POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country?

Linked with failed communism and backward policies I guess. Borne out of prejudice one would surmise

Read some of the earlier post.

thanks for the quick explanation.


i know sometimes i suffer from being lazy and not reading all of the posts, i'm sorry but it just happens :)

Poles are part of the Western branch of Slavs, and considered Eastern by people in the west, so it evens out and makes us Central European...

:]

At a meeting yesterday Poland was referred to as "Russia Lite". I thought that was quite a funny and apt description but then again that was my mood yesterday!

A veeery old joke (probably pre-WW2):

There is a guy travelling from France to Russia, and another going the opposite way. Yet they both get off their trains in Warsaw. Why?
The first one thought he was in Moscow already, the other one thought that this had to be Paris.

So "central" would be my guess, yes.

Good guess Magda ;) LoL

you all would probably agree that the eastern border of Europe is on Ural mountains.
Bear it in mind Poland could be considered even as Westrn Europe, but I preffer to call it Central Europe.

I think had the UK made peace with Germany after the fall of Paris, Russia would have been forced into a stalemate with German occupying Russia west of Urals. Interesting fiction book called Fatherland covers such a line.

"Saved"...?...emmmmm no...the Russians/Soviet empire was indeed just as evil as the German empire to be..............both were vying for as much control of Europe as possible....their bankrupt and genocidal policies the most damaging in the entire history of mankind..the blackest period possible imaginable.

I couldnt agree more with Gile. It's the arrogant and,i dare say ignorant elite that dreamt up these silly terms to divide people. High time we got rid. PEACE

EASTERN. All this talk about picking out a pole in a bar full of Germans? ********. I've only met 3 poles with blonde hair. You can pick a slav a mile away.

Erm...no. I know some Poles who could be German or French.
Only 3 Poles with blond hair ?... wow, bad luck ;)

Try only to find out the attractive.

Like some of the dentally-deficient, gnarled old individuals I have worked with in my time. Do you like moustaches, Mr. Southern?

I have to travel west to get back to my origins in the UK,......so my guess is that Poland is eastern Europe....then again..its kinda in the middle of that big lump of land...oh who cares , as long as you know where it is........

Regardless where Poland is, I am not moving and Poland is not going anywhere.
I would like it to move south somewhere near Greece, I like the weather there. Better still move Poland there for winter and back home for summer.
Fellows this is serious: I will move Russia to Australia, Germany to New Zealand, Israel to New Guinea, and Americans to Siberia. Think how to do it and let me know.
Once you get these lot going rest would be easy (I have more candidates for relocation).

I think this question is a matter of context, are you dividing Europe in halfs or thirds?

Geographically, Poland is central obviously, it is above Hungary which is considered the very center of Europe. I usually refer to Poland as eastern europe though since Americans usually aren't aware that there is more to Europe than France, England, Germany and Italy.

Very interesting question indeed. If we consider Europe Eastern and Western, then Poland is definitely Eastern. When it comes to Central, it´s quite an unclear term (I´m Czech with a geography grade :-)). The physical midpoint of Europe lies somewhere in Kaliningrad region which would make Poland central, to me, though, calling it central once it has access to the Baltic sea is somewhat odd. So it can be called Eastern (because east of the iron curtain), Central (because west of Russia) or even Northern (Baltic). The only fact is clear, it´s not Western :-)

I think polish woman are very good looking, I dont know about the men because I dont swing that way. But it is definate that the poles look differant from germans, british, scandanavian etc. There is definatly a certain eastern look about them (and I am not talking about camoflouge trousers or bomber jackets). Most people I have taled to agree.

And no poland is not a western nation, geographically germany is central but it is considered a western power. As I have said umpteen times the united nations and nato consider poland eastern europe (the cia consider it central geographically).



united nations distinction -

"eastern europe is a concept that lacks one precise definition. It refers to a geopolitical region recently influenced by the Cold War. In some definitions its borders are defined more by culture than by clear and precise geography[citation needed]. 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[citation needed]. "

East Central and South-East Europe Division[14]:Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic,Greece, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine.

Do the Skandis look like the Brits ?...
Do the Italians look like the Irish ?
Unless your definition of Western Europe is all north-west European countries...


No, that's true.


Cultures of Poland and France are quite close.
Religion is catholicism, like Ireland, Italy, France, Portugal, etc. Where's the difference ?
Poland's economy is more and more comparable to Spain's. It's a very healthy economy.
Historically, Poland was either Polish (wow), German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, Prussian... That makes a perfect definition for Central Europe ;)

But i understand your point of view, and it's really cool to discuss without being insulted (for once) ;)

why would you consider poland a western nation ?. it has only even been in the eu for 3 - 4 years. and less than two decades ago it was behind the iron curtain. It seems to me that the only people in the world that consider it a western nation are the poles themselves. it seems that the poles are embarressed that they are considered by the whole world and global bodies, to be eastern european.

Read again :

To sum up, i agree.


Like was Eastern Germany.


They don't consider themselves westerners, where did you get that ?

eastern europe has been fully assimilated into western germany,



so you agree they are eastern europeans, and for the record central europe is a geographical term and It cannot be used in the context of historical value, politics, ideology, culture etc.

You mean "Eastern Germany" right ?... You should go there and ask the people...


If you're talking about the country that was behind that fµck!n Iron Curtain, yeah it may be considered as a (former) Eastern European country. Today, Poland is a Central Eur. country because its economy is the same as westerners economies, the Poles share the same culture as the Brits (for example), they eat in McDonald's, they go to the cinema, they listen to the same music...
What ideology ? I dare hope you're not refering to communism... the Poles were forced to live on the other side of the Iron Curtain, as were Eastern Germans. I think, today, differences between Germany and Poland are smaller than differences between -let's say- Bulgaria and Germany.
For me Eastern countries are Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria...
Poland, the Czech Rep, Slovakia, etc. are Central countries.

listen I really dont know how simple I can explain this . I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT GEOGRAPHICS. There is a western/eastern divide NOT western/central/eastern. And the only reason that polands economy has improved is the amount of money and foreign investment that has been poured in from western nations like britian.

I am not either. I'm talking about culture, religion...


Why not ? Why don't you accept a Central Europe, does it hurt ??
There is also a North/South divide. Do you want to to talk about ? ;)


This is how it works, there are also foreign investments in the UK. And why do you think there are investments ? Because westerners are nice and lovely people ? No, because the Polish market is attractive and they know they'd make money investing there.
And pleaase..."the only reason" ?... tss...

The Berlin Wall is best used to define Eastern/Western Europe. The politics are no longer relevant

This central European term seems to be applied to countries with developing economies that don't wish to be associated with the old East for some reason.



You're right Polson, he should have said 'the most important reason by far' rather than the only reason...

That Iron Curtain...that's old story... Germany is considered western, even though its eastern part was on the other side of the Iron Curtain.


I agree.


Bad memories maybe :P


Haha, shµt up, will you ? ^^