June 6th is the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, and France is planning a big commemoration. As part of the festivities, President Emmanuel Macron has extended an invitation to a Russian delegation. Now, for those of you who don’t know, the Russians did not participate in D-Day. Here are the countries that contributed at least some troops: United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, Australia, Czechoslovakia, Polish government-in-exile, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Greece, South Africa, and Southern Rhodesia.
That’s not to say the Russians didn’t play the main role in defeating the Nazis. The Soviet Union was absolutely pulverized by the German Wehrmacht. It’s estimated that an astonishing 27 million Soviets died of war-related causes, and whatever else we might say about Josef Stalin, we owe him our gratitude for refusing the give up in the face of the most formidable and brutal attack in recorded history. That level of sacrifice should be honored, and I suppose that is Macron’s reasoning.
But the other main D-Day participants aren’t amused. A U.K, official is “disturbed.” The Americans are displeased.
The White House is not pleased about the move, two administration officials told POLITICO. “We would defer to the government of France, which organizes the commemoration at Normandy,” one of the officials said. “But perhaps this will remind the Russians that they actually fought real Nazis once, not imaginary ones in Ukraine.”
Putin attended the 60th and 70th anniversaries, which is a reminder of how long he’s been in power, but he is not invited this time around. If he came, he’d probably be arrested since there’s a warrant outstanding from the International Criminal Court. And that’s really a clue for why perhaps playing by the old diplomatic niceties isn’t appropriate under current circumstances.
King Charles is scheduled to attend, as is Joe Biden and German chancellor Olaf Scholz. The three leaders represent a new alliance fighting against fascism, but now they are expected to break bread with the Russians. The French defend their position as a refusal to “revise history” by writing the Russians out of the struggle to defeat the Nazis, but the decision doesn’t honor the current struggle. The people who died or were wounded on D-Day weren’t fighting so that 80 years later new fascists could come and disingenuously honor their sacrifice.
To me, this is dishonorable and a sign of weakness. My hope is that Russians don’t have the gall to accept.
