A first! A quiz for my readers! Is that thrilling, or what?
Below are two extracts from major British dailies. One is from yesterday’s Independent, the other from the Guardian of 30 July 1938. I’ve disguised both to make it a little less obvious what circumstances each article is talking about.
One of them is an account of the way the Russians of 2014 or the Germans of 1938 are preparing to use military force to come to the aid of their “compatriots”, i.e. speakers of the same language, across the border in Czechoslovakia – or do I mean Ukraine?
Yep, that’s how gripping this gets...
The other extract quotes a speech from a nationalist leader, of the ethnic Russians of Eastern Ukraine in 2014, or possibly of the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia in 1938.
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| Moving against Ukrainian troops still nominally in control, Russian troops deploy in Crimea with strong civilian support |
Extract 1
And yet, the latest protests in [the Sudetenland/Eastern Ukraine] show far more organisation and determination compared with those of just a few weeks ago. They sing the same verses from the hymn sheet in [the main cities]; they call for a [referendum/plebiscite] and a plea for [Russian/German] “peacekeepers” to defend them. This strikes a chord with the repeated demands from [Berlin/Moscow] that [Ukraine/Czechoslovakia] should give a voice to the [regions/minorities] and adopt a federal structure and pledges that ethnic [Germans/Russians] will not be abandoned: the [Kiev/Prague] government does not need reminding that [President Putin/Chancellor Hitler] [has been authorised] to deploy troops not just for [Austria/Crimea], but [Ukraine/Czechoslovakia].
Extract 2
“On behalf of the largest group of [German/Russian] people ... outside [Russia/Germany], also in the name of all other [Russians/Germans] living abroad, I declare that we are all inseparable parts of the great [German race/Russian nation]. Efforts to make national boundaries and spiritual boundaries between members of one people have collapsed.
“[Germans/Russians] living abroad render unto the nation what is the nation’s, and to the people what is the people’s. As true [Russians/Germans] we are accustomed to fulfil the duties we have shouldered. So we take seriously our duties towards the country to which we belong, but as members of different nations we remain members of the [German/Russian] people.”
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| German troops move into the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia with strong civilian support |
Which leads to Question 3: ”given that the 1938 problems led to Hitler occupying the Sudeten areas of Czechoslovakia in one of the major steps towards World War 2, isn’t it time we got a little more worked up about what’s happening in Ukraine?”
3 comments:
You could easily have used other comparisons, for example how Kosovo seceded from Yugoslavia.
San
The analogy doesn't hold: my fear is that Russia is playing the same role within its region (including Georgia and Moldova as well as Ukraine) as Serbia played in ex-Yugoslavia. There's no sign of Ukraine behaving towards its East in the way that Serbia behaved towards Kosovar Albanians (or, for that matter, towards Slovenes, Croats or Bosnian Muslims).
The analogy doesn't hold: my fear is that Russia is playing the same role within its region (including Georgia and Moldova as well as Ukraine) as Serbia played in ex-Yugoslavia. There's no sign of Ukraine behaving towards its East in the way that Serbia behaved towards Kosovar Albanians (or, for that matter, towards Slovenes, Croats or Bosnian Muslims).
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