The rhetoric of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is similar - that the states have the right to revanchism after Germany was defeated in World War II and after Russia was humiliated at international level through the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, expert Igor Boțan stated in a public debate hosted by IPN News Agency. According to him, Russian propagandists’ rhetoric concerning the use of the nuclear weapon shows that things go bad at military level.

According to Igor Boțan, Germany and the Soviet Union had close economic relations after World War I. After the Ribbentrop – Molotov nonaggression pact and the secret protocol were signed in 1939, the two states divided the spheres of influence and continued to cooperate by a tacit alliance.

“The Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact helped the Germans and the Soviets to divide the spheres of influence. The Soviets and the Germans cooperated a lot from economic viewpoint. This cooperation started back in the 1920s. Neither the Soviets nor the Germans were satisfied with the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles. There was close cooperation between them until 1933, when Hitler came to power. The invasion of Poland was a joint activity after the coming of Hitler. Joint parades of the victory took place after the Soviets decided to enter Poland too, as if to defend the Ukrainian and Belarusian inhabitants,” said the permanent expert of IPN’s project.

Acceding to him, Hitler’s rhetoric used after World War I was replicated by Vladimir Putin in the war in Ukraine. The leader from the Kremlin insists on the invincibility of the Russian army.

“What Hitler said then Putin repeats now. Hitler said that Germany didn’t lose the war, but it was stabbed in the back by the Social-Democrats and the masons. Now Putin says that Russia cannot be beaten. Russia can be destroyed only from inside. These statements repeat exactly the rhetoric of the Nazi leader,” stated Igor Boțan.

He noted that the nuclear weapon is now the main instrument. The Russian propaganda permanently threatens with the use of nuclear weapons. At the beginning, the Russians spoke about the use of strategic weapons. Now they threaten only with tactical weapons, with the striking of targets in Ukraine.

“We cannot know how things will develop, but the thought of the use of nuclear weapons shows the Russians are in an extremely difficult situation. The use of a nuclear weapon is the ultima ratio. We must not forget Putin’s article that was published in 2020 in the British magazine “National Interest”, in which he justifies the German revanchism after World War I. In fact, it was a threat as he believes that Russia was also humiliated by the dismemberment of the socialist camp. Then Putin said that Russia has the right to take revenge,” stated Igor Boțan.

The public debate entitled “Truth and lie about beginning of World War II” was the 18th installment of IPN’s project “Impact of the Past on Confidence and Peace Building Processes” which is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.