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The Road To Failure Often Starts At The Moment Of Success!

By Matthew Clark


Quintus Ennuis (239 B.C.-169 B.C.) the father of Roman Literature once observed, "The Victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself to be so."


What Quitus Ennuis was commenting on was the human tendancy to treat the moment of one's victory as permanent. If, that is, you are the victor. This state of mind is generally not shared by the vanquished. The defeated suffer the negative consequences of their loss, so they therefore plot to make it a temporary state of affairs. This condition is true in business, war. politics, athletics, even in marriage. Any human endeavor almost certainly has a winner/loser dynamic, with predictable reaction(s) resulting from that/those dynamics. Indeed history has verified this examination. In particular the instant success is achieved often puts the benefactor in long term peril.


In 1763 at the conclusion of the first modern global conflict (not to be confused with the first modern total war) the Seven Years War, Britain, triumphant, stood alone above her fellow European nations as mighty Albion. Yet already the seeds of defeat to be suffered in a future hostility had already been planted. At the start of the conflagration British government debt was 75 million pounds. By 1763 it had doubled to 133 pounds. Britain had expanded their expenditures to accomplish their magnificent conquests. Yet the debt was a burden his majesty's government had to alleviate. Therefore they enacted egregious tax laws against their American colonists to assist in the governments debt payment. Aggrieved, the colonists rebelled. Meanwhile French and Spaniards, burning with shame from their defeat at the hands of the British, forged an alliance with the Americans. Result: A significant loss for the Island Nation.


During the first modern total war (World War I) France stood out by the determination of her fighting men. Verdun was the most conspicious example of this. "On ne passe pas!" (They shall not pass) the beleagured Gauls shouted at the attacking Germans. Dehydrated soldiers drank their own urine rather then abandon their posts. Lightly armed troopers faced off against the Kaiser's fighting men who employed flame throwers, potato handle hand grenades, and chemical warfare. French forces held Verdun despite formidable German onslaught. In November 1918 the German government, beset by revolution within their own nation, requested an armistance with the allied forces, above all the tenacious French.


France victorious evolved into a far more vacillating power than her resolute predecessor. Her people descended into class conflict, her media succumbed to corruption, while the nations political leaders betrayed the legacy that had been handed to them. Simultaneously Germans, smouldering from the bruising inflicted on them in 1918, rallied to political leaders bent on revenge. Revenge was achieved in a six week campaign (May 10- June 24) in the early summer of 1940. A shocked world watched in puzzled wonderment as the German military forces marched through the streets of Paris. This was followed by French lawmakers bowing before their NAZI masters as they surrendered to their conquerors!


During the Cold War (1946-1991) between the United States led NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Orgnization) forces ( allied with Pacific nations such as Japan and some other noteworthy lands) opposed by the Soviet Union and it's allies, Westerners employed an effective, simple strategy. Soviet forces would be 'contained' by the military threat posed by NATO and it's allies. While this stalemate occurred the depravations caused by a coercive inefficient communist social system would compel the citizens within the communist jurisdictions to rebel.


In the late 1980's and early 1990's this strategy came to fruition as one after another communist controlled nation abandoned their authoritarian political system. In Romania the people courageously adopted violent revolution during the frigid Christmas season of 1989. When old style Bolsheviks tried to reestablish communist SOCIALIST control in Russia during 1991 the patriots of RUS rose up to quell the effort.


At this moment of attainment Western political leaders threw victory away in an avalanche of smug hubris. Forgetting that victory had been accomplished in part due to considerable valour of individuals within the former Soviet empire,they proclaimed the West had 'won' the Cold War. Statements such as "the end of history", implying that all country's would now imitate western political norms, circulated through the halls of power. New York and London bankers demanded that the "defeated nations" turn over their domestic resources to be financed by Western institutions. Paris and Berlin investors commanded East Central European lawmakers give them access to those nations economic markets, without offering any reciprocal action in return.


Meanwhile signs indicated that not all policies implimented by Westerners during the Cold War had been wise. American support for Afghan rebels during the Soviet occupation of that country had resulted in the emergence of Osama Bin Laden as a Muslem political/military leader. Thus the way to 9/11 was established, followed by the disasterous Patriot Act, puppeted in most other NATO jurisdictions, as well as the neverending wars that have so depleted all the powers foolish enough to participate in these dubious crusads.


Over twenty years of battle has left Western governments, led by the United States, suffering from insoluable debt. NATO militaries are horribly weak. Canada can only field 2500 soldiers ( half a battalion) in a contemporary conflict. American recruitment consistantly falls below quota ( with the exception of the Marine Corps) for the different services. The last time the United Kingdom had an army as small as the current force was 1715. France's senior military branch is hopeless undertrained while Germany's is even weaker than her Gaulish neighbour.


Despite these obvious limitations NATO/Western policy in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Pacific/Asia is hyper aggressive. History is indeed rhyming, as the United States Alliance faces off against adversaries more powerful than them. Like Britain in 1783 ( American Revolutions end), or France in 1940, the NATO ( and her allies) Alliance is heading for a fall. This might be put down to experience except for the fact it is occurring during a nuclear age! Is it not time to put a stop to this nonsensical behaviour?



References:



Quintus Ennuis Roman Author

Written and fact checked by the editors of Encyclopedia Britannica


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