In a recent post, written in Norwegian, I suggested that the roots of the ghastly war that is dismantling Ukraine stretch back to World War I, when they were to a large extent the result of external interference. That should not be a surprise to anyone. After all, then as now, major powers attempted to steer the geopolitical course of events in order to diminish the influence of competitors and hoping to be able to help themselves to new resources.
I should add that now as then, the powers-that-be are willing and able to constantly lie through their teeth. Being a competent liar is top of the list of “job requirements” for presidents/prime ministers and their henchmen. Remember Bill Clinton’s limpid blue eyes, “I never had…”?
As an aside, I believe that the general public’s inability to get our heads around the mendacity of our leaders is part of our problem here in Europe. We have almost all been inculcated with the commandment “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour” and/or that the Prophet Muhammad warned that giving false witness is one of the greatest sins. So we are helplessly discombobulated by the never-ending whirlwind of lies.
The Central Powers lied to their hapless Ruthenian subjects back then, and European leaders are lying to us now. We are defenceless, because we simply cannot fathom that “civilised people” can be so devastatingly cynical.
Some lies about the Ukraine war do admittedly get exposed. For example, Ivan Katchanovski has demonstrated beyond all possible doubt that the “Maidan massacre” was committed not by the “regime” but by coup plotters. The problem is that we are not only unable but also unwilling to believe we have been hoodwinked.
While exposing lies about the present requires endurance, exposing lies about the past requires the painstaking work of plodding though archives.
Since I wrote my previous post, a well-referenced article has come to my attention that does in fact reveal a great deal more than what I suggested. It is written by someone who is unabashedly Russian.
Born and raised in the USSR/Russia, I offer a Russian perspective grounded in archives, statistics, and objectivity—untangling Cold War propaganda and beyond.
The Root of the Ukrainian Conflict Or Did Lenin Really Create Ukraine?
The article is long (42 pages), but I found that every page was well worth the time I spent reading it.