Dark Parallels: The Ukraine War In Historical PerspectiveThe manner of the United States' entrance into both World Wars should be a warning to us in how we respond to Ukraine.
By David C. Hendrickson
March 2, 2022
War, perhaps more than any other human endeavor, brings with it historical memories and comparisons. In its fog, discerning its significance and direction is intrinsically difficult. War’s entire domain, as it were, is enveloped in falsehood. Only later do we stand much chance of discerning the real truth.
The Ukraine War stirs many memories, but the most dramatic is a comparison between today’s U.S. foreign policy and the outlook prevailing in the United States in the two years before American entry into the First and Second World Wars. President Biden’s policy is all-out economic war against Russia, with a strict red line against actual U.S. military involvement. That recalls some vital conjunctures in American history.
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In 1916, Wilson dreaded giving any commitments to the British, who pressed him to throw America’s weight behind a reasonable settlement. He still wanted to stay out of the European war. The Germans, when they unleashed unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917, forced Wilson’s hand. Before he went to war, however, Wilson’s policy reflected the same weird combination of “no, we’re not intervening now, but yes, at some future date we will guarantee everything” that we saw, in the year before Putin’s War, in the Biden policy toward NATO expansion.
Another nice parallel to the Biden policy is the stance that Franklin Roosevelt adopted in the two years before American entry into the Second World War. Unstinting aid to the allies, non-involvement in the war. Those basic parameters were followed until December 7, 1941.
Those two examples, forgotten preludes to America’s entry into the two world wars, are disturbing because they suggest that one thing leads to another. They teach that the fervent desire to stay out of war may succumb in time to what Jefferson called “the chapter of accidents.” We’re just in Week One of the new world aborning, not fully conscious of all the tumbling dominos to follow. We’re all thinking about what Week Two will bring, but the dreaded question is what Year Two will bring. Clio, poor girl, is these days no longer sure of her pronouns but would still like to say, with Cassandra: You are in great danger, sir.
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Source:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/dark-parallels-the-ukraine-war-in-historical-perspective/
