News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Honestly Mafketis, are seriously arguing here that Germany - a notable soft power according to political scientists- has little to no soft power? I understand that your bias might influence you in a way that you either do not notice them, or forget to listen them here, but this is really ridiculous (e.g. why you only thought of Sarrazin).

google.com/amp/s/www.thelocal.de/20131121/germany-number-one-for-soft-power/amp

Considering how many books are yearly translated from German into English, that seems even less true. Yeah there is no modern German equivalent to "Harry Potter", but quite a lot of German literature has been internationally succesful.

It is true that Germany has been somewhat lacking in the television until recently, because the producers thought too conservatively and wanted to keep it safe. The competition (and collaboration with Netflix and Amazon Prime) has changed that and now the producers are investing more and are trying to break into foreign markets. Despite its' controversial nature, "Our mothers our fathers" was very succesful. "Germany 1983" was recently cited by a German producer as a turning point, because it made them really appreciate the opportunities opened by the great international reception.


Yes yes, the decadent West, a trope so old it gets boring. I find it generally amusing how people keep downtalking the most prosperous, most peaceful and most democratically mature area of the world.

We can guide Poland towards becoming a peaceful, fully mature democratic society. Poland has still some way to go before it reaches the standards of Western Europe in this regard.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Germany has recently produced several artists who became very successful internationally (Jörg Immendorff, Gerhard Richter et al.).

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

Everyone has their blind spots.
That being said, I consider myself fairly knowledgeable on the Third Reich and unlike some people here, I have this knowledge from history books that have actually done some research on this. I am always open for corrections but not on the basis of "The Nazis were Socialists because they called themselves National Sozialists". Because that is something anyone who has read even a single decent history book can refute.

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

Perhaps to some degree, but considering how important rich buisnessmen were to the Nazi's economic goals, it can not have been too much. The problem is that there are still many myths about the Nazi's economic policies.

Many Germans for example still believe that the Nazi's reduced unemployment through large infrastructure projects like the Autobahnen. While those did exist, they had only neglible impacts. As some recent historians pointed out, only shortly before the war broke out did the average income reach pre 1929 figures. The main reason why the Nazis are credited with stabilizibg the economy are a) they benefited from the previous governments' work and b) they no longer published unemployment figures/falsified them.

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]


On paper perhaps and if you selectively quote them. Goebbels for example admired Lenin because of his demagogic talent and deemed his way to power as an example (Hitler on the other way admired Mussolini more).

Something to generally keep in mind that back then it was way more acceptable for even right-wing conservatives that the state should play a large part in the economy. The Nazis however were mostly content with leaving the industry in the hands of their current owner, only telling them what they needed for the future (especially for the army).

They enacted a few token social laws to appease the lower- and middle class, but they did so for the same reason as Bismarck once had done, to get their agreement for the new order. The communists and social democrats were in 1933 and later the biggest possible opposition to them, and the Nazis feared nothing more than something like the Spartacus uprising. So naturally they'll try to neutralize this source of discontent. Again, this is basic history. Communist dictatorships have already enough blood on their hands to show how bad of an odea they are, there is no need to artificially add Hitler to the list.


Well, the German Wikipedia makes a better job of explaining that the party program from 1925 became quickly obsolete afterwards. It had the same role as the Weimar constitution after 1933. Pro forma it still counted, but nobody cared and it was deliberately ignored when necessary.

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]


The NSDAP was socialist in name only to attract underclass voters. Those who had genuin socialist ideas were purged in 1934 during the night of the long knives.

Hitler received so much support by the wealthy conservative elite because he was so outspokenly anticommunist and pledged to preserve the old social order.

It is astounding how this view is still repeated so often, despite the fact that it is so easily refutable. The only explanation is that some people want to see Hitler as a socialist because of their political agenda.

History / Why is Poland weaker than Russia? [390]

Some people like to pretend that Hitler was a communist.

News / Poland blocks any action on climate change [569]


You already go your first fact wrong.


Basically every time the clima changed, it was very bad news for the dominant species.


Wrong again, there are many ways we could slow reduce the the rise of temperatures. This is in fact what previous international agreements were all about.

News / Poland blocks any action on climate change [569]

Because you can clearly do a better job in 1-2 hours than the people who have dedicated their life to studying it... .

News / Poland blocks any action on climate change [569]

People who do not understand science call it dogma.


A look in the mirror is rarely funny.

News / Poland blocks any action on climate change [569]

History / Give Poland back it's lost land ! [132]


Poland has shown more loyalty towards its' Slavic friends than most. While Poland is helping her brothers in the Ukraine which are currently under attack, Serbia is busy kissing Putin's hand.

News / EU confirms it will take action against Poland over court reforms [554]


Indeed. You need to fill the important positions with convinced (and capable) democrats, and make sure that the next generation is taught those values and learn to appreciate it. Both of those factors need to be fullfilled if you want to cause a lasting change in a country.


It would be interesting to know how the statute of limitation is in Poland. I suspect that most crimes -except for murder- falls already under the statute of limitations.

News / EU confirms it will take action against Poland over court reforms [554]

I meant to say "Polish people". Funny how one spelling mistake can give a message an entirely different meaning ;)

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]


The problem is that facts and numbers do not support your claim, which has been pointed out to you several times. You are the one who holds deeply biased views regarding Germany and is unable to properly adjust his opinion to better reflect reality.

News / EU confirms it will take action against Poland over court reforms [554]

Good to see that the EU can protect the Pomish people.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Considering that Poland is facing a much bigger demographic catastrophy than Germany, I doubt that Poland could benefit from it anyway.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]


Why don't you quote Der Stürmer when you are at it?

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]


I assume that by pro gay you mean that he doesn't want to send them into camps?

News / An EU army. Impact on Poland [155]


Indeed. And even if we have a government that has 2/3 of the seats in the Bundestag, the fact that as you said that the states are also involved with the Bundesrat means that no government can simply stack the court with their candidates. Because the states are usually governed by different parties, and smaller states have disproportionally more votes than larger ones. Case in point, the current federal government has not even a simple majority in the Bundesrat, never mind a super-majority.

Personally I find it concerning that some people here are so willing to overlook basic detail to confirm their own biases. It does not make for a good discussion imho. I mean this is not rocket science, or something that can be interpreted either way. It is objectively wrong to equalize the Polish system after the reforms to the German system.

News / An EU army. Impact on Poland [155]

Except he needs 2/3 of the votes in the parliament to get his job, and the Bundesrat in which the regional governments have their votes is also involved.

This has been brought up repeatedly on this site, which is astounding because it is very easy to look up.

News / An EU army. Impact on Poland [155]

Well, you can't really expect the Americans do that either, since they can't prevent their children to be gunned down in schools and churches.

News / An EU army. Impact on Poland [155]

Lovely Dirk is back, and guess which topic he brings up again... .

News / An EU army. Impact on Poland [155]


Indeed. Until Brexit, the UK was always expected to veto such a proposition, that is no longer the case. Furthermore the presidency of Trump has proven to be a gamechanger. Many countries that previously wanted to rely on the USA (most notably the Eastern Europeans) are no longer willing to do so. It is no coincidence that they e.g. joined PESCO.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


When Germans could learn to overcome their antisemitism, anybody can.

Somethink seems to be wrong with your head though, because why refugees should have anything to do with reparations makes probably only sense to you.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

Some people seem to think so.

alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/1/19/iraq-demands-america-britain-pay-reparations-for-2003-invasion

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

Greece has no claim for reparations either. However they might be able to claim compensation for the forcible bank loan.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Delphie can not change the historical facts. The four (though only really 3, but 4 France was also admitted) Great Powers who won WWII shaped the post-war order and laid the legal framework for the aftermath. They were the ones who were responsible for the aftermath in Germany, because the Third Reich had unconditionally surrendered to them. They also controlled Poland, so obviously any agreement would involve them.


You are right. All the previous agreements were only concerning the FRG and GDR, but not a reunited Germany. However Polish zeal was not really needed, since it was always clear that a reunited Germany would sign a permanent agreement. However Poland wanted that Kohl signed an agreement before reunification took place, which Kohl wisely declined (because he knew that such an agreement could be legally questionable).

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

@Ironside


Again, you lack the historical knowledge on the matter. Back then basically all the Polish newspapers were demanding that a final agreement on the border was needed. If I remember it correctly, there were even polls which supported it. The Polsih did what they did in accordance of the wishes of the Polish people.

@delphiandomine


As you said, the Versailles experience was still present. Germany's Western neighbours also received various financial accomodations during the inception of the EEG.

Reparations to Poland were because of several reasons unthinkeable. Back then there was a wide consensus among Germans that the Eastern border was far from final. Some suggested that Poland should keep the area, but pay compensation to Germany for the lost property. Others demanded a revision of the border. Any settlement with Poland should change the status quo in some way towards Germany, not Poland. Nobody believed that Poland should get any reparations.

The reality of the Cold War was probably the biggest factor. Poland was a potential enemy, the SU was deemed as the biggest threat to the Western World. On that even the Wedtern Allies agreed. You are not paying bns to your biggest enemy so that he can build more tanks which he can use to conquer you.

Israel was a special case for several reasons, some of which you already mentioned. It was also because of the personal conviction of Adenauer, that the payments were so generous. He fought hard against his own party to succeed here.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


They did this with the full public support of the Polish people. Personally I do not believe that it was a crappy bargain, though Poland should have done it without provocing so much internationsl irritation. War reparations were never a realistic possibility. Keep in mind that Germams expelled in the East were still s relatively large part of the voters back then. Agreeing to the border was still somewhat risky for Kohl. No chancellor could have agreed to paying reparations and the Polish government knew this. Which is why they did not defend it.