Zelenskyy talk about the Battle of Saratoga?
When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the U.S. Congress, there were moments in his speech that generated spontaneous applause and standing ovations. But there was at least one moment that Zelenskyy likely expected to get a much bigger response from his American audience.
It’s easy to think of Zelenskyy back in Kyiv, planning this trip with his small circle of advisers, wondering just what he might say in order to best serve the needs of Ukraine. Certainly he would do everything that he could to remind the Americans that the battle being fought in Ukraine is about defending the cause of democracy and freedom against aggressive authoritarianism. That was a given. Absolutely he would emphasize that Ukraine is not asking for a gift, but an investment. One that serves the future of all nations.
But what else could he say? What else would move the hearts of American legislators? What thread might be pulled to underscore how the struggle that Ukraine is now fighting is deeply connected to not just America’s future, but the conflicts in America’s past? Then he had it. Zelenskyy had the perfect line.
That this was not an everyone-on-their-feet moment in Zelenskyy’s speech was probably hard for anyone back in Kyiv to fathom. After all, from the 1918 Battle of Kiev to a long series of World War II battles fought against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, that’s all regarded as recent military history in Ukraine. Everyone knows that stuff. Military history is definitely A Thing. Ask someone in Ukraine about the Battle of Khotyn, and they’re likely to ask you, “Which one?”
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/1/2143341/-Ukraine-Extra-Why-did-President-Zelenskyy-talk-about-the-Battle-of-Saratoga
Very good... I learned a lot of history I did not know.
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