History / Where did the power of Poland vanish to, since... let`s say, some 300 years ago? [180]


I don't think any regime from the 18th century would qualify as totalitarian, but it is true that those who were governed by enlightened absolute monarchs tended to be succesful (as long as the monarch was competent). That being said, the UK was on its' way to become a global superpower during the same time despite having a royal figurehead.

But having a competent, deeicated monarch could really make a difference back then, since the governmental affairs were still small enough for a king to oversee, and his spending habit could directly affect the state finances. Prussia's ascendence is populary linked to Frederick the Great, yet it was his father who made his conquests possible. When Frederick Wilhelm Icame to power, Prussia was almost bankrupt, with a small ineffective army that fared poorly in the War of the Spanish Succession and with a potential encirclement by Saxony and Poland. He left his son a huge surplus that financed his wars, a huge standing army that was best drilled on the continent and - by the standards of the time - highly sophisticated bureaucracy. Frederick Wilhelm was a truly terrible person in his private life, yet probably the best monarch one can hope for his country. Compare the results with the exploits of his contemporary August II of Saxony and the results for his domains.

History / Where did the power of Poland vanish to, since... let`s say, some 300 years ago? [180]

If we look at the time period, we can see that not necessarily wealth or size (in terms of ressources or territory) determine the success or failure of states, but how effective they can utilize their potential. Sweden used to be a powerhouse in the 17th century and continued to punch above its' weight despite being relatively poor and sparsely populated because it had a good administration and a very effwctive recruitment system. That only came to an end because of the disastrous Northern War (and Sweden continued to prosper nevertheless). In the 18th century, states like Russia, Prussia and to a certain extent Austria managed to significantly improve the reach of their bureaucracies, as historians note, we suddenly have much more detailed documentations about their subjects and wealth. As a result they could suddenly field professional armies several times the size of the undisciplined mercenary groups that dominated the 17th century. Poland was unable to do so and fell behind. But again, Poland was far from the only case. Saxony uses to be incredibly rich, it was in fact wealthier than Prussia until the Seven Years War, yet its' money was not invested into the military and thus it could only field a pitiable army that got easily crushed by Prussia.

News / The ruling party in Poland tries to take American owned TV news station off the air [528]

Is it true that the justice minister criticized the PM for his "historic mistake"?

UK, Ireland / Boris Johnson - is the new British PM a popular figure in Poland? [150]

Honestly, you can think what you want about his career or politics in general. But someone who bans people from visiting their dying loved ones or hold proper funerals for them, while he himself holds several parties with dozens of guest is despicable, plain and simple. Leaders are supposed to set an example in tough times, but how can he serve as one after that?

History / Chances of Moscow becoming part of Poland again? [102]


Of course it does. A well equipped health care system will be better able to cope with the strain the pandemic puts on to the system and Russia's hospitals were known to be in terrible shape even before the pandemic.

US Americans are suffering from obesity and had a president who woefully mismanaged the pandemic for the first year, yet its' hospitals were evidently able to much better deal with the situation than Russia.

History / The reasons of Polish pride? [112]

We certainly have come a long way since Ignaz Semmelweis.... .

News / Green electricity in Poland [41]

Not that this a particular smart way if you also want to decrease Carbon emissions, but it is likely going to be much cheaper long-term than using nuclear energy.

History / Chances of Moscow becoming part of Poland again? [102]

You do understand what excess death means right? Those people died in addition to those you would expect to die based on previous years since the pandemic started. Based on those figures, Russia lost several times more people relative to its' size than all the other Western countries (whose populations siffer from high obesity rates and hogh median ages, factors which make Covid more deadly).

Or in simple terms: Russia hast lost more people to Covod than the USA despite having slightly more a 1/3 of the American population.

History / Chances of Moscow becoming part of Poland again? [102]

The reports of excess death rates since the pandemic started are btw. also based on official Russian statistics. If anything, they might still be too low.

themoscowtimes.com/2021/12/03/russias-excess-death-toll-passes-810000-a75729

rferl.org/amp/russia-covid-life-expectancy/31547862.html

google.com/amp/s/rferl.org/amp/russia-covid-deaths-double-numbers/31536128.html

And like I said, there are many more articles available.

There have long been suspicions that the Russian government has been hiding the true death toll, and those numbers confirm this suspicion

History / Chances of Moscow becoming part of Poland again? [102]

This is well documented, just google "Russia" "Excess deaths" and "Covid" and you will find countless articles on it.

History / Chances of Moscow becoming part of Poland again? [102]


I already do, which is why I only reply to your most inane posts.

You praise Russia, while I point out that it is failing its' citizen during the biggest crisis of the last 76 years.

The Russian government has downplayed the number of Covid victims in thr past, but the excess death rate reveal the true picture. Up to 1m people have died.... That is more than three times the number of Polish victims relative of its' population size and five times the number of victims of Germany.

History / Chances of Moscow becoming part of Poland again? [102]

Yeah, who needs a working infrastructure and hralth system outside of Moscow when at least the subway looks beautiful. NK has also relatively beautiful looking subways as well.

Meanwhile, Russia reports more than 1m excess deaths thanks to Covid, but who needs hospitals when you have tanks and missiles?

News / Poles say a big YES to our European Union [996]


Indeed it is. They select their head of state through his ancestry, part of their second chamber of parliament is selected by this as well, and their FPTP-system - that no one would choose today as election system - regulary awards the majority to a party that gets less than 50% of the votes. How democratic... .

News / Poles say a big YES to our European Union [996]


People often only appreciate what they have once it is gone. The Roman Empire is perhaps the oldest and best example. Yeah it was heavily flawed, but entire generations could live without direct threats of war to them, something we only experienced again after 1945.

No doubt many of those who now villify the EU would come to miss it, because they would realize that things they are just now imageing (like being dominated by a group or country) would feel much worse once it actually happens.

History / Royal Family still in Poland? [79]


Your post in a nutshell. Your ignorance is so high that you don't really realize how laughable your claims are. You could avoid this by simply reading one or two books about this subject.

James Charles Bergquist's Daily Life in Immigrant America, 1820-1870: How the First Great Wave of Immigrants Made Their Way in America might be a good start.

Please educate yourself before you continue to make a completw fool out of yourself.


Look up how the Irish or Italians were treated. That they had the wrong religion (Catholics) was just the start.


There were thousands of Germans alone who fled after the failure of the 1848 revolution, many of whom ended up serving in the US army and fighting in the Civil War. The monarchies in Europe in the 18th and 19th century were incredibly opressive and caused many people to flee. Those are not comparable to the kind of monarchies we have today, which are de facto parliamentary democracies with some dynastic atavism.


I suppose anyone who does not agree with you is a Marxist?

History / Royal Family still in Poland? [79]

@Poloniusz


I urge you to read an book by an actual historian about the waves of migration in the 19th century because then you would know how silly your entire post is.

Very little about this would look "orderly" to us today. Registration for instance was rudimentary at best and often non-existence. There was no need, since they were left to their own devives anyway, and interestingly often had to deal with similar sentiments muslims have to live nowadays.

And let us not start with your peculiar idea that there was not a significant of people fleeing the political realities at home... .

News / New Nuclear Ambitions Of Belarus: cooperation with Poland in the energy deliveries to the EU countries [20]

Besides, he can hardly have good feelings for other Slavs when he is constantly dreaming of subjugating those who live in areas he views as Serbian, or glorifies those who butchered them e.g. in Srebenica. He calls upon Slavs the same way Hitler called upon Europeans in 1944... to aid in his mad agenda.

History / Royal Family still in Poland? [79]


Are you kidding? Millions of people migrated from Europe in the 18th and 19th century in order to luve in the USA, particulary from Ireland and after the failed 1848 revolution. Nowadays monarchies in Europe have been thoroughly defanged and are more or less theme-park versions of republics and thus no longer causing people to escape, but you can easily find examples of other monarchies in the world that produces refugees. Not to mention that there are also brutal dictatorships like North Korea and Syria that are all but monarchies in name which pass power along a dynasty.

News / Will America send troops to fight a Russian invasion of Baltics and/or Poland? [283]


Germany does not offer free healthcare but universal one, which interestingly was invented by bonna fide reactionary Otto von Bismarck... higer education is also free except for a few federal states that demand a modest university fee.

Never mind how universal healthcare would most likely be cheaper long term for the USA than the current system. Currently the US spends twice as much per capita than Germany for an inferior service.

News / Will America send troops to fight a Russian invasion of Baltics and/or Poland? [283]

Just look who constitutes the SPD party in the Bundestag. 1/4 of them are from the JuSos who are very much pacifists and have in the past advocated for North Stream and against the 2% aim. The leader of the SPD in the Bundestag is Mützenich, whose policy goals I already stated. Honestly, the way the SPD prevented the Bundeswehr from buying drones really infuriated me... they were not following arguments, they just wanted to score cheap points with the pacifit voters. At least the Left party is consistent with their pacifist policies. You can not send soldiers to fight and not arm them properly!

And the Green party.... well, they might be for sanctions and all, but expecting them to agree to higher defence spendings is really a joke. We all know what they will want more money for, and it won't be for the army!


Merkel was the guarantee that this would not happen. With her gone, and with Covid having ravaged our budget, I am rather pessimistic for the future.

News / Will America send troops to fight a Russian invasion of Baltics and/or Poland? [283]


I mean who is realistically going to invade them?


You are being dishonest here. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, successive governments have reduced the Bundeswehr in size, and in the 2000s there was a big consensus among the German public and government that Russia was no longer an enemy, and that we would need the army for peace keeping and nation building. That only changed in 2014, and even then Merkel and the CDU (and partly the FDP) were the only ones actually advocating for reaarmament. The SPD (with whom the CDU had to form a coalition) was especially bad in this regard. They made sure that any increase to the military budget should also be matched by an increase to the development fund budged (thus making large increases impossible), have long prevented the Bundeswehr from buying armed drones, and followed Mützenich's denuclearization agenda, which put NATOs nuclear deterrent in Germany at risk. There may be issues on which the new government might perform better than before, but Merkel's departure is bad news for the Bundeswehr and Germany's role in NATO. Obama knew that Merkel was one of the few German politicians who were not catering to the German pacifist mentality, which is why he appreciated her.

News / Will America send troops to fight a Russian invasion of Baltics and/or Poland? [283]

To be honest, what I am really concerned about is not Putin, but about the actions of his successors. Because by now we know what Putin's deal is. He wants to stay in power, and because he is unable to adress Russia's serious domestic problems, he had to build up the West as an enemy. Crimea will now be used as his great success by his propaganda machine, it will always be brought up when Russians grow discontent with falling wages and pensions and rising food prices. Putin is in the end however pragmatic enough to only take calculated risks.

We do not know what type his successor will be. A successor who will not be able to benefit in the same way from previous foreign political "successes" and who will likely be forced to face some serious domestic turbulences when Russia's long-term problems really come to the fore front. Backed into a corner and no "easy" conquest available, who knows what he will do.

Not to mention how successive American governments will be more and more occuppied with containing China, which in return will make Eastern Europe more vulnerable.

News / What should Poland do with the problem of Belarus? [1800]


Well, so much for Europe's civilization. Those new citizen do what our supposedly civilized and christian governments should be doing.

News / What should Poland do with the problem of Belarus? [1800]

Yeah, because no refugees or migrants are making it from Greece to Germany....

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]

Realistically speaking Pro choice advocates might be better off waiting a few more years, giving time the chance to reduce their opponents among the old people instead of losing a public vote on it prematurely and having to live with it for a generation or so.

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]

Yeah, it is the woman who has to go through the agony of pregnancy and labour and who ends up with all the possible health risk. While I do support more rights for fathers (especially when divorced) in general, that is a call they have rightfully no say in. Woman can not prevent a man to e.g. get a vasectomy either.

News / Abortion still under control in Poland [2986]

It is worth noting that cases like this helped in Ireland tipping the scale towards legalizing abortions.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Savita_Halappanavar

It is easy to have a black-and-white view on such complex issues like abortion, but the reality is more complex and requires more flexibility in order to account for extreme cases. Otherwise you end up with women dying as we were still in the Middle Ages, or women (or even children) being forced to carry their rape baby to term.


It can be one in cases where it is necessary to save the mothers life, like cutting out a tumor, especially when the baby is dead or dying and threatens to kill the mother as well. It can also be part of the mental recovery of a raped woman.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

Yeah, aside from the self-inflicted immenent and long-term political and economical, the UK is doing "fine".


Poland is probably the country that benefits the most from the EU. Financially and economically it is a clear win without a downside, and in political terms the EU provides one last line of defence for Poland's democracy against the increasingly autorcratic PiS.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


Indeed. Everybody knows that Brexit was and is a terrible idea, but humans sadly have the tendency to double down rather than rethink their convictions. Pretty much everything the Brexiteers promised to counter the warnings of the Remainers has turned out to be wrong. "Easiest trade deal in history" "No border in Irland" "No need for much paperwork for import/export into the EU" "A quick trade deal with the USA". Of course according to their logic, this is not the result of falsw promises, but others trying to sabotage Brexit....

Life / Has feminism and lesbianism progressed in Poland? [645]

Considering how many of her adversaries within her party she overcame, that seems safe to say. Merkel has been accused of many things, but never of being a puppet of her party.


Apologies, thanks for the correction.