Hitler came to power by subverting the democratic institutions in Germany. He promised the Germans to revert the humiliating terms of Treaty of Versailles, 1919.

After coming to power he started making demands to the the European powers.

Hitler then said “Give me Austria”. Britain said “Take it but don’t ask for more”.  German Army move to Austria. Britain and France were happy as peace is maintained.

Hitler then said “Give me Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia”. Britain says “Take it but don’t ask for more”.  German Army move to Sudetenland. Britain and France were happy as peace is maintained.

Hitler then said “Give me the entire Czechoslovakia”. Britain says “Take it but don’t ask for more”.  German Army capture Czechoslovakia. Britain and France were happy as peace is maintained.

The saga continued. Finally, when Hitler invaded Poland, Britain and France declared war and that started the WW II.

How this is similar to what Putin is doing?

  1. He has become a dictator and is in power for last 25 years. All the democratic institutions in Russia have come under his Thumb. Same was the case with Hitler.
  2. He has almost  subverted the constitution to make himself stay in power indefinitely. Same was the case with Hitler.

He is making multiple demands on Ukraine which will essentially make Ukraine a puppet state of Russia.

He has started to make similar demands with regards to Sweden and Finland. I am sure after Ukraine he is not going to stop. He will attack Sweden (there are reports that Russian airplanes violated Swedish airspace already) and then Finland.

After that he will set his eyes on the Baltic states and then on the ex-Soviet satellite states like Poland, Hungary and may be even Germany.

Putin dreams to recreate the erstwhile USSR. We have seen in past that greed of dictators is always limitless.

Putin inherits Stalin’s ideology. Stalin once when talking to US president Roosevelt had experienced unhappiness of not being able to surpass Czar Alexander who had marched his armies to France (in 1815 after Napoleon’s defeat).

I would further argue that Putin will be worse than Hitler. Putin is extremely corrupt whereas Hitler was not. 

So if we want to prevent the WW III, then Putin must be checked in Ukraine itself and shown his place.

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