I want to add, that arms are still needed in this day-and-age, even to uphold peace. So many things are not as black and white as they seem.
I am quite happy NATO (to name one) can deter bad actors from attacking it, or in worst case use them to protect its member states. But, yes, ideally weapons would be history.
They speak more elegant... or French
Anrwerp is Belgium, though ;)
Indeed, that is what had happened to the League of Nations and why the US never joined.
Also the UN is still an important platform where diplomatic relations are upheld even in dire situations. Even with Russia it is important to have some lines of discussion.
Where I live now, in the Nordics, I get really agitated when I see people (in cars) standing in the middle of crossings and blocking T-junctions to smaller roads. Unlike in the Netherlands, and probably most countries, you can tell that there is way less time spent with an actual instructor (not claiming Dutch drivers are perfect, people in general are not flawless, let a lone in a high speed box on rollers). Another thing that annoys me is the amount of people on their phones while driving, it is insane. I didn't observe it like this in the Netherlands, but that I might just have missed this. Mobile phones must be the most dangerous addiction if we can't even put them away when doing potentially dangerous activities.
I completely recognise the experiences you have while driving. My primary transport is public transport. I love it as I can chill and let my mind just relax a bit, but we have access to a car, and, indeed, when using it (when I snoozed a few too many times), everything is upsetting (the issues in the first paragraph are in general bothering me though) and their is no chill time when driving to work. I like driving on a holiday, cause you get to see new things and get to drive scenic routes, but as a means of everyday transport it is the worst.
I can give the people here some slack. The streets are terrible, even in the urban space. And it does indeed help a lot to have guidance and good structural rules on how to use the roads (like roundabouts).
I never claimed nor intended to give nazis any benefit of the doubt.
Thanks for the detailed insight.
As a side note, I was actually going through the 1st Galician-wikipage and found a link to some explanation on the emblem. Seems there is some historical reasons for the use of the lion and the crowns. The crowns are still found in the coat of arms of Galicia.
This emblem was to be depicted 'traditionally Ukrainian weapons, but those that would not be symbols of Ukrainian national hopes^1.'
The lion symbol in historical documents is found for the first time in the coat of arms of the Galician-Volyn state. From that time until World War I, the lion remained the Ukrainian national coat of arms in Galicia^1.
And the crowns has something to do with the Austrian Monarchy^1.
Sergey Muzychuk (2004), "Ukrainian military arm emblems during World War II 1939-45.", https://www.myslenedrevo.com.ua/uk/Sci/AuxHistSci/Znak/znak33/UkrSymbolsWW2.html
He had more than his view, he was instrumental in its creation and actively visited them.
Indeed, Nazi propaganda must have strengthened their alliance as well.
President Vlodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, condemned the embroidery marches, which had been conducted legally.
I guess Nazi symbolic are not as regulated as they are in western-Europe and far from the strict rules in Germany.
Do you know if neo-nazism forms a more significant part of the Ukrainian population than in other states, or has it been much more highlighted because of the invasion?
It is sad to see these nazi, xenophobic and extreem right parties flourishing over Europe. All the polarising issues playing now, with a large amount of disrupters and disinformation do not tend to bring people in harmony.
I completely agree, we should not applaud these people, not parade them and of course nationalism often leads to more harm than good.
Of course, Himmler had his view on the group, and like you said, and is mentioned on the wikipage, many joined for other reasons, like independence. The group itself has never found guilty for war crimes, this again does not mean this hasn’t happened.
The parade in 2010 is really… bad and strange. Makes me wonder who allowed it. This was prior to the Mayday revolution, under a Russian aligned president.
Again, I am not saying joining the SS for other reasons than the extinction of jews is justified, but people take their opportunity when it arises in a direction they think is right.
Thanks for the insight on the other options in the form of the Galicians. Could the reason for them (the Ukrainian section of the SS) joining the Nazis be, that they could be better equipped as a part of a war machine, rather than as a resistance group?
Without knowing a great deal about this, but I think it is important to look at the reasoning behind them joining the Nazis. Ukraine wasn’t an independent state at that point. Considering Germany fought Russia, this might have had to do with self-interests in creating a state.
Anyhow, I think things are less black and white here. Not saying that this should be applauded in anyway, though.
Group of Nazi-Germany fighters moved to Canada after WWII, amongst them this Ukrainian who fought on the side of the Germans.
I think this section is quite interesting and shows the reason for many Ukrainians to fight on the German side:
Dominique Arel, the chair of Ukrainian studies at the University of Ottawa, told Canada’s public broadcaster CBC that the division Hunka was part of had attracted thousands of Ukrainian volunteers, many joining with hopes they could achieve Ukrainian independence.
Only Germans from Germany were able to fight in the German army, Arel said, so non-German volunteers who believed in Nazi aims or sought to use Nazi power for their own ends were organised into SS divisions.
“We have the issue of symbolism here, the optics of serving in a military unit whose logo is that of arguably the greatest criminal organisation in the 20th century … so obviously the optics are not good.”
Not saying anything about this particular person, but the world is not black or white.
Of course, I neither wanted to portray arms sales as just something good. Unsurprisingly, states manage to have these twisted deals in the name of national interests.