The appetite of a notorious expansionist: Danzig for Hitler, Migingo for Museveni?

The border crisis between Kenya and Uganda is a reminder of some of the historical facts related to both ancient and modern conquests. History has proved that border disputes or the urge for territorial expansion is no new thing. The appetite of all political expansionists has always appeared insatatiable.that is why inasmuch as the Kenyan and Ugandan governments are looking for the surveyors to ascertain the real borders in Lake Victoria; Ugandan troops are busy shifting the Kenya Uganda border beacons in west Pokot.this behavior by the Ugandan government could be a time bomb for Kenya. The behavior exhibited by the Ugandan troops is a very high level of provocation. If in Migingo they were using survey maps as an excuse, then what is their excuse for invading Kenyans borders in the north. If we look at the Norman conquests of England in AD 1066 by duke William of Normandy, and Adolf Hitler’s attempts to conquer the whole of Europe in precedence to world war two, then we can easily guess what kind of person president Museveni is given his stay in power on the Ugandan presidency, presiding over and ‘winning’, flawed presidential elections, appointing his close family relatives to senior political offices in the country and his behavior on the border points exhibit someone with insatiable appetitive for power with expansionist tendencies. The Norman conquest of England took place in 1066. At the beginning of 1066, the Anglo Saxon ruler of England, Edward the Confessor was on his deathbed. Since he had no children, there was no direct heir to the throne and he had not publicly designated any heir to succeed him. (Read) the confusion in the grand coalition after a failed electoral process where there was no clearly or generally accepted winner) After Edward the Confessor died on January 5th, 1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, whose sister was married to Edward the Confessor. He claimed that Edward the Confessor had anointed him the successor on his deathbed in the presence of the queen. Since Harold Godwinson was a powerful lord in the country, he soon received the approval of the Witan, the decision making body who could decide who would be king. This was resented by William of Normandy (a region in Northern France today). He was distantly related to Edward the Confessor and claimed that Edward the Confessor had promised him the throne of England on his death. Duke William had readied himself to invade England which included parts of France like Brittany and Flanders. Duke William and his army crossed the English Channel and landed in England on September 28, 1066 A.D. On hearing the news of the Norman army landing on the English coast, Harold Godwinson marched south with his army to battle the Norman invaders. He halted briefly at London, to gather more people. This was a strategic mistake as his army was tired and could not match the Norman invaders at the battle of Hastings. King Harald of Norway (commonly known as Harald Hardrada) was one of the many claimants to the throne of England. He believed he had a right to the throne of England based on a treaty between the King of Norway and one of earlier Kings of England. In early September 1066, Harald invaded northern England with a fleet of 300 ships and about 15000 men. He was assisted by the estranged and exiled brother of Harold Godwinson, Tostig Godwinson. Initially the Norwegian invaders were successful and were able to capture the city of York. The army of Harold Godwinson was rushed to the north of the country to battle the invaders. A fierce battle took place at Stamford Bridge on 16th September 1066, and the Norwegian invaders suffered a crushing defeat. King Harald of Norway was killed in the battle. Out of the 300 ships that had reached England, only 24 could return with the injured warriors. Though the English army was victorious in the battle of Stamford Bridge, it also suffered losses. It was in a battered and weakened state which adversely affected its capacity to repel the Norman invasion of England The Norman story informs me that Museveni might have been planning to invade Kenya for some time and he seems to be well prepared for the war. Given his stubbornness you never know which other parts of Kenya he is soon going to either quietly invade or claim that they belong to his country. History has proved that expansionists will use flimsiest of excuses to intrude other states including use of gangster diplomacy. It’s widely believed that those people who gained power by the guerilla operations have little regard for human life and going to war to them is no big deal as long as its aimed at satisfying their urge to expand territory. Its has even been alleged before that Museveni is a believer in Mao Tse Tung’s ideas including the belief that power comes through a barrel of a gun . The scenario also replicates the tricks Hitler used against his neighboring countries in 1938 with an intention of being able to have political grip of the whole of Europe through military conquest. By the beginning of 1939, Adolf Hitler had become so bold that he tried to steal two separate neighboring territories at the same time. While he was focusing on taking Czechoslovakia, he was also pressuring Poland to give him the former German city of Danzig located on the Baltic Sea. And he wanted the Poles to permit construction of a new super highway and railroad stretching from Germany through Polish territory into East Prussia. The territory in question was known as the Polish Corridor, a narrow strip of land which gave Poland access to the sea and cut off East Prussia from the rest of Germany. Poland had been granted this sea corridor after World War I by the Treaty of Versailles, which also designated Danzig as a Free City operating under the supervision of the League of Nations. Making matters worse, Poland's military leaders had connived with Hitler to steal a small piece of Czechoslovakia back in October 1938. Thus they were more susceptible to being pressured by the Nazis into some kind of agreement concerning Danzig and the Polish Corridor. Hitler and Nazi Foreign Minister Ribbentrop held several meetings with Poland's Ambassador to Germany, Josef Lipski, and with the Polish Foreign Minister, Józef Beck. But the Poles said they had absolutely no interest in compromising with Hitler and bluntly informed the Nazis in late November 1938 that any attempt by Germany to grab Danzig "must inevitably lead to conflict." Thus far, all of Hitler's conquests had resulted from his successful use of gangster diplomacy. But now, for the first time in his career, Hitler had encountered an opponent that would not give in. Hitler responded to Poland's defiance by ordering his generals to prepare to take Danzig "by surprise." Meanwhile, Hitler had managed to annex what remained of Czechoslovakia. But it had been a costly move on his part. Outraged public opinion in England resulted in a tough stance taken by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and a firm declaration on March 31, 1939, that Britain, with the backing of France, would fight to save Poland. In May 1939, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov gave a speech hinting that the Western Allies should get busy and talk to Moscow soon or there might be some kind of agreement forthcoming between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Although Hitler had repeatedly professed his own hatred of the Communists, he decided to pursue a non-aggression pact with Stalin to avoid the possibility of having to fight a war on two fronts at the same time. Hitler's master plan was to crush Poland with lightning speed, then turn westward and knock out France and England. It was therefore necessary for the Soviet Union to remain neutral, otherwise Germany might have to fight the Allies in the west and the Russians in the east. After the Western Allies were knocked out, Hitler intended to turn his armies eastward and wage his long-awaited battle for Lebensraum against Stalin's Red Army. In addition to this, Chamberlain made a series of diplomatic blunders that allowed Hitler and Ribbentrop to gain momentum. Chamberlain's negotiators didn't even arrive in Moscow until August 11. By that time, the Nazis had been hard at work laying the groundwork for a Nazi-Soviet pact. Once again the Soviets responded kindly and agreed to see Ribbentrop on the 23rd to seal the actual agreement. The two Foreign Ministers, Ribbentrop and Molotov, thus signed the Nazi-Soviet Non Aggression Pact in a ceremony at the Kremlin building attended by Stalin himself. Hitler had now gotten what he wanted. He would not have to fight a war on two fronts. And Stalin got what he wanted. According to a secret protocol attached to the pact, Stalin was granted a free hand in Eastern Europe to steal back several areas lost to Russia at the end of World War I, including the countries of Latvia, Estonia and Finland, the province of Bessarabia in Romania, and the entire eastern portion of Poland. Hitler was quite willing to be this generous to Stalin, knowing all along that he intended to destroy the Soviet Union in the not-too-distant future. The Nazi-Soviet Pact sealed the fate of Poland, a country that was geographically isolated from its Western Allies, thus making direct military aid nearly impossible. Poland's only hope for survival would have been an alliance with its next door neighbor, the Soviets. The news that these two cynical, ruthless men, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, had made a pact with each other shocked the world. Everyone knew what it meant - that a new world war was all but certain now. All that remained was for the Führer to say when. These are the same characteristics that defined Alexander the great’s conquest between 334BC until his death in 323BC.the more he conquered the more he wanted to conquer. Hitler’s tricks about interfering with other states territorial sovereignty is no different from what now appears to be Museveni’s well planned interference with the sovereignty of his neighbors considering the recent squabbles with the democratic republic of Congo over the lake Albert boundaries,kenyas Migingo island and now the west Pokot beacons. Given these historical scenarios which are only but examples we seem to be faced by a more serious problem than we may imagine as Kenyan citizens. it indicates that any form of military provocation is usually well preplanned by the aggressor and that the aggressed in most cases is found unawares or ill prepared and also that other neighboring states will easily realize the weakness of the assaulted nation and also attempt to take advantage and try to annex that land. In conclusion it is advisable that Kenya ceases to continue entertaining Museveni diplomacy and embark or securing our borders more aggressively lest we might end up just getting invaded by other neighboring states who might easily think that we are easily beatable. I therefore beseech thee the commander in chief and president of this country to act over Migingo and Pokot west in the earliest opportune moment to regain the pride of our nation.Museveni might be buying time as he prepares for assault with an intention to have personal whims to decide what part of Kenya belongs to Uganda and what does not. If Kenya doesn’t take action, this Ugandan president might easily claim just like his country’s former despot Iddi Amin that, Uganda extends up to Naivasha. FWAMBA NC FWAMBA