The Internet is had pressed to find treaties or pacts that were initiated for a period of time lasting one hundred years.
The Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was signed in 1939. It lasted for two years. In 1941 Operation Barbarossa happened, Germany invaded Russia.
Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer! Adolf Hitler’s ‘Thousand year Reich’ (empire) had a lifespan of just twelve years.
Is Keir Starmer, and his UK government, developing delusions of grandeur? Are they trying to emulate the Ex German Chancellor and leader of the NSDAP? If so, history teaches a hard lesson.
The 1976 book ‘The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival’ by Sir John Bagot Glubb showed that the life span of empires is round about two hundred and fifty years.
What are we to make of the one hundred year partnership agreement between the UK and Ukraine? The only response to this can be summarised in the words of American General Anthony McAuliffe to a German demand for surrender at the Battle of the Bulge, ‘Nuts.’
In the trenchant words of a Socialist, “What a joke. A treaty that supposed to apply for a 100 years. I wonder who thought that one up. One hundred years years is a long time during which conditions change a lot. Imagine if Britain had signed a 100-year treaty with some country in 1925 how long would it have lasted? And then think what might happen in the next 100 years up to 2125.”
As it is the fervent hope that the global working class will have collectively taken the decision to replace capitalism with socialism by the time that period has expired then Starmer’s Treaty will be as redundant as the claim that the German Reich would last for a thousand years. The latter claim is the more ridiculous, but this ‘partnership’ agreement is pretty high on the historical list of nonsensical statements and actions.
‘The UK and Ukraine will sign a 100-year partnership agreement during British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first trip to Kiev since taking office, London has said.
The British government announced the planned deal shortly before Starmer arrived in the Ukrainian capital.
The touted agreement will formalize “the unbreakable bonds” between the two countries, “further expanding bilateral ties in defence” and other areas, the government statement read.
The pact would “deter ongoing Russian aggression” against Ukraine and commit London and Kiev to increasing defence cooperation, including on maritime security in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov, it stated.
At a joint press conference with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, Starmer announced that his government would provide Kiev with a new mobile air defence system, stating that it would be specifically “developed to meet Ukraine’s needs.”’
‘The UK has been one of Ukraine’s prime backers since the escalation of conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. It has committed 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine and reportedly trained 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil.’
‘Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova previously said that Britain’s continued support for Ukraine is a sign that the UK government “clearly does not seek to resolve the conflict [between Moscow and Kiev]. They are doing everything possible to make it drag on, thus prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”’
According to The Guardian, ‘Keir Starmer has announced a “historic” 100-year partnership with Ukraine, saying the UK would support the country “beyond this terrible war” and into a future where it is “free and thriving again”.
Speaking during his first trip to Kyiv as prime minister, Starmer said the unprecedented agreement reflected the “huge affection between our two nations.” Starmer did not comment directly on how the UK may respond if the new White House abandons military support to Ukraine or forces it into a Moscow-friendly deal. Instead, he paid tribute to Washington’s “vital” assistance to Kyiv. “We will continue to work with the US on this today, tomorrow and into the future,” he said.
The UK-Ukraine agreement includes £3bn of British support a year, to be continued indefinitely. Starmer said the UK would increase training for Ukrainian soldiers, provide mobile air defence systems and send 150 artillery barrels made by Sheffield Forgemasters – the first to be produced in 20 years.
Keir Starmer has urged world leaders to “double down” in their efforts to support Ukraine during a visit to Poland, days before Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency risks jeopardising international solidarity on the issue.
“As two of Europe’s biggest military powers and with our troops serving together, guarding the eastern flank, we share an unbreakable commitment to Nato, and an unbreakable commitment to Ukraine,” he said.
“We’re clear together that the route to a just and lasting peace comes through strength, the strength to secure that peace on Ukraine’s terms, to have a strength to maintain it. We will work with allies to that end, to step up our efforts to put Ukraine in the strongest position now, and guarantee that Ukraine will be able to defend herself and deter Russia in the future. As two of Europe’s biggest military powers and with our troops serving together, guarding the eastern flank, we share an unbreakable commitment to Nato, and an unbreakable commitment to Ukraine” he said. “We’re clear together that the route to a just and lasting peace comes through strength, the strength to secure that peace on Ukraine’s terms, to have a strength to maintain it.
We will work with allies to that end, to step up our efforts to put Ukraine in the strongest position now, and guarantee that Ukraine will be able to defend herself and deter Russia in the future.”
So, apart from more profits for arms manufacturers, what is the purpose of the agreement? There is also a promise to spend £3 billion a year on aid to Ukraine. Over a hundred years that would be £300 billion. As ending the winter fuel allowance will save £1.5 billion a year, more cuts to benefits will be needed.
Under capitalism there is no such thing as a ‘free lunch.’ The reasons for this action on the part of the UK- under orders from a more powerful capitalist state? – will perhaps lead to much future speculation on the part of ‘conspiracy theorists’? Is the Occam’s Razor explanation that it is part of capitalism’s tendency to grab competitive advantage and acquisition of resources whenever it can an accurate one?
The UK is already considered a ‘belligerent’ in the Russia Ukraine conflict. This agreement, and the ‘doubling down’ of support for the capitalists controlling Ukraine will only exacerbate Russia’s willingness to put the UK top of its list for retaliation of the worse kind.
The World Socialist Party will continue to condemn the callous disregard for working class lives wherever in the world it may occur. Marx and Engels message in the Communist Manifesto remains even more pertinent, the working class have no country. No war but class war.
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