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Vladimir Putin's rape of the Republic of Georgia should be especially disturbing to anyone who was alive and old enough in 1938 to be aware of what was happening in the world.
I am referring especially to the rape of Czechoslovakia by Adolph Hitler.
The similarity between what happened in 1938 in Czechoslovakia and what happened this year, 2008, in Georgia is not only eerie, it is profoundly disturbing in terms of what it implies for world peace.
Vladimir Putin seems to be a chameleon. He comes to Texas and enjoys barbecue with President Bush at the Bush ranch and acts like any other 'good old boy.'
But his actions on the world stage reveal his real character.
He may not be another Adolph Hitler, but he seems to be capable
of starting World War III.
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Within Czechoslovakia’s frontiers, on the northern, western, and southern borders of the Czech lands (Bohemia and Moravia), were bands of territory collectively known as the Sudeten areas, with an aggregate population of 3,,500,000 Germans. Politically organized from 1933 under Konrad Henlein, these Sudeten Germans could easily be represented as oppressed by the Czechs and as clamoring for union with Germany.
The only problem for Adolph Hitler was to judge whether France (Czechoslovakia’s ally) and Great Britain would give any real support to the Czechs if the latter resisted his dismemberment of their territory; and, in the four weeks following the Anschluss (the invasion and takeover of Austria by Hitler), there were already some clear suggestions in the British and French press that neither country would fight to maintain Czechoslovakia’s sovereignty over the Sudeten areas. The British prime minister was Neville Chamberlain….(his) French counterpart was Edouard Daladier….
The British and French ministers gave Czechoslovakia’s President Edvard Benes to understand that, if the Anglo-French proposals (that areas with over 50% of German inhabitants were to be ceded to Germany by Czechoslovkia) were not accepted, Czechoslovakia would have to stand alone against Germany. So, on September 21, the Czechoslovaks accepted the proposals….
Visiting Hitler at Godesberg on September 22 to inform him of the success of the Anglo-French mediation and to discuss practical steps to implement it, Chamberlain was as astonished to learn that Hitler now required the immediate evacuation by the Czechoslovaks of all Sudeten areas as shown on a marked map and the occupation of these areas by German forces between September 26 and 28. The Czechoslovak government…rejected the Godesberg ultimatum unreservedly…
Chamberlain on September 28 proposed a last expedient for peace: German, Czech, British, French and Italian representatives should meet “to discuss arrangements for transfers” of Sudeten areas…Musolini asked (Hitler) to acquiesce to this proposal and Hitler grudgingly did so only because Mussolini asked him to do so. Mussolini, Chamberlain, and Daladier were invited to confer with Hitler in Munich the next day.
The Munich meeting, from which the Czech diplomats were excluded (decided that) the Czechoslovak evacuation of the Sudeten areas should start on October 1, 1938 and be concluded by October 10, 1938.
(The Encyclopedia Britannica)
Chamberlain flew back to London the next day and announced to Great Britain and the world as he got out of his airplane that “Peace has been achieved in our time!”
On March 15, 1939 Hitler completed the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia and it occupation by Germany.
On September 1, 1939 Hitler invaded Poland and the Second World War started.
The only problem for Adolph Hitler was to judge whether France (Czechoslovakia’s ally) and Great Britain would give any real support to the Czechs if the latter resisted his dismemberment of their territory; and, in the four weeks following the Anschluss (the invasion and takeover of Austria by Hitler), there were already some clear suggestions in the British and French press that neither country would fight to maintain Czechoslovakia’s sovereignty over the Sudeten areas. The British prime minister was Neville Chamberlain….(his) French counterpart was Edouard Daladier….
The British and French ministers gave Czechoslovakia’s President Edvard Benes to understand that, if the Anglo-French proposals (that areas with over 50% of German inhabitants were to be ceded to Germany by Czechoslovkia) were not accepted, Czechoslovakia would have to stand alone against Germany. So, on September 21, the Czechoslovaks accepted the proposals….
Visiting Hitler at Godesberg on September 22 to inform him of the success of the Anglo-French mediation and to discuss practical steps to implement it, Chamberlain was as astonished to learn that Hitler now required the immediate evacuation by the Czechoslovaks of all Sudeten areas as shown on a marked map and the occupation of these areas by German forces between September 26 and 28. The Czechoslovak government…rejected the Godesberg ultimatum unreservedly…
Chamberlain on September 28 proposed a last expedient for peace: German, Czech, British, French and Italian representatives should meet “to discuss arrangements for transfers” of Sudeten areas…Musolini asked (Hitler) to acquiesce to this proposal and Hitler grudgingly did so only because Mussolini asked him to do so. Mussolini, Chamberlain, and Daladier were invited to confer with Hitler in Munich the next day.
The Munich meeting, from which the Czech diplomats were excluded (decided that) the Czechoslovak evacuation of the Sudeten areas should start on October 1, 1938 and be concluded by October 10, 1938.
(The Encyclopedia Britannica)
Chamberlain flew back to London the next day and announced to Great Britain and the world as he got out of his airplane that “Peace has been achieved in our time!”
On March 15, 1939 Hitler completed the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia and it occupation by Germany.
On September 1, 1939 Hitler invaded Poland and the Second World War started.
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