Caroline Voaden: VE Day's legacy tarnished by despotic world leaders

So desperately wanted was VE Day that the name came before the event.

First coined in autumn 1944 shortly after the Normandy Landings, it wasn’t until six months later, in May the following year, that Germany surrendered, and VE Day happened.

The news quickly spread around the world. Jubilations erupted in far-flung places like Costa Rica and Kenya, which had been caught up in the war. In America, people threw confetti from high-rise buildings and gathered in Times Square. While in Britain, the beer deliveries were already en route, and many parties kicked off the night before.

Around the globe, people celebrated under the conviction that better days were ahead, and the nightmare of the war was finally over. In the years that followed, the post-war global order was established: the United Nations, the World Bank, and NATO.

All three institutions are creaking today as we approach the 80th anniversary of VE Day. In his first 100 days, President Trump has upended many of the institutions built in the aftermath of the Second World War and done so with complete disregard for the lessons it cost millions of lives to learn.

His actions in Ukraine prove this most of all. His capitulation to Putin and bullying of Zelenskyy show he has not learnt the fundamental takeaway from World War II: that weakness in the face of tyranny and aggression results in defeat by tyranny and aggression.

The parallels with the 1930s are striking. Making such a claim often results in any warning being dismissed as fearmongering. Admittedly, there is a tendency in political rhetoric today to rely on hyperbole, so, to avoid this, let’s state the facts.

In September 1938, Czechoslovakia was carved up without it having any say in the arrangement after the UK, France, and Italy agreed with Hitler that the country must surrender its border regions to Germany.

Hitler observed then that when pushed around, his enemies would speak loudly but do nothing; a year later, Germany invaded Poland.

Compare this with Putin’s actions in the last two decades: in 2008, his invasion of Georgia was largely met without response; so too was his annexation of Crimea six years later. Come 2022, he was ready to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Now, three years on, President Trump is trying to bring a swift end to the war, but much like in 1938, he is doing so by completely sidelining Ukraine.

He has branded Zelenskyy a “dictator”, accused him of starting the war, and frozen military aid and intelligence. His defence secretary conceded a return to pre-war borders would be “unrealistic”. Just this month, Trump said, “Crimea will stay with Russia.”

Even Boris Johnson conceded that Ukraine gets nothing in Trump’s proposal for peace. But what does Putin receive? Beyond territorial gains, he learns that President Trump, the supposed leader of the free world and a self-professed strong man, is, fundamentally, weak, and, in turn, so is the West.

This is a lesson we cannot afford for him to learn. We cannot rely on President Trump if we want to secure a just peace in Ukraine, one that respects Ukraine’s right to self-determination and proves that aggression towards neighbours does not pay.

The government must go further and faster to support Ukraine, including by seizing and redeploying the £25 billion worth of frozen Russian assets across the UK, reversing the Conservatives' cuts to our army, and boosting defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP as soon as possible.

Let’s commemorate the end of the horrors of WWII together, with fabulous events happening across South Devon. Plenty of events, including a parade and street party, will be taking place in Brixham from 6 Wednesday to 11 Sunday. Street parties will also be happening in Dartmouth, Salcombe, Thurlestone, and elsewhere. And on Thursday, Totnes Image Bank and Totnes Cinema are teaming up to show how the town developed after the war.