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Hitler’s anschluss and Putin’s: Similarities and differences

14/03/2017

5 minute read

Left: Hitler announces the Anschluss of Austria on the Heldenplatz, Vienna, Austria on 15 March 1938. (Image: Wikipedia) Right: Putin speaking in occupied Sevastopol to celebrate 18 March 2014 anschluss of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine conducted by Russian military and special forces. May 9, 2014 (Image: kremlin.ru)

Hitler’s anschluss and Putin’s: Similarities and differences

Seventy-nine years ago today, Adolf Hitler issued the law on the unification of Austria and Germany, an event subsequently known as the Anschluss, and one that both resembles and differs from what Vladimir Putin did in the case of Ukraine’s Crimea, according to two Ukrainian experts. Yuri Shapoval, a historian at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, points

to some essential differences. Hitler, at least since 1924, had insisted that Germany and Austria were “one family and needed to be united” and his military occupation of Austria was preceded by talks with Vienna about that. Vladimir Putin behaved very differently, the historian told Radio Liberty’s Vitaly Portnikov. “In the 2000s, [he] denied in every possible way his territorial claims against Ukraine, declared that he respected the state borders and had no intention of taking Crimea, let alone by military means. Thus, what happened in 2014 was completely unexpected for the entire world.”

A UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office graphic contrasting the Scottish and Crimean referendums.

Yaroslav Shimov

, a commentator for Radio Liberty, adds that “a large part of the population of Austria then was genuinely pleased because a majority of Austrians considered themselves at that moment Germans. And under the influence of propaganda and the specific circumstances in the history of the Austrian Republic, they considered that unification” would not be a bad thing. Shapoval points out that “there was practically no reaction” by the Western powers to the Anschluss. “They considered [it] as a means of pacifying Adolf Hitler. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared at the League of Nations that one must not encourage small countries with promises about their defense if in reality there are no such plans to provide it.”
“In essence,” the historian continues, “Vladimir Putin today is counting on a similar fatalism on the part of the West. But one must not give him Crimea in order to ‘pacify’ him because then [his aggression] will never end. [Existing] international sanctions suggest that the West still is not inclined to repeat its earlier mistakes.”

Rally in the Crimean town of Bakhchisaray, March 5, 2014

Crimean Tatars attend a pro-Ukraine rally in Simferopol during the Russian special operation to annex Crimea. March 14, 2014. The banner says “Crimea is Ukraine”.

The word "Crimea" written on Putin's upper lip to draw a parallel between his occupation of Crimea and Hitler's anschluss of Austria. — The word “Crimea” written on Putin’s upper lip to draw a parallel between his occupation of Crimea and Hitler’s anschluss of Austria.

Unmarked Russian troops near Perevelnoye in Crimea in 2014. Photo: AFP

Masked Russian servicemen stand near their army vehicles blockading a Ukrainian border guard base in the Crimean town of Balaclava. March 2014

Masked Russian servicemen blockading a Ukrainian military base in Crimea. March 2014

Some of the Crimeans murdered or illegally imprisoned by Russian occupation forces

French MPs pay homage to a monument to Russian invaders in Crimea

At first, Putin claimed there were the “little green men” in Crimea, not the Russian military, as he admitted a year later. Russian special services troops besieging a Ukrainian military base in Crimea, February 2014. (Image: UNIAN)

Political cartoon: 2014 Crimean referendum on joining Russia. "We are the international observers." — Political cartoon: 2014 Crimean referendum on joining Russia. “We are the international observers.”

A propagandist mural of Putin in occupied Yalta, Crimea sported a hashtag "#НАШ" ( Russian for "ours") to claim that Crimea is now Russian. The graffiti by Crimean residents that quickly covered it disagreed with the Kremlin statement and expressed what they think about Putin's Crimean Anschluss. May 2015 (Image: social networks). — A propagandist mural of Putin in occupied Yalta, Crimea sported a hashtag “#НАШ” ( Russian for “ours”) to claim that Crimea is now Russian. The graffiti by Crimean residents that quickly covered it disagreed with the Kremlin statement and expressed what they think about Putin’s Crimean Anschluss. May 2015 (Image: social networks).

Troops of the Russian occupation force on parade in Sevastopol, Crimea on May 9, 2016 (Image: sevas.com)

Russian FSB secret police and paramilitaries suppress any open dissent in Crimea and actively search for any hidden resistance to the occupation. Beside using the judicial system to enforce the Russian occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula, they employ secret abductions and extrajudicial killings of Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian activists. (Image: GordonUA.com)

So-called "little green men" (the Russian occupation troops comprised of special forces who removed insignia, wear face masks to prevent identification and call themselves a "Crimean self-defense force") surround a Ukrainian military base in Perevalne, Crimea, during the Russian annexation of the peninsula in February-March 2014. — So-called “little green men” (the Russian occupation troops comprised special forces who removed insignia, wear face masks to prevent identification and call themselves a “Crimean self-defense force”) surround a Ukrainian military base in Perevalne, Crimea, during the Russian annexation of the peninsula in February-March 2014.

A heavily-protected Russian entry point into the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea annexed by Russia in March 2014 (Image: Kommersant.ru)

Crimeans protest against Russian occupation, March 2014

The sign in Kaluga, Russia says "Crimea Today - Rome Tomorrow! Happy Victory Day of May 9!" (Image: KP-Kaluga, May 2015) — The sign in Kaluga, Russia says “Crimea Today – Rome Tomorrow! Happy Victory Day of May 9!” (Image: KP-Kaluga, May 2015)

"No to war! Crimea is Ukraine!" — “No to war! Crimea is Ukraine!” Crimeans protest against Russian occupation, March 2014

"Crimean Tatars want peace" - Crimeans protest against Russian occupation, March 2014 — “Crimean Tatars want peace” – Crimeans protest against Russian occupation, March 2014

"Crimea is Ukraine" - Crimeans protest against Russian occupation, March 2014 — “Crimea is Ukraine”

Mustafa Dzemilev in front of Crimean Tatar protesters (May 2014)

"Pillar of shame" displaying Putin's "The Time Magazine Person of the Year" cover page. March 11, 2014 in Lviv, Ukraine (Image: UNIAN) — “Pillar of shame” displaying Putin’s “The Time Magazine Person of the Year” cover page. March 11, 2014 in Lviv, Ukraine (Image: UNIAN)

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Hitler’s anschluss and Putin’s: Similarities and differences

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