The Slavic Philippic

Over the summer, a prominent politician stood in front of a democratic assembly, desperately lamenting the danger which his country faced. An imperialist power was descending upon it, led by a dictator who had spent his career invading his neighbors and campaigned along the borders of the politician’s nation for years. The politician warned that his state alone could not stand against the rising hegemon, and that the democratic world had to put aside its differences in order to defend against the imperialistic ambitions of their neighbor. He stressed that their war was not against the people of the nation, but its leader, for it was he who drove the war and only his power held the empire together.

In the summer of 341 BCE, the politician, Demosthenes, stood on the stairs of the Athenian Acropolis and delivered this warning about Philip of Macedon. In the summer of 2024 CE, the politician, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stood at the podium of Congress and delivered this warning about Vladmir Putin. 

You’ve heard plenty about Ukraine by now, so let’s start with a history lesson: the Greeks. 

Before Alexander the Great, there was his father, Philip of Macedon. Philip built Macedonia, a state in what is now Northern Greece, from a backwards borderland whose government was closer to a mafia than a monarchy, into a regional superpower. When Philip came to power, he killed or bought off his rivals, consolidated his rule, and began conquering Albania, Bulgaria, and most importantly, Greece.

As Philip campaigned, he built a professional military, funded his army with Macedonian silver mines, and built excellent leadership in his army (including his son, Alexander!). By the time he reached northern Greece, Philip was able to sweep through the region with ease. While the major Greek city-states suspiciously glared at each other, still reeling from their Peloponnesian War self-destruction, no one was willing to confront Philip, the Darth Vader-like figure (analogy thanks to Dan Carlin!) who was swallowing up Greece piece by piece.

As the Imperial March sounded and Philip descended upon Greece, Demosthenes sounded the alarm.

Demosthenes refused to ignore Philip as he razed Athenian colonies along the Aegean. He gave a series of speeches, the Philippics, to the assembly of Athens, pleading to the Greeks that Philip cannot be ignored, and that the survival of Greek democracy and freedom was at stake. He urged Athens to form alliances with the other Greek cities, as they could not stand alone against Philip. Demosthenes called back to the legendary Persian invasion when the Greeks had allied to defeat the Persian “King of Kings,” claiming Philip was of equal danger. His pan-Hellenistic invocations were meant to strike a chord across Greece, but only Thebes answered the call.

The similarities between Zelenskyy and Demosthenes extend beyond context and into content. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has delivered a strikingly similar message. He has reinforced the idea that Russia’s imperial ambitions will swallow Europe piece by piece, that the democracies of his world must put aside their differences, not after a generation of war as the Greeks had, but after a generation of crises: COVID, immigration, financial, climate, and now illiberalism. 

Zelenskyy, like Demosthenes, called back to the triumphs of democracy: WWII and the American Revolution. Like Demosthenes, Zelenskyy claimed that any promise of peace would not last, compatriots of the democratic world must defend each other against empires or face annihilation by their tyrant aggressor. They even close similarly, stating that the borderlands (Ukraine/Northern Greek Cities) alone cannot hold back the invader, and that democracies must stop trying to convince themselves that the borderlands can handle such a threat alone.

Personally, I am no enthusiast of “History repeats itself.” History is too big and too complex to compare so directly. However, I am a bit partial to Mark Twain’s revision: “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.” 

Demosthenes’ speech rallied Thebes and Athens under one banner, but Philip would conquer them both. When the Macedonian king died, the Greeks rejoiced at the death of the tyrant who held together the unstable politics of Macedon. However, the Greeks were wrong to assume it was Philip’s persona alone which built Macedon, and within a year, Alexander had succeeded him and silenced any resistance from the Greeks.

For many watching the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we hope that the tumult of a (so far) failing invasion might lead to the end of Vladimir Putin. It’s worth considering that when Philip died, he handed the keys of a military Maserati (thanks again, Dan Carlin) to a man who used them to conquer the world. While NATO will someday rejoice in Putin’s departure from power, he has had 20 years to build his own military machine (though maybe not Maserati), and his successor may not be any less dangerous.