Russian Invasion of Ukraine- A Case of History Repeating Itself?

Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with the often quoted statement: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

 On November 11, 1918, World War I ended with the Armistice between the western allies and Germany. In June of the next year the Treaty of Versailles was signed. The treaty basically put all of the blame for the war on Germany. Consequently, Germany was penalized heavily with harsh financial reparations and loss of territory. To put it simply, the country was humiliated. Soon after, in the late 1920s, a worldwide depression left the country in dire straits. Enter Adolf Hitler. In the 1930s, the NAZI leader promised the German people that he would solve their economic problems and restore their national greatness and pride.

Soon the Germans, in violation of the Versailles Treaty, began to rebuild their military and threatening its neighbors. In March, 1938, Hitler annexed his homeland, Austria, into the new German Reich (empire). He also demanded that a predominantly German speaking area of Czechoslovakia, called the Sudetenland, be put under German control. Hitler promised it would be his last territorial demand. So, in September of 1938, a treaty was signed in agreement with Hitler’s demands and the Sudetenland joined Germany. Everyone hoped it would be, as British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain proclaimed, “Peace in our time.” But Hitler had other ideas. In September of the next year Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. In October, 1939, Hitler invaded and occupied all of Czechoslovakia. In 1940 he invaded France and other western European lands. Soon after he attacked the USSR. For the next six years the world endured the worst conflict in history.

Fast forward to the 1990s. For more than forty years the Russian dominated Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the United States (and its allies) engaged in a Cold War of conflicting ideologies. The USSR did all it could to export communist rule wherever possible. The USA and western democracies countered by containing Soviet expansion both militarily and economically. By 1990, the USSR was coming apart at the seams, realizing that it could not compete with the west economically or militarily. Leaders of the USSR finally threw open the doors of freedom for its own people and its satellite republics and countries. On December 21, 1991, the USSR officially dissolved and the various republics that composed it soon declared their independence. One of those was the Ukraine. For many Russians it was a bitter pill. Many saw the collapse of the USSR as a humiliating defeat, much as did the Germans after World War I.

Jump ahead now to 2000. Enter Vladimir Putin. On May 2, 2000, Putin, supported by a bevy of wealthy Russian oligarchs (who were like political gangsters), was installed as President of the Russian Republic. Thus began his gradual but steady rise to become, by 2012, the virtual dictator of Russia. He promised the Russian people that he would regain for them their empire and their status as a super power, lost at the end of the Cold War. In 2014, he ordered an invasion of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in the Black Sea, which is quickly annexed by Russia.

Now we come to the present. On February 24, 2022, Putin orders a full scale military invasion of all of Ukraine. If he succeeds there, we can only wonder what will be next on his agenda.

The parallels between 1930s Germany and 2010s Russia are striking. But remember, Hitler’s ambitions led to the most destructive war in history and the utter destruction of his country. Apparently, Putin has not learned from history and the world may be doomed to repeat it. Let’s pray he will come to his senses before it all blows up in his (and the world’s) face.

Meanwhile here are several things we as Christians can pray for in this crisis.

1. Pray for the evangelical Christians in both the Ukraine and in Russia. There are a large number of believers in both countries. Over the last several years, Russian evangelicals have come under increased pressure by the government and the Russian Orthodox Church.
2. Pray for the people of the Ukraine who are suffering the terrible consequences of war. Already hundreds of Ukrainians, including children, have been killed or wounded.
3. Pray for Christian relief organizations which will be sending workers to assist in helping the thousands of refugees crossing the border from the Ukraine to Poland.
4. Pray for American leaders to make wise decisions about how to respond to this aggression by Vladimir Putin and Russia.
5. Pray for Putin that somehow God will change his heart or take him out (He can do that, you know).