Alwaght- The May 8 White House Twitter message on the 75th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi Germany forces by the American and British forces which marked the end of WWII angered the Russian foreign ministry.
The tweet implied that the US and Britain were the forces that defeated the Nazi forces in the world war, disregarding a key role played by the eastern bloc’s power the Soviet Union.
The tweet was not a simple mistake or an ordinary post. Rather, it bore a symbolic meaning and a new fashion of writing the history that deserves analysis.
This issue should be studied deeper as a majority of the analysts suggest that the global policy order is transforming and in the forthcoming years we very likely will see new world order and structure. With these in mind, the White House tweet should be analyzed in three levels.
Why did the Russians react to the Washington offense?
The White House statement on the “Victory Day” in Europe met severe reaction from Russia. Maria Zakharova, the spokeswomen to the Russian foreign ministry, on the ministry’s Facebook page said that “instead of sending a congratulation card, many received the White House tweet snapshot that read on May 8, 1945, the US and the UK defeated Nazi Germany. It seems that the statement intends to undercut the influence of a recent statement jointly issued by the Russian and American leaders on the 75th anniversary of the day when Russia and American troops met at the Elbe River near Torgau in Germany on April 25, 1945.”
She said the joint statement honored the role of many countries and nations and millions of soldiers and citizens who sacrificed their life in their combat against Nazi Germany.
“White House move distorts reality and history and ridicules others. When an official body which claims to be the world leader, supporter of democracy, and an uncompromising fighter against fake news does this, we should not be easy with it.”
But why is Russia riled by the White House tweet to this degree? Two points need to be attention in answering this question. First, as all analysts and historians agree, Nazi Germany exposed its Achilles heel when it entered the war with the Soviet Union. Actually, many experts assert that if Hitler had not declared war on Soviet Russia, he could easily seize the Western Europe and also defeat Britain.
Second, what looks unacceptable to the Russians is related to the human losses of the Soviet Union in human history’s biggest war. Some published figures hold that the war cost the Soviet Union nearly 22 million people, the biggest among those involved in the war. So, such a distortion of history by the US is never acceptable.
History distortion or newly-emerging American nationalism
From another aspect, the important question is that if the White House just seeks to distort a historical reality by downplaying the Soviet role in the defeat of the Nazi forces or the incident should be seen from another angle.
There is no doubt that the US has intentionally misconstrued the story of victory over Nazi Germany. But the drive behind this should be tracked in the emergence of a new phenomenon in the US society and politics: American neo-chauvinism.
When Trump was elected as the president of the US in 2016, racism in the US saw an upturn. Although the driving force of this racism was Trump himself, it should be considered that in the American society, neo-nationalism is brewing, with its theoretical basis is the supremacy of the Americans over the non-Americans. It should be taken into account that description of an original American society means a population of white and non-migrant people with American nationality. The White House tweet should be labeled an American nationalism raised in the face of the Russians.
Forgetting European allies
One of the notable issues in relation to the White House tweet was ignorance of the European allies of the US especially France. In addition to the Russians, the French politicians and citizens could criticize the Americans for not mentioning them as key actors in the war against Hitler Germany.
This was never a mistake. Rather, it was a result of the dominance of Trumpism over American politics. A fashion of ruling that came with “America first” slogan and endangered any historical bonds and alliances of Washington with others. It is now motivating the White House to turn its back even to its closest allies within the Atlantic borders.
