[In the context of the 'Victory Day' - victory over fascism.
Germany had surrendered to the Allies on this day, *May 9* - 75 years back,
in 1945.
That'd put an end to the WWII, in Europe - the main theatre.
The one at sl. no. I. below delves - in the form of a debate, into Joseph
Stalin's claim to a place in history as the vanquisher of Axis powers and
fascism in the WWII.

One may also find, in evaluating Stalin - in a somewhat larger context,
relevant: <https://www.jstor.org/stable/4394571
<https://www.jstor.org/stable/4394571?fbclid=IwAR2wMzNoZ2hjJZYnr6q6fCHrfeEr6PRvJdtfsOwUDFzmADEgAA4HR1EPvUU>
>.
But, for all the 4 pages, one needs access - either to this website or to
the EPW archive.]
This one is more than three decades old.

Reproduced below at sl. no. II. is a fresh glimpse into a slice of the
still continuing tensions in Europe over the memory of the WWII and the
Victory Day.]

I.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/greenyouth/sukla$20sen$2C$20stalin$27s$20anti-fascism%7Csort:date/greenyouth/LgOGMmsE2Cs/f33VsGomnPUJ


Stalin's Anti-Fascism: A Limited Review
19 April 2010 at 16:32
<https://www.facebook.com/notes/sukla-sen/stalins-anti-fascism-a-limited-review/10150176458975437/>
Stalin's Anti-Fascism and WW II: A Limited Review


A recent mail circulated on the net informs us of inclusion of "Stalin
Archive" ("Volumes 14 to 18 of the Works of Stalin which were published by
Red Star Press, London, in the 1970s and 1980s", to be more specific) on
the website <www.revolutionarydemocracy.org
<http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/?fbclid=IwAR1mIAaZXvIoVKQKnJJwSdzzbzKg09BInNKtgVeBfegmaE6HLxqmCWXbIxM>>
(see: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg10959.html
<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg10959.html?fbclid=IwAR2LyPKDSPA0d1PITNKK_nQWShZLtvBqfTNVXG13OupsfuxSTowWaDZWszQ>
>).

Then it goes on to reproduce in full the introductory comments. (The
complete text of the mail is provided below for ready reference.)


In what follows here, we offer a limited examination of the hagiographical
reference to Stalin: his "anti-fascism", in particular.


The intro tells us:

*Stalin was a leading communist revolutionary of the twentieth century
whose seminal contribution is increasingly felt in the twenty first
century. His name is identified with the construction of socialism in the
Soviet Union, the victory over fascism in the Second World War and the
transition to communist society.*


The (pretty much unsubstantiated) claim that Stalin's "seminal contribution
is increasingly felt in the twenty first century", as made above, is so
very much out of touch with actual reality that it hardly merits any
comment.

Then, the politics of*'Socialism in One Country* as initiated and
championed by Stalin, along with a few other related issues, had been
discussed by this commentator in some details under the same caption back
in 1989 (available at <http://www.jstor.org/pss/4394571
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fpss%2F4394571%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3eXi1gjBIVKORLaQuCOOOImAA0mPH_xi5mo4dTLHaS40aWG8Jiy1iRFEE&h=AT0z7uA6B3Nj9htW646YaxYYEJtQG0PuaAwffZHuXR_9ZXZIQFKnEPqPnkNAsyiUvTmJBUuqq8wiOU7d_heh1MWsTTGIMmnNXgvowrvulHxOgdIUQRDB3kQLNNvOGZp3ggwbfJgrTu_fJZzQag>>
and <
http://archive.epw.in/data/PDF/001620_EPW_25_3_1989_Vol_XXIV_No_12/DISCUSSION_Socialism%20in%20One%20Country.pdf
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Farchive.epw.in%2Fdata%2FPDF%2F001620_EPW_25_3_1989_Vol_XXIV_No_12%2FDISCUSSION_Socialism%2520in%2520One%2520Country.pdf%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR03BhyWEpobBS1rX5sXIMcduPPujb2wku44z2LwwndLxYKAmVMKz_0YrD0&h=AT2cAX2iGVM_9TFbH21yukB7Jbh3Mf1MBM3JJnWivQS99g1hupKuWahpjPrwwnxgAFp5TsZt1rND5o01F719v015tpmMkxtDdUCe9t1QPnYdNAHw9SFWy4VWX25kzRzdBhjs9n7Y3ccP7FUeKA>>,
for both subscriptions are required though). One may also look up <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_in_One_Country
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSocialism_in_One_Country%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1pjbEnbMokN15Y0Uq3LZR8q0DcdIMerR3bqj8CdeNISrDEfDkDKdzM46A&h=AT1LI193y8O8dtyTKelkZGmB0MNcN8BvX3rI4pXBRnlU3JdKdM52a7VqtMPEJpWf56oCNMHHq50RsY-udvaF7ZuHevNcgp8ptYTMweTTnDVXHd2tDAcoxwr-dY3GLt1XWGzP_yeQtMfHcPD9LQ>>
for a brief but useful account.


The claim as regards the "the transition to communist society" is also
obviously as silly.


Here, we'd in brief, focus on some aspects of Stalin's (seminal) role in
"the victory over fascism in the Second World War".

In fact, after the pitiable implosion of the gigantic Soviet Union, and,
close to half a century back, public repudiation of Stalin's legacy by the
successor regime soon after the death of the dictator without causing any
waves of protest or whatever anywhere in its immediate aftermath, despite
"the transition to communist society" led by Stalin and all that crap; his
only claim to "greatness" lies in his presumed role in the "the victory
over fascism in the Second World War".


It is in this context, one needs be reminded that Soviet Russia under
Stalin had joined the WW II virtually as a junior accomplice of the
Hitlerite Nazi Germany via the *Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany
and the Soviet Union* signed on 23/24 August 1939. This is popularly known
as Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. (Ref. <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov–Ribbentrop_Pact
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMolotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0px7CZPF946aFxSja3REASg3zIAueognDx5aeem8MyPiRMd7B6Yq11MPk&h=AT0KH2Iig3ZIWDDt9nA41e5N8QCYoE95Zth-HIxN96HmOXTq5wWedsLybjWc0tJHpp6rBpTwyaBjZ4xeKf24fCu60TRLvT_JbKXQFYjmMtvGIsY9c5aKCZ80L3RBqRaX6ZZuq_450YYzbqfnyA>
>.)

And the War started on September 1 1939 marked by the German invasion of
Poland coming barely a week after the signing of the *Treaty*. (Ref. <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FWorld_War_II%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1fFOKjoiHR3d9wGsqdm4IrYheWauCwgl72bnjlOaY4oxDBnpZiX8pX4U8&h=AT0CIfRVdFKUe_6J158oAoUWyAcWYUScHfm_u2PuVBYO9BTv1DbH-Z8Hzc4uKW-Ab8I5pwGEJ7u0ADigPG-S5PM8WTRbg2eCBS_Sg2nwiCnwM9AziWohMHiPo5JuYAMiLOlTTd8wjRhY91721g>>.)
Evidently, it was no mere coincidence. The *Treaty* played a decisive role
in triggering off the German attack on Poland.

The momentum had, however, started visibly building up since 1933 with
Hitler occupying power in Germany.


*In addition to stipulations of non-aggression, the treaty included a
secret protocol dividing Northern and Eastern Europe into German and Soviet
spheres of influence, anticipating potential "territorial and political
rearrangements" of these countries. Thereafter, Germany and the Soviet
Union invaded their respective sides of Poland, dividing the country
between them. Part of eastern Finland was annexed by the Soviet Union after
the Winter War. This was followed by Soviet annexations of Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania and Bessarabia.*

[Source: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov–Ribbentrop_Pact
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMolotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2wbij6CVLzxflcjXWNgJjlZOTtKWhAmQtd7GnKDpY-xhyuHq5l0LJ_5Bk&h=AT0hrJAJZWnaSy5WXPuWhpH7q2-SlOdnuepo3a9a_DBtsfx40ihIpXLCWHN5HZ4Zws4LRFWth5qxVKKTyMSaBb4mKA5X1YhJeBvXKsmemFTqmgJ_EIqC66UucWruQbzvxHcO4AyxV3xajMDJDg>
>.]


Also relevant:

*On September 15, 1939, [i.e. two weeks after the commencement of the WW
II] Stalin concluded a durable ceasefire with Japan, to take effect the
following day (it would be upgraded to a formal armistice in April 1941).
The day after that, September 17, he belatedly joined Germany in the joint
invasion of Poland. Although some fighting continued until October 5, the
two invading armies held at least one joint victory parade on September 25,
and reinforced their partnership with a German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship,
Cooperation and Demarcation on September 28.*

On November 30, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, for which it was
expelled from the League of Nations. The following year, the USSR annexed
the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, together with parts of
Romania.

[See: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allies_of_World_War_II#Soviet_Union
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FAllies_of_World_War_II%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0ZyCjoXe6n4wHUazXPIsuyLUEXcdolvCAReGAFLsHUaYFl-oZ2EwfLXFY%23Soviet_Union&h=AT2ndY1qJ1rHkGueD6dcdv0-fIaZNj6LPS8ISSuze6Gtn7YhMMrPjGVIjzv_i7mbJQstrE02rsRyn7umRJ7rqXftora6eLuZGIH-JAM23KlREdmee06RVb7-t8tQdpjATAk5Kafz0lsN1Mi_TA>
>.]


That's about Stalin's opposition to, nay fight against, fascism.

Even if we forget the disastrous impact of the "social fascism" line
pursued by the Comintern under Stalin, and thereby the German Communist
Party, in Germany itself.


Here is an interesting snippet going back to (January) 1934 allowing a
revealing glimpse into Stalin's mind and his (principled) attitude towards
fascism:

*In this connection some German politicians say that the U.S.S.R. has now
taken an orientation towards France and Poland; that from an opponent of
the Versailles Treaty it has become a supporter of it, and that this change
is to be explained by the establishment of the fascist regime in Germany.
That is not true. Of course, we are far from being enthusiastic about the
fascist regime in Germany. But it is not a question of fascism here, if
only for the reason that fascism in Italy, for example, has not prevented
the U.S.S.R. from establishing the best relations with that country. ....
We never had any orientation towards Germany, nor have we any orientation
towards Poland and France. Our orientation in the past and our orientation
at the present time is towards the U.S.S.R., and towards the U.S.S.R.
alone. (Stormy applause.) And if the interests of the U.S.S.R. demand
rapprochement with one country or another which is not interested in
disturbing peace, we adopt this course without hesitation.*

[Excerpted from the 'Report to the Seventeenth Party Congress ...' at <
http://ciml.250x.com/archive/stalin/est1934_1.html
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fciml.250x.com%2Farchive%2Fstalin%2Fest1934_1.html%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0skpAV-40ye0ZJsyh1577ee5YclyIt657IBcfsPQJUWfjK6Q-6ELzTZd8&h=AT1oSVY-OuhtBZVrZXw-5OkEfPuU0xyzr7_ixQ2-ooRPrKF0VjY5cEM2W5zlEjb5ihqPU0cUZ2D3SD-zx65i-ifzqL56ByJUgeYxs2iyhpyPXSi5fqf5eMs-X4Paz-5RRC6fCEqXvBGtjHDoBw>>,
p. 691/2.]


It is Hitler, and NOT Stalin, who broke with the USSR.

Stalin, at no stage, took any initiative to break with the Nazi Germany and
its ongoing war of aggression.

*On 22 June 1941, Germany, along with other European Axis members and
Finland, [in an apparently surprise, and which would turn out to be fatally
premature, move] invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa.* [Ref: <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FWorld_War_II%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3JuyxpvbD-vRnum-4xl--HjGOz_sy6LGx_vvnmenpUJDbUF0M5UcR59v4&h=AT1fJL-I5sYLuq9f7FP5MuZhChbsHJJIsYVZvkUltMVy8fv8U7MDbMlFG6Kp7diVtAmprHR99F6_hdaHhLcpAf0JeoagRpmfhjZHqYwNcKvLoK-IQIWYyfm6Q3_g4y8S9RtOyorNk1FCb9BCrg>
>.]


Consequently, in the initial phases, the USSR suffered enormous losses.

But eventually the success for the Germans turned out to be Pyrrhic.

Apart from the bravery of the Red Army, the vast, virtually endless, frozen
stretches to be covered by the German ground forces, proved to be its
undoing.

Almost reenacting Napoleon's devastating defeat in Tsarist Russia about a
century and three decades back.


The Soviet Russia then joined the "imperialist" Allies.

As a price, the Comintern had to be dissolved.

*At the start of World War II, the Comintern supported a policy of
non-intervention, arguing that the war was an imperialist war between
various national ruling classes, much like World War I had been (see
Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact). But when the Soviet Union itself was invaded on
22 June 1941, the Comintern changed its position to one of active support
for the Allies.*

*On May 15, 1943, a declaration of the Executive Committee was sent out to
all sections of the International, calling for the dissolution of
Comintern. The declaration read:*

*"The historical role of the Communist International, organised in 1919 as
a result of the political collapse of the overwhelming majority of the old
pre-war workers' parties, consisted in that it preserved the teachings of
Marxism from vulgarisation and distortion by opportunist elements of the
labor movement.... But long before the war it became increasingly clear
that, to the extent that the internal as well as the international
situation of individual countries became more complicated, the solution of
the problems of the labor movement of each individual country through the
medium of some international centre would meet with insuperable obstacles."*


*Concretely, the declaration asked the member sections to approve:*

*"To dissolve the Communist International as a guiding centre of the
international labor movement, releasing sections of the Communist
International from the obligations ensuing from the constitution and
decisions of the Congresses of the Communist International."*


*After endorsements of the declaration were received from the member
sections, the International was dissolved. ....*

*Usually, it is asserted that the dissolution came about as Stalin wished
to calm his World War II Allies (particularly Franklin D. Roosevelt and
Winston Churchill) and keep them from suspecting the Soviet Union of
pursuing a policy of trying to foment revolution in other countries.*


[See: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comintern
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FComintern%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0GInSAWN9eJaYTJWyecHhpopdhaol0d9bDndsby2Acq5vRxFWcul_-__Q&h=AT3XmC_9TdlQ9ux4qJ79q_yJahhs5Lx7Y9VayFSkMD112smRqoGCuwM4fhL0yrH89hyoLxmHcRQFVvJdLC999WuzZDBd3Jp6d3Jm8oSE9fykLVoafZzYT5DAmZH8jhLQdjt0Eo9cHgLC8S-GK9HDr6EcWdwWk0s>
>.]


That's about Stalin's anti-fascism.

That's about Stalin's anti-imperialism.

That's about his (seminal) role in "the victory over fascism in the Second
World War".


Sukla Sen


[Here is the mail reproduced below in full.]


The Revolutionary Democracy website at: www.revolutionarydemocracy.org
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.revolutionarydemocracy.org%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0MSHdy1XFNoaU5K0g3GKoaWohisPHRRuZkZM1LUZj2LgP3PsGWbydOALo&h=AT2KsF6P9RqWnco4C7tSRJxs8R5B0e7INj7M8cFn84z0IuuFw5JMHQG3D63yCWKcuDWUih5plqo4pwFs9Ti-Dz_aj3LhMS4OrOlDJmmqOZYyLe-zGE1tXGjUBdR69K3yVDoDmytjHU3INEn_1g>

now includes a Stalin Archive.


Just Scroll down the left side of the site.


The archive includes so far Volumes 14 to 18 of the Works of Stalin

which were published by Red Star Press, London, in the 1970s and 1980s;

the Correspondence Between the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of

the USSR and the Presidents of the USA and the Prime Ministers of Great

Britain During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and the Minutes of

The Tehran Yalta& Potsdam Conferences.


Here is the introductory note to the archive:


Stalin was a leading communist revolutionary of the twentieth century

whose seminal contribution is increasingly felt in the twenty first

century. His name is identified with the construction of socialism in

the Soviet Union, the victory over fascism in the Second World War and

the transition to communist society. These colossal victories would not

have been possible without the defeat of the oppositions led by Trotsky

and Bukharin who opposed socialist industrialisation and

collectivisation. By the time of the death of Stalin a large people’s

democratic camp had been built up in central and eastern Europe and Asia

alongside the USSR.


Yet the writings of Stalin are not easy to locate despite the fact that

a number of websites include some of his works. 13 Volumes of the Works

were completed in English prior to the Twentieth Congress of the CPSU in

1956. The dummy of Volume 14 had been printed prior to this event and

the publication of the volume was announced before the Closed Speech. It

was not to be printed. The Soviet archives show that preparatory work

had also begun for volumes 15-17 of the Works of Stalin. This archive

represents an attempt to widen the availability of the writings of this

classic of Marxism. We begin by reconstituting Volumes 14 to 18 of the

Works of Stalin which were published by Red Star Press, London in the

1970s and 1980s. These volumes which are much in demand have been out of

print for many years. The Red Star Press compilation drew upon the

labours of communists who had gathered materials for the publication of

the Works of Stalin in French and German. Separate from these endeavours

communists in Albania and Spain independently compiled volumes 14 in

their languages. In the United States, Volumes 14 to 16 were published

in Russian from Stanford based upon the official Soviet publications.


Under Khrushchev and Brezhnev some of the contributions of Stalin

bearing upon diplomatic matters were published in the Soviet Union. We

are placing a part of these on the web. After the fall of the USSR

volumes 14 to 18 have been published in Russian and more are under

preparation under the editorship of Prof. Richard Kosalapov. With the

opening up of the Stalin Archive currently held in the former Central

Party Archive of the CPSU a considerable part of the vast body of

Stalin’s writings are now available in the public domain. In the near

future we plan to put on the web in a chronological form some of

Stalin’s writings which are not included in existing collections. This

is an international task and we appeal for assistance on this in terms

of the location of materials and the translation of Stalin’s writings

from the Russian. Those who wish to help in this cause may contact us

at: [email protected] <mailto:editor_revdem%40rediffmail.com
<http://40rediffmail.com/?fbclid=IwAR3zT22HU6YJH8Z8PwC899i8z6NdchI_C7h0bcQxJk2pKZ74fJxCV8_VD7Y>
>

END

II.
https://theconversation.com/ve-day-memory-war-continues-between-europe-and-russia-even-under-lockdown-137726

Israeli families hold pictures of relatives killed in the Soviet Union
struggle against the Nazis in WWII, Jerusalem, May 2015. EPA/Abir Sultan

VE Day: ‘memory war’ continues between Europe and Russia even under lockdown
May 7, 2020 10.58pm AEST Updated May 8, 2020 2.28am AEST

Author
WIlliam Niven
Professor in Contemporary German History, Nottingham Trent University

Disclosure statement
WIlliam Niven does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding
from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and
has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

CC BY ND

How happy the Austrians will be that the Bleiburg commemorations won’t be
happening in 2020. Each year, groups of Croatians normally gather at
Bleiburg in Carinthia to remember the tens of thousands of Nazi-supporting
Ustaša fighters murdered in Austria by Yugoslavian partisans at the end of
the war in Austria. The Carinthian authorities, embarrassed by this show of
far-right nationalism, have so far been unable to stop the commemorations.
Until the advent of the coronavirus.

The German chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, who skipped the May 9
Moscow victory parade in 2015 in symbolic protest at the Russian annexation
of Crimea, must surely be relieved that she hasn’t had to formally decline
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to the May 9 military parade
in Moscow in 2020 – because that won’t be happening either. It all eases
the diplomatic stress.

One might hope, then, that the scaling down or cancelling of end-of-war
commemorations might have a salutary effect by giving pause for thought.
Unfortunately, there is little room for optimism.

For years now, historical arguments have been raging throughout Europe,
with the fault lines often running between Russia and other eastern
European countries such as Poland and the Baltic states, or the Czech
Republic. They centre on whether or not the Soviet Union should be seen in
these countries as a liberator from Nazism, or as the oppressive bringer of
communism.

Soviet Memorial at Treptower Park during VE Day commemoration in Berlin,
May 8 2015. EPA/Maurizio Gambarini

The Red Army was of course both – but while Putin’s view of history focuses
on liberation, the view in Poland and elsewhere in eastern Europe focuses
on oppression.

The Hitler-Stalin Pact has also become a bone of contention: Poland argues
that Stalin was as much to blame as Hitler for starting the second world
war, while Putin blames the west’s appeasement of Hitler, and, in December
2019, accused Poland’s envoy to Nazi Germany in 1939, Józef Lipski, of
being an “antisemitic pig”.

The European Union didn’t help matters when it passed a resolution in 2019
effectively supporting the Polish position on the Hitler-Stalin Pact.
Putin’s history war with eastern Europe is now firmly one with western
Europe, too.

Liberation and oppression
When the Cold War ended in 1989, the EU attempted to create a European
memory around the Holocaust, but encountered resistance from some eastern
European member states reluctant to confront the memory of the extent to
which they had collaborated. Now the EU has swung round to centering its
memory on totalitarianism: Hitler and Stalin. Most European countries can
agree on that. But not Putin.

These disputes have been playing out for years – and memorials and
commemorative events have been a key battleground. There are few signs that
the current commemorative lull imposed by lockdown is going to change this.

The diplomatic spat between Russia and the Czech Republic over the removal
of a statue of Ivan Konev is still rumbling on. Konev led the Red Army
troops that liberated Prague in 1945, but he is remembered by many Czechs
for his brutal role in suppressing the Prague Spring.

The statue to Marshall Konev in Prague being dismantled, April 2020. Gampe
via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC

Prague took down the statue in early April, whereupon – according to the
most extraordinary rumour – a Russian intelligence operative was apparently
flown to Prague to poison the city’s mayor. While he was reportedly put
under police protection along with two other Prague politicians critical of
Russia, at the time of writing the Russians and Czechs are bickering over
what to do with the statue.

When Berlin’s mayor Michael Müller invited representatives of Russia and
Ukraine to a small-scale commemoration of the liberation of Berlin on May
2, Ukraine’s ambassador in Berlin, Andrij Melnyk, described the idea as his
“worst nightmare”. The event went ahead without him.

Shifting sentiment
International commemoration reflects and possibly intensifies present-day
tensions rather than defusing them. As long as eastern Europe feels
threatened by Russia, there will be no agreement on what “liberation” in
1945 meant.

Victory Day celebration in Moscow, May 9 2015. Kremlin.ru, CC BY

There are signs, too, that shifting end-of-war commemoration to a later
date, such as September 2020, because of the pandemic will merely cause new
problems. Putin recently decided to commemorate the end of the war against
Japan on September 3 (the day China commemorates it) rather than on
September 2 (when the US marks the occasion). He may decide to turn any
belated May 9 event into a demonstration of improving Sino-Russian
relations in face of Trump’s anti-Chinese stance.

The pandemic has led some countries to remember the end of the war within a
purely national framework, but this is leading to self-indulgence. German
newspapers are currently full of articles about German suffering at the end
of the war – far more so than was the case in 2015, during the 70th
anniversary.

In Britain, for purposes of commemoration, homes are being re-imagined as
private-public interfaces, with citizens being encouraged to engage in
doorstep singalongs and make their own flags. Evoking the community spirit
during lockdown is commendable. I feel less happy about the British
Legion’s “Tommy in the Window” campaign: I doubt Commonwealth soldiers will
feel embraced by the term “Tommy” (which refers to the fictitious
archetypal English soldier, “Tommy Atkins”) – or even the Scots, Irish and
Welsh.

Whether on the international or national stage, jingoism is often the bane
of commemoration.
-- 
Peace Is Doable

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