World War ITI: The Armageddon scenario

There is an eerie commonality of the war in Ukraine and the events of Second World War, especially the chain of events that led to the war.

- AJAY SINGH PUNE

History often provides glimpses of the future; and a peek into the past can give an inkling of the shape of things to come. There is an eerie commonality of the war in Ukraine and the events of Second World War and not just in the arena of the battle. The chain of events that led to the war finds an echo here, as do the roles of the major players involved.

There is also a likelihood that this war could expand in scope in much the same manner that the Second World War did.

When a proud, nationalistic Germany was humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles following its defeat in the First World War, it laid the seeds for the Second. The mood of the nation set the ground for the rise of Adolf Hitler, who rearmed and revitalized Germany and set it on the road to regain past glory. It began with the annexation of Sudetenland, Poland, Czechoslovakia and France in 1938-39; and culminated in the disastrous, uncalled for invasion of the Soviet Union in May 1941, which ultimately destroyed the Third Reich. It is significant that while the Western powers continued supplying the Soviet Union with arms, aid and many promises, they actually entered the war in Europe only in June 1944, a good three years after Russia had battled Nazi Germany virtually single handed and weakened it sufficiently to ensure its eventual defeat.

At the same time when Germany was pushing its nationalistic goals in Europe, Japan was rising in the East as a militaristic power with visions of creating a Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere (something on the lines of China's Belt and Road Initiative). As Japan pushed its economic and strategic rise, the western nations led by the United States, blocked its access to oil, rubber, iron and natural resources that were essential for its island economy.