To Poland, Once More! (SSR)

In the course of the past two hundred years the country that we know as Poland has ceased to exist on multiple counts after being taken over by other countries. The most common perpetrators being Russia and Germany. It is at this point in history that Poland is preparing for another round. Due to the recent Russian activity in Crimea, many Polish citizens are getting very concerned that they may just be next.

As the crisis drags on, what was unthinkable at the end ofthe Cold War now seems not quite so unlikely to many Poles: that the greatRussian behemoth will not be sated with Ukraine and will reach out once againinto the West.

As the famous saying goes ‘history has a way of repeating itself.’ In this case history repeats itself more often than not as Poland is arguably one of the most invaded territories in Europe.

Since I am an individual that has strong opinions on the entire situation with Crimea I found this a very interesting development. In recent months a peace treaty has been signed between Ukraine and Russia and it appears as though things might be settling. Despite this, history will tell us that peace is a bit of a lofty dream. Also upon considering the history of Poland in relation to Russia I believe that the set of situations in which we have found ourselves will never truly be resolved.

Many people have realized that upon the collapse of the Soviet Union many ethnic groups that were being held in peace are now free—or at least more able—to exist on their own. The unfortunate malady of many of these groups is that they were divided and put into countries with groups that they cannot cohabitate with. For me it is not that hard to imagine that a country that had lost so much territory would have just as much trouble with the realization of that loss as these ethnic groups are having with dealing with each other.