Historian at Literary Society on Russian history - controversy in the audience BY ALEXANDRA JOEPEN-SCHUSTER MÜNCHNER MERKUR, Feb 23, 2024 Gräfelfing (MM) - The second anniversary of Russia's war of Putin's war against Ukraine on 24 February raises questions and spreads general uncertainty has its roots from Tsar Peter. There was therefore a great deal of public interest on Tuesday evening at the Kurt-Huber-Gymna- sium (KHG). The Literary Society of Gräfelfing had invited the renowned historian of Eastern Europe, Prof. Martin Schulze Wessel, as the second guest in the half-year programme. The expert on Russia presented his book "The Curse of Empire", which was nominated for the German Non-Fiction Prize in 2023. In the end, the lecture was not very optimistic and Schulze Wessel warned: "If NATO's promise of security is no longer valid, we'll just be a bunch of chickens!"
"The Curse of Empire" is the title of the book nominated for the German Non-Fiction Prize, which author Prof Martin Schulze Wessel presented to guests of the Gräfelfing Literary Society at the Kurt-Huber-Gymnasium. PHOTO: DAGMAR RUTT
In particular, Schulze Wessel raised awareness of the fact that Russia's imperial past is the key to understanding Putin's invasion of Ukraine and his anti-Western stance. In 2022, this was not a turning point in Russian politics, but an act of continuity," the researcher concluded. Schulze Wessel focussed his presentation on three core theses. Firstly, he made the parallels between the actions of Tsar Peter the Great (Peter I, 1672-1725) and Vladimir V. Putin recognisable for his audience: "From a new perspective, a special path of Russian history begins with Peter I, which was not predetermined, but inevitably leads to the present," said the university professor. The consistent implementation of imperial structures for economic and geographical reasons was identical for both heads of state.
"Peter I aimed to dominate the entire export trade as far as his end customer England at the time and sought to connect the Baltic and North Seas for export," said Schulze Wessel, pointing out the great similarity to Putin's expansion of the Nordstream II gas pipeline. The unification of the entire Slavic people under one rule in the sense of "all or nothing" is a second thought pattern that leads into the present, explained Schulze-Wessel. The Polish question under Peter the Great in the 18th century had characterised the structural continuity, which is now taking hold again in the struggle for Ukraine. Russia sees its imperial identity threatened by the development towards the independence of individual states. These are seen as tools of Western powers that seek to destroy Russia.
Thirdly, the lecture focussed on contingency, on the question of whether there would have been alternative paths in historical development. Schulze Wes- sel cited the love story between the Tsar's daughter Elisaveta Petrovna and the Ukrainian Cossack Oleksii Rozumovskyi as an example. "There would have been an opportunity for a different Russian-Ukrainian story here," Schulze Wessel judged. However, bureaucratic structures such as customs had been stronger than this coincidental event of an affective bond.
When a member of the audience spoke after the lecture, there was a brief commotion and a few members of the audience left the auditorium in disgust. It had been claimed that an immediate peace could be established by stopping the supply of weapons to Ukraine, and that the expansion of the NATO area was the real reason for Russia's attack. "Putin himself agreed to Poland joining NATO at the time," Schulze Wessel rebutted, emphasising in no uncertain terms: "Ukraine is the victim, not Russia!" The Baltic states would also be threatened if Ukraine were to fall. It would be fatal to believe that a simple deal is possible.
Source: Image of the article from the Muenchner Merkur of 23 February 2024.