"Advocating for peace frequently leads to tolerating authoritarian rule"
In a plea to provide military aid to Kyiv, US historian Applebaum connected her Nobel Peace Prize recognition to lessons from Germany's past. She argued that Germans shouldn't be labeled as pacifists based on German history lessons.
At the German Book Trade's Peace Prize ceremony held in the Frankfurter Paulskirche, the 60-year-old Applebaum was honored for her comprehensive analyses of communist and post-communist systems in the Soviet Union and Russia. In her speech, she advocated for a robust democracy and called attention to Germany's historical responsibility, subtly pleading for continued support of Ukraine with weapons.
In the eyes of the prize jury, Applebaum is a leading analyst of authoritarian regimes and an expert on Eastern European history who had warned about potential aggressive policies by Russian President Vladimir Putin early on.
Looking at the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Applebaum saw their objective as the establishment of an authoritarian, arbitrary rule: a state without the rule of law, basic rights, accountability, and separation of powers. While initial help and support were provided during the war against Ukraine, she believed that the democratic world is currently facing its biggest challenge to values and interests.
Many desire an end to the conflict magically, but Applebaum cautioned that those who demand pacifism and are inclined to cede territories, people, principles, and ideals to Russia have learned nothing from 20th-century history. She suggested that the correct lesson from German history is not that Germans should never engage in military conflict, but rather that they have a unique duty to uphold freedom and take calculated risks in doing so.
Irina Scherbakova, co-founder of the Russian human rights organization Memorial, praised Applebaum's works, indicating that many of her books were prescriptive and forward-thinking. Scherbakova highlighted that Applebaum had warned that seemingly innocuous narrative lines could evolve into tangible front lines.
The chairwoman of the German Book Trade Association, Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, commended Applebaum as a fearless spokesperson on contemporary politics and a facilitator in understanding the world as it exists. She acknowledged that Applebaum's stance on military support for Kyiv had been subject to criticism of the honor. "That's just the character of the Peace Prize," she said. "We can disagree with the opinions of the laureates, but we should grow alongside them."
Applebaum emphasized that the call for peace is not always a moral argument. She encouraged individuals to recognize that the true lesson from German history is not that Germans should never engage in conflict again, but rather that they possess a unique responsibility to uphold freedom and take calculated risks in doing so.
"To prevent Russia from spreading its autocratic political system, we must support Ukraine's victory," Applebaum asserted. She added that, if given the opportunity, military victory could help put an end to Russia's violent culture, just as a military victory had put an end to Germany's culture of violence.
For Germans, it may be unusual to offer guns, but Applebaum argued that it is the true lesson from German history: not that Germans should never engage in conflict, but that they have a unique responsibility to uphold freedom and take calculated risks in doing so.
Among Applebaum's most renowned works are "Gulag," "Iron Curtain," and "The Temptation of the Authoritarian." She won the Pulitzer Prize in 2004 and the Carl-von-Ossietzky Prize in 2023. Born in Washington D.C. in 1964, Applebaum studied Russian history and literature at Yale University and continued her studies in London and Oxford, focusing on international relations. She became a foreign correspondent in Poland for the British magazine "The Economist" in 1988 and reported on the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Applebaum worked for British newspapers such as "Evening Standard" and "Daily Telegraph." Between 2002 and 2006, she was a member of "The Washington Post"'s editorial board. Until 2019, she was a columnist for the newspaper and participated in programs discussing topics such as autocracies, disinformation, and propaganda. She taught at universities in the UK and the US, and has been living in Poland, with short breaks, for 30 years.
The Peace Prize, accompanied by a €25,000 purse, has been awarded annually since 1950 and is traditionally presented at the end of the Frankfurt Book Fair. In 2025, it was awarded to American writer Ken Follett. The organization Memorial received the Peace Prize two years prior.
In aligning with her advocacy in her speech, Applebaum also made a call for robust military support to Ukraine. Recognizing the unique responsibility from German history, Applebaum argued that offering military aid is the true lesson, not abstaining from conflict entirely.
