Better late than never, Princeton University Fellow Alexander Etkind writes about Vladimir Putin’s Gazeta Wyborcza article on RCW:
That article reflects the deep, unresolved problems of Putin’s era: the inability to distinguish between the Soviet past and the Russian present; an unscrupulous mix of political conservatism and historical revisionism; and indifference, bordering on incomprehension, with regard to the key values of democracy. (…)
Moreover, while the Munich Agreement cynically blessed Hitler’s dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, it was a public document that meant what it said. But the truly important part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was its Secret Protocols, which divided Europe into two imperial domains, Stalin’s and Hitler’s, without the consent — or even the knowledge — of the nations consigned to them. Molotov, who remained in power throughout the war and until 1956, denied the existence of the Secret Protocols until his death 30 years later. Democracies make shameful mistakes, but they eventually correct them, or at least apologize for them. And they dethrone those who got them into trouble.
It is wrong, and even immoral, to equate democratic and dictatorial practices. But this is the new Russian equation.
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“Stalin’s and Hitler’s, without the consent — or even the knowledge — of the nations consigned to them.”I’ll have to check about the Czechoslovak representation at the Munich Conference, and exactly how they gave their consent to the agreement that Cnference produced.What a laugh!
No need to tap dance around your argument… You believe that Stalinism was wonderful and great, so just come out and say it.
I’m not the one making a false distinction between Munich and M-R. And it dosen’t escape my attention that you don’t dispute the truth of my point.And if being unaware of a better alternative at the time to the Pact, after spending no small amount of time studying that situation, gets me called names by folks whose knowlege of it is propaganda-deep, I think I’ll manage to live with it.
Really , there is a misunderstanding betwwen Russia and the ” other allies ” of WWII on the pre-war history .The fact is since the Nazis came into power , ALL the European countries tried to give this ” hot potato ” to his neighbour and to open an umbrella in order do redirect the nazi-storm on this neighbour .France was balancing between an alliance with Italy and Soviet Union but definitvely we stood alone , with England protected by the Channel , to face the German Blitz .Poland signed a pact with nazi Germany whereas Polish ambassadors were trying to weaken the French influence ( an ally ! ) in the Danubian basin .Munich has also secret agreements on the sell of French parts ( Schneider ) in Skoda plant .http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771284,00.htmlThe Soviet- German pact is only the last of this ” long trail of broken treaties ” which led to WWII.
@rkka – you haven’t produced any convincing argument or evidence to dispute. So there were Czechs at the Munich Conference of appeasement, great. To pretend as though Poland was informed about the protocols, try harder. Or, as is implicit in your rhetoric, that the Russian invasion of Eastern Europe was both positive and inevitable. Or further, why their withdrawal after the defeat of the third reich never materialized.Most importantly, this article by Alexander Etkind argues that Putin’s version of history is dishonest in its attempt to portray Molotov-Ribbentrop as a response to Munich. You haven’t disagreed with this, so you must agree, right?
“So there were Czechs at the Munich Conference of appeasement, great.”Actually, there weren’t.”To pretend as though Poland was informed about the protocols, try harder.”I never said they were. The Czechs weren’t either, until they were presented to them by the British and French Ambassadors in Prague for them to submit to without argument or protest “…failing which His Majesty’s Government will take no further interest in country.”"Or, as is implicit in your rhetoric, that the Russian invasion of Eastern Europe was both positive and inevitable. “Do you think things would have gone better with Germany conquering all of Poland, which was well within Germany’s power to do?