The spectre of World War III looms large if Ukraine succumbs to Russian aggression, asserts prominent historian Timothy Snyder. Drawing chilling parallels with the events leading up to World War II, Snyder, a Yale University professor specialising in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, compared the current geopolitical landscape to Europe in the late 1930s.
In a recent conference in Tallinn, Estonia, Snyder likened the year 2024 to 1938, a year before Nazi Germany invaded Poland and triggered the deadliest conflict in human history. “Ukraine is comparable to a Czechoslovakia ‘that has chosen to fight,'” Snyder explained, referencing the fateful decision by Czechoslovakia not to resist the Nazi incursion, which emboldened Hitler’s regime.
Snyder’s warning is stark: “If the Ukrainians give up, or if we give up Ukraine, then it’s a different Russia making war in the future. It’s a Russia making war with Ukrainian technology, Ukrainian soldiers, from a different geographical position. Then we’re in 1939. We’re in 1938 now. In effect, what the Ukrainians are letting us do is letting us extend 1938. They’re helping us to stay out of 1939.”
This historical analogy underscores the global stakes in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which has now surpassed two years of full-scale war since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been emphatic in his appeals for international support, framing Ukraine’s struggle as a bulwark against further Russian advances in Europe. “If Ukraine will not stand, Europe will not stand. If we will fall, you will fall,” he proclaimed early in the conflict.
The seriousness of the situation is not lost on Russian leadership either. President Vladimir Putin recently stated that “everything is possible” concerning a broader conflict with Western nations supporting Ukraine. His ominous declaration in mid-March that the world is “one step away from a full-scale World War III” leaves little room for complacency. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko echoed these sentiments, noting that the world “has again come to the brink of the abyss.”
Relevant articles:
– World War III Is Imminent Without Ukraine, Historian Predicts, Newsweek, 05/22/2024
– Kharkiv Map Shows Russian Offensive Falter Amid Fears of Ukraine Counter, Newsweek, 05/21/2024
– Video Shows Moment Russian ‘Turtle Tank’ Is Destroyed by Mine, Newsweek, 05/21/2024
– World War III Is Imminent Without Ukraine, Historian Predicts, Newsweek, 05/21/2024
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