POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country?

poland is eastern european in terms of culture, ideology and history. there is an obvious culture , economic and historical divide between east and west. Not between east, west and central.

germany is a central european country but when we speak of germany we speak of it as a western european country and when we talk of poland we talk of eastenr europe.

that is how europea see poland fullstop. GET OVER IT

You obviously have no idea about the culture, ideology or the history of Eastern Europe.

Poland shares slavic language, culture and was ruled by eastern european entities historicaly.
I have been to warsaw and krakow as I explained before and it is closer culturally and linguistically to crotia, ukraine etc. than to france or britain

correct me if I am wrong.

"entities"?
If by that you mean individuals the Poland was also ruled by western entities, oh, and a northern one too.
If, however, by the word "entities" you mean that Poland was occupied by other countries then a part of it it was also ruled at one time by a western and a central European entity. And come to think about it, India having been ruled by the Brits is a Western European country, right?

Poland is as close to Croatia as it is to Greece or Italy. Actually, barring the language, I find more commonalities between Poles and Italians than with any of the former Yugoslavian countries.

I just did.

Again, noimmigration has a good point, to a point. It depends what point in history he is referring to though. Ideologically, well, more closely allied with Central Europe now but 3.5 years in the EU doesn't push away about 40 years of communism and a long legacy/aftermath. Culturally, well, name me what cultures u had in mind noimmigration and we'll test them out

hang on a minute do you poles consider yourselfs western european culturally, historically and linguistically such as france, britain, germany, denmark.

LMAO why are you ashamed to be eastern european

you are nothing like the british, german or french. we western europeans all share similer languages unlike the poles. we all share similer histories and culture.

you have nothing in common with us you have more in common with eastenr eurpeans.

you are only central europeans geogrphically but their is a divide between east and west. not a divide between east, west and central.

you are eastern european, all western europe knows this, all our media knows this and all of our textbooks in schools know this ADMIT IT

as seanus says you have been locked away in a communist cupboard for decades and before that you didnt have much influence in terms of culture in the west like germany or britian etc did.

I would say russia and its satellite countries had a much bigger cultural impact on poland than germany, britain or france ever did.



here the united nations defines eastern europe in pink. eastern europe is not a geographical term but a term used to describe countries influenced by the cold war both economically, militantly and culturaly

as I said before germany is central europe geographically, but it is western europe as defined by the united nationas not to mentin linguistically and culturally.

the united nations, nato etc defines poland as eastern europe no matter how much yu deny it.

Ideaologically Poland was occupied by a communist country and the 40 years of the so called "communism in Pland" was 40 years of struggle against it.


Yes.

Partly

Lingiustics has nothhing to do with it.


Thankfully, not.


Yea, I like especially the London falvor of flamenco, and the French version of stiff upper lip :)


You're not trying to convince me you're familiar with textbooks, are you? Let alone ALL of them :)


Again, you know squat about Poland's history. Too much to explain. Find some books on the subject. And please, for your own sake, avoid the ones translated from German in early 20th century.

you are pathetic, the united nations and nato class poland as EASTERN EUROPE wether you like it or not.
western europeans class you as eastern european wether you like it or not.
the western media and the whole world class you as eastern europea wether you like it or not.

No matter how much you argue or whine you are NOT western european. I dont know why you are so unwillinging to accept this.

did you not look at the map above of what countries are considered eastern european, why are you lying to yourself.

I never said Poland is a Western European country so I have no clue why would you be arguing about that. It is a central European country. I don't know why you are unwilling to accept this.

germany is central european but classed by the un and nato as western europe, eastern europea is NOT a geographical term it is a cultural term defined as a satelite state of russia during the cold war.

wikipedia -

Eastern Europe is a concept of a geopolitical region recently influenced by the Cold War. Its borders are defined more by culture than by clear and precise geography. Throughout history and to a lesser extent today Eastern Europe has been distinguishable from Western Europe and other regions due to cultural, religious, economic, and historical reasons. Although the term Eastern Europe was largely defined of the Cold War, it still remains much in use.[1] The term is commonly used in the media and in everyday use both in "eastern" and other regions of Europe.

I am aware poland i geographically central eurpe, but you have to realize that politically, culturally, historically and linguistically it is eastern european

To z-darius, OK, but then what was the ideology of the Polish people between 1946-1989? What ideology did the majority of Poles want to pursue post WWII? Many Poles grew to like communism

why ask that seanus, hell just try to convince you every polish man woman and child had ak47s and were part of an underground resistance movement that everday, shot stalins soldiers in time before breakfast

- times are changing, huh? you need too.
- cold war is gone, wake up
- commonly used is also "rains cats and dogs". Ever seen a cats or dogs falling from the sky in great numbers?

are you tring to say that the application of eastern europe when used to describe poland is metaphorical.

you really are deluded

the war is gone but cultures, language, religion, economics, way of living and politics still exist.

if poland was western europe which you poles are trying so hard to convince yourself that you are then why is your standard of living and care not as high as real western european cuntries. why are millions of you fleeing for a better life in real western europe.

keep pretending your part of western europe because you are fooling no one.
you have only been in the eu for a few years and you think you are as good as us.

We should either take the word Central out of the thread and replace it with Western or stick to what it means to be a Central European country. CET, Central European Time, is the time zone which Poland falls under. Ukraine, an Eastern European country, is 1 hour different from Poland I've just been told. Poland is in the same time zone as Germany. When we say Central European, we are thinking geographically more than anything else. Berlin and eastwards was seen as Eastern Europe at one time, now that that east/west divide has been resolved, we must re-evaluate the picture.

why change it, they are eastern european fullstop.

- the world is too small for cultures to differ that much. You need to go out more.
- Poland's religion is predominantly Roman Catholicism, further East it's Orthodox.
- Poland has market economy like any Western European country
- Way of living? Whatever yiu mean by that, Polish way of living is much closer to the French or Italian ways of living than English is to either.

Quote me on that. I never said Poland is a Western European country.

Again, a quote please.

So you consider yourself "good" ? :)))
Well, I hope Poles never manage to be like you.

LOL look at the poles desperately trying to emulate us. Its kinda sweet that they want to be just like us western europeans.

You?
You would be a disgrace to any civilized country.

Funny that the topic is about Poland being Eastern or Central in Europe and here you are slavering on about Poland trying to be in Western Europe. Just another excuse for you to Pole-bash.

They could re-classify where Poland is every week and it wouldn't make any difference to me.



If being Western European is to be like you noimmigration I don't think anyone would want it.

Let's examine Central Europe, is it really so desirable for Poland to fit into that category anyway? Spain, they stirred up loads of trouble with fishing territory claims, Germany and France, I could go on and on about those 2 and the bickering between them. Italy, wow, currency issues and belligerence like no other. Poland doesn't need to define its position in the EU, it has signed up and must obey the rules where applicable, whether it is as an Eastern or a Central European country

you will find I gave indesputable evidence which concludes that poland is geographically central europe. While culturally, historially, linguistically and politically it is eastern europe.
As defined by the united nations and nato,

N.B eastern europe not being a geographical term.

Again, I haven't read the thread. So probably, this is a very silly question - if so forgive my stupidity. Why is it so important whether Poland is in Central or Eastern Europe? It is central - by the way ;)

Maybe you should read the thread then. It's a good topic of discussion on this forum.



Then why are you now going on about Poland wishing it was Western Europe? You can post as much interesting evidence as you like but then you spoil it by bashing again.

because poles deny that they are eastern europeans, It irritates me that poles think they are like britain, germany, france, italy, denmark etc when they are not.

I agree with Mufasa in the context of the EU, what does it matter if they are an accedent from Eastern Europe or from Central Europe? It matters that they can bring sth to the table in 'European' circles and not just accept EU grants/handouts as many people believe that they do. Academic definitions don't help much, they are in the EU and we have to give them a fair crack of the whip. I expect noimmigration will have a whip comment or two. Whip is a political word after all, hehehe

Central Europe has no meaning at all.It simply reenforces the old concept of Middeleuropa.Some lands in middle Europe(Austria,Hungary,Czech Republic,Slovakia,part of Poland,Slovenia,Croatia) having strong bonds.

austria is not eastern europe and it has bonds closer to germany, switzerland and lichienstien. Not bonds closer to eastern european countries.

They are. We are all European...

Southern wrote carefully 'part of Poland'. Poland is a fairly big country and those that live in places like Zamosc, Lublin and Białystok, I'd classify more as Eastern European. Those that live here in Silesia view them as so. Silesia has more of a German tint than any other region in Poland. Especially Upper Silesia. They have trouble understanding those from the far east of Poland sometimes