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To: Rockingham

Well, if history is a teacher, then not necessarily.

Remember the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact? Hitler needed to secure his flank while he avenged the Versailles treaty. Still, he never intended not to take out the Soviet Union who were the bigger enemy.

He just wanted to make some temporary peace in the East for the purpose of circling round back to that later, to quote Jen Psaki.


8 posted on 05/12/2024 7:55:03 AM PDT by Alas Babylon! (Repeal the Patriot Act; Abolish the DHS; reform FBI top to bottom!)
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To: Alas Babylon!

If Turkey attacks Ankara from the rear, would Greece help?


9 posted on 05/12/2024 8:07:33 AM PDT by MikeSteelBe (The South will be in the right in the next war of Northern aggression.)
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To: Alas Babylon!
In spite of centuries of deep-seated antagonism and intermittent warfare, a changing military balance and larger national considerations impel Greece and Turkey to make nice -- for a while at least.

Turkey is under sanctions and political disfavor that diminish access to the best modern weapons and technology. Although Turkey has announced ambitious plans for a domestic arms industry, the sanctions diminish its potential and run up costs.

Meanwhile, Greece has boosted her military spending to above the NATO two per cent benchmark and is expected to be approved to purchase 20 F-35s that will outclass anything that Turkey has or can obtain.

Not only is Turkey's military modernization stalled while Greece's is well underway, but both countries have good reason to improve relations. To the surprise of all -- including the Greeks -- the birthplace of democracy is actually reforming its economy and government. The corruption and insider dealing that long defined Greek life are being rooted out in order to revive the Greek economy. Conflict with Turkey though would derail that effort.

Meanwhile, Turkey aims at greater power in the Muslim and Arab worlds and is meddling in conflicts throughout the region. This neo-Ottoman strategy is meeting resistance and would falter badly if Turkey had an active conflict with Greece.

11 posted on 05/12/2024 8:45:43 AM PDT by Rockingham (`)
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To: Alas Babylon!
Remember the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact? Hitler needed to secure his flank while he avenged the Versailles treaty. Still, he never intended not to take out the Soviet Union who were the bigger enemy.

And Stalin wanted the Germans to weaken their armies in the West, while the Soviet Union continued to re-arm. He had planned to launch an offensive against the Germans by 1943.

13 posted on 05/12/2024 8:48:35 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Alas Babylon!
Remember the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact? Hitler needed to secure his flank while he avenged the Versailles treaty.

Hitler played Stalin like a fiddle, knowing he would jump at the opportunity to split Europe with him. But before approaching Stalin, Hitler proposed Poland join the Anti-Comintern Pact aimed at the USSR. Poland, having a non-aggression treaties with both Russia and Germany (and not wanting to become a vassal state of Germany), declined. Stalin wasn't so concerned about treaties (nor was Hitler) and jumped in bed with the Nazis. Had Poland betrayed Russia instead of the reverse, we might live in a very different world today.

22 posted on 05/12/2024 11:10:45 AM PDT by ETCM (“There is no security, no safety, in the appeasement of evil.” — Ronald Reagan)
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