(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Today we distance ourselves from the old romantic historiography about kings and wars. We see the course of history as a result of major underlying changes in societies' economic foundations.
A modern generation has a hard time dealing with questions about old-fashioned wars. That an upper class of landowners and later industrial barons could force the sons of the lower class to stand up for the military was probably natural at one time. Back then, most of us were slaves, later serfs, later again a poor working class. Today, on the other hand, it is openly contrary to the general principles of human rights and democracy.
A decision to force conscripts onto a battlefield like the one in Ukraine has no moral justification for any authorities to implement. The battle of attrition in Ukraine resembles the First World War, where offensives were sold as heroic thrusts, but in reality were calculated attempts to make the opponent bleed with relatively greater loss of human life.
Russel, Kipling, Zweig …
Especially in England, there has never been any broad confrontation with the war. You read the poems that the soldiers wrote in the trenches before they themselves were shot, and in November you wear a poppy in your buttonhole to remember those who died for the fatherland.
But it is more accurate to say that they were murdered by a small greedy upper class. The few who spoke out at the time, such as the great mathematician and humanist Bertrand Russell, never had any impact. He had to go to prison several times.
The Imperial War Museum in London has an excellent exhibition on life and death in the trenches, bombing, poison gas and the like. But it requires stronger nerves to read the museum's website: The offensive at the Somme in 1916 was one of the greatest disasters in English military history. 57 men were mowed down by machine guns in one day as they ran into no man's land, almost 000 died on the spot. But the museum writes to this day that «British commanders learned a difficult but important lesson at the Somme ...» How fine for the commanders. What did the 20 who died on the spot learn?
The best poem about the war is by the nationalist Rudyard Kipling, whose son was also killed: «If anyone asks why we died, tell them it was because our fathers lied.»
Arnold Zweig, like Erich Maria Remarque, has written excellent novels about the brutality of the First World War and the corruption behind the front.
The German author Arnold Zweig, like Erich Maria Remarque, has written excellent novels about the brutality of the First World War and the corruption behind the front. An entire generation was raised at Verdun, where at least 700 young soldiers were killed or wounded in 000. Including Hitler and his cronies. They learned that mass murder can be a political tool. Although that should not be an excuse for those who learned.
Hemingway summed it up: Farewell to arms.
The laws of war permit war
Conscription rests on a nationally romantic notion of a national identity, which no longer exists in a modern globalized world. I have more in common with a sane Russian farmer, with Pope Francis, with President Lula da Silva and other peace advocates than with most of the screaming warmongers in the public debate. Who would want to go to war with the Swede?
The laws of war are often referred to as protecting civilians. Taken in isolation, it is true, but with the major caveat that the entire set of rules recognizes the fundamental occurrence of war.
The Geneva Conventions were proposed by idealists but adopted by old domineering men. The laws of war override common law, making killing the worst crime you can commit. The laws of war also allow the killing of civilians, but only to the extent necessary and if it cannot be avoided, when you have to kill some of the young boys in uniform. The boys in uniform (and eventually also the girls) are on the other hand completely at their mercy, because they are 'legal' targets if they do not explicitly surrender – however, it is difficult, especially when you are attacked by a drone or a missile.
To cooperate
Only the most principled pacifists will maintain that one must never, ever give up. The aforementioned Bertrand Russell drew up a list of good and bad wars in 1915 – not quite easy.
World War II was necessary to wipe out Hitlerism. The American Civil War was necessary to abolish slavery. But if I add that the French Revolution – as well as the Russian and the Chinese – were just because they abolished the exploitation of their fellow men by a small ruthless upper class for 1000 years, someone will probably protest.
The battle of attrition in Ukraine resembles the First World War, where offensives were sold as heroic thrusts.
Was it not justifiable that Ukraine resisted the Russian occupation and maintained an independent state Ukraine? I guess it was natural. Although we must not forget the great complicity of the West for the lack of will to negotiate with Russia prior to the war. But the war has now just been a murder factory for the past one to two years.
The wars have of course always been fought under the heading that 'God is with us', whether the opposing party has been of a different race, a different religion or a different language.
Of course, most of us prefer our own model of society. But we also know very well that there are an infinite number of friendly and hardworking people living in boats Russia and China and throughout the world. It is crucial whether one singles out differences as justification for killing other people or as justification for a flourishing cultural exchange.
As Shakespeare observed: «Call me a cripple, and I immediately begin to limp.» We can call Putin for a new one Hitler – and maybe he will be. But we can also decide when we wake up tomorrow that all people on Earth are good and beautiful people with whom we would like to cooperate. And then they become that.
The entire Folketing in Denmark and Norway support the arms transport. Left-wing politicians seem to be at their best in fine company. They seriously dare not speak out against more, neither against the countless reforms that involve redistributing even more to the wealthy urban population, the missing Tobin and Piketty taxes for international income equalization, the erosion of developing country aid or the war in general its being.
The West and Ukraine
If the politicians had just a little bit of historical sense, they would see the war as one of the smaller European wars of all time, where the matter of establishing peace as soon as possible roughly corresponded to the power relationship. For example, that Ukraine retains its independence, but cedes some territories, especially Crimea, to Russia. This is how the conflict was resolved in Southern Jutland.
"Call me a cripple and I immediately start limping."
The West sends more and more weapons to the war, which kills more and more people and can develop catastrophically for the whole world. It is impossible to point out any rationale from a humanist, a Christian or just a rational way of thinking for continuing the war. And it is not Russia that rejects a ceasefire.
Russia has put forward a proposal that Ukraine must cede Crimea and four eastern regions with a large Russian population. It is then interpreted as ultimate and therefore unacceptable, even though the only known way to open a negotiation is precisely to formulate some demands that will typically be more far-reaching than the expected end result.
Conversely, the West and Ukraine have held a one-sided so-called peace conference in Switzerland, which is exactly the opposite, because the admitted purpose was to demonstrate how determined they are to continue the war and that they have no willingness to compromise.
Only the politicians would travel to Ukraine and talk to a kindergarten instead of taking selfies with Zelenskyi. Perhaps the children have time to interrupt an important singing game and tell us that the war must stop immediately, no matter what.
© Previously printed in the Danish Dagbladet Information 19.6.24. Tage Siboni is a lawyer, living in Copenhagen.
