“A far-off country of which we know little” was Neville Chamberlain’s argument for doing nothing about Hitler’s 1938 annexation of Czechoslovakia. That annexation – carried out by a revanchist Nazi regime, allegedly in defence of ethnic Germans, is an unnerving parallel to Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea. Russia’s president is using ethnic Russians as an excuse to restore Moscow’s old empire. Viktor Yanukovich, the ousted president of Ukraine, has even said: “I would like to ask those who cover for these dark forces in the west: are you blind? Have you forgotten what fascism is?” I really do hope not.
1938年希特勒(Hitler)吞并捷克斯洛伐克时，时任英国首相的内维尔•张伯伦(Neville Chamberlain)决定不采取任何行动，声称捷克斯洛伐克是“一个我们所知甚少的遥远国度”。意在“收复失地”和复仇的纳粹政权以保卫德裔少数民族为由，吞并了捷克斯洛伐克，此举与弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)吞并克里米亚有着令人不安的相似之处。俄罗斯总统正以保护俄罗斯族为名，行恢复俄罗斯帝国之实。被赶下台的乌克兰总统维克托•亚努科维奇(Viktor Yanukovich)甚至表示：“我想问问西方那些庇护黑暗势力的人们：你们瞎了吗？你们忘记什么是法西斯主义了吗？”我真的希望我们没有忘记。