Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine D.I.

Kuleba, talking with TV presenter E.A.

Kiselyov (who in the 1990s on the Gusinsky NTV recommended himself as a "spiritual image of Russia", however, that was a long time ago), described the future prospects of Crimea.

Recalling how during the "Crimean spring of 2014, the inhabitants of the peninsula said:" The main thing is to return to Russia, and there at least stones from the sky ", meaning that there can be no worse Maidan Ukraine, Kuleba said:" Please, there will be stones from the sky, a lot of things will be.

We will wait for our time. " 

And he did not just threaten: "Already you!", But outlined a specific scenario for the return of Crimea.

The history of Alsace, which went to Germany in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian war, was named as a historical model.

Kuleba remarked: “Despite the relations and contacts between the two countries, the French elite clearly knew what they would do at the first opportunity: they would return Alsace and Lorraine.

As soon as this historic opportunity presented itself, they immediately returned everything back. "

The Ukrainian minister is right in that the mood of revenge was very strong in France. You can recall the stories of Maupassant ("Pyshka", "Mademoiselle Fifi") or the novel by Jules Verne "500 Million Begums", where the monstrous Herr Schulze was bred as the spiritual image of Germany. When we marvel at what Kiev politicians are saying, we can recall what Parisian thinkers carried in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ukrainian revenge-seekers will seem meek creatures against their background.

But Kuleba either does not know, or considers it an insignificant trifle what the “historical opportunity” was that provided the opportunity to return Alsace and Lorraine. It is called the First World War. And also - the collapse of history, the tragic suicide of the former Europe. Then almost 20 million people died, four empires collapsed, and the echo of that terrible cataclysm is still being heard now - more than 100 years later. The strong current turmoil in the Middle East (Syria) and South-Eastern Europe (Balkans) comes from there. And how many more aftershocks there will be - no one knows. Just make the first swing with a scythe.

Indeed, one of the preconditions for the armistice on the Western Front on November 11, 1918 was the immediate evacuation of Alsace and Lorraine. Strasbourg and Metz became French again, the lady of Strasbourg, who had stood for nearly half a century on the Place de la Concorde, covered with black crepe, was covered with rags, Alsatian Johann became Jean, and Gretchen became Margot, the chanson Ils ont rendu L'Alsace et La Lorraine was performed in Parisian establishments. 

True, the fun was spoiled not only by the grave consequences of the war - "Every village is a communal grave, cities are a prosthetic plant."

For France, the victory of 1918 turned into another breakdown of the historical ridge.

The nation that fought heroically and suffered the greatest losses (in every church there is a plaque in memory of parishioners who fell for France, and this plaque is large), no longer wanted to fight.

What the whole world saw in the days of the "strange war" of 1939 and the shameful surrender of 1940.

And Strasbourg in 1940 became German again for another five years.

Happiness is so changeable.

If Minister Kuleba is ready to ignite the fire of world war in order to satisfy his thirst for revenge and rank Crimea as a Ukrainian state in the post-war ashes, what can I say to that?

Of course, politics is a tough business, sometimes fraught with the risk of world carnage.

The scale of the massacre is now even difficult to imagine.

Nuclear weapons have not been canceled.

But the confidence of the minister - and not the Minister of Public Utilities, but the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is obliged by his position to know at least a little history - is striking that in the event of a hypothetical military cataclysm, someone will care about Ukraine and its claims.

So you can imagine the dying thoughts of a NATO soldier dying on the battlefield: “My leg was torn off, well, to hell with it, but Crimea will be ours!”.

Many were amazed at Kulebin's predecessor P.A.

Klimkin.

The man was really so-so, but compared to D.I.

He would be Brutus in Rome, and Pericles in Athens.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.