History never repeats but often rhymes - Ukraine, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Thoreau

Mark Twain once wrote that "History never repeats," although the saying, "History never repeats but often rhymes" is often wrongly attributed to him. Some may feel this general idea applies regarding what is happening in Ukraine, with NATO expansion since the 1990s toward Russia's borders (in violation of a US promise), and Russia's attack on Ukraine.

I am not a supporter of Putin or the Russian invasion, nor am I a supporter of US expansion of NATO or US "regime change" aggression.

Some in the US have long expressed concern about Neo-Nazi elements in western Ukraine. Others have also noted James Baker's promise to a Soviet negotiator that NATO would not expand even an inch eastward.

[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56720589?utm_source=pocket-newtab]

History is full of promises violated when lines were crossed, such as Julius Caesar, whose Roman armies had been used for expansion of empire but not to oppress Rome, crossing the Rubicon river with those armies and imposing totalitarian power. As depicted in Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar was later killed for having crossed that line.

The tale of east-west divisions in Ukraine, and separatist movements in the east, resembles an older tale about a territory of Mexico: Sam Houston was fleeing Washington D.C. because of assault charges against him; he fled to Mexico and became part of a separatist movement there by which Texas would cede from Mexico, gain its independence, and later become part of the US. In hindsight (as well as to some at the time) the independence and then annexation of Texas looks like a US land-grab, taking Mexican territories.

The US later provoked an incident near a resulting disputed border in what was called the "Thornton Affair," in which some of the soldiers involved expressed shame and disgust at what the US was doing, under the cover of "defending its borders." US President Jame Polk lied when he told congress that American blood had been shed on American soil and asked for a declaration of war against Mexico.

Henry David Thoreau opposed the war and refused to pay taxes that would support it, so he spent time in jail for that, and his friends later bailed him out.

Then-freshman Representative Abraham Lincoln of Illinois wrote the "Spot Resolutions" to challenge Polk's lie: Show me the spot where American blood was shed. Lincoln believed a line had been crossed, and the US was a dishonest aggressor, but we were too committed to the war at that point, so the resolution failed.

If it was OK for the US to take Mexican land in Texas, and to pay bargain prices for more land after the Mexican-American war, then what moral authority does the US have to criticize Russia for its claims on Crimea and other eastern regions of Ukraine, or for Russia to go to war against Ukraine, as the US did against Mexico? The fact is, the US has no moral authority to make such claims against Russia.

Importantly, Russia feeling threatened by Ukrainian Neo-Nazi elements is not at all like Texas. It's only a near-rhyme, not history repeating.

Below is a 12-minute Gravel Institute video from 2022 explaining how Ukraine has a historic figure, Stepan Bandera, considered a hero in western Ukraine, who allied with Nazi Germany in 1930s-40s to seek independence from Russia. In Eastern Ukraine, he is still a hero, while the western parts of the country are pro-Russia. Later developments also explained, including US and Ukraine failure to condemn glorification of Nazism.
https://youtu.be/VtOx6dW_0vU


Another video (1 hr 14 min long): "Why is Ukraine the West's Fault? Featuring John Mearsheimer"
"John J. Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in Political Science and Co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago, assesses the causes of the present Ukraine crisis, the best way to end it, and its consequences for all of the main actors..."
https://youtu.be/JrMiSQAGOS4