In 480 BC the Greeks were in big trouble. They"d just suffered a devastating defeat at Thermopylae. Greek polises quarreled with one another and refused to give each other help. The Persian army captured and ruined Athens. The Greek fleet flocked up near the island of Salamis, but Greek strategists, representatives of the different polises, could not reach any agreement on further action. The Persian fleet, situated nearby, was much larger and more powerful.

Then the Persian king, Xerxes, made a fatal mistake: he moved his fleet into a narrow sound near Salamis to inflict on Greeks a last and utter defeat.

And a miracle happened.

First, the Greeks, all at once, stopped quarreling.

Second, they self-organized.

And third, their "ant fleet," consisting of smaller but more mobile vessels than the Persians", opted for smarter tactics: they used a delusive maneuver to induce the Persian fleet to huddle up, and then attacked it from all sides.

At this moment Greek "decentralization" turned into a strategic advantage: all Greek vessels acted according to the common general plan, but in the course of battle each turned into a self-governing combat unit.

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The battle of Salamis was decisive for the destiny of Europe. If Persians had won, Greek (as well as Roman) civilization would have been destroyed, and their part of Europe would have become part of the Persian Empire.

Instead, democratic Greece defeated a much more powerful, despotic Persia.

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In the same manner, democratic Ukraine is overpowering and will defeat despotic Russia.

We have stopped all internal quarreling.

We have self-organized.

Every Ukrainian city, every village, every group of "angry citizens"—all have turned into self-governing combat units, acting according to a common general plan.

That"s why Ukraine is Europe.

That"s why the Ukrainian steppe is the present-day Salamis.

That"s why we"ll win.

Russia is an old despotic Asia, with a political order not much different from the Persian Empire"s.

And the end of this Russian empire will be the same.

But it will come much faster.

Published on February 28, 2022, at https://agnionline.bu.edu/blog/dispatches-from-ukraine/?fbclid=IwAR0yWMIIjltoiXSCzOvVX7JbOImCeD1ioyF6j8S0WZLHYXTpoXAj_BuYzjE#panych

Published with minor chanes on March 01, 2022, at https://www.raamoprusland.nl/dossiers/stemmen-uit-de-oorlog/2036-why-is-ukraine-europe-a-historical-analogy