Parallels seen between Ukraine and Germany

On July 24, 1914, the British cabinet met to discuss a crisis tearing both the country and the ruling Liberal Party apart: the threat of religious and ethnic violence in Ireland arising from the decision to grant Ireland home rule. Before the close of the meeting, the foreign minister, Sir Edward Grey, introduced another issue of concern: the inflammatory Austrian ultimatum to Serbia following the assassination of the archduke and his wife in Sarajevo the month before.

According to Winston Churchill, cabinet members were initially unable to get Ireland off their minds and concentrate on the Serbian crisis; in the end, they realized that, compared with Serbia, Ireland was a sideshow. Less than a week and a half later, Europe had plunged into World War I.

We believe a similar situation needs to be addressed today, but first, a little disclosure. We are, respectively, a conservative Republican and a progressive Democrat. On the domestic issues of the day, we generally toe our party lines. As a Ukrainian-American with strong contacts in Ukraine, Walter has a deep sympathy for the 'Maidan” movement of the people there for an independent state, freed from its endemic corruption, with strong ties to Europe.

We see echoes in both the rationalization for intervention and the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities between the current situation in Ukraine and that of Germany leading up to World War II.

Just as Nazi Germany justified its annexation of the Sudetenland by funding rabble-rousers and alleging ethnic Germans were being oppressed, Russia has annexed Crimea by sending in Russian special forces to stir up trouble and then claiming ethnic Russians were in danger.

In Donetsk, masked men distributed leaflets stating all Jews were required to register with the pro-Russian separatists who have taken control of city buildings.

Although the separatists have publicly stated they were not responsible for these leaflets, nonetheless, someone is trying to stir up anti-Semitism.

Is it possible Russian President Vladimir Putin, who, in annexing Crimea, said in part that it was to protect the Jews from anti-Semites, is planting these to justify his imperialist ambitions? Or is this just another manifestation of the ethnic hatred already displayed in Crimea, where people marked the homes of ethnic Tatars with X's.

The crisis in Ukraine is a time bomb which, unless successfully defused, could result in a major war. And the West's response is being watched by other potentially aggressive states such as Iran, China, North Korea and Pakistan and by wavering allies who will support a strong and unified response, but will look to their own safety if the West is perceived as weak.

The current Russian government is an existential threat to world peace. Mr. Putin does not seem to care whether we and our allies believe his pathological lying. We cannot know whether or not he has the support of the Russian people; the media there is not free, and he has instituted a regime of repression of even incipient dissent. The United States needs to declare a truce on domestic issues so we can present a united front against this threat. Luckily, there exists such a precedent. Anticipating war in 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took into his cabinet prominent Republicans Henry Stimson as secretary of war and Frank Knox as secretary of the Navy. Then, after Pearl Harbor, he made it clear that 'Dr. New Deal” was out of his office and had been replaced by 'Dr. Win the War.” For the remainder of the war, politics as usual was suspended to concentrate on defeating Germany and Japan.

President Barack Obama needs to follow Roosevelt's example, and the Republicans in Congress need to reciprocate.

' Walter Conlon, a Muscatine attorney and former state representative, is second co-chair of the Muscatine County Republican Central Committee. Rachel Graber, a graduate student in social work, is the chair of the environment and agriculture committee for the 2nd District Democratic platform, head of environmental advocacy for the Johnson County League of Women Voters, and an intern at the Women's Resource and Action Center at the University of Iowa. The views expressed by the authors are personal. Comments: Walterconlon@hotmail.com or racheg@gmail.com