This question can seem provocative, especially when put in such a simplistic manner. However, let’s remind ourselves about some of the most basic points here. The Second World War was the result of the collision of two totalitarian empires – the Third Reich and the Soviet Union, which both saw expansion as necessary. The destruction of the world order was one of their common goals, however, their collision as two opposite geopolitical predators was imminent. A third belligerent of the conflict was the West, whose people were the victims of this collision.
Why was the collision of the USSR and the Third Reich inevitable? It is not a matter of ideological friction between National Socialism and Marxism-Leninism, this will not be part of our discussion. In fact, the reason for this collision was Ukraine. As mentioned by Timothy Snyder, Ukraine was the central focus of Hitler’s plans for colonisation. The well known ‘Generalplan Ost’ (Germany’s plan for colonisation) envisioned a colony in Ukraine, based on the extermination and enslavement of the local population.
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However, the ‘problem’ for the Germans was that Ukraine was appropriated by another empire – the Soviet Union. The destruction of Ukrainian national statehood, massive repressions, dekulakization, collectivisation and Holodomor were in fact Stalin’s version of ‘Generalplan Ost’ (we could call it Generalplan West). Despite the ideological differences, its goal was similar: turn Ukraine into a territory used to provide the rest of the empire with resources. For the Third Reich and the Soviet Union, Ukrainian lands were strategically important as the conflict between the two powers was inevitable.
The events that came after are well known and do not need to be pointed out here. The Nazi empire collapsed but the Soviet empire remained. Yes, Stalin’s USSR was quite different from that of Brezhnev, however the main essence of this country never changed. The Soviet Union, with its vast resources, tried to bring the world order down to its heels, often threatened the international community with nuclear war, and as usual, continued to exploit the lives of its conquered ethnic groups. The collective West tried multiple foreign policy strategies with regard to the USSR but all of them were based on deterrence and weakening of the worst of the Soviets. We all remember how George W Bush senior came to Kyiv on the 1st of August in 1991 to try and convince the Ukrainians not to declare independence.
Nevertheless, the collapse of the USSR took place and caused euphoria in the West. However, the empire of evil itself did not collapse but rather went into crisis, changed its appearance and then went back to business as usual. We’re not only talking about Chechnya, but also about Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. Yes, the capabilities of the Russian Federation to take over land is far less than that of the Soviet Union. However, Russia did not step back from its historical goal: to break down international law and replace it with its own model. This proposed model has remained the same for a long period of time ‘orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality’, Marxism-Leninism, ‘Russian world’ – these are different sides of a single coin (about which the Ukrainian Week has written many times over).
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On the 24th of February 2022, the West finally found out that its decades-worth of appeasement of Russia, its attempt to bind itself with Russia through trade and common vision of ‘Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok’ were all in vain. ‘The Empire of evil’ never changed its course of aggression and destructive strategy. The fact that Ukraine was a target was no accident. The scandalous article by Timofei Sergeytsev ‘What Russia must do with Ukraine’ published on the 3rd of April – was the announcement of Russia’s ‘Generalplan West’ for Ukraine. Is it only about Ukraine though? Moscow’s openly proclaimed global vision is to destroy the current world order, dethrone the civilisational hegemony of the West etc. All this is accompanied by the occasional threat of ‘nuclear dust’. One can say that the predator made a recovery and has resumed its predatory activities.
So could it be that the Second World War was announced as finished prematurely? Ofcourse it was. Winston Churchill once said: ‘If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons’. The ‘Devil’ actually received vast resources from the United States in their lend-lease programme. The fact that the same devil did not cease to exist in 1991 (which the West closed its eyes on) put us in a world of problems which need urgent resolvement.
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The Second World War will only end when the Russian Empire crumbles, thereby losing its physical ability to expand and threaten the world. Yes, the Russians must undergo punishment and denazification, reparation payments and more. However, one must not forget that Putin’s regime must collapse prior to this, and the Russian Federation along with it. After that, the process of political exorcism can take place.
Yes, it will be a long and difficult process, which will require a colossal amount of effort and resources of the international community. However, only after its end, will Europeans be able to say ‘never again’ with sincerity.