There is a chilling parallel between Europe’s reaction to Vladimir Putin early this year and Churchill’s attitude to Hitler in August 1939. Hitler would go to war, said Britain’s soon-to-be wartime leader, because he had superiority in numbers. In particular, the German air force of 390,000 men outnumbered Britain’s by three to one. British weakness in the air, Churchill thought, would encourage Hitler in his efforts to establish a Nazi superpower in Europe. He was right; within a month Germany had invaded Poland.
Now listen to Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party — expected to be the largest group after this year’s EU elections — speaking in Brussels last week. Europe, he said, needs to prepare for a scenario where the US, under
