When U.S. President Donald Trump declared VE day a national holiday in the United States, he took a major, but remarkably under appreciated step, to preempt a present-day reenactment, this time with nuclear implications, of the horrors of 80 years ago. Since most of those who celebrated VE day last week, in Europe, Russia, Asia and the United States, government officials and ordinary citizens alike, are either uninformed, or deliberately lying, about the significance of this remembrance for today’s crisis, I recount some of the basic facts and ironies here.
It was the height of hypocrisy to see the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine claim to have defeated fascism and evoke that fight for moral justification for today’s expansion of NATO and its war against Russia. In fact, it was the WWII era leaders of these countries that brought about the rise of fascism and Nazism in the first place and then supported Hitler’s war against the Soviet Union.
To name a few unforgotten and inconvenient facts: Hitler’s rise to power was facilitated and supported by the political elites of the British Empire. Leading members of the British royal families, including King Edward, were open supporters of Hitler during the 1930’s. Anglophile Americans, the predecessors of today’s neocons, unabashedly supported their British compatriots. Winston Churchill was an avid promoter of Mussolini in the 1920’s. The French elite was so riddled with pro-Nazi, antisemitic sentiments they practically opened the door to the Nazi invasion and famously collaborated in the occupation.
It is now widely known that Ukrainian fascists eagerly joined the SS to assist in committing Nazi atrocities. Today, Stepan Bandera and other leaders of the pro-Nazi Ukrainians are venerated as national heroes and Ukrainian militias fighting Russia, with British and French support, proudly display Nazi symbols and shout Nazi slogans as they go into battle against Russia.
Once the U.S. entered the war in Europe, Churchill and General Montgomery did everything they could to delay the Allied invasion of Europe, preferring to let Hitler’s armies slaughter Russians on the Eastern Front. Churchill’s Operation Unthinkable envisioned a shock invasion of Russia by the British Empire, in collaboration with captured Nazi divisions, “to impose the will of the British Empire” on Russia. (SitRep May 8th, On the Eve of Victory Day; Eurofascism Rises Again).
The Russian celebration was based on facts that were closer to the truth. It is undeniable that Russia, and the Soviet Union as a whole, bore the brunt of the fighting and losses in the European theater. More than 27 million soldiers and civilians lost their lives in the fight to defeat fascism.
Furthermore, today’s Russian leadership is quite vocal about the role of the globalist European leadership in promoting fascism then and now. On April 18th, Russia’s intelligence service, the SVR, released a document on the emergence of Eurofascism yet again in Europe. It promoted the idea that there is a natural, historical, and righteous alliance possible between the United States and Russia fighting Eurofascism.
But both in Russia and the United States, the significance of the principle embodied by President Trump’s declaration was underplayed. The key to the victory over fascism was the economic mobilization of the United States, and also Russia, that provided the logistical and military power to win the war. Despite opposition from the British, the U.S. provided massive physical support to the Soviet armies essential to their victory over Hitler.
That mobilization is documented in Arthur Herman’s wonderful book Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in WWII. Herman’s book, and the economic mobilization it recounts, is being studied today by President Trump’s economic team as a foundation for Trump’s reindustrialization program for the USA.
Immediately following the VE celebrations, the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and the EU put on a grotesque replay of the follies that brought about the war they just finished commemorating. Meeting in Kiev they issued an ultimatum to Russia to immediately accept a 30-day ceasefire and a rearmament of Ukraine or else face an escalation of sanctions against Russia. The intention of issuing the ultimatum was to reignite the war, not to bring peace, just as the British did 80 years ago. Seeking to snare President Trump in a trap, the Europeans implied that the U.S. was on board with this provocation.
Neither Putin nor Trump took the bait. In an early morning press conference Putin called for direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Trump responded with support for Putin’s proposal instead of the European ultimatum.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said, “President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH. Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY. At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the U.S., will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly! I’m starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin, who’s too busy celebrating the Victory of World War ll, which could not have been won (not even close!) without the United States of America. HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!”
Trump’s renewed reference to the U.S. role in winning WWII is key. In WWII, the U.S. rejected the British imperial methods that had collapsed the economy and brought about the war. Using American system methods the U.S. created the biggest economic boom in history and created the conditions for rebuilding the world.
That is precisely what President Trump is doing today. In his first response to Putin’s proposal, Trump stressed the importance of the revival of economic development. “The USA wants to focus, instead, on Rebuilding and Trade.”
It is the collaboration of the U.S. and Russia, against the globalists and for the development of American system economic methods, which won the war then, and will win the peace now.
That is what we should be celebrating!