Anne Applebaum awarded the 2024 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade

Applebaum began her acceptance speech by recalling the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, arguing that although assaults of this kind have different names, the process is always the same: “It means the imposition of arbitrary autocratic rule: a state without the rule of law, without guaranteed rights, without accountability, without checks and balances”.

At the same time, Applebaum continued, the invasion of Ukraine paved the way “for harsher politics inside Russia itself. In the years after the Crimean invasion, opposition was repressed further, independent institutions were completely banned. […] This deep connection between autocracy and imperial wars of conquest has a logic to it”.

She also reported on the struggle of protestors in Russia and asked: “But what about us? […] What about all of us in the rest of Europe - what should we do? Our voices are not restrained or restricted. We are not jailed or poisoned for speaking our minds. How should we react to the revival of a form of government we thought had disappeared from this continent forever?”

Applebaum went on to note that at the beginning of the war, aid and support quickly turned into action, whereas now, “faced with the greatest challenge to our values and our interests in our time, the democratic world is starting to wobble. Many wish the fighting would somehow, magically, stop”.

Applebaum was firm in her view that “those who advocate ‘pacifism,’ and those who would surrender not just territory but people, principles and ideals to Russia, have learned nothing from the history of the twentieth century at all”, arguing that “the true lesson of German history [is] not that Germans should never fight, but that Germans have a special responsibility to stand up and take risks for freedom”.

Applebaum concluded with an appeal directed especially at Germans: “[Do not] let skepticism decline into nihilism. We, in the rest of the democratic world, need you”. She then called on everyone in the democratic world, saying that “we must now affirm – and act upon – our shared belief that the future can be better, that the war can be won and that dictatorship can be defeated once again; our shared belief that freedom is possible, and that true peace is possible, on this continent and around the world”.

In her speech honouring this year’s Peace Prize recipient, Irina Scherbakova spoke of Anne Applebaum’s “role as an historian and public intellectual”, which she described as “ensuring that [the] fine line separating truth from lies in the past and present remains firmly in place”. Scherbakova observed that Applebaum, like very few others, had consistently warned us that “what begins as a narrative line can turn into an actual frontline”. She also noted that what she finds particularly valuable about Applebaum’s books is “not only their accessibility and enlightening pathos, but also their political relevance”. In many different instances, in her books, Applebaum was able to diagnose and predict the impending disasters, Scherbakova argued. At the same time, however, “her books are full of empathy for the victims. […] She made it possible for their voices to be heard”.

Börsenverein Chairperson Karin Schmidt-Friderichs described Applebaum as someone who takes a stand on present-day politics “with irresistible clarity” and thereby helps us understand “the world as it actually is”. She referred to Applebaum’s two most recent books, both on the emergence of a global autocratic network, as “two valuable field guides”. After noting that this year marked the 75th time the Peace Prize was being awarded, Schmidt-Friderichs recalled this long tradition and concluded with the words: “Peace is not a gift. Peace is the greatest task of our time”.

Mike Josef, Lord Mayor of Frankfurt, started his speech with a question: “Does peace mean no armed conflict? Or is there more involved in achieving and maintaining peace?” He went on to issue a warning: “Those who abandon the duties and responsibilities associated with democracy will ultimately forfeit the rights it grants them. It is our duty to defend democracy, because democracy is what enables our human rights, our freedom of opinion and our more peaceful coexistence with our neighbours”.