by Yigal Levin
Zelensky stated today that North Korea has effectively joined the war against Ukraine. So Ukraine is now fighting against two nuclear states? It turns out that we no longer have a Russian-Ukrainian war, but rather the outlines of this conflict are increasingly taking the form of a world war? Or not? Let's figure it out.
Historically, tens of thousands of regular Italian and German forces (plus some imported Moroccans, for good measure) fought on the side of the Francoists, but this does not prevent historians from viewing the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) precisely as a civil war. And do you know why? Because history is written by the victors.
The Republic viewed those events as an invasion; for example, here is a Republican poster — it says "Italian invasion," not something else.
And indeed, how can one seriously talk about a civil war in Spain if a large part of society, the police, parts of the army, and civilians remained on the side of the Republic after the coup? If it weren't for the Italian, German, and Moroccan troops, the coup would have been suppressed back in 1936. In the Guadalajara operation, there were 20,000 Spaniards on the side of the Republic, while the Francoists had several thousand Moroccans and 35,000 Italians. So, civil war or invasion?
For the Francoists, it was important to emphasize the civil nature of this war: the idea was that the Spaniards themselves were restoring order at home. The role of Moroccans, Italians, and Germans was accordingly downplayed. If the Republic had won, then democratic Spain would likely have made it to World War II and would have gone down in history as yet another victorious country, one of the first to experience an invasion by fascists. Thus, the war would have been presented not as a civil war but as a resistance to the coup and the subsequent invasion.
The same goes for the current situation: if Ukraine wins, this war will go down in history as Ukraine's resistance to the invasion of Russia, North Korea (and maybe others? Belarus? Iran? Syria?). If Russia wins, then this war will be recorded in history as allegedly purely internal Russian squabbles — like big brothers beating up the rebellious little ones, as if to say don’t pay attention.
Such things are indeed extremely important to document, and yes, it is crucial for all of us to help Ukrainians — every reasonable person of goodwill in this world is obliged to be on the side of the free world, that is, to do everything possible to assist the fighting Ukraine, so that history is not recorded within the framework of the grotesque grimaces of Moscow, North Korea, and other stables.
