In view of the war in Ukraine, Wolfgang Schäuble is concerned about peace in Europe – and draws historical parallels in an interview.
The CDU politician Wolfgang Schäuble has drawn parallels between the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler, as well as the reaction of the West.
“Of course, that’s the frightening parallel,” said the former Bundestag President in an interview with the “Badische Zeitung” when asked about the danger of a third world war. Hitler wrote early on in his book Mein Kampf that he wanted to reverse the results of the First World War. Initially, even after the Wehrmacht marched into the Rhineland and other steps taken by Hitler, there was no majority in Great Britain, France and the USA for any policy other than that of “appeasement”, i.e. a policy of restraint towards aggressive foreign policy states.
Only after the collapse of France in 1940 and when Europe as a whole came under the rule of Nazi Germany did British Prime Minister Winston Churchill motivate the British to fight Hitler. Previously he had not been able to find a majority for his policy. “With Putin, the parallels are great,” said Schäuble. But there is a difference. Putin thought he would conquer Ukraine just as quickly as Hitler conquered Czechoslovakia in the spring of 1939. “But Ukraine’s heroic resistance shattered that illusion.” In addition, Putin had counted on the division of Europe and America – but that did not happen, the Atlantic alliance had moved closer together. Putin has achieved the opposite of what he wanted.
Already in 2014 parallels were drawn between Putin and Hitler
Nevertheless, Schäuble, who comes from Baden, sees peace in Europe threatened. One does not know how things will continue after Ukraine. Moldova and the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria in Moldova are at great risk, he told the newspaper. If Putin sticks to his goal of reversing the developments of 1990, then peace in Europe will not be secure.
Schäuble had already drawn parallels between Putin and Hitler as Federal Finance Minister in 2014 and compared Russia’s actions in Crimea with Hitler’s annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938. The comparison caused a stir at the time. The then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had distanced herself from it. FDP leader Christian Lindner had spoken of Schäuble crossing the border – and demanded that he apologize. The Ministry of Finance then emphasized that Schäuble had clearly refused to compare Russia with the Third Reich.
Source: Stern
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