4 MARCH, 2022 - SHANK NEWS, BY MATT HOOPER: ON THURSDAY MORNING FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON SPOKE WITH RUSSIAN DICTATOR VLADIMIR PUTIN, A CALL INITIATED BY THE DESPOT IN THE KREMLIN, THE NEWS WAS NOT GOOD. THE FRENCH LEADER CONCLUDED THAT Putin wants total control of Ukraine and that "the worst is yet to come".
AS PUTIN SIGNALS HIS INTENT TO CONTROL THE WHOLE OF UKRAINE, AND LIKELY GO FURTHER ACROSS EASTER EUROPE THE WORLD IS ON THE VERGE OF A THIRD WORLD WAR, LET US BE FRANK ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY. NOBODY WANTS IT, BUT WE CANNOT ALLOW A NUCLEAR POWER TO DICTATE TO THE REST OF THE CONTINENT AND INDEED THE WORLD, SO WE MUST BE PREPARED TO FIGHT FOR THE FREEDOMS OUR ANCESTORS WON SO BRAVELY IN 1945.
BUT WE CAN PERHAPS AVOID WORLD WAR 3 BY UNITING IN THE FACE OF EVIL, EUROPE HAS DONE IT BEFORE, AND CAN DO IT AGAIN, AND WITH UKRAINE, MOLDOVA AND GEORGIA ALL APPLYING TO JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE LAST SEVEN DAYS THE FUTURE COULD BE A TRULY UNITED EUROPE, SOMETHING WHICH THE LIKES OF PUTIN WANTS, BUT IN HIS VISION.
FOLLOWING HIS CALL WITH MACRON, PUTIN SPOKE TO THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE, SAYING THE FOLLOWING:
"THE RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN PEOPLE ARE ONE, EVEN IF MANY UKRAINIANS ARE BRAINWASHED".
AS PUTIN SIGNALS HIS INTENT TO CONTROL THE WHOLE OF UKRAINE, AND LIKELY GO FURTHER ACROSS EASTER EUROPE THE WORLD IS ON THE VERGE OF A THIRD WORLD WAR, LET US BE FRANK ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY. NOBODY WANTS IT, BUT WE CANNOT ALLOW A NUCLEAR POWER TO DICTATE TO THE REST OF THE CONTINENT AND INDEED THE WORLD, SO WE MUST BE PREPARED TO FIGHT FOR THE FREEDOMS OUR ANCESTORS WON SO BRAVELY IN 1945.
BUT WE CAN PERHAPS AVOID WORLD WAR 3 BY UNITING IN THE FACE OF EVIL, EUROPE HAS DONE IT BEFORE, AND CAN DO IT AGAIN, AND WITH UKRAINE, MOLDOVA AND GEORGIA ALL APPLYING TO JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE LAST SEVEN DAYS THE FUTURE COULD BE A TRULY UNITED EUROPE, SOMETHING WHICH THE LIKES OF PUTIN WANTS, BUT IN HIS VISION.
FOLLOWING HIS CALL WITH MACRON, PUTIN SPOKE TO THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE, SAYING THE FOLLOWING:
"THE RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN PEOPLE ARE ONE, EVEN IF MANY UKRAINIANS ARE BRAINWASHED".
'ECHOES OF ADOLF HITLER'
IT IS AS CLEAR AS IT HAS EVER BEEN, PUTIN WANTS CONTROL OF UKRAINE AND HE WILL NOT STOP THERE. THIS IS HITLER WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND THE WORLD SHOULD BE VERY AFRAID INDEED.
PUTIN DENIES THE RIGHTS OF HIS OWN PEOPLE, BANNING PROTEST, BANNING OPPOSITION MEDIA, ARRESTING OPPOSITION POLITICIANS, ARRESTING CHILDREN AND DENYING THE RIGHT OF A NEIGHBOUR TO EXIST, AND IT IS CLEAR HE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE WEST WITH THIS MISSION TO EXPAND RUSSIA, REFORM THE SOVIET UNION AND RE-SHAPE EUROPEAN SECURITY.
THE RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT HAS PASSED A LAW WHICH PREVENTS ANYONE, JOURNALIST OR INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN, FROM "SPREADING FALSE INFORMATION" ABOUT THE RUSSIAN "MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE", WITH THOSE GUILTY GETTING A POSSIBLE 15 YEARS IN PRISON. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ARRESTED, INCLUDING CHILDREN, FOR PROTESTING RUSSIA'S INVASION OF UKRAINE IN ST PETERSBURG AND ACROSS RUSSIA.
THE RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH HAS CHILLING ECHOES OF ADOLF HITLER AND THE NAZI PARTY, WHEN THEY CAME TO POWER AND THE ROAD TOWARDS WORLD WAR TWO.
ADOLF HITLER ERODED THE GERMAN DEMOCRACY FROM WITHIN, GAINING IMMENSE POPULARITY ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND WINNING SEVERAL GERMAN GENERAL ELECTIONS DEMOCRATICALLY WITH THE OVERWHELMING CONSENT OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE. ADOLF HITLER WAS ELECTED AS GERMAN CHANCELLOR IN 1933, IN WHAT WOULD TURN OUT TO BE THE LAST FREE AND FAIR ELECTION IN GERMANY BEFORE THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, HE WOULD THEN BE ELECTED PRESIDENT IN 1934 AND IN THE COMING YEARS WOULD TAKE MEASURES TO ENSURE HE WAS THE ABSOLUTE RULER OF GERMANY.
A 1934 FIRE AT THE GERMAN Reichstag LED TO A REFERENDUM IN GERMANY WHICH SAW NEARLY 90% OF GERMANS VOTE TO MERGE THE OFFICE OF CHANCELLOR AND PRESIDENT, AND THE NAZI PARTY BEGAN TO CIVIL LIBERTIES AND ELIMINATE POLITICAL OPPOSITION. OPPOSITION POLITICIANS WERE MURDERED, AND THE GESTAPO LEFT EVERYONE ELSE IN NO DOUBT IF THEY CROSSED THE NAZI PARTY THEN THE SAME FATE WOULD AWAIT THEM, WITH HITLER GOING ON TO STATE IN A SPEECH TO THE NATION "...LET IT BE KNOWN FOR ALL-TIME THAT IF ANYONE SHOULD RISE HIS HAND TO STRIKE THE STATE, THEN CERTAIN DEATH IS HIS LOT."
SOCIALISTS WERE ROUNDED UP AND NEW LAWS REMOVED GERMAN CITIZENSHIP FROM ALL JEWS, MARRIAGE BETWEEN NON-JEWS AND JEWS WAS PROHIBITED AND JEWS WERE BANNED FROM WORKING IN THE CIVIL SERVICE, THE ARTS OR FARMING. HITLER, LIKE PUTIN, SHOWED COMPLETE DISREGARD FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW, CONTRAVENING THE TERMS OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES, INTRODUCING CONSCRIPTION IN 1935, AND THE WEST, AS WITH PUTIN, JUST ALLOWED THE MOVE, BELIEVING THAT THE GERMANS HAD THE RIGHT TO DEFEND THEMSELVES. OVER THE COMING YEARS HITLER BUILT HIS ARMY GRADUALLY SO THAT NO OTHER COUNTRY WOULD FEEL A NEED TO BE CONCERNED, IT WAS, AS WE KNOW, A GRAVE MISTAKE BY THE WEST.
GERMAN TROOPS REOCCUPIED THE DE-MILITARISED RHEINLAND IN 1936, ANOTHER BREACH OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES AND IN 1938 GERMANY ANNEXED AUSTRIA, A MOVE WHICH WAS WELCOMED BY THE AUSTRIANS AT THE TIME, BUT ANOTHER BREACH OF THE TREATY AND ANOTHER MOVE BY HITLER WHICH THE WEST IGNORED. HITLER WAS ABLE TO GRAB FURTHER LAND WITH THE ANNEXATION OF THE Czechoslovakia Sudetenland IN SEPTEMBER 1938, WHICH WAS ALLOWED BY WESTERN LEADERS AT A MEETING IN MUNICH IN RETURN FOR PEACE, IN MARCH 1939 THE REST OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA BOWED TO THE THREAT OF HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY OCCUPIED THE WHOLE COUNTRY, AND IT WAS CLEAR HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY WANTED COMPLETE DOMINATION OF EUROPE.
PUTIN DENIES THE RIGHTS OF HIS OWN PEOPLE, BANNING PROTEST, BANNING OPPOSITION MEDIA, ARRESTING OPPOSITION POLITICIANS, ARRESTING CHILDREN AND DENYING THE RIGHT OF A NEIGHBOUR TO EXIST, AND IT IS CLEAR HE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE WEST WITH THIS MISSION TO EXPAND RUSSIA, REFORM THE SOVIET UNION AND RE-SHAPE EUROPEAN SECURITY.
THE RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT HAS PASSED A LAW WHICH PREVENTS ANYONE, JOURNALIST OR INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN, FROM "SPREADING FALSE INFORMATION" ABOUT THE RUSSIAN "MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE", WITH THOSE GUILTY GETTING A POSSIBLE 15 YEARS IN PRISON. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ARRESTED, INCLUDING CHILDREN, FOR PROTESTING RUSSIA'S INVASION OF UKRAINE IN ST PETERSBURG AND ACROSS RUSSIA.
THE RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH HAS CHILLING ECHOES OF ADOLF HITLER AND THE NAZI PARTY, WHEN THEY CAME TO POWER AND THE ROAD TOWARDS WORLD WAR TWO.
ADOLF HITLER ERODED THE GERMAN DEMOCRACY FROM WITHIN, GAINING IMMENSE POPULARITY ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND WINNING SEVERAL GERMAN GENERAL ELECTIONS DEMOCRATICALLY WITH THE OVERWHELMING CONSENT OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE. ADOLF HITLER WAS ELECTED AS GERMAN CHANCELLOR IN 1933, IN WHAT WOULD TURN OUT TO BE THE LAST FREE AND FAIR ELECTION IN GERMANY BEFORE THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, HE WOULD THEN BE ELECTED PRESIDENT IN 1934 AND IN THE COMING YEARS WOULD TAKE MEASURES TO ENSURE HE WAS THE ABSOLUTE RULER OF GERMANY.
A 1934 FIRE AT THE GERMAN Reichstag LED TO A REFERENDUM IN GERMANY WHICH SAW NEARLY 90% OF GERMANS VOTE TO MERGE THE OFFICE OF CHANCELLOR AND PRESIDENT, AND THE NAZI PARTY BEGAN TO CIVIL LIBERTIES AND ELIMINATE POLITICAL OPPOSITION. OPPOSITION POLITICIANS WERE MURDERED, AND THE GESTAPO LEFT EVERYONE ELSE IN NO DOUBT IF THEY CROSSED THE NAZI PARTY THEN THE SAME FATE WOULD AWAIT THEM, WITH HITLER GOING ON TO STATE IN A SPEECH TO THE NATION "...LET IT BE KNOWN FOR ALL-TIME THAT IF ANYONE SHOULD RISE HIS HAND TO STRIKE THE STATE, THEN CERTAIN DEATH IS HIS LOT."
SOCIALISTS WERE ROUNDED UP AND NEW LAWS REMOVED GERMAN CITIZENSHIP FROM ALL JEWS, MARRIAGE BETWEEN NON-JEWS AND JEWS WAS PROHIBITED AND JEWS WERE BANNED FROM WORKING IN THE CIVIL SERVICE, THE ARTS OR FARMING. HITLER, LIKE PUTIN, SHOWED COMPLETE DISREGARD FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW, CONTRAVENING THE TERMS OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES, INTRODUCING CONSCRIPTION IN 1935, AND THE WEST, AS WITH PUTIN, JUST ALLOWED THE MOVE, BELIEVING THAT THE GERMANS HAD THE RIGHT TO DEFEND THEMSELVES. OVER THE COMING YEARS HITLER BUILT HIS ARMY GRADUALLY SO THAT NO OTHER COUNTRY WOULD FEEL A NEED TO BE CONCERNED, IT WAS, AS WE KNOW, A GRAVE MISTAKE BY THE WEST.
GERMAN TROOPS REOCCUPIED THE DE-MILITARISED RHEINLAND IN 1936, ANOTHER BREACH OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES AND IN 1938 GERMANY ANNEXED AUSTRIA, A MOVE WHICH WAS WELCOMED BY THE AUSTRIANS AT THE TIME, BUT ANOTHER BREACH OF THE TREATY AND ANOTHER MOVE BY HITLER WHICH THE WEST IGNORED. HITLER WAS ABLE TO GRAB FURTHER LAND WITH THE ANNEXATION OF THE Czechoslovakia Sudetenland IN SEPTEMBER 1938, WHICH WAS ALLOWED BY WESTERN LEADERS AT A MEETING IN MUNICH IN RETURN FOR PEACE, IN MARCH 1939 THE REST OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA BOWED TO THE THREAT OF HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY OCCUPIED THE WHOLE COUNTRY, AND IT WAS CLEAR HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY WANTED COMPLETE DOMINATION OF EUROPE.
(From left) Italian leader Benito Mussolini, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, a German interpreter, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
meeting in Munich, September 29, 1938. German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv), Bild 146-1970-052-24
FOR AUSTRIA, THE RHEINLAND AND SUDETENLAND SWAP CRIMEA, DONETSK AND LUHANSK, PUTIN HAS, IN SO MANY WAYS, FOLLOWED THE LEAD OF ADOLF HITLER AS HE LOOKS TO EXPAND HIS 'EMPIRE'.
ON SEPTEMBER 1, 1939 GERMANY LAUNCHED THE INVASION OF POLAND, ASSISTED BY THE SOVIET UNION, AND IT TOOK 35 DAYS TO ACHIEVE AND SAW OVER 66,000 POLISH KILLED. NAZI GERMANY LOST OVER 17,000 TROOPS IN THE INVASION, SO REPORTS OF 9,000 RUSSIAN LOSSES SO FAR, WHILST THEY MAKE IT SOUND LIKE THE AGGRESSORS ARE STRUGGLING, ARE NOT GOING TO DETER A FORCE WITH OVER 3 MILLION MILITARY IN TOTAL.
Germany invaded Poland to 'regain lost territory and ultimately rule their neighboUr to the east', WHICH IS ALMOST PRECISELY THE JUSTIFICATION FOR PUTIN ORDERING THIS BARBARIC ACTION. GREAT BRITAIN DECLARED WAR UPON GERMANY WITHIN 2 DAYS OF THE POLISH INVASION, BUT THERE IS ONE KEY AND TERRIFYING REASON WHY NATO IS NOT DECLARING WAR ON RUSSIA NOW, THE VERY THING WHICH WAS LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THE NUCLEAR BOMB.
THE BOMBS WHICH WERE DROPPED ON JAPAN WERE DONE SO BY AMERICAN AIRCRAFT FROM DIRECTLY ABOVE HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, BUT RUSSIA HAS INTERCONTINENTAL NUCLEAR MISSILES, WHICH CAN BE FIRED PRECISELY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC AND DESTROY A CITY THE SIZE OF WASHINGTON, SO WHAT CAN THE WEST DO? SANCTIONS WILL HURT THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY, SPORTING BANS WILL DENY THEM THE CHANCE TO PROMOTE THEIR NATION ON THE GLOBAL STAGE, BUT NEITHER WILL STOP A CLEARLY INSANE DICTATOR WITH NO REGARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS FROM TAKING CONTROL OF UKRAINE.
AND ONCE HE HAS UKRAINE HE WILL FOR CERTAIN GO FOR OTHER EASTERN EUROPEAN NATIONS WHICH ARE NOT PART OF NATO.
AFTER POLAND THE GERMANS INVADED DENMARK, NORWAY AND FRANCE, AND PUTIN WILL CLEARLY LOOK TOWARDS MOLDOVA, AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA AND ARMENIA, EXPANDING RUSSIAN TERRITORY DOWN TO THE MIDDLE EAST AND OUT TO THE BORDERS OF POLAND, AND OTHER NATO NATIONS.
WILL PUTIN TRY TO TAKE LITHUANIA? WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF BELARUS THEY COULD TRY TO TAKE LITHUANIA AND JOIN UP WITH KALININGRAD, PART OF RUSSIA WHICH SITS BETWEEN LITHUANIA AND POLAND. LITHUANIA IS A NATO MEMBER AND AN ATTACK ON A NATO NATION COULD BE THE SPARK FOR WORLD WAR THREE, BUT WILL THE WEST HAVE THE NERVE TO ENGAGE RUSSIA? A NUCLEAR WAR WILL KILL HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD IMMEDIATELY, AND THE NUCLEAR FALLOUT WOULD WIPE OUT CIVILISATION. PUTIN COULD ALSO EXPAND TO THE NORTH WEST AND TAKE FINLAND, WHAT WILL HE DO NEXT? WE DO NOT KNOW, AND THAT IS WHAT IS SO TERRIFYING.
IT IS AN UNENVIABLE POSITION FOR ANY OF OUR LEADERS TO BE IN, WITH A SINGLE MISTAKE POTENTIALLY COSTING THE LIVES OF MILLIONS, BUT WE ARE SURELY GETTING TO THE MOMENT WHEN A DEFINING MOMENT OF THE 21ST CENTURY WILL COME. NORTH KOREA, ERITREA, BELARUS AND SYRIA VOTED WITH RUSSIA IN THE UN VOTE ON CONDEMNING THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE, THE LIKES OF CHINA AND INDIA ABSTAINED, IT IS CLEAR PUTIN HAS A LOT OF UNSAVOURY SUPPORT ACROSS THE WORLD FOR HIS ACTIONS AND THE THOUGHT OF RUSSIA, NORTH KOREA AND CHINA FORMING A NEW AXIS OF EVIL DOES NOT BARE THINKING ABOUT.
WHATEVER DOES HAPPEN NEXT PUTIN HAS SUCCEEDED IN ONE THING. UNITING EUROPE.
AND THAT COULD BE HIS DOWNFALL.
ON SEPTEMBER 1, 1939 GERMANY LAUNCHED THE INVASION OF POLAND, ASSISTED BY THE SOVIET UNION, AND IT TOOK 35 DAYS TO ACHIEVE AND SAW OVER 66,000 POLISH KILLED. NAZI GERMANY LOST OVER 17,000 TROOPS IN THE INVASION, SO REPORTS OF 9,000 RUSSIAN LOSSES SO FAR, WHILST THEY MAKE IT SOUND LIKE THE AGGRESSORS ARE STRUGGLING, ARE NOT GOING TO DETER A FORCE WITH OVER 3 MILLION MILITARY IN TOTAL.
Germany invaded Poland to 'regain lost territory and ultimately rule their neighboUr to the east', WHICH IS ALMOST PRECISELY THE JUSTIFICATION FOR PUTIN ORDERING THIS BARBARIC ACTION. GREAT BRITAIN DECLARED WAR UPON GERMANY WITHIN 2 DAYS OF THE POLISH INVASION, BUT THERE IS ONE KEY AND TERRIFYING REASON WHY NATO IS NOT DECLARING WAR ON RUSSIA NOW, THE VERY THING WHICH WAS LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THE NUCLEAR BOMB.
THE BOMBS WHICH WERE DROPPED ON JAPAN WERE DONE SO BY AMERICAN AIRCRAFT FROM DIRECTLY ABOVE HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, BUT RUSSIA HAS INTERCONTINENTAL NUCLEAR MISSILES, WHICH CAN BE FIRED PRECISELY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC AND DESTROY A CITY THE SIZE OF WASHINGTON, SO WHAT CAN THE WEST DO? SANCTIONS WILL HURT THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY, SPORTING BANS WILL DENY THEM THE CHANCE TO PROMOTE THEIR NATION ON THE GLOBAL STAGE, BUT NEITHER WILL STOP A CLEARLY INSANE DICTATOR WITH NO REGARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS FROM TAKING CONTROL OF UKRAINE.
AND ONCE HE HAS UKRAINE HE WILL FOR CERTAIN GO FOR OTHER EASTERN EUROPEAN NATIONS WHICH ARE NOT PART OF NATO.
AFTER POLAND THE GERMANS INVADED DENMARK, NORWAY AND FRANCE, AND PUTIN WILL CLEARLY LOOK TOWARDS MOLDOVA, AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA AND ARMENIA, EXPANDING RUSSIAN TERRITORY DOWN TO THE MIDDLE EAST AND OUT TO THE BORDERS OF POLAND, AND OTHER NATO NATIONS.
WILL PUTIN TRY TO TAKE LITHUANIA? WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF BELARUS THEY COULD TRY TO TAKE LITHUANIA AND JOIN UP WITH KALININGRAD, PART OF RUSSIA WHICH SITS BETWEEN LITHUANIA AND POLAND. LITHUANIA IS A NATO MEMBER AND AN ATTACK ON A NATO NATION COULD BE THE SPARK FOR WORLD WAR THREE, BUT WILL THE WEST HAVE THE NERVE TO ENGAGE RUSSIA? A NUCLEAR WAR WILL KILL HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD IMMEDIATELY, AND THE NUCLEAR FALLOUT WOULD WIPE OUT CIVILISATION. PUTIN COULD ALSO EXPAND TO THE NORTH WEST AND TAKE FINLAND, WHAT WILL HE DO NEXT? WE DO NOT KNOW, AND THAT IS WHAT IS SO TERRIFYING.
IT IS AN UNENVIABLE POSITION FOR ANY OF OUR LEADERS TO BE IN, WITH A SINGLE MISTAKE POTENTIALLY COSTING THE LIVES OF MILLIONS, BUT WE ARE SURELY GETTING TO THE MOMENT WHEN A DEFINING MOMENT OF THE 21ST CENTURY WILL COME. NORTH KOREA, ERITREA, BELARUS AND SYRIA VOTED WITH RUSSIA IN THE UN VOTE ON CONDEMNING THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE, THE LIKES OF CHINA AND INDIA ABSTAINED, IT IS CLEAR PUTIN HAS A LOT OF UNSAVOURY SUPPORT ACROSS THE WORLD FOR HIS ACTIONS AND THE THOUGHT OF RUSSIA, NORTH KOREA AND CHINA FORMING A NEW AXIS OF EVIL DOES NOT BARE THINKING ABOUT.
WHATEVER DOES HAPPEN NEXT PUTIN HAS SUCCEEDED IN ONE THING. UNITING EUROPE.
AND THAT COULD BE HIS DOWNFALL.
EUROPE. UNITED IN DIVERSITY.
WORLD WAR TWO FRACTURED EUROPE AND SAW MANY NATIONS ACROSS THE PLANET FIGHTING FOR GOOD OVER EVIL.
THE AXIS OF EVIL INCLUDED NAZI GERMANY (WHICH ANNEXED AUSTRIA) ITALY, HUNGARY, ROMANIA, SLOVAK REPUBLIC, BULGARIA, FINLAND, THAILAND AND JAPAN; THE ALLIED FORCES INCLUDED GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, SOVIET UNION, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, POLAND, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, ETHIOPIA, GREECE, Yugoslavia, Philippines, CHINA, INDIA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA, BRAZIL, MONGOLIA AND MEXICO.
LATER IN THE WAR FORMER AXIS POWERS ITALY, BULGARIA, ROMANIA AND FINLAND JOINED THE ALLIED FORCES AND AT THE CONCLUSION OF WORLD WAR TWO EUROPE BEGAN THE PROCESS OF HEALING AND UNITING.
THE UNITED NATIONS Charter WAS signed ON 26 June 1945 BY Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Republic, Turkey, Soviet Union, Byelorussian SSR, Ukrainian SSR, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, United States, Philippines, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, Poland (not present).
THEN FOUR YEARS LATER IN 1949 NATO (NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION) WAS FORMED, AS A DEFENSIVE ALLIANCE WITH A RULE WHEREBY IF ONE MEMBER WAS ATTACKED ALL OTHER MEMBERS WOULD DEFEND IT. ITS FOUNDER MEMBERS INCLUDE BELGIUM, CANADA, DENMARK, FRANCE, ICELAND, ITALY, LUXEMBOURG, NETHERLANDS, NORWAY, PORTUGAL, UNITED KINGDOM AND THE UNITED STATES. THE GROUP HAS ENLARGED TO 30 MEMBER NATIONS OVER THE LAST 73 YEARS, AS A RESULT OF RUSSIAN THREATS AND TERRORIST ACTS BY OTHER STATES.
2 YEARS LATER IN 1951 THE TREATY OF PARIS WAS SIGNED BY WEST GERMANY, BELGIUM, NETHERLANDS, FRANCE, ITALY AND LUXEMBOURG, FORMING THE European Coal and Steel Community, WHICH BECAME THE EUROPEAN UNION, EVENTUALLY A MEMBERSHIP OF 28 NATIONS ACROSS THE CONTINENT WHICH WOULD ADVANCE HUMAN RIGHTS, EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND MUCH MORE BESIDES.
OVER A 6 YEAR PERIOD FOLLOWING WORLD WAR TWO EUROPE HAD COME TOGETHER IN SOLIDARITY MILITARILY, ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY, HEALING THE DIVISIONS OF THE PAST AND WORKING TOGETHER FOR A BETTER, SAFER FUTURE, THIS IS SOMETHING RUSSIA HAS ALWAYS DISAPPROVED OF.
WHILST PUTIN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A DICTATOR WITH LITTLE RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS OF HIS OWN CITIZENS, THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT HE HAS BEEN EMBOLDENED BY PERCEIVED DISUNITY ACROSS EUROPE, WITH BREXIT AT THE HEART OF IT AND THE ANTI-EUROPEAN SENTIMENT OF MANY IN THE MEDIA AND SEVERAL PARTIES WHO WOULD DESTROY THE EUROPEAN PROJECT. THE UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY, THE LEFT WING OF THE LABOUR PARTY AND THE RIGHT WING OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY HAVE GRADUALLY ERODED SUPPORT FOR THE UK IN EUROPE, AND THEY WERE AIDED AND ABETED BY LARGE SWATHES OF THE PRESS IN THE UK. THIS EVENTUALLY LED TO A REFERENDUM IN 2016 WHERE THE UK NARROWLY VOTED TO LEAVE THE EU, BUT BREXIT WAS ALSO AN INSPIRATION FOR OTHER PARTIES ACROSS EUROPE WANTING TO RIP THEIR NATIONS OUT OF THE EU INCLUDING THE NATIONAL RALLY IN FRANCE, AFD IN GERMANY, COMMUNIST PARTY IN ITALY, FORZA! NEDERLAND IN THE NETHERLANDS AND SPANISH ALTERNATIVE IN SPAIN.
EURO-SCEPTICISM, ALONG WITH THE FAILURE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO EXPAND QUICKLY ENOUGH AND THE LACK OF A EUROPEAN ARMY HAS MADE PUTIN FEEL SAFE AND SECURE, AND THE FEAR-MONGERING OF THE EURO SCEPTICS ABOUT TURKEY JOINING THE EU AND THE EU ARMY IS NOW COMING BACK TO BITE US IN THE ARSE, A UNITED EUROPE WOULD BE ABLE TO STARE DOWN RUSSIA, AND ANTI-NATO SENTIMENT FROM SEVERAL PROMINENT UK POLITICIANS ALSO EMBOLDENS PUTIN.
THERE ARE 55 NATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT AND ONLY 27 OF THEM ARE MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, SOME NEVER JOINED, SOME LEFT AND SOME HAVE WANTED TO JOIN, BUT THE PROCESS FOR APPROVING CANDIDATE NATIONS IS FAR TOO SLOW AND YES, THE LIKES OF TURKEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO JOIN, WITH A TEMPORARY MEMBERSHIP FOR A PERIOD TO ENABLE THEM TO ADHERE TO THE STANDARDS REQUIRED OF MEMBER NATIONS. BRINGING THE WHOLE OF EUROPE TOGETHER AS INDEPENDENT NATION STATES WITHIN A UNION BOUND TOGETHER TO PROTECT EACH OTHER ECONOMICALLY, SOCIALLY AND MILITARILY CAN ONLY BE A GOOD THING FOR THE WORLD.
OVER 75 YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE WINSTON CHURCHILL ADDRESSED THE UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH IN 1946, AND CALLED FOR THE CREATION OF A "KIND OF UNITED STATES OF EUROPE". BELOW IS THE SPEECH IN FULL:
THE AXIS OF EVIL INCLUDED NAZI GERMANY (WHICH ANNEXED AUSTRIA) ITALY, HUNGARY, ROMANIA, SLOVAK REPUBLIC, BULGARIA, FINLAND, THAILAND AND JAPAN; THE ALLIED FORCES INCLUDED GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, SOVIET UNION, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, POLAND, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, ETHIOPIA, GREECE, Yugoslavia, Philippines, CHINA, INDIA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA, BRAZIL, MONGOLIA AND MEXICO.
LATER IN THE WAR FORMER AXIS POWERS ITALY, BULGARIA, ROMANIA AND FINLAND JOINED THE ALLIED FORCES AND AT THE CONCLUSION OF WORLD WAR TWO EUROPE BEGAN THE PROCESS OF HEALING AND UNITING.
THE UNITED NATIONS Charter WAS signed ON 26 June 1945 BY Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Republic, Turkey, Soviet Union, Byelorussian SSR, Ukrainian SSR, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, United States, Philippines, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, Poland (not present).
THEN FOUR YEARS LATER IN 1949 NATO (NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION) WAS FORMED, AS A DEFENSIVE ALLIANCE WITH A RULE WHEREBY IF ONE MEMBER WAS ATTACKED ALL OTHER MEMBERS WOULD DEFEND IT. ITS FOUNDER MEMBERS INCLUDE BELGIUM, CANADA, DENMARK, FRANCE, ICELAND, ITALY, LUXEMBOURG, NETHERLANDS, NORWAY, PORTUGAL, UNITED KINGDOM AND THE UNITED STATES. THE GROUP HAS ENLARGED TO 30 MEMBER NATIONS OVER THE LAST 73 YEARS, AS A RESULT OF RUSSIAN THREATS AND TERRORIST ACTS BY OTHER STATES.
2 YEARS LATER IN 1951 THE TREATY OF PARIS WAS SIGNED BY WEST GERMANY, BELGIUM, NETHERLANDS, FRANCE, ITALY AND LUXEMBOURG, FORMING THE European Coal and Steel Community, WHICH BECAME THE EUROPEAN UNION, EVENTUALLY A MEMBERSHIP OF 28 NATIONS ACROSS THE CONTINENT WHICH WOULD ADVANCE HUMAN RIGHTS, EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND MUCH MORE BESIDES.
OVER A 6 YEAR PERIOD FOLLOWING WORLD WAR TWO EUROPE HAD COME TOGETHER IN SOLIDARITY MILITARILY, ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY, HEALING THE DIVISIONS OF THE PAST AND WORKING TOGETHER FOR A BETTER, SAFER FUTURE, THIS IS SOMETHING RUSSIA HAS ALWAYS DISAPPROVED OF.
WHILST PUTIN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A DICTATOR WITH LITTLE RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS OF HIS OWN CITIZENS, THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT HE HAS BEEN EMBOLDENED BY PERCEIVED DISUNITY ACROSS EUROPE, WITH BREXIT AT THE HEART OF IT AND THE ANTI-EUROPEAN SENTIMENT OF MANY IN THE MEDIA AND SEVERAL PARTIES WHO WOULD DESTROY THE EUROPEAN PROJECT. THE UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY, THE LEFT WING OF THE LABOUR PARTY AND THE RIGHT WING OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY HAVE GRADUALLY ERODED SUPPORT FOR THE UK IN EUROPE, AND THEY WERE AIDED AND ABETED BY LARGE SWATHES OF THE PRESS IN THE UK. THIS EVENTUALLY LED TO A REFERENDUM IN 2016 WHERE THE UK NARROWLY VOTED TO LEAVE THE EU, BUT BREXIT WAS ALSO AN INSPIRATION FOR OTHER PARTIES ACROSS EUROPE WANTING TO RIP THEIR NATIONS OUT OF THE EU INCLUDING THE NATIONAL RALLY IN FRANCE, AFD IN GERMANY, COMMUNIST PARTY IN ITALY, FORZA! NEDERLAND IN THE NETHERLANDS AND SPANISH ALTERNATIVE IN SPAIN.
EURO-SCEPTICISM, ALONG WITH THE FAILURE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO EXPAND QUICKLY ENOUGH AND THE LACK OF A EUROPEAN ARMY HAS MADE PUTIN FEEL SAFE AND SECURE, AND THE FEAR-MONGERING OF THE EURO SCEPTICS ABOUT TURKEY JOINING THE EU AND THE EU ARMY IS NOW COMING BACK TO BITE US IN THE ARSE, A UNITED EUROPE WOULD BE ABLE TO STARE DOWN RUSSIA, AND ANTI-NATO SENTIMENT FROM SEVERAL PROMINENT UK POLITICIANS ALSO EMBOLDENS PUTIN.
THERE ARE 55 NATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT AND ONLY 27 OF THEM ARE MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, SOME NEVER JOINED, SOME LEFT AND SOME HAVE WANTED TO JOIN, BUT THE PROCESS FOR APPROVING CANDIDATE NATIONS IS FAR TOO SLOW AND YES, THE LIKES OF TURKEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO JOIN, WITH A TEMPORARY MEMBERSHIP FOR A PERIOD TO ENABLE THEM TO ADHERE TO THE STANDARDS REQUIRED OF MEMBER NATIONS. BRINGING THE WHOLE OF EUROPE TOGETHER AS INDEPENDENT NATION STATES WITHIN A UNION BOUND TOGETHER TO PROTECT EACH OTHER ECONOMICALLY, SOCIALLY AND MILITARILY CAN ONLY BE A GOOD THING FOR THE WORLD.
OVER 75 YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE WINSTON CHURCHILL ADDRESSED THE UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH IN 1946, AND CALLED FOR THE CREATION OF A "KIND OF UNITED STATES OF EUROPE". BELOW IS THE SPEECH IN FULL:
"What is this plight to which Europe has been reduced? Some of the smaller states have indeed made a good recovery, but over wide areas are a vast, quivering mass of tormented, hungry, careworn and bewildered human beings, who wait in the ruins of their cities and homes and scan the dark horizons for the approach of some new form of tyranny or terror. Among the victors there is a Babel of voices, among the vanquished the sullen silence of despair. That is all that Europeans, grouped in so many ancient states and nations, and that is all that the Germanic races have got by tearing each other to pieces and spreading havoc far and wide. Indeed, but for the fact that the great republic across the Atlantic realised that the ruin or enslavement of Europe would involve her own fate as well, and stretched out hands of succour and guidance, the Dark Ages would have returned in all their cruelty and squalor. They may still return.
Yet all the while there is a remedy which, if it were generally and spontaneously adopted by the great majority of people in many lands, would as by a miracle transform the whole scene and would in a few years make all Europe, or the greater part of it, as free and happy as Switzerland is today. What is this sovereign remedy? It is to recreate the European family, or as much of it as we can, and to provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, safety and freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe. In this way only will hundreds of millions of toilers be able to regain the simple joys and hopes which make life worth living. The process is simple. All that is needed is the resolve of hundreds of millions of men and women to do right instead of wrong and to gain as their reward blessing instead of cursing.
Much work has been done upon this task by the exertions of the Pan-European Union, which owes so much to the famous French patriot and statesman Aristide Briand. There is also that immense body which was brought into being amidst high hopes after the First World War — the League of Nations. The League did not fail because of its principles or conceptions. It failed because those principles were deserted by those states which brought it into being, because the governments of those states feared to face the facts and act while time remained. This disaster must not be repeated. There is, therefore, much knowledge and material with which to build and also bitter, dearly bought experience to spur.
There is no reason why a regional organisation of Europe should in any way conflict with the world organisation of the United Nations. On the contrary, I believe that the larger synthesis can only survive if it is founded upon broad natural groupings. There is already a natural grouping in the Western Hemisphere. We British have our own Commonwealth of Nations. These do not weaken, on the contrary they strengthen, the world organisation. They are in fact its main support. And why should there not be a European group which could give a sense of enlarged patriotism and common citizenship to the distracted peoples of this mighty continent? And why should it not take its rightful place with other great groupings and help to shape the honourable destiny of man? In order that this may be accomplished there must be an act of faith in which the millions of families speaking many languages must consciously take part.
There is no reason why a regional organisation of Europe should in any way conflict with the world organisation of the United Nations. On the contrary, I believe that the larger synthesis can only survive if it is founded upon broad natural groupings. There is already a natural grouping in the Western Hemisphere. We British have our own Commonwealth of Nations. These do not weaken, on the contrary they strengthen, the world organisation. They are in fact its main support. And why should there not be a European group which could give a sense of enlarged patriotism and common citizenship to the distracted peoples of this mighty continent? And why should it not take its rightful place with other great groupings and help to shape the honourable destiny of man? In order that this may be accomplished there must be an act of faith in which the millions of families speaking many languages must consciously take part.
We all know that the two World Wars through which we have passed arose out of the vain passion of Germany to play a dominating part in the world. In this last struggle crimes and massacres have been committed for which there is no parallel since the Mongol invasion of the 13th century, no equal at any time in human history. The guilty must be punished. Germany must be deprived of the power to rearm and make another aggressive war. But when all this has been done, as it will be done, as it is being done, there must be an end to retribution. There must be what Mr Gladstone many years ago called a “blessed act of oblivion”. We must all turn our backs upon the horrors of the past and look to the future. We cannot afford to drag forward across the years to come hatreds and revenges which have sprung from the injuries of the past.
If Europe is to be saved from infinite misery, and indeed from final doom, there must be this act of faith in the European family, this act of oblivion against all crimes and follies of the past. Can the peoples of Europe rise to the heights of the soul and of the instinct and spirit of man? If they could, the wrongs and injuries which have been inflicted would have been washed away on all sides by the miseries which have been endured. Is there any need for further floods of agony? Is the only lesson of history to be that mankind is unteachable? Let there be justice, mercy and freedom. The peoples have only to will it and all will achieve their heart’s desire.
If Europe is to be saved from infinite misery, and indeed from final doom, there must be this act of faith in the European family, this act of oblivion against all crimes and follies of the past. Can the peoples of Europe rise to the heights of the soul and of the instinct and spirit of man? If they could, the wrongs and injuries which have been inflicted would have been washed away on all sides by the miseries which have been endured. Is there any need for further floods of agony? Is the only lesson of history to be that mankind is unteachable? Let there be justice, mercy and freedom. The peoples have only to will it and all will achieve their heart’s desire.
I am now going to say something that will astonish you. The first step in the re-creation of the European family must be a partnership between France and Germany. In this way only can France recover the moral and cultural leadership of Europe. There can be no revival of Europe without a spiritually great France and a spiritually great Germany. The structure of the United States of Europe will be such as to make the material strength of a single State less important. Small nations will count as much as large ones and gain their honour by a contribution to the common cause. The ancient States and principalities of Germany, freely joined for mutual convenience in a federal system, might take their individual places among the United States of Europe.
But I must give you warning, time may be short. At present there is a breathing space. The cannons have ceased firing. The fighting has stopped. But the dangers have not stopped. If we are to form a United States of Europe, or whatever name it may take, we must begin now. In these present days we dwell strangely and precariously under the shield, and I even say protection, of the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb is still only in the hands of a nation which, we know, will never use it except in the cause of right and freedom, but it may well be that in a few years this awful agency of destruction will be widespread and that the catastrophe following from its use by several warring nations will not only bring to an end all that we call civilisation but may possibly disintegrate the globe itself.
I now sum up the propositions which are before you. Our constant aim must be to build and fortify the United Nations Organisation. Under and within that world concept we must re-create the European family in a regional structure called, it may be, the United States of Europe, and the first practical step will be to form a Council of Europe. If at first all the States of Europe are not willing or able to join a union we must nevertheless proceed to assemble and combine those who will and who can. The salvation of the common people of every race and every land from war and servitude must be established on solid foundations, and must be created by the readiness of all men and women to die rather than to submit to tyranny. In this urgent work France and Germany must take the lead together. Great Britain, the British Commonwealth of Nations, mighty America — and, I trust, Soviet Russia, for then indeed all would be well — must be the friends and sponsors of the new Europe and must champion its right to live.
Therefore I say to you “Let Europe arise!”
BREXITEERS AND MANY IN THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY LIKE TO HOLD UP WINSTON CHURCHILL AS A HERO, AS THE MAN WHO "WON US THE WAR", BUT THEY ARE OH SO QUIET ON HIS VIEWS ON EUROPE, AND WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE ACTUALLY IN LINE WITH THE CURRENT EUROPEAN UNION IS IRRELEVANT, HE WANTED EUROPE TO UNITE, AND A UNITED EUROPE CAN DEFEAT EVIL NOW AND HELP SHAPE DEMOCRACY ACROSS THE ENTIRE WORLD IN THE FUTURE. AN EXPANDED EUROPEAN UNION, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NATO AND THE UN COULD ESTABLISH A UNION OF DEMOCRATIC STATES, REQUIRING STANDARDS OF AND RATING DEMOCRACIES ACROSS THE WORLD, AND IN TURN ENCOURAGE INTERNATIONAL TRADE BETWEEN THOSE DEMOCRATIC STATES, ISOLATING DICTATORSHIPS OR STATES SUCH AS THE ONES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, NORTH KOREA, RUSSIA AND CHINA BY NOT TRADING WITH THEM.
NATIONS SUCH AS UKRAINE, MOLDOVA AND GEORGIA HAVE APPLIED TO JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION SINCE THE INVASION OF UKRAINE BEGAN, AND A FURTHER EXPANDED EU WOULD SPREAD HUMAN RIGHTS RIGHT ACROSS THE CONTINENT, WITH EVERY COUNTRY HELD TO THE SAME STANDARD, WORKING ACROSS THE CONTINENT TO PROMOTE PEACE, ECONOMIC COOPERATION, DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM. THIS WAR WILL GO ON FOR A WHILE, MAYBE A LOT LONGER THAN WE EVER BELIEVE POSSIBLE, SOMEWHAT LIKE THE PANDEMIC, BUT IN THE END IT WILL COME TO AN END, AND UKRAINE WILL HAVE ITS FREEDOM FROM RUSSIA, WHO WITHIN MONTHS WILL BE IN SERIOUS FINANCIAL PERIL, ISOLATED BY THE CIVILISED WORLD, AND MAYBE IN THE FUTURE ITS PEOPLE WILL EVICT THIS DICTATOR AND CHANGE THE FUTURE BY MAKING A DEMOCRATIC RUSSIA, AND LET US REMEMBER, RUSSIA IS A BEAUTIFUL AND HISTORIC LAND, AND AS A DEMOCRATIC STATE COULD ACTUALLY BE A TRULY GLOBAL STAGE FOR DEMOCRACY.
LOVE AND PEACE CAN OVERCOME EVIL AND WAR, BUT WE NEED TO BE UNITED, UNITED IN OUR DIVERSITY, EUROPEANS ONE AND ALL.
NATIONS SUCH AS UKRAINE, MOLDOVA AND GEORGIA HAVE APPLIED TO JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION SINCE THE INVASION OF UKRAINE BEGAN, AND A FURTHER EXPANDED EU WOULD SPREAD HUMAN RIGHTS RIGHT ACROSS THE CONTINENT, WITH EVERY COUNTRY HELD TO THE SAME STANDARD, WORKING ACROSS THE CONTINENT TO PROMOTE PEACE, ECONOMIC COOPERATION, DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM. THIS WAR WILL GO ON FOR A WHILE, MAYBE A LOT LONGER THAN WE EVER BELIEVE POSSIBLE, SOMEWHAT LIKE THE PANDEMIC, BUT IN THE END IT WILL COME TO AN END, AND UKRAINE WILL HAVE ITS FREEDOM FROM RUSSIA, WHO WITHIN MONTHS WILL BE IN SERIOUS FINANCIAL PERIL, ISOLATED BY THE CIVILISED WORLD, AND MAYBE IN THE FUTURE ITS PEOPLE WILL EVICT THIS DICTATOR AND CHANGE THE FUTURE BY MAKING A DEMOCRATIC RUSSIA, AND LET US REMEMBER, RUSSIA IS A BEAUTIFUL AND HISTORIC LAND, AND AS A DEMOCRATIC STATE COULD ACTUALLY BE A TRULY GLOBAL STAGE FOR DEMOCRACY.
LOVE AND PEACE CAN OVERCOME EVIL AND WAR, BUT WE NEED TO BE UNITED, UNITED IN OUR DIVERSITY, EUROPEANS ONE AND ALL.
