HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF. AND IT MUST REPEAT CORRECTLY.
Ukraine is that brave island standing alone against hostile forces, as Britain once did in 2WW.
“What kind of people do they think we are? Is it possible they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?” (W. Churchill)
The greatest, bloodiest war in human history since 1945 occurs when large countries believe they can seize smaller ones. This is about Ukraine today. Once, Britain found itself in a similar position, standing alone face-to-face with Hitler.
Putin, like Hitler before him, wants to make people feel that he can do anything. Ukraine forces Putin to believe that Ukrainians are capable of anything. “We shall never cease to stand against them,” Churchill said, “until we have taught them a lesson which they and the world will never forget.” The British remember this as a moment on the front line—men, women, and children in shelters under the rain of German bombs every night. Neighborhoods vanished, firestorms raged, and historic sites crumbled.
Just as Hitler targeted civilians, Putin seeks to force Ukrainians into submission with bombs—brutal airstrikes aimed at breaking their spirit. It exhausts people; they cannot sleep through the night, and there is a constant danger of demoralization.
Ukraine is that brave island standing alone against hostile forces, as Britain once did. If we fail, then the entire world, including the United States, will plunge into the abyss of a new dark age. Every night, Ukrainians hold their skies against air raids and strike back—we give them resistance.
Churchill saw the Third Reich as an existential threat to freedom and humanity. Ukrainians see the same—from Russia and the collective Putin. Hitler hoped for Britain’s capitulation in the summer of 1940. But Churchill refused. “There can be no peace with Hitler,” he insisted, his stubbornness holding firm under pressure that would have broken others.
One way to end this war quickly, Churchill believed, was to convince the enemy not with words but with actions, delivering powerful and unexpected blows. Churchill saw Hitler as a destructive force that would bring conflict back to Europe. Do Europeans see the same threat in Russia today?
Putin unleashed this war—and we are no less determined to strike back until the Ukrainian people rid themselves of this criminal and his methods. Just as Britain during World War II could not negotiate with Hitler, Ukraine cannot negotiate with Putin, who wipes out Ukrainian cities with bombardments. To do so would mean accepting the terms of the defeated, after which Putin would demand our army and turn us into a slave state.
“We are good. Hitler is evil. We will resist him,” Churchill said. History repeats itself. There is no compromise with evil. Churchill called Hitler a perverse, demonic madman, a genocidal maniac.
Churchill got under Hitler’s skin, just as Zelensky does with Putin: “Nazi Germany (read: Putin’s Russia) is so humane. All they ask is the right to live and be left alone to conquer and kill the weak?”
Ukraine fights alone. Just as Britain, after the fall of France, battled the Nazis, waiting for the rest of the world to join the fight. Britain fought for time, waging a war for survival. Ukraine does the same today.
“If necessary, we will continue the war alone, and we are not afraid of it,” Churchill said, trying to enlist the support of U.S. President Roosevelt.
The battles are bloody and not always successful; losses pile up, making it hard to maintain morale. Just as Britain depended on imports of food, raw materials, and weapons, Ukraine today relies on external aid from partner countries. It would have been hard for Britain to win without U.S. assistance—billions of dollars in defensive weapons. Back then, the States became the great arsenal of democracy.
Americans must know that just as Britain once did, Ukraine now needs their help to continue the fight. We need that help desperately. We need it now. The actions of our soldiers on the battlefield and the resilience of our men and women in cities enduring enemy bombardments testify to this.
Paraphrasing Churchill—we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and strength in the air. We shall defend our land, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.