Poland's partitions or the difference between the Turkish and Russian rule

Submitted by Ianus (Poland), Apr 8, 2009 at 05:35

Guzel Ankara wrote :

> And how did the European powers show their gratitude to Poland ?

By dividing it in 3 between Germany, Austria and Russia!<

Actually it was Prussia, Germany being a loose conglomerate of a few scores of kigndoms, principalities, , duchies, counties, free cities. The partitions had nothing to do with Polish efforts to stop jihadist Turkish barbarians from conquering Europe and making Warsaw , Cracow, Vienna or Worms Moslem cities. They resulted from Poland's deep internal decay and inability to reform the country later on in the 18th century. It was our fault in the first place. And our powerful neighbours just followed the policy which we ourselves had carried out during our imperial days. Some 80 years before the relief of Vienna we occupied Moscow, a Polish governor resided in the Kremlin. We imposed a tsar (Pseudo-Dimitr- an impostor - allegedly miraculously saved son of Ivan the Terrible) on Russia and tried to convert her forcibly to Catholicism and make part of Poland-Lithuania. We failed.

Our oligarchic nobility was unable to understand life had progressed around and it was time to abolish various privileges and abuses the country was suffering from. I myself come from Polish peasantry , i.e. technically from serfs who were treated by the arrogant noblemen a little better than cattle or as some foreign travellers observed 'exactly like ancient slaves'. And we were c. 90-85% of the society! From the social point of view the partitions were no disaster at all. Quite the contrary! It is the Russians that made my forefathers free people (not our Polish noblemen ! ) and gave them land. They didn't convert anyone to Russian orthodoxy by force, didn't destroy Catholic churches or change Cathedrals into mosques as is the Turkish usage. The territories that belonged to Prussia became the most developed and civilized parts of the country. There was no illiteracy there while in the other territories it amounted up to 60-80%. To see the difference even today you should sightsee Galicia, Posnania or Polesie.

But another , even more important point should be made here. It was infinetely better for Poland to see the rule of Christian states like Russia/Austria or Prussia than become a province of the beastly decadent Moslem Ottoman empire ruled by criminal and unaccountable pashas and beys as was the bad luck of other wretched Slavonic nations on the Balkans. The Turkish conquest of the Balkans meant a 500 year-old unprecedented civilizatory regress for all the rayas. It was the darkest epoch in the history of the region. Small wonder "Turk" is a curse in Bulgaria and Serbia and Turks are hated by all their neighbours. Fortunately enough, we were spared that dismal experience. But it's worth knowing what would have happened had the Turks succeeded.

So far for the topic you have not the slightest idea of and yet are trying to pervert it to serve your pro-Turkish propaganda, Moslem 'Polonophile' !

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