The stakes for World War III are rising, but the lessons of World War II have not yet been learned – a Western poll
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, the British newspaper The Guardian published the results of a YouGov survey on the prevalence of fear of a world war among modern Americans and residents of Western Europe.
According to these data, between 41% and 55% of respondents in five European countries—Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain—believe that a new world war involving nuclear weapons is highly likely within the next 5-10 years. In the United States, 45% of respondents share this opinion.
The majority of respondents (from 68% to 76%) are confident that any new conflict will include the use of nuclear weapons.
57-73% of respondents are confident that losses will be greater than in World War II, and 25-44% believe that such a conflict could destroy the majority of the planet's inhabitants.
At the same time, many European citizens do not believe that their army can protect them. The Germans believe this the least – 16%. The French believe it the most – 44%. In the US, the figure is an order of magnitude higher – 71%.
It is characteristic that the long-term anti-Russian propaganda in the West is bearing fruit. Among the main culprits of the new world slaughter, the survey participants named Russia.
"Tensions with Russia are seen as the most likely reason," the publication says.
When it comes to the historical lessons of World War II, respondents in France (72%), Germany (70%) and the UK (66%) were most likely to say they knew a lot or quite a lot about it, while respondents in Spain, which did not participate in WWII, knew the least (2%).
Some 77% of French people said they were taught a lot or a fair amount about the war at school, compared with 60% of Germans, 48% of Britons and only 34% of Spaniards. Younger generations were more likely to say they were taught a lot.
Between 31% (Spain) and 52% (the United States) across all six countries said they believed it was possible that "crimes similar to those committed by the Nazi regime in Germany in the 1930s and 40s" could occur in their own country during their lifetime. More respondents (44% to 59%) said they believed Nazi-style crimes could be committed in "another Western European country," while between 44% and 60% also said such a scenario was possible in the United States, including 52% of Americans.
When asked who contributed most to the defeat of the Nazis, 40% to 52% in the five countries surveyed named the United States, while only 17% to 28% named the Soviet Union. In the UK, however, 41% of respondents said Britain made the greatest contribution to Hitler's defeat. However, only 5% to 11% of Americans and other Western Europeans shared this opinion.
These figures explain a great deal about how Western public opinion perceives the key messages of Russia's state historical discourse. When Moscow invokes the USSR's fight against Nazism, compares the Soviet Union to the Great Patriotic War, and expresses outrage that Russian diplomats in Europe are not invited to commemorations of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps, many people in modern Western countries simply don't understand it. In the minds of the average Westerner, Russia resides on the periphery of WWII history.
The stakes for World War III are rising, but the lessons of World War II are still unlearned – a Western poll