The communicative is written by not large actions, not superb speeches, not heroic acts of courage, only tiny gestures, tense tremors of the face muscles, polite nodding of the head in the soulful conference rooms, where it smells like costly coffee and inexpensive fear.
Éric Vuillard in Order of the day takes us to the very edge of these gestures – moments erstwhile the future weighs in handshakes, false smiles, due to the fact that everyone knows who will win anyway. due to the fact that war doesn't start with the first shot. War starts with consent. And erstwhile you read it, you can't get the impression that you're not just looking at the past, but at the present. due to the fact that history, if you've learned anything, is that it doesn't should be original.
I. erstwhile smiling men decide wars – from Vienna to Donbass
Vuillard starts on February 20, 1933. The Reichstag Hall is filled with the largest German business names: Siemens, Krupp, Opel. Hitler does not yet have full power, but money already flows into his pocket – for who will refuse a man who guarantees stability?
March 1938. Wehrmacht is in. No shots, no resistance, no enthusiasm in the eyes of the crowd. Europe is watching. "Okay, he'll take Austria. possibly another Sudeta. But the planet war will not be out of this," politicians in London, Paris, Washington think. Crimea, 2014. Russia occupies the peninsula. The planet is watching. He says: “All right, Crimea. But there will be no planet war of that.” February 2022. Russian tanks in Ukraine...
And then? Later is the full Grotesque Gallery. The West threatens with sanctions, but not yet, due to the fact that possibly Putin will remember. Germany negotiates a "diplomatic solution", but is besides afraid to cut off Russian gas. France invites Lavrov to Paris, although he knows what he will hear in the Magdalens. And erstwhile the first rockets fall on Kiev, it turns out that NATO will not do anything anyway, due to the fact that “it must not interfere”. past repeats itself as a farce, but farce can be fatally serious.
In 1938, could anyone have expected Europe to be in ruins a fewer years later? Probably. Just like everyone else present is wondering if we're going precisely the same way.
II. War on Gas – technology that killed logic
German tanks in 1939 were powerful, fast, modern – and completely impractical. due to the fact that the Germans, for any reason, thought the best fuel for their war device would be... gasoline. And gas, as we know, not only ends quickly, but burns easily. As a result, these miraculous war machines were besides frequently standing still, waiting for the fuel to be delivered, or just burst into flames, due to the fact that individual accidentally hit them with a grenade launcher. In 1 of the most grotesque scenes, Vuillard describes how German tanks perish on their way to Austria during Anschlussu. From a historical perspective, it is an ironic anecdote – Hitler's expansion began with a hardware failure.
Is that a mistake that has been learned? Of course. Today, armies of the planet do precisely the same – although not necessarily with fuel, but with ammunition, drones and technology. erstwhile Russia started a war in Ukraine in 2022, no 1 expected specified a large army to have problems with logistics. And yet – Russian columns stood on the sides of Ukrainian roads, abandoned by crews due to the fact that the fuel ran out. It's like no 1 always thought a tank without gasoline was just useless junk. Technology may have gone ahead, but the spirit of logistics failure has remained unchanged.
History doesn't just repeat itself. past laughs.
III. Cyberwar – modern conflict begins by clicking
Vuillard shows how politicians think they can control reality. That 1 signature, 1 meeting, 1 motion and everything will be under control. In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich, waving in the air a card on which Hitler assured him of peace. "Peace at all costs," Chamberlain thought; he had Hitler's empty promise in his hand, but he thought it meant something. past could not have treated him more cynically.
You don't even request that card today. No tanks, no soldiers. Today, there's adequate information chaos. Vuillard writes about how Hitler took over: propaganda, manipulation, bribery, fear. Doesn't it work the same now? but today, the war doesn't start with troops entering, it doesn't request gas tanks and tired generals. Modern war begins with servers, scripts and codes.
Cyberwar doesn't have a front line, but it has victims. In Estonia, in 2007, a abrupt cyber attack blocked the full state – banks, offices, public transport. Fake news, election manipulations, deepfakes – in the 21st century, an aggressor no longer needs tanks if it can change reality with 1 click. In 1938 Hitler had radio and newspapers. Today, authoritarian regimes have Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and bots. Did Russia gotta send troops to the United States in 2016? No – it was adequate that she introduced chaos in the election.Did China request tanks to take control of the planet economy? No, just algorithms and technologies.
In 2023 Hamas attacked Israel in the most brutal way in decades. A fewer hours later, the net was already flooded with propaganda and manipulated photos, and the planet shared even more, not knowing who to believe. This is the fresh Anschluss – the silent, invisible, 1 that no 1 notices until it's besides late.
IV. Order of day – A communicative that continues, although no 1 wants it
History is full of absurdities, but seldom they are as well pictured as in Order of the day – if chaos had rules, it would look like this. Reading Vuillard, you can enjoy the style, irony, the way it exposes the hypocrisy of the large world. It reads well. But underneath, there's anxiety.
It's not a book about the past. It's a book about us. due to the fact that the biggest tragedies don't start with large decisions. They start with inactivity. due to the fact that this book is not just a communicative – it is simply a warning. The planet erstwhile slept with Anschluss.Today he sleeps to watch the news of the next wars. Syria. Gaza. Sudan. Ukraine. Just a fewer months ago, we had an effort to negociate a truce in Syria. At the table, Russia and the United States, other the muslim forces that led the offensive at the same time. It doesn't make sense. In this reality, making agreements seems as absurd as utopian.
The US and their war on terrorism in Afghanistan. 20 years of intervention, billions of dollars, hundreds of reports, analyses, strategies – and what? Kabul falls in a week. For decades, meetings were held at the Pentagon and the White House. The generals came, nodded, assured progress. Procedures were followed, reports were sent to desks, subsequent decisions were made. All within the set order of the day. And then the large army failed with an opponent riding motorcycles, armed with a weapon a fewer decades ago. Logistics failed. Politicians were surprised. But could they truly be?
Europe? For years, she became addicted to Russian natural materials. Not by accident, not by mistake, but consciously. due to the fact that it was worth it. German governments negotiated agreements, the next EU summits endorsed the Energy Cooperation Strategy. The order of the day was unchanged – signed documents, handshakes, smiles for cameras. War? No 1 was wearing it. Until she came. And suddenly, the same politicians who have been downplaying the threat for years began to talk about the necessity of energy independence.
China? large carriers, plans for global power. In explanation – a rival for the American Navy. In practice, a fleet that lacks experience and infrastructure, but further meetings are held in the organization offices of officials. People sit at long tables nodding their heads, putting decisions in protocol. Another order of the day. Everything is under control – at least on paper. due to the fact that war doesn't start with the first shot. It starts in these conference rooms, in offices, in crutches. Where decisions are made, which seem small, and then prove crucial.
This was the case in 1938 erstwhile Austria fell without 1 shot. That's what happened in Afghanistan. That's what happened in Syria. It could be anywhere. And the story, as always, is not original. Politicians inactive make the same gestures. They inactive sign agreements that don't change anything. They're inactive negotiating peace with people who never intended to abide by it. It is ironic that the top wars begin with the most trivial gestures. From meetings where everyone knows they're lying.
And the war? War doesn't start with the first shot.The war starts erstwhile we halt knowing what's happening.When the planet begins to drift towards chaos, and people inactive believe that possibly this time it will be different. And inactive past laughs at us.
