No, Zelensky is not Churchill

“Imagine kicking Churchill out of the White House in 1940.  That’s what President Trump did to Zelensky on Friday.”  So claim Ukraine enthusiasts.  In their view, we must defend Ukraine at all costs.  Permitting Putin’s Russia to defeat Ukraine would be like permitting Hitler to defeat England. 

But is this comparison sound?  Hardly.

By the end of 1940, Hitler had successfully conquered Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, and France.  If England fell to the Nazis, Hitler would have effectively controlled Europe in its entirety.

What then?  Many Americans actually weren’t concerned.  They believed that the Atlantic Ocean would protect them.  But others saw dire consequences.  With England defeated, the British navy would no longer “rule the waves.”  Rather, the Nazi navy would.  The Nazis might even conquer parts of the British navy whole and turn it against the U.S.

Some feared a frontal invasion of the East Coast.  Others believed that the Nazis would first establish themselves in South America and head north.  In her book Those Angry Days, historian Lynne Olson writes:

Life [magazine] ran a story [in 1940] that described in hair-raising, hypothetical detail how “fascist” forces could occupy Brazilian ports, raid the Panama Canal, bomb Caribbean Islands, destroy America’s Atlantic fleet, occupy Cuba, and invade the U.S. mainland.  The article, complete with illustrations, envisaged “a victorious Fascist Army” marching up Market Street in Wilmington, Delaware, while Fascist tanks and infantry overpowered small, underequipped U.S forces near Pittsburgh.  After the fall of Washington, New York, and the major East Coast industrial centers, U.S. envoys, in the Life scenario, would meet with Fascist officials at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall to sue for peace.

Some pundits, like aviation hero Charles Lindbergh, believed that the Nazis could never successfully invade the Western Hemisphere and thus opposed U.S. aid to England.  But a military invasion wouldn’t have been the U.S.’s only concern had the Nazis defeated England and dominated all of Europe.  In testimony before Congress, influential columnist Dorothy Thompson argued that Hitler could conquer South America by economic means alone.

“If Britain collapses, in all probability the South American countries will say to us, ‘Gentlemen, we prefer to go along with you; but will you please take our 2,000,000 bales of cotton … our 200,000,000 bushels of corn, our 100,000,000 bushels of wheat?’”  And since the U.S. was in no position to buy these quantities of goods, “South America would have to trade with Hitler. … And, inasmuch as it is Hitler’s system when he becomes a buyer also to become the dominant partner in the concern, it follows that no navy in the world could prevent him from becoming the master of South America without firing a single shot.”

In a July 4, 1941 address to the nation, President Franklin Roosevelt warned that the U.S. simply could not “survive as a happy and fertile oasis of liberty surrounded by a cruel desert of dictatorship.”  Secretary of State Cordell Hull explained why: if Hitler were to conquer Europe, “our national security [would] require the continuous devotion of a very great part of all our work and wealth for defense production, prolonged universal military service, extremely burdensome taxation, unending vigilance against enemies within our borders, and complete involvement in power diplomacy.”

Let us return to the present day.  Putin is not a maniacal mass killer like Hitler, but let’s suppose for a second that he were, and let’s suppose further that he conquers Ukraine.  What then?  Exactly how would Russia threaten the U.S. with this new territory?  England, France, Poland, Germany, Austria, Czechia, Italy, and other countries in Europe would all still be free.  Russia would not control the seas or have the ability to sail across the Atlantic Ocean unimpeded.  And that would remain true even if he were to be so mad as to invade the Baltic states and Poland.

Only a Europe entirely controlled by Russia should concern us.  So if Russia attacks France, Germany, or England, the U.S. should indeed arguably arm these countries to the teeth.  These countries would then become our “first line of defense,” just as England was our first line of defense in World War II. 

But Putin has not invaded Western Europe (and will never invade Western Europe).  That means that Zelensky is not Churchill.  He’s not the leader of the only remaining free country in Europe.  He’s merely a comedian-cum-president trying to get others to pay for his country’s defense.  I don’t blame him.  He’s looking out for Ukraine.  But we should look out for America.  From a strictly American point of view, the outcome of the war in Ukraine is of little significance.

Elliot Resnick, Ph.D. is the host of The Elliot Resnick Show; the former chief editor of The Jewish Press; and the author of five books, including America First: The Story of Sol Bloom, the Most Powerful Jew in Congress During the Holocaust.  He is also the creator of a new online course: “Ten Tips to Drastically Improve Your Writing.”  Follow him at @ResnickElliot.

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