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What do nations of the world owe to Poland and Polish people?


pawian  221 | 26088  
8 Sep 2012 /  #1
After a tremendous success of the following threads,
What do Poles owe to Chechs?
What do Poles owe to Germans?
What do Poles owe to Jews?
What do Poles owe to Russians?

it is eventually time to start the ultimate OWE thread!!

Poles versus the rest of the world!!!

If we stick to chronology, the first thing that comes to my mind is that the Polish ruler, Mieszko, chose christianity for the baptism of Poland in 966.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_of_Poland

In 1054, Eastern Church seperated from Western one, creating Orthodox christianity in Kiev Russia, which later developed into Russia, Ukraine, Belarus.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East%E2%80%93West_Schism

Poland remained in the Western circle.

Imagine what would have happened if Poland had adopted Orthodox christianity? It is natural we would have formed a lasting alliance with our Eastern neighbours. Our united Slavic forces would be invincible. At some period in European history, Orthodox Polish-Russian-Ukrainian troops would have stormed westward and conquered all Europe.

German, French and other guys in the continental Europe, do you realise what it means? Today you would speak the Pidgin Polish-Russian.

Enjoying your today`s independence, do you understand you owe it to Poles?

PS. Prospective participants, chronology of events isn`t binding, feel free to post regardless of it.
Barney  18 | 1697  
8 Sep 2012 /  #2
Jesus:):):)
OP pawian  221 | 26088  
8 Sep 2012 /  #3
Hey, don`t go too far with what nations owe to Poles. You should know your limits.
Barney  18 | 1697  
8 Sep 2012 /  #4
Ah Pawian I read your words several times and there is so much one could say that I thought Jesus that’s an invitation to write about stuff.
OP pawian  221 | 26088  
8 Sep 2012 /  #5
Oh, I see. :):):):)

So, feel invited to write. :):):)

E.g., do you know how many times Poles saved Europe`s ass from barbarians?
Barney  18 | 1697  
8 Sep 2012 /  #6
E.g., do you know how many times Poles saved Europe`s ass from barbarians?

Yes Polish people played a part

Religion doesnt lead to a natural alliance but if it did would the orthodox alliance have had the numbers or military technology and if so when. At which point in history would the conquest have occured?. The response of these places after the Black Death (welcoming migrants) would suggest they didn't have the numbers
OP pawian  221 | 26088  
8 Sep 2012 /  #7
Religion doesnt lead to a natural alliance

In case of Polish Russian traditional feud religion played a major role.

but if it did would the orthodox alliance have had the numbers or military technology and if so when.

Sum up Russian numbers with Polish military technology (hussaria winged riders) and the outcome is clear - Europe wouldn`t have had any chance of defence.

At which point in history would the conquest have occured?.

From around 1500 to 1700.
SeanBM  34 | 5781  
8 Sep 2012 /  #8
Nope. I am just a wanna-be would-be historian.

So you recon if you went back and changed Mieszko's choice you'd all be one big happy family?

I read, a long time ago, that the

chose christianity for the baptism of Poland in 966.

was more about not being invaded than "seeing the light".
Care to comment? (as if I need ask:)

(hussaria winged riders) and the outcome is clear - Europe wouldn`t have had any chance of defence.

Ireland's bog lands would have total ruined you and then the celtic brothers would have ruled Europe once again (you can't say that much:):):) You might have had a good run on Lithuania's tail coats but that still wouldn't be much as youd've been too weak to hold your boarders :p
Barney  18 | 1697  
8 Sep 2012 /  #9
During the commonwealth with its huge Orthodox population relations were not exactly cosy with dare I say mother Russia.
Pawian what I'm saying is the scope of the thread just seemed huge from Slavic relations, the east west schism, especially "what if histories" and discussions about technological developments.
SeanBM  34 | 5781  
8 Sep 2012 /  #10
relations were not exactly cosy with dare I say mother Russia.

Pawian misses the U.S.S.R..
It's understandable, he's drinking whiskey instead of soviet wodka.

What do nations of the world owe to Poland and Polish people?

A nice cuppa barry's tea with milk.
Barney  18 | 1697  
8 Sep 2012 /  #11
It's understandable, he's drinking whiskey instead of soviet wodka.

It can't have taken a week to drink a bottle of Whiskey, and he expects to conquer Europe:):):)

PS
Pawian is a good egg but you know that
SeanBM  34 | 5781  
8 Sep 2012 /  #12
Pawian is a good egg

Pawian is a great guy because I agree with him on almost nothing :)
aphrodisiac  11 | 2427  
8 Sep 2012 /  #13
Pawian is a good egg but you know that

Pawian is a cheeky monkey who loves to make fun of everybody, so do I;).

do you know how many times Poles saved Europe`s ass from barbarians?

how many times?
smurf  38 | 1940  
8 Sep 2012 /  #14
Nobody "owes" anybody anything.

FFS, get the chip off your shoulder. :P

Just because you're born within the borders of some random country does not ever mean that any other people who happen to be born within the borders of some other random countries owe anything to you or other countries.

Stupid thread.

You are owed nothing, you are entitled to nothing. If you want something want to achieve something then by all means get out there and try your hardest to get it but never for one second believe that something is owed to you just because of who you think you are or because of where you were born.

I really do not this sense of entitlement that I witness in Poland, where I'm from you've got to work hard to get what you want. Nobody just gives you something because you think you deserve it.
delphiandomine  86 | 17823  
8 Sep 2012 /  #15
Communism for you - they were handed everything on a plate regardless of how much effort they put in, and they think they still deserve it.

Very common among the moustache generation.
OP pawian  221 | 26088  
8 Sep 2012 /  #17
Guys, could you stop gossiping about Pawian and get down to business????? Come on, what is wrong with you? :):):):)

pawian: do you know how many times Poles saved Europe`s ass from barbarians?

Ladies go first even if they post later than others.

Without looking into sources: 4.

First one:

It is believed that Poles saved Europe from bolshevism in 1920.

The Polish-Bolshevik War also known as the Polish-Soviet War (February 1919 - March 1921) was an armed conflict of Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine against the Poland and the Ukrainian People's Republic, four nascent states in post-World War I Europe. The war was the result of conflicting expansionist attempts.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Soviet_War_in_1920
en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Polish-Bolshevik_War

To the West! Over the corpse of White Poland lies the road to world-wide conflagration. March on Vilno, Minsk, Warsaw!

Mikhail Tukhachevsky


Ladies go first even if they post later than others.

Gentlemens :) go second.

Pawian misses the U.S.S.R.. It's understandable, he's drinking whiskey instead of soviet wodka.

Good you mentioned vodka.

s

ds

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BBubr%C3%B3wka

Stupid thread.

It is typical of various halfwits to say so about other members` threads, especially when they themselves are unable to start a thread which might attract readers and develop into more than 5 posts. They are pathetic little guys green of envy. :):):):):):):):)

Simple, isn`t it? :):):):)

pawian: do you know how many times Poles saved Europe`s ass from barbarians?

how many times?

Second time: Poles save Europe from barbarians in 1683:

s

s

s

One may recall the decisive charge of the Rohirrim from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, to get a flavour of what it must have been like, King Jan Sobieski leading his Polish hussars just as King Theoden led his Riders of Rohan.

romanchristendom.blogspot.com/2010/09/holy-name-of-mary-battle-of-vienna-and.html
legend  3 | 658  
11 Sep 2012 /  #18
E.g., do you know how many times Poles saved Europe`s ass from barbarians?

Not enough times. Today the barbarians come in via the "great" EU without a sword being raised. In fact they even have supporters (lol). The end result is something like the Islamic Republic of France and Pakistan Britain.

Soon it will be the Turkic State of Germany. Hopefully Poland wont go that way.
OP pawian  221 | 26088  
12 Sep 2012 /  #19
The case of Enigma is also a great Polish contribution:

An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I.[1] The early models were used commercially from the early 1920s, and adopted by military and government services of several countries - most notably by Nazi Germany before and during World War II.[2] Several different Enigma models were produced, but the German military models are the ones most commonly discussed.

More:

s

Did Crow hack Pawian's account?

Sean, you and others laughed at me but I am not alone!! My views are shared by other guys, too:

foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/12/17/shield_of_the_west

Shield of the West - If it weren't for Poland, we'd all be speaking Mongolian right now

Unfortunately, you need to reg to read.
Vlad123  7 | 204  
21 Dec 2012 /  #20
while the popular beverage was called gorzałka (from the Old Polish gorzeć meaning "to burn"), which is also the source of Ukrainian horilka (горілка).

Rather from Old Slavic.In Russian there is also verb goret` (to burn) - гореть.

Imagine what would have happened if Poland had adopted Orthodox christianity? It is natural we would have formed a lasting alliance with our Eastern neighbours.

They would not even need to adopt Orthodoxy.If Polish nobles would treat Ukrainians/Ruthenians as a humans,Poland most likely would be never partitioned and probably never seriously invaded from the East (at least up to now).

And would be a regional superpower which could rival to both Russia and Germany.
poland_  
21 Dec 2012 /  #21
In 1989 the first free labor union was founded in the communist Poland. The end of the communist system had begun and the fall of the soviet empire was in sight.
OP pawian  221 | 26088  
21 Dec 2012 /  #22
Oh, yes! I forgot about it! Poles dismantled communism in their country and then it spread onto other communist countries like a disease.
PS. Of course, you meant 1980.

Solidarity (Polish: Solidarność, pronounced [sɔliˈdarnɔɕt͡ɕ] ( listen); full name: Independent Self-governing Trade Union "Solidarity" - Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy "Solidarność" [ɲezaˈlɛʐnɨ samɔːˈʐɔndnɨ ˈzvjɔ̃zɛk zavɔːˈdɔvɨ sɔliˈdarnɔɕt͡ɕ]) is a Polish trade union federation that emerged on 31 August 1980 at the Gdańsk Shipyard under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa. It was the first non-communist party-controlled trade union in a Warsaw Pact country. Solidarity reached 9.5 million members before its September 1981 Congress (up to 10 million[1][2]) that constituted 1/3 of the total working age population of Poland.[3]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/31_August_1982_demonstrations_in_Poland
Tim Bucknall  7 | 98  
6 Feb 2013 /  #23
everyone is western Europe owes Poland a debt for stopping the advance of the Soviet Union in 1920 ,and paying the ultimate price when the NKVD got hold of the heroes of 1920.

Lwow gave us the first street lights and the typhus vaccine at a time when the population of that city was majority Polish.
Poles fought for the Paris Commune in 1871

theres already threads for WWII stuff so i won't repeat that stuff here.
ismellnonsense  - | 118  
6 Feb 2013 /  #24
at a time when the population of that city was majority Polish.

no
lwow was never majority polish
poles were the biggest ethnic group yes
but not a majority
Ironside  50 | 12493  
6 Feb 2013 /  #26
lwow was never majority polish

sure it was! One of the leading Polish cities.Which should belong to Poland along with surrounding area.
Grzegorz_  51 | 6138  
6 Feb 2013 /  #27
poles were the biggest ethnic group yes but not a majority

Delphi, could you provide a source for that ? Thanks !
nasadki  - | 43  
6 Feb 2013 /  #28
lwow was never majority polish

Wrong.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lviv#Demographics

1900 49.4%
1931 50.4%
1944 66.7%
1950 10.3%
Tim Bucknall  7 | 98  
6 Feb 2013 /  #29
Copernicus, 'nuff said
how to stage an insurgency, AK tactics were probably studied by liberation movements everywhere, Kosovo even had a Polish style underground state
jon357  73 | 23224  
6 Feb 2013 /  #30
Copernicus, 'nuff said

A grey area if ever there was one.

Kosovo even had a Polish style underground state

And it worked for them as it did for PL. Usually doesn't.

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