- 13 Jan 2020 22:20
#15059240
In a nutshell, Western history has it that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed between Germany and Russia on Aug. 23, 1939, is the root of all evil that made Russia complicit in the Nazi invasion of Poland, while the Munich Agreement, which granted Hitler part of Czechoslovakia, signed between Germany and GB, France and Italy on Sept. 30th, 1938, is an expression of the good-hearted naiveté of Western governments, who were trying to appease the dictator to avoid war.
Needless to say, Russia has always contested that interpretation of history. The debate recently flared up again when Putin claiming that Poland was also responsible for WWII because it was complicit with Hitler in annexing part of Czechoslovakia into Poland and that the West by signing the Munich Agreement was just as complicit in Hitler’s aggression as Russia was by signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Unsurprisingly, this provoked strong protests from Poland and the West.
Does Putin have a point?
Needless to say, Russia has always contested that interpretation of history. The debate recently flared up again when Putin claiming that Poland was also responsible for WWII because it was complicit with Hitler in annexing part of Czechoslovakia into Poland and that the West by signing the Munich Agreement was just as complicit in Hitler’s aggression as Russia was by signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Unsurprisingly, this provoked strong protests from Poland and the West.
Does Putin have a point?