-- Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm
Churchill wrote these wise words in his great history of World War II, specifically in reference to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Agression Pact, which, via its secret protocols, enslaved the Baltic States and carved Poland into bloody pieces.
Within a few short months, Stalin paid dearly for this most cynical and cold-blooded of all agreements between nations. More than twenty million Russians were to perish in the holocaust which ensued.
Ultimately, Hitler paid for it too, with everything, including his own life. Germany was crushed in a vice from East and West, and was left in total ruin, occupied for decades by its enemies.
But, the greatest irony of all was to wait half a century, when the Baltic States used the illegality of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact as the basis for its own bid for liberty from the Soviet Union, a successful bid that ended ultimately with the breakup of that evil empire.
No matter how things may appear, the Almighty remains completely in control.
Always, the only wise course for men, or for nations, is to do the right thing, no matter how things might look, and to leave the results to God.
“This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.”
-- Daniel 4:17