POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country?

Not my corner, tallest building around here is the Fire Brigades training tower, ironic as there are no tower blocks in its operating area..............

There are always exceptions in life, ist2 ;)

He does however perfectly describe a corner 40 minutes drive away :)
God Bless isolated country market towns, plenty of cans of tyskie suddenly scattered in parks and on pavements,but overall a slightly better view above ground level :)

no sun

Rubbish we had a lovely summer (it was last week for four days)

I had always had it in my mind that Poland was in Eastern Europe, and indeed the Eaternmost European country. Literature from the C16 or 17 refers to Poland as the easternmost bastion of Christianity.

So where's Ukraine?

the most eastern, "western" country I might guess you meant.

Oops! Sorry to the Ukraine. And sorry for the typo too, though I suspect if one could indulge in eating a country, Poland would probably be 'eatenmost'.


Kind of (thanks for the save mate). I was actually in a historic mindset when I typed that, per my reference to the literature of the C16 & 17.

Let's say Poland is a central european country misplaced in eastern Europe.

This map of central Europe is outdated by hundreds of years. Look at it on online. Germany was part of eastern/central europe about the same time Colombus was credited for discovering America. According to the United Nations and several other official world class organizations, there is no central europe, and Poland is always considered part of Eastern Europe. Look it up. In fact, attend several universities around europe and north America, and they will say the same thing. This is due to several reasons; official European maps are not divided by religion. Europe is divided first by language and geneological groups, like Slavic or Germanic, then by socio-economic status, then or before, by historical ties between peoples. The term "Central" Europe is mainly a religious connotation. You may hear priests say central Europe, but this does not make it true. Since there are many religions around the world, religion is not the decisive factor. And if Polish people are looking to prove to themselves their wishful thinking that they are not part of eastern europe, they will gladly believe those priests, but they will be the only Catholic country who actually do believe this, because it is so widely learned throughout the world that Poland is part of eastern Europe, that people will understand whats happening, and realize the priest is saying this for the benefit for the Polish family out there in the crowd, or in Poland. There is no other country this benefits besides Poland. Europe is too small to divide with a "Central." It doesn't span tens of thousands of miles like the Americas. Language, geneological, culture and economic status are the decisive factors that draw map lines. As well as geographical; Poland looks to be smack dab in the center of Europe, but if you consider how far europe extends into Russia, thats stretching it. And area borders on a map are not exactly geographical; look at how Spain and Italy are considered to be Southern Europe, yet they are geographically separated and completely far apart from one another. So come on, to those Polish people who cannot stand the truth, don't be so blind to what you know is the truth, just admit it. Poland is part of Eastern Europe! People around the world recognize a common element, what is logical. Just because Polish people don't want to be called Eastern European is not logical, or reasonable. Or true for this reason. This truth is based on fact. Fact is based on what is supported reasonably and logically, and what is established and supported by most people around the world. Not what is established by Polish people. If that were the case, every Russian and every American would say they were the only people in space and no one else, just because they wish it so. Wishing it, yelling it, fighting it or whatever crazy uneducated, ignorant people do is not reasonable, is not fact. Sometimes fact can be many things, but how countries are divided or referred to is not many things. Its this or that, black or white, no gray; there is this side of the line, and that side of the line. It has nothing to do with communism any longer. Even if there were no communist history, Poland would still be part of Eastern Europe for the above reasons, and then some. Look at todays map drawn by the United Nations. The UN is recognized and supported by every European nation, including Poland. Go against their map means to go against the UN. Or pick any major organization or education system that supports Poland as EAstern European. Stop the wishful insanity. Not very smart or educated. So be smart!!!!!!!


Correction: Poland does not have exquisite landscaping. Czech Republic does, but the bulk of Poland looks like the bulk of Germany, boring farmland. I traveled to every country in Europe and that was the word of everyone in the group.

What landscapes exactly? Could you recommend me some places?

Central Europe is in general what was covered by Austrohungary till 1918 plus Switzerland.

I think he means that Czech Republic has a very "hilly" environment.

Yes, you should keep on dreaming. I am afraid that prejudice is no guide to logic. A map of Europe according to Samuel P. Huntington. As we can see Mr. Huntington clearly places Poland in the west, and he should know since he is the leading theorist of this very issue(:

Haguecameron, you should understand that whether one places Poland in Eastern, or in Central, Europe is not a matter of logic or science, but an arbitrary decision. You cannot appeal to authority on this matter.

authority, what authority(:

You just cited Samuel P. Huntington in post #629:

I see, well as in most things in life authority is everything. Indeed many a arbitrary decision has been the result of ignorant authority.

What does that mean?


And what does that mean?
The decision this thread asks the poster to make is arbitrary because neither of the alternatives in the titular disjunction can be shown to be definitely right or wrong.

Don't you find the meaning quite evident? I don't see any equivocation in the sentence do you? You do know what authority is don't you(:


There were plenty of wrong decisions made in the past relating to many different spheres of life that were based on insufficient or bad information by those who had the authority of making the decisions. Politics and war, are two very good examples.

Well it all depends on one's perception, but not every person's perception is of equal worth.

No I don't. If you had said "In life authority is everything" then that would've been an understandable assertion but you wrote:

Well it's semantics really, you can interpret it that way. I was specifically referring to the said author's analysis, and pointing out that as with most things in life, an academic authority's evaluation is just as equally valid in the sphere of academia, as it is in other areas of life concerning authority.

This thread is not about politics or war. This thread is about choosing one of two words to describe Poland's position in Europe. Either Eastern or Central. Niether of these alternatives can be shown to be wrong and thus one's choice is arbitrary. One's choice does not come down to "one's perception" because everyone, that is not hallucinating, sees Poland in the same location on the map as everyone else. This thread is about an arbitrary choice between two adjectives.

Looking at this from a strictly geographical point of view you could be right, but quite obviously this thread is not all about geography, therefore perception comes into it.

Having no social consensus on the topic is an argument pro arbitrary, personal preference type of 'right' choice to describe Poland.

I still find this discussion humiliating for Poles, they are forced to prove that they are good enough to be the West, or not bad enough to be the East, terms being defined by the West with all positive and negative meanings attached to the concepts of West and East.

What's the point? :)

Well that is quite obviously the agenda of some, especially those with the least amount of knowledge and quite content to stay that way. After all that is not their primary purpose for posting on here.

As Stalin once said Poland has to move to the West.

Didn't good Germans say that it has to move to the East?

I have deepest admiration for Poles being able to survive that go West :), go East game. Don't get caught again Poles, be wise. I sound like Crow now :))

Poland always moves.When it enters south we will taste the true vodka.