Anschluss 2022: Time for Europe to Start Worrying

History repeats itself is an old statement, yet it is true. The action of Imperialistic Russia today is a carbon copy of Nazi Germany’s seizure of Austria in 1938. The same “intolerable” conditions were alleged to have occurred in the spring of 1938. Austrian Nazis several years before had murdered the Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss. His successor, Kurt von Schuschnigg banned the Austrian Nazis and jailed many of them. As the Third Reich gained strength and assurance that the democracies of western Europe would stand by and do nothing, Hitler invited Schuschnigg to Berchtesgaden and issued an ultimatum to bring Austria into the Reich. Schuschnigg returned to Vienna, proposed a referendum which was to take place within days. An enraged Hitler threatened an immediate invasion and the Austrian government yielded. Hitler arrived triumphantly to delirious adulation in the land of his birth. Austria disappears as an independent nation, was fully Nazified and was absorbed into Germany as the Ostmark. This was very significant for Europe. Czechoslovakia was now surrounded on three sides, and about six months later, that country was buried at Munich with France and the United Kingdom serving as its gravediggers.

Russia’s recent actions and today’s recognition of certain portions of Eastern Ukraine as independent “republics” by Moscow is ludicrously reminiscent of 1930s Europe. After recognition of these new “republics’ Russian imperial troops moved to occupy and protect the Russian speakers of the Donbass who needed neither protection nor liberation. The Crimea was seized several years ago and annexed by Russia with little pushback from anyone. The same will happen in the occupied Ukrainian territory as these new “republics” will petition Russia for union, and Moscow will certainly agree. In this sense, Ukraine is on the road to nonexistence as that nation will become demoralized and its weak economy will shrink until it becomes totally dependent on its imperial neighbor which will then graciously welcome it to the Russian Federation.

The putative leader of the West, Joe Biden has threatened the most severe sanctions available. So far, he has placed sanctions on the occupied portion of Eastern Ukraine. It has been announced that sanctions on Russia are on the way. Shall we laugh or cry? The United States’ so called partners and allies have been less than enthusiastic about sanctions.

Germany, Italy and other NATO members are dependent on Russian natural gas and are not looking forward to freezing this winter. So,1938 will be repeated. The clock ticks on. Europe will supinely look to the U.S. for some of its problems. They had better wake up and start worrying about the dangers they face.

Our European friends must react. Seventy-seven years after the end of World War II, it’s time for Europe, in the form of the European Union (EU) to stand up and show that it exists for something more than being a trade bloc. There is a job that must be done and European boys and girls must meet the challenge. It is folly to think that Russia’s goal is simply to reabsorb Ukraine into an expanded Russian Federation. Ukraine doesn’t belong to NATO so Article V of the NATO treaty is not applicable but the Baltic States do. The Russian bear’s appetite will not be satisfied until the borders of the defunct and notorious USSR are re-established. Make no mistake about it. There are substantial ethnic Russian populations in

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and they will be targeted as Putin seeks to bring all Russians into the Rodina. With regard to these three countries, Article V does apply. The EU failed miserably at Srebrenica (July, 1995) in the devolving Yugoslavia as Dutch troops stood by lamely while 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were massacred virtually in front of them. This is

Europe’s fight, and the EU must rise to the occasion. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright has said that America is the indispensable nation. Perhaps that is true, but the EU has access to nuclear weapons among other arms. Their armies have no right to stand aside and say “let the Americans handle it.”

The clock is ticking. After the end of World War II the idea of a war in Europe seemed to be insane. What is happening now is indeed madness. Europe must respond.

Garry S. Sklar

Las Vegas, NV

February 21, 2022