World War II redux

It is now 80 years since British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich to negotiate peace with Adolf Hitler who was threatening to invade Czechoslovakia. It is to the great shame of my country, England, and of the other two guarantors of Czech sovereignty, France and Russia, that this small, peaceful country was abandoned to the Nazis by them.

Winston Churchill at that time famously told Chamberlain, “You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war.” He was to be proved right a year later when Germany invaded Poland, despite Hitler’s promise to Chamberlain that he had no further territorial claims in Europe. World War II thus began.

There has been some discussion about whether President Trump insulted the UK on a recent visit by keeping our 92-year-old Queen stood waiting for six minutes, or by publicly criticising our prime minister and London’s mayor. However, for many the worst moment was seeing Mr Trump sitting smugly in Churchill’s favourite armchair, the Daily Mirror responding with a front page headline, “How dare you!” But why such outrage?

Russian President Putin’s regime has already invaded Georgia and continues to occupy part of it in violation of the 2008 ceasefire agreement. It has illegally annexed Crimea and continues to occupy eastern Ukraine, despite past promises. It has conducted cyber warfare on a regular basis, probably ensuring Mr Trump’s own election. Finally, it murders its opponents at home and abroad, even making use of a militarygrade nerve agent in Salisbury, UK.

Mr Trump, in his fawning over Mr Putin, shows all the signs of being a Chamberlain, not a Churchill. Tragically, 80 years after the Munich Crisis, it seems nothing much has changed. A gangster regime once again threatens Europe, Chamberlain’s spirit lives on in President Trump. Lessons have not been learned, and history is consequently repeating itself. One only wonders what will come next. ANDY PHILLIPS