Poland and Germany should unite

[questionmark]

Lech Walesa has called for Poland to unite with Germany to form one European state, despite the bloody history between the two countries.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Polish president, whose Solidarity trade union played a key role in bringing an end to the Cold War, said the world had changed and needed new ways of organising itself.

“We need to expand economic and defence co-operation and other structures to create one state from Poland and Germany in Europe,” he said.

Speaking to Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency, Mr Walesa, 69, said national boundaries were not as relevant as they once were.

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Can't believe this!

[Space Commander Travis]

... Now, he's not the first person to have that idea, is he .....

[questionmark]

... Now, he's not the first person to have that idea, is he .....

Well, no. The idea comes from the Ordo Teutonicus, and dates back to the 12th century when the Monk-Knights conquered the area that now is Poland.

[spud the mackem]

Would it be Pomany or Gerland,

[Jacques Terreur]

holy invasion batman! People in Germany rather avoid to recall the last time this was a topic...... you know..."don't mention the war"....

[skookum]

Oh no, time to start tearing down railings and donating pots and pans.

[FLOMBIE]

This reminds me of a British tour guide I saw the other day in Berlin: "Why is there a catholic church in Berlin, you might ask? Well, what's the German's biggest hobby? Drinking beer? No, invading Poland!"

Edited September 24, 2013 by FLOMBIE

[Helen of Annoy]

What Walesa did is, I believe, called trolling

(My guess is that he wanted to annoy Russians, it was an interview for Russian agency after all. Confusing the rest of the world was accidental bonus. That, or he lost it completely.)

[Space Commander Travis]

Would it be Pomany or Gerland,

[probably "East Prussia". i know part of that's now part of Russia, but I'm sure they'd like to bring it all back under common ownership.

[Kaa-Tzik]

They have a strange relationship, rather like that between Scotland and England, who eventually married, though maybe a divorce next year. There is a mixing between them in old Prussia and Pomern. Some Germans are more Polish than German, and vis versa. Look at this SS General, Erik von dem Bach-Zalevski. He was in charge of crushing the 1944 Warsaw uprising. The front half of his name is German, the ending is Polish. Actually he is almost entirely Polish, as his wiki shows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_von_dem_Bach-Zelewski

That entire area is a bit of a mix up, look at Lvov, or Lvoof (phonetically), or Lviv, or Lemberg. Take your pick, take your nationality/ethnic group and shake it up and who the hell is who.

[Drayno]

If Germany and Poland united it would be an interesting step in regards to their history.

[Bavarian Raven]

Well apparently something like 60-70% of Polish people are of some german decent, if not more, so sure, why not...unite 'em. This won't cause any conspiracy theories at all...

[Frank Merton]

Or maybe the US and Canada should unite, or Australia and New Zealand, or China and Vietnam, or Argentina and Paraguay, or Spain and Portugal, or South Africa and Lesotho? (Did I cover all the continents?) The natural trend is toward separation, not the opposite. At this point in history were Germany to enlarge its borders in any way whatsoever all sorts of alarm bells would go off -- same with all the other countries I mentioned.

[spud the mackem]

What Walesa did is, I believe, called trolling

(My guess is that he wanted to annoy Russians, it was an interview for Russian agency after all. Confusing the rest of the world was accidental bonus. That, or he lost it completely.)

There is no Poles in Poland anymore, they are all in England,Na zdrowie.

[Drayno]

Or maybe the US and Canada should unite, or Australia and New Zealand, or China and Vietnam, or Argentina and Paraguay, or Spain and Portugal, or South Africa and Lesotho? (Did I cover all the continents?) The natural trend is toward separation, not the opposite. At this point in history were Germany to enlarge its borders in any way whatsoever all sorts of alarm bells would go off -- same with all the other countries I mentioned.

After the last two world wars, every one should be wary of Germany trying to enlarge its borders.

[Bavarian Raven]

After the last two world wars, every one should be wary of Germany trying to enlarge its borders.

The first one wasn't their fault though

Besides, imagine how efficient modern europe would be

[questionmark]

The first one wasn't their fault though

Besides, imagine how efficient modern europe would be

That is relative, If Wilhelm II would have told Franz Joseph I that he was not getting involved in his colonial disputes with Serbia there would have been no WWI.

[FLOMBIE]

That is relative, If Wilhelm II would have told Franz Joseph I that he was not getting involved in his colonial disputes with Serbia there would have been no WWI.

Wilhelm II is the perfect example of what can happen if a monarch not inly has an inferiority complex, but is also stupid. No wonder he ended up chopping wood.

[Space Commander Travis]

That is relative, If Wilhelm II would have told Franz Joseph I that he was not getting involved in his colonial disputes with Serbia there would have been no WWI.

well, we could follow all the chain of alliances and treaties between one nation and another until the cows come home, but the point of treaties and alliances is that you don't just drop them if you think it's none of your business. At least, people didn't in those days, they saw it as a matter of honour. Perhaps if people had been a little less honourable, things might have been different, but that's looking things through a modern lens, isn't it.

[questionmark]

well, we could follow all the chain of alliances and treaties between one nation and another until the cows come home, but the point of treaties and alliances is that you don't just drop them if you think it's none of your business. At least, people didn't in those days, they saw it as a matter of honour. Perhaps if people had been a little less honourable, things might have been different, but that's looking things through a modern lens, isn't it.

Wilhelm had an inferiority complex as big as his ego, he would have never passed up a chance to beat up his cousins across the Chanel. It had absolutely nothing to do with honor. One word and Franz Joseph would have stopped the war with Serbia he alone could not win.

[Bavarian Raven]

Wilhelm had an inferiority complex as big as his ego, he would have never passed up a chance to beat up his cousins across the Chanel. It had absolutely nothing to do with honor. One word and Franz Joseph would have stopped the war with Serbia he alone could not win.

Or if a certain Serbian terrorist had not assassinated a certain royal Europe would have been a much better place.

[questionmark]

Or if a certain Serbian terrorist had not assassinated a certain royal Europe would have been a much better place.

I doubt that. Most of Europe got rid of dictatorial royalty in the process. I call that progress.

[Helen of Annoy]

There is no Poles in Poland anymore, they are all in England,Na zdrowie.

So, Engleska would be more realistic than Deutschlska?

(Anglicized new names for hypothetical abominations of states bug me since beginning of this thread. Poland is called Polska in Polish, of course, and Germany is Deutschland. So it can’t possibly be Gerland or Polmany.)

After the last two world wars, every one should be wary of Germany trying to enlarge its borders.

It’s not Germany, it's not even Poland trying to enlarge their borders, it’s Lech Walesa having fun with Russian journalist.

Or if a certain Serbian terrorist had not assassinated a certain royal Europe would have been a much better place.

Many streets, schools and such in Serbia and part of Bosnia and Herzegovina with Serbian majority are named after that certain Serbian terrorist. He still has status of Serbian national hero.

Of course, WWI would break out without him too. It’s just the syndrome of “chega se pametan stidi time se budala ponosi” (What shames the intelligent, a fool is proud of.)

Edited September 26, 2013 by Helen of Annoy

[Space Commander Travis]

I doubt that. Most of Europe got rid of dictatorial royalty in the process. I call that progress.

Huh? So WWI was worth it for getting rid of dictatorial royalty? And was that really progress, considering what getting rid of the Kaiser led to, and that Russia hardly became a democracy after they got rid of the Tsar?

[questionmark]

Huh? So WWI was worth it for getting rid of dictatorial royalty? And was that really progress, considering what getting rid of the Kaiser led to, and that Russia hardly became a democracy after they got rid of the Tsar?

The worth part was added by you. No war is ever worth it.