There's a region in what used to be called Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland that most people have never heard nor cared about except for one thing: in hindsight, events there were probably the biggest warning sign of an impending Second World War. Events no one really wanted to do anything about it. The following year, it was too late, and tens of millions would pay the price with their lives.
In March 1938 Adolf Hitler pulled off the Anschluss, the "connection" of Austria and Germany. In the blink of an eye, he annexed a neighbouring country. What did the world do about it? Essentially nothing.
This came after the re-occupation of the Rhineland in 1936. That had been part of Germany proper. As for Austria, well, they were kinda Germanish, so the world let it slip by.
Then Hitler turned his eyes on Sudetenland, and area of "German-speaking" Czechoslovakia on the borders of Germany and formerly Austria. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain tried to negotiate a peaceful settlement, returning to London with an announcement on Sept. 30, 1938, saying, "My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British prime minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep."
More hollow words were never spoken. The next week Germany occupied Sudetenland, and a few months later, the rest of the country. The next country Germany set its eye on, Poland, would see the opening shots of the Second World War.
The parallels to the current situation in Crimea are striking, in some cases, almost word-for-word.
The justification the Russians have used to snatch Crimea point out that it has a majority of Russian-speakers. The same can be said for other parts of Ukraine. Are they next? Does tens of thousands of troops massing on the borders for "war games" and exercises give an indication? The numbers being spoken of here are the size of the regular force of our entire army, navy and air force. You don't put together so many troops just to do a little target practice.
The Ukrainians know their goose is cooked, and have been humiliatingly letting the Russians do what they want, in Crimea, at least. If eastern Ukraine is invaded, all bets are off.
I had the chance on March 19 to speak briefly with retired Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, former head of the Canadian army, who was the guest speaker at the Estevan Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting. When I introduced myself as a former air force reserves officer with air cadets, he immediately picked up on my Ukrainian name.
We spoke briefly about the current crisis. I noted we were somewhat fortunate in that Ukraine never did join NATO, otherwise we would be deployed there right now. He countered that the Conservative government's focus on sanctions against particular powerful Russians was the right tactic. (That was ironic, since he is currently a senior advisor to Justin Trudeau).
Leslie added that, speaking from experience, having thousands of high-spirited young men with loaded weapons and Vodka in close proximity to our people could lead to bad things. As well, the Russian government was never going to give up its base, along with the hundreds of nuclear weapons there, at Sevastopol.
I wish I had time to talk to the general further on this point, since he is arguably the highest qualified person to speak on such matters in the civilian sector right now except for perhaps retired Gen. Rick Hillier.
The big question is, will Putin stop at Crimea? Will he take all of Ukraine next? What of Poland? Several former Soviet republics, including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and most of the former Warsaw Pact are now part of NATO. Poland wasted no time in joining NATO after the fall of the Soviet Union, and for good reason. If the Red Army rolls across their frontiers, we go to war, again.
If that happens, does it go nuclear?
This is not an idle conversation. An expansionist Russia should have everyone shaking in their boots.
- Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at [email protected].
