Historians mark beginning of WWII

The Moldovan historians marked Thursday, September 17, the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War by holding a meeting at the National History Museum, which addressed the causes that triggered the war and various modern historiographical interpretations. Speaking on the role of the Molotov-Ribbentop Pact in triggering the war and ways of interpreting it, Dr. Ion Siscanu mentioned the commission created by Russian Dmitri Medvedev in May 2009, responsible for countering the “falsification of history in detriment to Russia's interests”. “The importance assigned to the activity of this commission can be guessed from its makeup – representatives of the Federal Security Service, of the Foreign Information Service, General Staff of the Russian Army, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the President's Office. If the Russian historians don't resist the pressure of this commission and discontinue to treat objectively the history of the Second World War and of the role of the Molotov-Ribbentrop, I guess the international reputation of Russia will be affected”. Dr. Anatol Petrencu stated “the historians should be free to choose and explain one subject or another, should have as much arguments as possible when they launch a theory, and the interference of the government by favoring certain ideas is injurious”. In Petrencu's opinion, the Pact needs to be debated between the countries affected by it so as to find scientific instruments to stop falsifications. Attending the meeting, Russian Ambassador to Moldova Valeri Kouzmin argued that it wasn't the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that started the war. “No one denies the existence of this pact and its importance for the history of Europe, but it had been preceded by so many other events decisive for the fate of the entire globe. Some historians, for example, said the war started in 1936 in Korea”, said the ambassador. According to him, “the roots of the Second World War go back to the First World War, which had ended with a disproportionate outcome”. Underlining that he was speaking as a historian, and not as a politician or diplomat, Kouzmin said “one of the causes (of the Second World War) was that Russia, which had played a decisive role in the Allies' victory in the First World War, was rewarded with nothing but ungratefulness”.