Poland and Russia

Politics

Poland and Russia

Poles and Russians: how similar and different are we?

Written by Jagoda Urban-Klaehn Monday, 30 August 2004 17:00

I just finished reading the book entitled The Xenophobe's Guide to the Russians, by Vladimir Zhelvis. This book is really exciting, funny but informative and inspires the reflection.

As a matter of fact Poles and Russians like each other as people more than their political history would suggest. Poles and Russians share common traditions and a similar fate especially for the last forty years after World War II since they were living under the same communistic Soviet system. Of course, Poles would blame always Russians for imposing the totalitarian system.

Why uneasy relations exist between Poles and Russians

Written by Eric Norton Friday, 16 July 2004 17:00

European neighbors Poland and Russia have both a shared, and a strained, history together. Both nations are Slavic, they speak similar languages, and have lived in relatively the same way throughout history. Over various periods of history, both Poland and Russia have conquered each other's territory. Despite all the similarities, however, there are sharp contrasts. Poles are Roman Catholics, and therefore use the Latin alphabet in their script, as well as being a very Western-oriented country; Russians are of the Orthodox religion, which has a centuries-long hatred of Roman Catholicism, and therefore write using the Cyrillic alphabet. In addition, Russia is oriented towards the East, towards Byzantine for its religious history, and the hordes of Mongolia for its political history. The centuries of conquering each other, as well as totally oppsite ways of thinking, have left a long mark of distrust between the peoples of these two countries.