Some Things Never Change

On May 6, 1944, Germany surrendered unconditionally, signalling the end of World War II in Europe. But, writes Ian Buruma in Year Zero:

“Stalin was furious that General Eisenhower had presumed to accept the German surrender for the eastern as well as western fronts. Only the Soviets should have that privilege, in Berlin. Stalin wanted to postpone V-E Day till May 9.”

Even as the Allies were arguing, in the general confusion Admiral Doenitz announced the German surrender on radio. Was the cat out of the bag?

“But still there was no official announcement from the Allied leaders that the war with Germany was over.”

 

On 8th May, the Russians accepted the surrender of the Germans (again). Churchill decided to ignore the Russians and not wait for 9th; instead, he decided to formally announce the victory in England on 8th at 3 p.m. But wait:

“General Charles de Gaulle, refusing to be upstaged by Churchill, insisted on making his announcement to the French at exactly the same time.”

 

A little less than half a century later, the same jockeying among leaders at the end of a war repeated itself after the Yugoslavia war. In Shadowplay, Tim Marshall pointed out that:

“In 1944, The US stopped at the gates of Paris, and allowed the Free French army to chase the remaining Germans out. It was a political decision designed to strengthen General de Gaulle’s position among the French public.”

That was a different era though, when there was no TV. But:

“In Kosovo, they (Americans) wanted prime time.”

So much so that the Americans told the British army that was nearer Kosovo to stand back. They, the Americans, would go in first. After all, they headed NATO.

 

It gets even more amusing. And dangerous. Remember, the Yugoslavia war happened after the fall of the USSR, and Russia had been relegated to a minor power, forbidden from being part of the Yugoslavia war. But even as the Americans took their time to reach Kosovo, a Russian unit in Bosnia decided to move in first. And so they took the airport. Suddenly, Russia, a country that had no role in the war, seemed to have manoeuvred itself into relevance! It left the Americans fuming: the Russians had stolen their thunder.

 

This was a very dangerous point. In theory, the Russians, having secured the airport, could fly in more troops, and forcibly create a “Russian sector”, a la Germany in 1944. The US chief, General Wesley Clark, asked the British to take back control of the airport. The British General Mike Jackson refused, since such a move would inevitably involve firing at the Russians:

“I’m not going to start bloody World War Three for you!”

(In case you wondered, the Russians pulled out soon from the airport and Kosovo, but for a brief period there, they had thumbed their noses at NATO).

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