There are different versions of the aphorism often attributed to George Santayana, “Those who don’t know their history are condemned to repeat it.” Winston Churchill’s version asserted they are “doomed to repeat it.” As a student of history I find myself condemned by leaders who seem to know nothing of what came before.
In the 1930s and 40s, the countries who came to be known as the Axis powers invaded, and often conquered, sovereign neighbours. Czechoslovakia, Abyssinia, China are part of a lengthy list of victim countries. World War Two ensued when the democracies were finally pushed too far. In its aftermath the Charter of the United Nations was drafted. Article Two includes the following: “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state …”
The invasion of Ukraine in 2022 gave a nauseating sense of deja vu. Surely we had left such aggression behind us with the passing of the 20th century? Surely today’s leaders remembered the harsh lesson Neville Chamberlin learned about appeasement. The tentative pace of military aid to Ukraine – enough to stave off defeat, not enough for victory, slow enough for Russia to entrench and to relearn the lessons of combat – suggests otherwise.
History teaches us that when someone declares their aims, it is often best to believe them. Hitler, in Mein Kampf, stated that Jews were to be wiped out, and that Germany needed living space (lebensraum) in the east. Germany created Einsatzgruppen – military death squads - to begin the elimination of Jews and other perceived enemies in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. They literally lined up village populations - men, women and children - beside burial pits and shot them.
The 1980s charter of Hamas states the goal of the obliteration of Israel. Their invasion of Israel in October, 2023, resembled the actions of the Nazi’s Einsatzgruppen. One can perhaps make the case for fighting the Israeli Defense Forces; shooting elderly women and murdering infants hardly conflates.
Current events make me feel ill. The “leaders” who act as if they know nothing of history, condemning us to relive it, leave me in despair.