News / U.S. role in Poland is shrinking [82]

You know that being really self sufficient (because I doubt you know what that means) would mean an impoverishment and a stark lowering of living standards of all Poles?

To keep people from running away to their more prosperous neighbours you would have to fence them in....I doubt you want that.

Just look around you and think how many of those products can be build and produced by Poles only till to the spare parts.

Also no money would come in as you would have barely any trade at all....did you ever think that through???

News / U.S. role in Poland is shrinking [82]


Could be...I just got that impression reading some talk boards....

News / U.S. role in Poland is shrinking [82]

Well...I've learned that most of the american righties are very much pro-Israel, pro-Jewish and hence alot of them took over some of the worst anti-polish prejudices from the Jews.

Right doesn't mean automatical pro-polish in the US.

News / U.S. role in Poland is shrinking [82]

Have to agree with Convex...isolationism is no real choice for Poland or any other of us little european countries.

It doesn't mean more power but losing that bit what you have.

Poles really have sensitivity feelers the size of planets...easily to hurt but the US for sure didn't want to hurt you purposely...they f*ucking just don't care. And don't think you are the only one.

Look at the long queue of countries vying with each other for Washingtons attention...
One of the most pathetic displays are regularly the Brits with their "special relationship".
And even them feel miffed and "hurt" again and again by the lack of interest from the other side of said "relationship".

The US has with nobody a "special relationship", just common interests...and there is nothing wrong with that.

Polonia / Contemporary German upbringing - Polish view [11]

I'm still an animal...

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]


Yeah....Poles in the parliament...Poles getting wealthy and influential...Poles having the same voting rights...

You never had it so good! How Hitlerian of him!

Maybe he should have expelled all the Poles living on prussian territory and deny their existence for 50 years....oopsie...that was more a polish thing to do!


Did they tell them of the betterment of the life circumstances? Of better education, of more and better labor laws, of state welfare, of voting rights, of modernization, of industrialization???

Nope??? Wonder why...

You Poles should thank Bismarck and Prussia on your knees....you even profited after your newly founding after WWI from the take over of former prussian regions...compared to your hopelessly backwards and agrarian eastern regions (the reasons for the "uprisings" btw, getting those by Prussian work highly industrialized regions into the new Poland - thiefs anybody?)!

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]

Exactly!

I just recently read the same observation...the globalization did NOT lead to a mixing, to even out all differences (all the same grey people) but contrary to a heightened consciousness of ones own differences to make your own people, country, products stand out and to keep (gain) advantages in the global competition!

Interesting...and quite logically. To advertise your own national brand in the global market you NEED to show what makes you different and better than your co-competitors!

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]


Because they didn't felt occupied and since the Marshall plan and the american rescue of West-Berlin with the Luftbrücke felt more like comrades and friends against the (old and new) cold war enemy....

I don't see a similiar situation evolving in a fictive French-Polish occupation!
(Rather alot more street fighting and polish-style uprisings against opression and forced polonization and what would Poland do then?)

How do you envision polish occupation anyhow? Would you pump money and investments and materials into Germany to keep in from impoverishment? Would you? Could you???

Invading is the easiest part...it's the peace you would loose!

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]

Nobody wants that!

But the old way of the Europeans has been wandering, mingling and mixing...we are the european race with celtic, slavic and germanic parts.
There is nothing wrong with going back to the roots again!

Where I draw the line is non-european immigration which don't fit into the european cultural heritage and don't even show any interest to fit in.

So, diversity isn't diversity (I'm sure the same holds true between european Americans and non-european Americans)

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]


As it was Prussia and not Poland sure....quite logically actually!
Not to mention that these cases where by far more rare than the contrary, polish and non-polish Prussians living peacefully side by side..


Nationalism running rampant.

But I agree that nobody should try to reign about a hostile minority...it's much to much hassle and the bigger majority always looks bad.

But it was only a minority, a loud and volatile but still only a minority then if you count all the millions of Poles who over the centuries made their choice with their feet westwards into Prussia/Germany it really couldn't have been that bad as many try to portray it here.

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]

You first!

*runs*

:)

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]


I really believe we would forget about these restriction in case of a foreign agression...we might even have get support from german-friendly states :)


Both have nice food and women...and both not so reliable on the front though...

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]


Well...there still would have been only so many Poles to actually use them! ;)


Germans have easily more...not even fully mobilized...


No they hadn't...why do you think Holland and other smaller neighbours never tried such a thing? Only Poles (and an Norwegian) are that overestimating ones powers.

;)


Heh:)

Maybe, but they are quite useless allies...

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]


Wishful thinking! (You Poles love the realm of happy fantasies) ;)

As we now know the french army was badly led and totally uninspired. They only dared to go into the Rhineland for some kilometers even without any german army at all...before they got out running.

Poland would have do anything alone.
When you really think polish troops could invade Germany and Germany would roll over just like that because it's you - think again!

Even IF you would had come to Berlin, Germany is so much bigger than only the way between Warsaw and Berlin. It was still a huge country at that time...you neither had the men nor the material to occupy a meaningful part of the country to really enforce anti-nazism or stop re-armament.

Quite to the contrary your agression would make Hitler and the Nazis to freedom fighters and martyrs!
In the worst case you would have to put all men on occupation duty...what would leave your eastern side totally open for any russian plans (which were german allies at that time with many german troops training there secretly).

In the end Poland would vanish from the map again, this time for good! (And totally deserved)

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]


Well....it has been awhile, hasn't it? ;)

Between that picture and now lay 3 partitions,a war and countless football matches, each time Poland got thrashed.


Nah...german forces would had come to occupy Warsaw sooner or later anyhow. The relatively few polish forces would never have been able to hold down a people of 80 millions.

But then nobody would even try to help you to get your country back...you would get your righteous punishment after starting an agression (as it would then told in all history books).

Be glad nobody followed that "glorious" idea...you would still pay for it, even today!

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]


Okay... :)

*thinks Gruni is on speed today*

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]


Darn....sorry....but one can mix up these countries up north... ;)


Socialists aren't successful!

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]


Without Prussia there wouldn't had been a Germany...say Thank You to prussian Bismarck for that! ;)

Anyhow I think a Poland becoming voluntarily part of Germany again is as high as your vision:

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]


Erm...you live in Denmark, don't you??? ;)


Maybe one needs the other?

Maybe there is a reason why highly restrictive countries are more successfull than chaotic, unorderly ones? (Which then have to be saved by the restrictive ones)Hmmmm...

;)

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]

Nah...I want that all my subjects are happy... :):):)

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]


Okay...I'm not nitpicking..."Middel" Europa it is! :)
(Most Germans speaking it like you write it anyhow)

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]


Why poor? They lived in the most advanced country in Europe of that time...Best education, best infrastructure, great industrial development...Prussia proper shoving alot of money and

investments eastwards (alot like today actually).

Poles just love to bathe in victimhood....nothing much changed actually...

History / Life in Partitioned Poland (Specifically in the Prussian Partition) [118]

All citizens had to obey to the same laws...Prussia was a quite liberal hodgepodge for it's time.
That's why Poles had their papers, had their places in the parliament, could vote, could demonstrate, could grow an influential middle class...like any other Prussian citizen too.

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]


Okay...maybe Prussia rings a bell?


"Mitteleuropa" sounds nice! :)

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]

Why WWIII...you yourself stated that countries should look at their more successfull "true masters!" and beg for entry??? Totally voluntarily!

What's good for the goose...

Of course if you were only joking you should say so! ;)
(But if you take the case of the EU you did kind of beg for entry - without one bullet fired)

News / Poland 2050? What will happen? [60]


Only when Poland comes to grips to itself and asks for Anschluß on Germany again (We won't call it partition this time)! ;)


Yeah....in Germany too...we need a convenient scape goat again...

USA, Canada / EMPIRE STATE BUILDING IN NYC DISRESPECTS POLISH AMERICANS! [88]


Well...as it was a polish hero and a german hero fighting hard together to get that ungrateful pack up on their feet and now only one of them get's honored!

Without our alliance helping them they wouldn't have an Empire State Building to change their bulbs in the first place, so there....

I'm pissed too for my polish comrades in arms!

(My that sounds...funny...but not bad...just somewhat unusual)

:)

History / What happened from 1650-1795? [68]


Still nice, thank you! :)

History / What happened from 1650-1795? [68]

My theory is that it is that way because of the many Jews that have lived in pre-war Poland.

There are more polish righteous among the nations in Yad Vashem than from any other country and also more stories of polish anti-semitism told between Jews...just because there had been so many of them in Poland.

I'm not sure why the other fact that so many Poles are honored in Yad Vashem is not so much known...maybe people just are that way!


Not old...there are new documents coming up...throwing an even darker light on Vichy and Petain:

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317509/Vichy-leader-Philippe-Petain-did-seek-save-Jews-France.html


Another convenient after war myth is going to bust...

nytimes.com/2010/10/06/world/europe/06paris.html

USA, Canada / EMPIRE STATE BUILDING IN NYC DISRESPECTS POLISH AMERICANS! [88]

Poles and Germans fighting together, side by side, to free and build the US...what a story!

If we only could do the same here in good 'ol Europe! :)