by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Mauritius, Irada Zeynalova
1945 is the starting point of the world we live in, the world where Mauritius – as well as the whole Africa – became independent, the world that was born from the idea of justice. 80 years ago the humankind believed that there would be no wars anymore, since the WW2 was horrible enough. It seemed that the lesson would never be forgotten. Even despite being located thousands of miles from the frontlines, Mauritius turned out to be one of the crossroads of the Big War. It was the place where Allied fighter jets were based, battleships were fueled and where the submarine war was coordinated from. What is more, Mauritius sent an unimaginable for a small island within the British Empire number of its sons, more than 10 thousand, to the frontlines of the War.
At that time we were allies. We believed in our common victory and were sure that happiness would await us in the future. The wounds were so deep that nobody seemed to remember that the scale and the ramifications of the WW1 were not any less horrible. Back then Mauritius also became one of the Cross Roads of the war and a crucial military base of the British Empire. After the Battle of the Somme, after the use the weapon of mass destruction that killed thousands of people and after the fall four empires, the humankind seemed to renounce war once and for all. As a result, it established the League of Nations. While the romantics believed in future happiness, the pragmatics wanted to paint a detailed map of African and Middle Eastern colonies as well as another one confronting the Soviet Russia and the socialists.
The end of the WW2 gave birth to the UN. Once again the idealists put their faith in the idea of happiness being very close. They relied on the emergence of the independent states in Africa and the Middle East and the possibility of the UN founders – the USSR, the USA, the UK, and France – becoming the real peace guardians who would control warmongers all over the world. The realists had other plans in mind, since they’d already had a nuclear bomb and launched a nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some people say that it was the last strike that put the end to the war. They can’t be any further from the truth. Japanese children still suffer from the radiation everlasting effects and the upcoming generations are disfigured by radiation.
The end of the WW2 triggered the collapse of the colonial system that empowered peoples to build their own nations, to join the UN, and to decide the fate of the world. Nevertheless, yet another war, known as the Cold war, started. Millions of people all over the world fell victims to it. Europe distanced itself from that conflict, but clashes erupted in the Middle East, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and all over Africa. Nobody can estimate the exact number of the fallen.
Now it’s crystal clear that all of the world wars pursued the same goal – to get access to resources, lands, markets, and trade roads. And there is a reason behind it, since major states, even if they had officially renounced colonies, needed energy for their development, thus, fought for oil, gas, rare-earth metals and delivery routes.
Did the Soviet Union and then Russia as its descendent understand what was going on? For sure. Even in the hardest times we always put all our efforts to support the independence of the fledgling nations and to create a counterweight to those who tried to recolonize them. While being devastated by the WW2 that nearly destroyed cities and killed millions of people, our country helped by sending scientists, doctors, teachers all over the world, by supporting the fight for freedom and assisting those who were building their states from scratch. We knew that otherwise the new world would never have been born. We knew that nothing but development would stop the enmity and prevent the WW3.
That is why we so rigorously remind the world of the WW2 horrors and the fact that it happened because some people had decided to forget the WW1 terrors. Now that conflicts have erupted all over the world, it’s clear that people are no longer afraid of the history repeating itself. With information flow running faster, the memory seems to have become shorter.
Can we assume that the WW3 has already started at the national level? Or it’s better to ask the following question – if the WW1 and the WW2 changed the world forever what is happening now? There is no answer yet. But we know for sure that if the League of Nations failed to protect the world from the war and the UN is prone to follow in its footsteps, people have to find the way to save the world. If we are to believe those who argue that even a bigger fight for energy resources and trade routes unveils itself, nuclear bomb is not the most dangerous thing. It’s climate change, resulted from this fight, that destroys our planet.
It comes as no surprise that independent Mauritius that has been carefully and assiduously building its democratic nation and that is considered today as one of the most peaceful states could once again become a chessboard for the major figures’ play. The fact that it’s no longer a part of the British crown changes nothing in London’s military plans, with heated debates about Chagos and Diego-Garcia independence being a telling example.
Hence, on the eve of the 80-year-anniversary of the end of the WW2, it’s essential to always remember its horrors. For this reason, Russia is so persistent in its reminders of the fact that the Earth is home for all of us. We don’t have another one.
