From the look of things, those bearing the brunt of Russia’s invasion are the people and the military in frontline positions. The carnage unleashed on the citizens of Ukraine was avoidable. The two sides could have been brought to the table for negotiation long before now. Nobody wins this type of war. There are very high prices to be paid on both sides. Negotiation would have been it.
In my opinion, world leaders are too selfish to care about the historical past. For those who think that one country will fight our battle in disintegration, please follow the ongoing events in Ukraine. World powers will spend the next few years selling arms to Ukraine for a price. They will also assemble to rebuild the country at a high cost. All countries that went through such senseless wars follow the same trajectory.
After First World War (WWI), just like the collapse of the USSR, the victors, through the Treaty of Versailles, redrew the map of Europe. That Treaty yanked off Western Prussia from Germany and gave the territory to the newly re-established Poland. It also removed Eastern Prussia from Germany (www.realhistorychan.com).
After the war, Germany was in debt and sulking. It kept complaining that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair to Germany. On his rise to power, Hitler, who had felt hurt and diminished by the Treaty of Versailles, led Germany to militarily expand beyond the borders ceded to Germany after the First World War (WWI). WWII, just like this 2022 Ukraine’s invasion by Russia, was an avoidable disaster.
Italy under Mussolini preferred negotiation and cautioned his other world leaders to negotiate with Germany. The rest of the world did not listen. Winston Churchill would have nothing of such. Britain and France decided to call the bluff of Germany Hitler. They dared him and went to war because they were protecting Poland, just like Russia is saying it is fighting this war to protect the separatists in Ukraine. Unfortunately, by the time the ashes of WWII settled, no less than 70 million people were dead, which represented 3% of the world’s population then.
Though Nigeria is not at the center point of the war theatre in Ukraine, we shall be negatively affected in very many ways. As you read this post, crude oil is running northwards. That may mean more money to the Federation account for sharing as rents by the states, our import dependence on finished petroleum products will wipe off the gains. Inflation will rise, and the cost of household goods will also escalate. Can we please begin a constructive dialogue in our fragmented political spaces in Nigeria to save us from destruction as witnessed in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and unfolding in Ukraine, etc.?
Meanwhile, nobody knows the cost of the human carnage that will follow this 2022 Russian war. World powers can now sell arms and spend money on all manners of things to justify the war in Ukraine.
This war was avoidable but for hidden agendas. It shows that world leaders and humanity learned nothing from WWII. Sad!.
