Tucker Carlson's interview with Vladimir Putin, who has so far watched over 200 million people, has echoed worldwide. In the West, as a rule, “discussion” and comments revolved around respective phrases – “scandalic”, “liable”, “disturbing”. Poland was no different.
Interestingly, historical issues prevailed in Polish comments, even though Putin referred to the most crucial issues at the moment, namely the prospects of ending the war. However, we felt that it was better to focus on history, due to the fact that it was thought that it would talk more to the Polish opinion in a negative sense, discrediting the full message of the president of Russia.
I will immediately say that part of Vladimir Putin's historical mention to the ancient past was simplification. For example, if we are talking about the “expansion” of Poland to the east, it must be made clear that it was not an expansion, but a consequence of the Polish-Lithuanian union, and the Republic of Poland did not conquer any lands, but it merged with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was a country far more extended than the right Poland (i.e. the Crown) and included giant lands in the east. Let us add that the de facto Grand Duchy of Lithuania was not a Lithuanian state, but a Russian state, with Russian authoritative language, with Orthodoxy and a vast majority of the Russian population. Was the creation of specified a large organism, so different civilizations – beneficial for Poland, another issue. Now. Jan Longish He had serious doubts about it, including historians, even Prof. Władysław KonopczynskAnd he thought that the East had dragged the full country down and corrupted it. The question is whether another policy was possible.
If Vladimir Putin says that “Poles did their best to colonize [these lands] and fundamentally treat this part of the Russian lands rather harshly, if not cruelly. All of this led to this part of the Russian lands fighting for their rights. And they wrote letters to Warsaw, demanding respect for their rights" – this is simply a simplification, due to the fact that those who "past" (in the guess of Russian peasants or Orthodox clergy), were not Poles, but Polish people who were pollonized by their own will of indigenous Rusini and Lithuanians. The Cossack uprising broke out against the large Russian magnates, not against Poland, and the main enemy of the Cossack Jeremi Wiśniowiecki He was of the blood of Rusin, and Bohdan Chmielnicki, according to all probability “Lachem”.
So much about ancient history, much more controversy caused by fresh history. Putin said: “In 1939, after Poland collaborated with Hitler and Poland collaborated with Hitler, Hitler offered – all the papers we have in our archives – to make peace with Poland, a treaty on relationship and alliance, but demanded that Poland hand over the alleged Gdańsk Corridor to Germany, which combined the main part of Germany with Köniecki and East Prussia – Poles refused... Why did the war begin on 1 September 1939 with Poland? It turned out that Hitler had no choice but to start implementing his plans from Poland. It is crucial that the war began and Poland became a victim of its policy towards Czechoslovakia, due to the fact that according to the well-known protocols Ribbentrop-Molotov any of these territories went to Russia, including Western Ukraine. Russia, under the name of the russian Union, thus returned to the historical territories."
This part of Putin's argument provoked the biggest outrage in Poland. Is that right? Firstly, it should be stated that Putin's message does not make it clear that Poland is liable for the outbreak of planet War II, but that Hitler, in order to accomplish his goals (here Putin did not say what goals, and that intent was to destruct the USSR, conquer and colonize the East) was forced to start the war from attacking Poland. The word "forced" (in fact, in full translation, this phrase reads, "there is nothing else for him") is confusing. due to the fact that it is not that Poland "forced" Hitler to start planet War II, but that after Poland refused to give the Corridor to the Germans and – what Putin did not add – refusing to march together with Germany on Russia – Hitler had to start the war with the demolition of Poland. Putin did not repeat at this point what in the Russian authoritative historical communicative is now frequently repeated, that Poland and Germany wanted to invade the USSR, he only says that Germany intended to establish an alliance with Poland. And what escaped our commentators, Putin felt that planet War II had begun on September 1, 1939, not on June 22, 1941, which was frequently accused, rightly, of the Russian side in erstwhile years.
Finally, what is very important, Putin clearly says that Poland has become a FINE, only that the emphasis is on the phrase "its own policy", but only politics towards Czechoslovakia. Here it should be added that in the Polish writer the same thesis is going through. A very popular opinion is that policy Joseph Beck and sanitization advised to defeat Poland in the war with Germany that it was essential to avoid or hold this war at all costs, or even to enter into an alliance proposed by Germany and go to Moscow. Putin says the same thing, but he should add, that Poland was the first to tell NO to Hitler and the first to give him armed resistance.
Putin justifies the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact (does not deny the existence of a secret protocol) by Poland's earlier participation in the partition of Czechoslovakia and believes that the borders achieved by the USSR meant Russia's return to its historical territories. This is evidently far-fetched, although this was the conviction of Russian politicians in the 19th century (collection of "Russian lands") and, interestingly, practically all politicians in western Europe. For them, Russia began east of Bug. Putin says nothing fresh about this. While inactive in his early years of presidency he was inclined to respect the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact as a mistake, now, to a large degree in consequence to the massive Polish propaganda about the work of the USSR for the outbreak of planet War II (even greater than Hitler!), he changed his mind. I wrote about it somewhere else.
Of course, pointing out Poland's participation in the partition of Czechoslovakia in 1938 serves Putin to paint a black image of Poland and relativize the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, but the position of the Polish MFA, which will dispute (10 points) with Vladimir Putin's interview, is precisely in this substance a avoiding and trying to justify this shameful step, which was the demolition of Czechoslovakia, nota bene besides contradicts the simple Polish national interest. The Polish Ministry of abroad Affairs declares: “Poland did not participate, nor was it a organization to the Munich Agreement (30 September 1938), which de facto severely restricted the sovereignty of Czechoslovakia. Polish demands for Zaolzia were made after the Munich Agreement was signed.’ And what does that gotta do with anything, you might ask. Yes, Poland was not allowed to attend the Munich conference, but that does not change the moral-political assessment of its policy. Its anti-Czech actions correlated and agreed with the 3rd Reich, which was perceived throughout Europe (not only in the USSR) as a joint participation in the demolition of Czechoslovakia. Poland and the 3rd Reich were then treated in Europe as allies, and Winston Churchill He called our country "hiena." The defence of politics towards Czechoslovakia makes no sense, even Lech Kaczyński apologized to the authorities in Prague for his participation in the dismantling. It is besides pointless to bid with Moscow on who is more liable for the outbreak of planet War II, due to the fact that past has issued a clear verdict in this substance – Adolf Hitler and the 3rd Reich are responsible.
Another reason for the outrage of our commentators is how Putin presented the past of Ukraine. Among another things, he said: “Stalin insisted that those republics that arose (within the USSR) should be incorporated as autonomous entities, but for any reason the founder of the russian state, Lenin, insisted that they have the right to be separated from the russian Union. And, besides for unknown reasons, he endowed the emerging russian Ukraine with land and population that lived in these territories, even if they had never been called Ukraine before... The crucial thing is that Lenin, the founder of the russian Union, created Ukraine just like that. And so for many decades the russian Union developed the Ukrainian SRR, and the Bolsheviks were engaged in Ukrainianization for unknown reasons."
Then, “After planet War II, Ukraine received any of the territories that belonged not only to Poland but besides to any of the Hungarian and Romanian territories. These territories became part of russian Ukraine and are inactive there. That is why we have all reason to say: that, of course, Ukraine, in a sense, was artificially created by Stalin."
It's fundamentally a actual thesis. Putin should add that 1 of the main creators of the current Ukraine is besides Nikita Khrushchev. Not only did he join USSR Crimea, but in 1944 he insisted on Stalin to have cities specified as Biała Podlaska, Chełm, Zamość or Przemyśl within this republic. And how does our MFA respond to an interview? "Modern Ukraine as a state was created thanks to Ukrainian national movement. The Bolsheviks did not make it, but only conquered part of its territory, making it 1 of the russian republics. Ukraine was created by the will of the Ukrainians themselves." Unfortunately, this is absolutely not true. What “Ukrainian national movement” does the Ministry of abroad Affairs mention? The Ukrainian People's Republic or the Galician Ukrainians of the West Ukrainian People's Republic? In both cases, these creatures ended their existence between 1919 and 1920, losing to Bolsheviks and Poland. I don't think the Polish MFA means the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and UPA. Let us add that in Ukrainian narration, it is these organizations that are now recognized as the creators of the present independent Ukraine, which is an apparent historical scam.
And another conviction from the message of the Polish Ministry of abroad Affairs. In contention with Putin's opinion that "there have been 2 coups in Ukraine aimed at the artificial break-up of ties with Russia", the Ukrainian people replied: "In the Orange Revolution, the Ukrainian people did not agree to electoral forgery. The organisation of another circular of voting allowed president Viktor Yushchenko to be elected, who actually won the majority. Following the Revolution of Dignity in the presidential election, president Petro Poroshenko was democratically victorious". As for the 2014 coup: “There was no threat to Crimea in 2014. The Revolution of Dignity led to a change of power peacefully, through democratic elections. Russian “green men” appeared in Crimea to destabilise the situation in Ukraine.
Allow me not to comment on these 2 passages, due to the fact that very critical words should be used. Taking seriously this passage, for example: "The Revolution of Dignity has led to a change of power peacefully, through democratic elections" would be an insult to the intelligence of even a medium-developed man. It's the minister. Radosław Sikorski he knows well how this “Revolution of Dignity” went and who was its inspirer and performer.
Jan Engelgard
photo of cremlin.ru
