When we are entering Teaching Guide 6 ("The Suicide of Europe") we are facing the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Vladimir Putin on Thursday 24 of February 2022, a fact that has brought back war to Europe. Something that has been unknown to Europeans since 1945. It looks like a conflict between two states, but the unanimous reaction of the European States against Putin’s aggression appears more like a wider conflict between the West and the East. Between liberal democracies and democratic dictatorships called “democraturs”, like the one that exists in Russia, where Vladimir Putin has been in power since 2000. In any case an illiberal democracy where power has no limits, information is controlled by the states and dissidents are put in jail or directly poisoned.
Alexei Navalny, arrested in 2018
Of course we western Europeans are horrified with a situation of war because we have not been involved in one since 1945. And now we remember with panic the tragic holocausts of the two World Wars of the first half of the 20th century that destroyed Europe and let us at the mercy of Stalin troops that had occupied Eastern Europe. This is why we asked the United States to give us military assistance in case of Russian invasion and NATO was created the 4 of April 1949.
In a globalized world and a Europe that sticks together because of economic interest many we were wondering if NATO still made any sense. But suddenly since the 24 of February we have realized that it does. In fact Putin has used the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO as a pretext to start his war.
And suddenly we Europeans have realized that he was in fact dominating us through gas and oil production, and through the money of new Russian oligarchs. This is why he thought that we will not react because in principle we just cared about our economy and our material comfort. But surprisingly we have reacted with strong economic sanctions that will affect as well severely our economies. Because we have realized that if Putin wins our whole liberal democratic way of life would be in danger. In less than two weeks our priorities have changed. Especially when we see than Ukrainians are willing to defend their country to the last soldier. That national narrative that Putin thought was inexistent is jeopardizing a war that he thought is was going to be quick because most of Ukrainian population would welcome Russian soldiers as their saviors from a corrupt and “nazi” regime.
Unfortunately for him the Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelenski is a Jew, has studied law, speaks fluent Russian and is a great communicator as he has worked like a comedian from 1997 to 2018. Before entering politics and becoming Ukraine’s Prime Minister 20 of Mai 2019. Instead of fleeing he is resisting and has suddenly become a National hero for more than 90% of Ukrainians.
You know when you start a war, but never when you can put an end to it. And this uncertainty is bringing us back to some of the darkest moments of our history. It is therefore time to reopen our history books and understand how was it possible that in thirty years, from 1914 to 1945, the mighty European Nation-States collapsed and disappeared from the World Front Stage? How could the insignificant States of the 15th century that in four centuries got to control the world, returned to insignificancy in such a short period. This is what we are going to analyze today from a very concrete perspective: to what extent this made clear the insufficiencies of the Nation-State model.
We will start with the apocalyptic conflict that was World War I. May be to this day the worst war in Human history, mainly because it was the first “total war”, meaning that every nation-state involved dedicated all resources, material and human, to exterminate the adversary. In World War I all Europeans were more than happy to go to a war towards a hatred enemy thinking that it was going to be a very short war in the name of nationalism. But War lasted 4 and half long years with millions of dead and more of crippled. Al sustained by a deeply rooted xenophobic narrative nationally promoted that led in France, for instance, to the assassination of the Socialist leader Jean Jaurès (1859-31 July 1914) simply because he was a pacifist.
As we are not used to the war situation we should remember that the suicide of the Great War of 1914-1918 led to the abrupt end of Liberalism and the return of authoritarian regimes, starting with Bolshevik Russia, and continuing with Fascist Italy or Nazi Germany. Dreadful dictatorships brought by the aftermaths of the massive and absurd massacre that led the world to war again in 1939, leaving Europe in ruins.
And you would not understand the Russian Revolution, the Dictatorships of Mussolini and Hitler or the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) if you do not grasp the social consequences of the expansion of big capitalism and the rising of “the Social question”. This is why a large part of the text of Teaching Guide 6 (pages 127-139) are dedicated to this crucial aspect, including the “democratic solution” to the problem unexpectedly invented by US President F.D. Roosevelt and the New Deal.
New Deal would lead to the Welfare State Model, consolidated in the UK in 1942 by William Beveridge. Something especially important considering the actual resurgence of inequalities worldwide, as a result of the Neoliberal policies started by the Western States in the 1980’s decade. In our today’s topic for discussion we will analyze if we are assisting today to a resurgence of the social question because of the overwhelming growing of inequality all over the Planet.
Please read carefully the chain of events triggered by the Russian revolution, that finally led to World War 2 (1939-1945) and to the Cold War (1948-1989). Especially considering that with Ukraine’s invasion on Thursday 24 of February 2022 by Russian troops looks like we are facing a resurgence of a New Cold war in which Western countries are increasingly facing Russia where Vladimir Putin is considering a rebuilt of the Soviet Union dissolved by the Belavezha Accords on the 8 December 1991. The moment in which Ukraine became an independent State.
Are we going towards World War Three? That would depend a lot on the attitude of China. Of course Putin had tried to get President Xi Jiping on his side before Ukraine’s Invasion. But as the Putin’s Blitzkrieg did not work, China is extremely cautious that the conflict would create a major economic crisis that would bring huge instability to his dictatorial regime, because so far Chinese society has accepted dictatorship because it has brought great prosperity. An economical crisis would bring social unrest and would jeopardize the political regime. This is why China is trying very badly to find a way to end this war. Wait and see
The most important idea you have to retain of Teaching Guide 6 is how the Nation-State model brought to the destruction of Europe in only three decades.
INSTRUCTIONS: First read the text included in your Materials (pages 124 to 161), before proceeding to answer the Concrete Questions, the Concepts and the General Questions.
Concerning the Basic Chronology (pages 154-155) all 21 dates included are crucial.
TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION IN CLASS: Are we in the eve of Third World War?
Please consider the following aspects:
1. Think about what were the causes of the Two European World Wars of the first half of the 20th century.
2. Is Putin imitating the Lebensraum policy of Hitler? Think of the parallelisms of the Austrian Anschluss, The Sudeten Crisis and the Munich Conference of 1938 with the actual policy of Putin in Belarus, Crimea, Donbass and Lugansk and what has been so far the attitude of Western Democracies.
3. Is it possible to rebuild a Soviet Union in the 21st century? Give arguments in both directions.
4. Are economic interests in a globalized world so determinant that would make unthinkable a Major War at the World level?
5. Think about the history of NATO and how it has been expanding since 1991.
6. Review the Cuban Missiles Crisis of 1962 and see if you could establish a parallelism with the Eastern expansion of NATO since 1991.
7. Think about China’s role in this crisis.
8. Think about the attitude of the US in this crisis. Do you think the approach to the Venezuelan dictatorship of Maduro by the Biden’s Administration makes sense? Is it bearable for Democrats?
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