“We respect the Ukrainian language and traditions. We respect Ukrainians' desire to see their country free , safe, and prosperous…” “ It is not our plan to occupy the Ukrainian territory . We do not intend to impose anything on anyone by force. ”
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“ It is the last territorial demand I shall make in Europe. “	“Russia has never been and will never be “anti-Ukraine.”
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“ I have assured him (British Prime Minister Chamberlain) further, that, and this I repeat here before you, once this issue has been resolved, there will no longer be any further territorial problems for Germany in Europe! “	“Russia accepted the new geopolitical reality after the dissolution of the USSR. “
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“Germany… is determined, and has stated as much, to accept these borders ( the current borders in Europe) as inviolable and unchangeable in order to give Europe a feeling of security and peace.”	“We have been treating all new post-Soviet states with respect and will continue to act this way. We respect and will respect their sovereignty….”

Both dictators stated that the countries they were invading were not legitimate.

Hitler	Putin
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“ It was a short-sighted enterprise which the architects of Versailles conceived when they gave birth to the abnormal structure of the Czechoslovakian state. ” (Hitler was referring to Treaty of Versailles at the ending of World War I, which created Czechoslovakia out of the former Austria-Hungary Empire.)	“ … modern Ukraine is entirely the product of the Soviet era . We know and remember well that it was shaped – for a significant part – on the lands of historical Russia. ” "…modern Ukraine was entirely created by Bolshevik, Communist Russia…"…the Bolshevik policy led to the emergence of Soviet Ukraine, which even today can rightly be called "Vladimir Lenin Ukraine .”
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“Central Europe was torn apart in 1918 as certain crazed statesmen set to redraw the political landscape. Atomized and divided, new states were arbitrarily created in Central Europe in complete disregard of the origins of their peoples, their national desires, and of economic necessities. ” (Again Hitler is referring to the Treaty of Versailles which created Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Austria, and Hungary)	“ …when I was asked about Russian-Ukrainian relations, I said that Russians and Ukrainians were one people – a single whole ” “ the wall that has emerged in recent years between Russia and Ukraine, between the parts of what is essentially the same historical and spiritual space, to my mind, is our great common misfortune and tragedy. ”
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“ The Czech state was born a lie…there is no such thing as a Czechoslovakian nation. ”	“ … inside the USSR, borders between republics were never seen as state borders; they were nominal within a single country…But in 1991, all those territories, and, more importantly, people, found themselves abroad overnight, taken away, this time indeed, from their historical motherland. ” “ … Ukraine… is an inalienable part of our own history , culture, and spiritual space. ”

In September 1939, Hitler started World War II in Europe by invading Poland. At its peak, Germany had conquered western and eastern Europe and part of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine.

In February 2022, Putin invaded Ukraine. The war is almost six months old, and we don’t know how long it will last, nor how it will end. We do know that despite being outnumbered, Ukraine has inflicted heavy casualties on the Russian. Russia’s limited territorial gains have been achieved at great cost to Putin