Putin blames Britain for Russia's invasion of Poland on the 70th anniversary of WWII

Daily Mail ^

[traumer]

It was almost the 'sorry' that Poland has waited seventy years for.

But just as Vladimir Putin inched towards an apology for Russia's invasion of Poland in the wake of the Nazi-Soviet pact in 1939, he pulled back from the precipice, placing the blame for the outbreak of the Second World War squarely on Britain and France.

At a ceremony marking the outbreak of the war in Gdansk, Poland today, Mr Putin downplayed Russia's responsibility, emphasising instead the Soviet Union's role in fighting the Nazis.

And in an article published in Poland yesterday he argued that Britain's policy of appeasement with Hitler in 1939 had left Stalin with no choice but to sign a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany - including a secret clause carving up Poland.

'If we are going to speak objectively about history we must understand it does not have just one colour,' Mr Putin said today.

'It was diverse and a huge number of mistakes were made by all sides,' he told a news conference in the resort of Sopot. 'And all these actions created the conditions for the large scale aggression by Nazi Germany.'

[mainepatsfan]

He and Pat Buchanan have more in common than I thought.

[tankrlm]

At least no one blamed Bush................

[Maine Mariner]

Not yet

[colorado tanker]

I thought global warming caused WWII.

[fishtank]

Certainly.

Bush has his plate full taking the correct and full blame for 000bama getting elected.

/nosarc = I’m serious.

[dfwgator]

Stalin wanted War in the West, so that the Soviets could sweep in and pick up the pieces and march to the Atlantic.

[dfwgator]

At least no one blamed Bush................

Didn't Prescott Bush have ties to the Nazis?

[FredZarguna]

“I would also like to say,” Mr. Putin declared, “that it was really Britain’s fault that we killed all those Poles in the Katyn Forest. Yes, of course we blamed the Nazis for it, but come, really now! Stalin would never have signed the order if he had not been able to guess that eventually Germany would turn on us, and that Churchill would refuse to press the matter. The Man of Steel was a consummate judge of human nature. He was right about Hitler all along, now, wasn’t he?”

[muawiyah]

Actually, Putin makes a good point ~ that Chamberlain's appeasement backed Stalin into a corner ~ he needed a nonaggression pact with Hitler since it was obvious to him, and everyone else, he'd have no allies in any fight with the Nazis.

BTW. that's pretty much been the Conservative position all along ~ that the appeasers caused WWII by refusing to stand up to an obvious aggressor. Why we should imagine the Russians didn't notice is beyond me ~ they ended up paying a pretty big price for Chamberlain's stupidity.

[dfwgator]

“I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.” - Churchill, October 1939.

And yes, from the Russian perspective it was in their own interest. They ultimately wanted to destroy Germany, France and England, and at the time, one could see how signing the Pact was in their interests.

[muawiyah]

BTW, this is th also the 200th anniversary of Sweden's loss of Finland to the Czar of Russia (who maintained it as an independent Grand Duchy subject only to his will ~ that allowed the Danes to come in and loot the place).

All of which leads into the way Russians, whether under the Czars, or the Commies, or today ~ look at the world. They have an historic fear that the Swedes are going to get mad at them and do bad things, probably taking their traditional invasion routes through the Kola Peninsula (where Putin was raised) and Poland!

I can imagine the thoughts on Putin's mind today as he looks at the "ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY" calendar on his PC ~ his footnotes say ~ "Beware perfidious Albion" and "Don't give in to the Varangians or they'll takeover the country"

[Melchior]

Russia is now, and has always been, an oriental despotism. It is bearely European, and ethnically it has much more in common with Mongolia than it does with western Europe.

[Bender2]

It was all the Brit's fault! They made me... invade Poland!

Yeah, just like Sarah Palin made Obama... want to kill off all the old white folks.

Well, Shatner made me... go gay!

My mutinous crew made me... carry my balls around in my hand.

Lil made me... wear this cheese bra.

Ben made me... have sex with him.

Spain drove me... to drink and sleep with women.

NASA put me in space and made me... drink and sleep with little green women.

Yoko made me... break up with George, John and Ringo.

Obama made me... give up that other white meat.

Crocs made me... carry this knife.

Global Warming Made me... serve man.

The grief of Brett wearing purple made me... have sex with that woman.

Barack makes me... say all those stupid things.

Andy Taylor makes me... shoot to kill.

Cruel circumstance made Mongo... pawn in game of life.

Drinking at those Green Bay strip clubs with Vince made me... lose the Ice Bowl.

All that porn big e-mails me made me... well, you know--

[tanuki]

Great post, Bender. One of your best.

[Bender2]

Sorry, tanuki's not having created an FR home page... makes me shoot my mouth off!

[kenavi]

British appeasers thought that they could ride Hitler to take on the Soviets. In the same way, American apologists say we could have ridden Saddam to take on the Ayatollahs.

The meglomaniacs, however, harbor their own ambitions.

[goldfinch]

bump for later.

[Pablo64]

LOL! Excellent. I needed to start my day out with a good laugh. Keep it up Bender.

[IDFbunny]

The blond hair and blue eyes really gives away their Mongolian ancestry.