After the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the fresh Ukrainian authorities began to make the ideology of the fresh Ukraine by reaching out to the bander's thought and its most crucial representatives (Steepana Bandera, Roman Szuchewicz – the chief commander of UPA, Dmytro Doncov – the creator of the foundations of nationalist doctrine, Andrei Szeptycki – Cardinal The Unity Church of planet War II celebrating the banner of UPA), remind the nation of the "glorious" conflict of the UPA fighters, trizub and a black red flag about Alone (independent) Ukraine.
After the Kiev Majdan (2014), which is in fact a coup, the madness of brown nationalism began to expand.
Majdan falsifications of history
Without a tradition of statehood in the past, pseudohistoric began to be conceived hoof about the ancient origins of the Ukrainians (1,500 years of history), about the fact that ancient Egyptians were in fact Ukrainians, ba, even Buddha was Ukrainian. For deficiency of their own outstanding characters they stole from another nations – for example Stefan Banach, Polish mathematician from the Lviv-Warsaw school stayed in their Wikipedia recognized To the Ukrainian. Schools have changed any of the content in past textbooks, including an expanding number of content to turn children negatively into anything Russian. Ukrainian nationalism recognized 1 people in a given territory, which meant, a bit vulgarizing that only Ukrainians should live on Ukrainian soil. The lifting on the pedestal of his own nation active depreciating everything Russian. Russia has been attributed work for all the misfortunes of the Ukrainians in the past. The problem was that at the beginning of the existence of an independent Ukraine of 51 million inhabitants of 8 million were cultural Russians, and a large part of cultural Ukrainians utilized Russian all day (for the President). Vladimir Zelenski Russian was the first language). Pomegranate Faithful Council (parliament) among the first steps, in addition to the election of the president of the Council Oleksandra Turczynova for president of the State until the presidential election, she dealt with language law so that only Ukrainian language would be present in offices, in shops and in public spaces in general. specified a law in a national state where national minorities live, although it was not enacted at the time, these regulations and the media-propaganda atmosphere have sparked anxiety, especially among Russian-speaking people. It was besides the origin of further past of Crimea (seccession from Ukraine) and the revolt of Donbas. December 30, 2016 president Petro Poroshenko signed a law powerfully limiting the import of books from Russia. State-owned russophobia has led to restrictions on economical relations with Russia, which has painfully hit the Ukrainian economy. Removed monuments related to the USSR and Russia, including monuments of Russians – creators of culture e.g. Mikhail Bulhakov, Alexander Pushkin. By November 2022, any 19 million copies of books from russian or Russian times were withdrawn from libraries in Ukraine.
Back to reasoning About Nations
Since the second half of the 20th century, postmodernism has become a novelty in the planet of ideas in the West. His principles, specified as the rejection of universal truths and rationalism for pluralism, skepticism and criticism of Western culture, were refreshing, but besides destructive.In the utmost version, it meant deconstruction of all the "eternal" principles and institutions of social life with the institution of the household and nation at the head. Everything, according to this ideology, is relative, and the fact about different events can be found ad hoc re-establish collectively. The trauma of the demolition and death of millions of people during planet War II caused the European elite to recognise nationalism, and thus the very existence of nations, as the main origin of wars in Europe. That is why the political elites from the most crucial Western European countries began, based on the EEC, to build the European Union as a European superstate, in which individual nations will play a insignificant role, and in future the people of the countries – EU members – will find their national identity as Europeans, not Czechs, Poles, French, Italians, etc. multiculti and mass immigration into Western countries was to accelerate this process and make it irrevocable. And mixed in all ways (ethnically, customaryly, legislatively – in Germany there is already a network of informal muslim courts; religiously), internally conflicted and spirited societies easier to control. More and more Europeans have begun to feel their own ethnicity, tradition, moral and legal norms as threatened; in any countries cultural and spiritual transformations have come so far that any have begun to call them ironically Caliphates. Paradoxically, the next phase of the war Russia – Ukraine + NATO with the US at the head, launched in February 2022 one more time drew the public's attention to the Western planet that the nations inactive exist, that their collective identity is threatened.This problem besides concerns the French, British, Dutch, etc.
Nation returns to grace
The reaction from the EU, the US and the alleged Western planet to Russia's armed actions was outrage, sanctions, military aid to Ukraine and full boycott everything Russian, especially culture (literature, music, painting of Russian creators who have made a large contribution to planet culture, etc.) and Russian sport. You could not play composition Piotr Tchaikovsky, execute theatre plays according to Bulhakov prose. The list could be pulled. It was a kind of cultural ostracism, or exclusion of the full nation with all its achievements in the household of civilized nations. Fortunately, the boycott did not go beyond the boundaries of the wider Anglo-Saxon planet and its allies. abruptly it turned out that the category of "nation", so old-fashioned and pushed into oblivion in Europe, is inactive crucial and the demonizing propaganda of the Russians (here Vladimir Putin is simply a personification of Russia and the Russians) is intended to increase favour towards highly irresponsible public statements and actions of power in the West, which can end in war and thus the threat of being a nation. This applies, of course, to Poland.
Stereotypic image
If government policy is based on criticism and conflict with another country, then the serviceful propaganda of mainstream media refers to resentment and even hatred of another nation, strengthening or creating its stereotypical image in the darkest colors. It is worth remembering that for the last 30 years, with periods of greater and little intensity, in mainstream media, and regardless of political orientation, it has been written about various aspects of Russia's past and modernity so as to express national resentments for the past in competition, conflict, yet subordinate to the east neighbour. Russia was most frequently portrayed as a cunning, strong, cruel, imperialist neighbor, on whom to be careful and defender against his wicked actions.
Sympathy and antipathy
And what is the image of Poles' attitude towards another nations, especially to the Russian people? From 1993 until 2025, CBOS carried out investigation on the subject all year (with 2 exceptions). The attitude of Poles to another nations. Researchers, analyzing the results, created a 7-point scale in aggregate form to 3 categories: sympathy (points on the scale from +3 to +1), indifference (0) and aversion (from -1 to -3). Throughout the investigation period Poles almost always liked Czech (Jan Hus, Wojjak Schwejk – arbitrary choice of associations – I know) and Slovaks (Robert Fico, Janosik). While 38% of respondents expressed sympathy for the Czech Republic in 1993, since 2006 sympathy has always been above the field, and in 2023 it was 54%. In relation to Slovaks, this was 1993 (33%), 2006 (44%) and 2023 (54%) respectively. More detailed analyses of relations with another nations were omitted in further analysis, focusing on the attitude to the Russians. The year 2023 proved to be sometimes overestimated in relation to another nations. Americans, Italians, and English have fought against the “rank of sympathy”. On the scale of sympathy – antipathy on the another side in 2023 were Turks, Chinese, Germany, Roma, Belarusians, Russians and Arabs. From the position of the articleThe most crucial is the attitude of Poles to Russians. In further investigation of this problem, it was analysed how people form their views, what is the cultural stereotype, how prejudices towards the collective arise and what are the causes of prejudice.
Relation to Russians – Evolution
At the start of society towards a fresh sovereign, political, economical reality, etc., the level of sympathy for Russians was comparatively low – from 17% to22-23% between 1993 and 1999 to scope the highest 30% – 34% between 2008 and 2014, finally, in later years the sympathy was rather unchangeable – from 1/4 to 1/3 of respondents felt sympathy for the Russians, untilBy 2021, in 2023, the level of sympathy had broken dramatically. At the time, the Russians had sympathy only 6% of subjects.
At the same time, the dislike of Poles (and Poles) to Russians was at a much higher level than sympathy. In the early 1990s, more than half of Poles did not like Russians (and Russians!), between 1993 and 2001 from 55% to 59%, and then there was a slight decline in dislike to 43% around 2002, again an increase in 2006 to 61%. The lowest level of aversion occurred in 2011 – 31%, then fluctuating from 33% by 50% to 35% in 2021, then the aversion somewhat increased to 38% in 2022 to soar to a ceiling of 82% in 2023. In a communication from CBOS investigation in 2023, the author summing up: "Never before in the last 3 decades, erstwhile we ask these questions, the attitude towards any nation has not changed so much in 1 year. The level of dislike towards the Russians is presently evidence high, and the level of sympathy evidence low. We can besides talk about the lowest level of sympathy and at the same time the highest level of aversion in the last 30 years with respect to Hungarians. Compared to the erstwhile year, the level of dislike towards this nation increased by 18 percent points and the level of sympathy decreased by 21 points.".
Internet brings revision
It is likely that in the last 2 years a lot has changed. The mainstream media propaganda is openly and powerfully anti-Russian. At the same time, it is highly pro-Ukrainian. narration of political elites from PiS and PO for Ukraine with curiosistic ideas specified as the creation of a common Polish-Ukrainian state in the future (former president) Andrzej Duda) and the introduction of social rights, pensions and wellness care rights for Ukrainians residing in Poland are increasingly being perceived by a large part of the population. Many Poles have direct contact with Ukrainians, observe their behaviour, hear and read about the criminal activity of any Ukrainians, about their usage of loopholes in law to get additional social aid, about their privileges in medical care, about their claimability, flagism manifested by any and draw conclusions, changes their attitude towards this nation. This can lead to better, by contrast, Russian perception. Since the pandemic, an expanding proportion of the public has lost assurance in mainstream media, recognising that the information they supply is decently interpreted, that there is not much information at all, that much is manipulated, and even, especially with respect to geopolitics, lies are passed on to people. In this situation, the net (web portals, tv platforms, YouTube, Twitter, Tick Tok, etc.) becomes the main origin of cognition for a crucial part of society. By Investigations IBIMS and IBRIS for 60.8% of Poles net is the main origin of information. It can be assumed that the stereotypical image of a Russian is more rationalized, and an expanding part of the society has the feeling that it is Ukrainians and not Russians who are the biggest threat to Poles. The author has no access to the origin data from CBOS research, so he cannot analyse the relation between views in the spectrum from sympathy for antipathy and social categories specified as gender, age, education.
"An eternal enemy"
Aversion to the Russians can be moderate, large, very large. And the second is called russophobia. Rusfophobia is simply a fundamental rejection of Russia and the Russians, designation that the conflict between the Republic of Poland and Russia is “eternal” and Russia has always been an existential threat to Poles, participated in partitions, was liable for Katyń, after planet War II imposed the political strategy on Poland and took its sovereignty.Leading Polish politicians made public their rusophobic views. How stated On July 30, 2025, the weekly “To Things”, the Ministry of abroad Affairs of the Russian Federation published a list showing examples of statements by planet politicians containing “talk of hatred” and “rusophobia”. Among them are Polish politicians: Andrzej Duda, Donald Tusk, Radosław Sikorski, Simon Holovnia. The statements of these politicians are rather widely known, and Holownia's boasts that he would drive Putin into the dirt have become the subject of mockery and memes on the Internet. However, the top of utmost rusophobia are views Anna FotygiMembers of the European Parliament, erstwhile abroad Minister, who calls for the demolition of Russia. Here is simply a short quote from the weekly weekly “Think Poland”: "Whether we are dealing with the Tsaric, russian or Putin-led, Russia does not change over the centuries. It follows the same imperial instincts, repeating the same scheme: conquest, genocide, colonization, and then seeking silent acceptance of position quo, and bribing the global community with a mirage of economical cooperation or illusion of a immense Russian market. We cannot be deceived to think that Moscow can be a partner in solving any global problems. Let us remember that even if Russia was falsely perceived as a stabilising force in Europe, this was at the expense of the nations of my region, my country, which was the subject of partitions and occupations made by Russia. Moscow had already planned to ‘go to the West’, export its ‘stabilization’ in the 19th century or revolution in the 20th century. Moscow is not ashamed to openly repeat this imperialist strategy in Ukraine in the 21st century. Therefore, Moscow's imperialism must end erstwhile and for all“.
Volta Olbrychski
Rusophobia has besides found its expression in acting environments. For example Daniel Olbrychski, who played in any Russian films, after the inclusion of Crimea in the Russian Federation did not accept an offer to play in Russian films (except for a movie made in 2018 outside the Russian Federation). Let's quote fragment 1 of the interviews: ‘- Your stories show that there was a very different atmosphere in our Polish-Russian relations. So what happened to Putin, the Russians...?– seemingly it was in him, and in them – deep. That imperialistic attitude to the world. Dreams of expanding your empire and your influence. Unfortunately, it besides divided me and the friends I had there... These ‘dreams’ now let to commit terrible crimes in Bucha, Irpien... It turns out that all of the hopes we had for Gorbachev, Yeltsin, that the successors would open Russia to the planet even more and the desire to have peace, without looting abroad lands, was for nothing. It turned out that imperialism in them was stronger. Russia correctly described in Norwid’s verse: ‘ You never did anything of your own strength / You will never begin: for you have taken everything”.
Cognitive errors
In order to capture the sources of specified a not different relation between Poles and Russians, it is worth to look closer at how people perceive the planet around them. Let's start with people reasoning in pictures, not in words. The incoming stream of pictorial, textual, sound, touch, odor information is in their mind; reflected in series of images. The images of any object, ideas, etc. form a full and are generalized. The amount of information that comes to us is so large that we ignore many of them without knowing it, and we deliberately reject any of them. Social psychologists Susan Fiske and Shelley Taylor They call people “cognitives”. As people have limited ability to process information, they usage strategies that simplify complex problems. specified simplifications were called heuristicsBecause people always effort to conserve their cognitive energy, ignoring certain information, selecting others. Cognitive errors in turn are incorrect simplification results. Most common cognitive errors is:
– a distribution mistake that leads to a tendency to treat our cognition of others as deeper and more accurate than in reality;
– confirmation effect – forgetting information that questions our beliefs while we remember those that confirm it;
– the effect of false consensus– describes the human tendencyto overestimate the universality of our individual beliefs, prospects and behaviour;
– illusion of superiority – a natural tendency to view yourself as superior to the average individual in our group (e.g. society) in terms of desirable qualitiesand vice versa with undesirables (this cognitive mistake explains egocentricism),
– the effect of authority: this tendency to trust besides much on the opinions of people who we consider to be authorities, e.g. historians from the IPN, occurs erstwhile we uncritically accept their words as truth, regardless of whether they have solid grounds.
Such errors can have harmful effects, leading to a simplified, besides small-spective, based on incomplete information of the image, e.g. a large social community of the Russian people, and thus a stereotype of the Russian and attitude towards the Russians.
Own, Other, Alien
The stereotype can be defined as an attitude that excludes the cognitive component, while preserving the emotional-evaluative component and a program of behaviour towards the object of the attitude. The starting point in creating cultural stereotypes is simply a valuable category of groups on own, other, foreign. A national group of its own is mostly seen positively (since the 1990s. Until today, liberal-left media in Poland advance the alleged pedagogy of shame, attributing to our ancestors many acts which put us in a single line with criminals – Germany, as well as safety apparatus officers and russian soldiers. Many of these narratives have nothing to do with historical facts). To another nations the attitude of Poles is neutral or positive. The aliens are fundamentally different from Poles. This alienity may have different backgrounds – skin color, religion, customs, dress, language. In the past of Europe, Jews and Gypsies (Romes) were most frequently regarded as strangers, resulting in periodic persecution of them.
Collateral Damage
Knowledge of various objects of interest is stereotypical, which facilitates life and action within modern civilization and in society. At the same time, this means simplification in the knowing of a given issue. The Russians are not considered aliens, but others. Anthropologically, they do not disagree from Poles in appearance or dress. They are Slavs, as are Poles. This brings us closer, even though Poles belong to the group of Western Slavs, while Russians – East. Polish and Russian languages are different, but they are Slavic and 1 can realize 1 another without knowing the another language. The dominant confession among Russians is Orthodoxy and Catholicism in Poland. The Christian confession is the same, but its sects are different. Just compare the celebration of church and church services. However, any opinion-making circles in Poland remind about the explanation of civilization Felix Koneczne, according to which Russia represents the Turkish civilization, which is in contrast to the Latin civilization to which Poland belongs. From the position of this theory, the Russians are alien to us. At the level of the language utilized in public messages, it is evident that the word "Russians" with a pejorative speech is more frequently utilized than the Russians. Incidentally, the word “Russians” is frequently referred to as “Russians” as more typical of different nationalities in the erstwhile USSR than the Russians themselves. Interestingly, even in Poland, those who sincerely dislike everything Russian usage Russianism: “Soviet Union”, “Soviet Union”, “Soviet Army”, while the “Soviet Union”, “Soviet People”, “Soviet Army” or “Red Army” would be correct. Even before February 2022, in political disputes in Poland, there was an epithet widely known today: “Russian onuca” and its derivatives as: the propaganda tube Kremlin (or Putin), replicates “Russian narrative” and even “Russian spy”.
Social attitudes
Charges“They are 1 another” especially politicians of the PO and the Writ, and the Confederates and Confederation of the Polish Crown, sometimes even politicians of the left and the PSL. These episodes are besides attacked by publicists, journalists, participants of any non-systemic environments in Poland. Their “crime” is different from that of the communicative mainstream A look at Russia and Poland's relations with Russia, another assessment of events in the east at the interface between Russia and Ukraine, especially since 2014, and the pursuit of dialog with Russians, mutually beneficial trade, alternatively than conflict with them. As you can see, in comments on YouTube films that contact on, among others, the issue of "Russian onuc", more and more frequently those who are called so in their environments, consider it a compliment, a confirmation of self-thinking, a concilation attitude, not confrontational, yet – wisdom. If the subject of the social attitude is judged negative (not to encourage the Russians), the emerging information disrupting the existing assessment is ignored, marginalized and even considered false. Social attitude – I consider Stefan Nowak – this is the overall comparatively durable chance to measure the subject and the emotional consequence to it, and possibly associated with these emotional-evaluating dispositions of comparatively durable beliefs about the nature and properties of the object and comparatively durable dispositions to behave towards it (see Stefan Nowak, Set Theories, Warsaw 1973, pp. 43-44. As can be seen from the definition we are dealing with "relatively durable" phenomena, but 1 of the attributes of the attitude is the tendency to petrification, or fixation, harden the already shaped attitude. Therefore, in many cases it is very hard to change attitudes. Another problem in the assessment of the subject and its emotions is the tendency to simplify, as mentioned earlier.For example, a gay man in his 40s, whose dislike of Russians is high, erstwhile noted that he was very angry at the discrimination against the LGBT community in Russia combined with repression of its members. In this situation, the strategy in Russia is authoritarian. In fact, in Russia, the law prohibits the promotion of LGBT ideas and the holding of alleged equality parades, but this does not mean that participants in this environment are subject to repression for themselves being of different sexual orientation or for being transsexual. And so, on the 1 hand, we have a peculiar sensitivity to LGBT issues, and on the another hand, 1 of the laws and its implementation refers to power in Russia and transfers to the nation in the belief that it accepts (read: supports) the legal solutions of power, and hence the Russian nation is identified with the power in Russia and thus little judged.
Irrational Basis
Max Weber,The celebrated classical of German sociology suggested that in the analysis of motivations of human behaviors (now 1 could add trends in attitudes), e.g. towards another nations, mention to the method Verstehen, that is knowing by the investigator subjective meanings and motivations behind human actions to a deeper knowing of social phenomena (see Max Weber, Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism, Lublin 1994), in this case attitude of Poles to the Russian people as a whole. specified a investigation position is an effort to analyse social phenomena more qualitative than the dominant in classical sociology by quantitative data analysis. And another classical sociology of Italy Vilfredo Pareto in order to better realize human behaviour, he proposed to usage 2 concepts: residua and derivatives. The first means permanent, intellectual dispositions underlying human behavior, while the second – derivactions – are variable justifications and rationalizations of those behaviors that take the form of ideas and theories. The analysis of these 2 elements is the key to knowing social balance, as it shows the link between unchanging tendencies and changing ways of rationalising them. At the same time, this explanation assumes that, in fact, the basis of human behaviour is frequently not rational.
Among the possible causes of cultural stereotypes, including prejudice against representatives of another nation, are the following:
- Mental – Personal(Frustration explanation – aggression, projection explanation = committed misconduct → guilt → displacement);
- economic or wider: defence of the self-interest of the group;
- culturally and historically;
- conformism to social standards.
Persistent reasoning Patterns
It seems that in the case of Poles' relations with Russians the most crucial origin of dislike (prejudice, rusophobia) is embedded in the past of common relations between the Republic of Poland and Russia andits explanation by any politicians, historians, IPNs, mainstream media journalists. erstwhile already the times of the 3rd Polish Republic in the field of information and ideological opinion-making centres built a fresh message of “real” history, they besides created fresh patterns of reasoning and assessing the past of Poland and Russia. Additionally, in many Polish families, the older generation, which survived planet War II, gave children and grandchildren their subjective cognition of the tragic fates of any members of families and friends / friends who were repressed by the NKVD and russian soldiers: arrested, imprisoned in camps, beaten, raped, deprived of assets, killed (Katyń as a symbol of the execution of pre-war Polish elites, etc.). any families mentioned the past of ancestors surviving in the 19th century; a man was confiscated after the January uprising, and individual was taken to Sibir, including akin accounts of harm and suffering. We are dealing with another cognitive mistake previously not mentioned. This is an anchor error: a tendency to base our assessments and decisions on first information, and this 1 is inadequate or accidental. The transmissions for older generations afraid terrible, shocking facts and aroused strong emotions among listeners, and this in later life was the basis for their relation to the Russians. Many of these messages were true, but they did not take into account the broader context of the wrongs that Poles have experienced since... Officers of the Russian /Soviet power strategy (in Katyn, the executioners of the order to destruct Poles were mostly officersThe NKVD on judaic origin, and the USSR formally confessed to the Katyn crime on 13 April 1990, erstwhile the Russian TASS agency published a message indicating the work of the NKVD), russian communists (of various cultural origins)? In the consciousness of those who are curious in the latest history, russian soldiers are liable for the demolition of many Polish cities, plundering and exporting many objects of material culture, as well as mass rapes against Poles. russian soldiers in this communicative are described as savage and cruel. But the fact is simply a small more complicated. However, the demolition of any cities, mainly located on the alleged Recovered Lands, was a retaliation in the Germans, who murdered millions of russian citizens and turned many russian cities “to persina”. For them, the cities located in the 3rd German Reich were German cities and as specified they could be destroyed as part of a retaliation. The rapes of soldiers on women since the beginning of humanity have been commonplace, and soldiers had silent approval from their commanders for specified acts. russian soldiers are liable for 2 million rapes (mainly in Germany) at the end and just after the end of planet War II. American soldiers raped 860,000 German women during the same period. British and French Soldiers raped After respective twelve 1000 Germans.
Different periods and interpretations
In Anna Fotyga's statement, a fewer elements can be identified as the core of rusophobia. Russia doesn't change in time. In its past it had a period of Rusi, a tsarate, a russian period (Soviet) and is now a federation led by authoritarian authorities. The essence of power: imperialism, conquests, contempt for human rights and the treatment of its own citizens as an obedient and involuntary instrument to implement the policy of expansionism and conquest of another peoples has not changed for hundreds of years. This is simply a image of Russia according to Footage. At the same time, it can be seen that the origin of prejudice is simply a conflict of political and economical interest, which characterized during various historical periods the relations between Poland and Russia, but this does not mean that the conflict was permanent and unchanged. Meanwhile, everything changes in the world, including individual states and their policies. The author does not have the competence of a historian, but over 1,000 years the relations between Russia and the Republic were different. There were periods of cooperation, but besides conflicts of arms. In the historical assessment of common relations, the Polish side powerfully emphasizes the period of partitions of Poland and the participation of Russia, as part of Poland's glory, recalls the historical episode of the business of the Kremlin by Poles in 1612, the period of the existence of the russian Union (Polish-bolshevik war in 1920), and peculiarly totalitarian Stalinism, the beginning of planet War II and the entry on 17 September 1939 of the russian army into the territories of east Poland, Katyń, the imposition of Poland after planet War II of the political strategy and the dependence on the USSR until 1989. In any areas, interpretations of various events, e.g. the Ribbentrop – Molotov Pact, the entry of russian troops into the east territory of the Second Republic on 17 September 1939, on the Russian and Polish sides are different, which does not mean that they are to be the bone of disagreement “for eternal times”.
Non-Russian russian Union
Interestingly, the Russian people are dominated by the belief that the USSR and Russia are in fact 1 and the same. The author has no historical preparation to analyse the problem. On the another hand, it is worth remembering that the USSR is the world's first social-political experimentation (less and more successful), the beginning of which is an October coup (called the revolution) sanctified by killing the Tsar and his household de facto destroyed Russia's thought of continuity. From that time on, it was to be a working country, peasant and cultural issues, and imperialism was an thought of "export" of socialism alternatively than territorial conquest. any secretaries-general of the NSC were not Russians, e.g. Vladimir Lenin was of Jewish-German-Swedish origin, Josif Stalin was Georgian, Nikita Khrushchev – Ukrainian, in passport Leonida Brezhnev It is recorded that it is Ukrainian. It seems that in circles that are reluctant to Russians and Russia in looking at the period of existence of the Polish People's Republic dominates the view that it was occupation. It can be agreed that in those times Poland was a country with limited sovereignty (in utmost form between 1948 and 1956), and then there were successive stages of the "Polish road to socialism". abroad policy was in line with the russian Union and the full socialist “camp”. In its interior policy (after 1956), the authorities directed, despite censorship and ideological phraseology, to the reconstruction of the country, universal education, economical development, the improvement of Polish culture and the construction of Polish national identity, referring to the Axis roots. And Poland had all the attributes of the state with its own emblem, currency, parliament, Polish army, etc. It can be argued whether the improvement of the country, in a demographic, economic, cultural sensewas despite that Poles lived in the Polish People's Republic or due to the fact that they lived in specified a social-political system. As always – it was both, but calling this period of Polish past a life from business is simply a immense abuse.
Dogmatic Errors
Social scientist Milton Rokeach, while analyzing people's beliefs, he concluded that any of them are characterized by intellectual dogmatism manifested by the rigidity of the cognitive system, its closure into fresh information. At the root of the dogmatic structure of beliefs is simply a sense of danger. In the modern world, there are many types of threats arising from possible natural disasters (volcano explosions, "when will Yellowstone explode?", earthquakes, tsunami threats), climate change, epidemics, overcrowding, hunger, cold, and yet war that will destruct almost everything. In addition, we have existential fears, e.g. arising from the realization of our own finiteness, failed life, advanced age, etc. All these fears can be dismissed by uncovering this one, most crucial origin of all fears – the actions of the demonic Russians and their “unchanging policy for a 1000 years”. A dogmatic individual is characterized by a black and white imagination of reality, and his beliefs are not susceptible to change. The greater dogmatism, the more it exaggerates the differences between accepted and rejected views and the more rejected views seem akin to each other, and, as a result, it throws into 1 sack of liberals and socialists if it disagrees with them. Its views are isolated from each other, so it can accept contradictory beliefs – specified as that "the Russian army is weak, has large problems with staff and with military equipment, due to the fact that its majority has lost in the war on Ukraine" and warnings that "Russia wants to invade Europe (EU and NATO) and has a large military force". More crucial than logic is emotional cohesion, not information about these views. The convictions in the human head may have a cognitive function and an extranormal function. In another words, beliefs let a better knowing of the subject of the evaluation, but they can besides make a defensive cognitive network. And here begins the game of mind: errors, generalizations, incorrect connection of facts, seeing between them relationships that are not there, the usage of generic quantifiers (always, all, imperialism have had nothing good in genes, Poles have never experienced anything good in relations with Russia, etc.), the designation of "uncomfortable facts" as exceptions to the rule, the negation of any facts as insignificant, yet not accepting that something happened.
Development criterion
Yet another position of different assessments of another nations is the very fact that they belong to the same civilization or not, as well as the perception, not always consistent with facts, their material achievements. This means that, in general, the nations whose majority of members have achieved a advanced standard of living, manufacture and agriculture are modern (informatics, computerization, robotics), in their countries road infrastructure is dense and of good quality, wellness services rapidly and effectively supply assistance to the sick, housing and public buildings are being renovated on an ongoing basis, pavements are equal, and the state provides citizens with safety in public space and the scope of individual freedom is wide – they are better perceived and more liked than those that do not meet these criteria. With respect to the Russians, very frequently the thought of the level of their lives, of what their regular life looks like, what is the relation of income to prices, what their local life looks like and how they influence the improvement of the local community, whether they have the freedom to decision around their own country and many another issues, is due to very distant times of their own experiences, and is simply a reflection of what in mainstream The media transmits the sender (and these are not usually objective).
_Other Organiser
An old woman in a conversation with me about the Russians said she knew them well. To my question about contacts, conversations with them, she replied that she was in Russia in... 1968 – in Moscow, Leningrad and Murmansk. My attempts to clarify that there was no Russia at the time, and since then it has been a long time (bagatela – 58 years) and that there is capitalism there now, and Russia especially since the beginning of Putin's regulation has been developing very quickly, she replied that it is irrelevant due to the fact that they are the same as they were. Curtain. From talks with many rusophobes, it appears that in modern Russia, its capital city of Moscow (well, possibly inactive Petersburg) is simply a false image of the full of Russia, and the dynamic improvement of it as a modern, rich city and its inhabitants takes place at the expense of all provincial Russia, which is underinvested and mostly poor. Many believe that the Russians frequently have no toilets in their homes, the full neighborhoods of the cities are unspoiled, the sidewalks are uneven, and the streets are full of holes, there are current problems in any areas, and besides gangsters are very active, and locals drink quite a few alcohol – of course mainly vodka, and in most parts of the country there is simply a harsh, cold climate – the celebrated General Frost. Meanwhile, for example, the consumption of alcohol in Russia decreased importantly – in 2008-2021 by almost 43%. specified a stereotypical image of Russians and the standard of their lives besides has a large impact on specified widespread dislike of them. The fact is simply a small different. After the infamous government in Russia, the president Boris Jelcin Since 2000, Russia has noted fast and sustainable economical improvement under the regulation of President/Prime Minister Putin – the payment congestion in pension payments has ended, real income has increased, many industries have developed (also the most modern one), many Russian monuments have been rebuilt and renewed, a tiny urban architecture has been improved, a network of roads and railways has developed very well (the Moscow-Petersburg railway presently built will be the first high-speed line in Russia), 30 airports have been modernised and built for a full of 130 in the last 10 years. The most crucial Russian investigation institute in the field of sociology – Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN) on an ongoing and multifaceted basis examines Russian society and changes that take place, both in lifestyle and its standard. The results show that the population is increasingly richer, housing conditions are improving, the number of households without bathrooms and/or toilets is decreasing, shops are very well stocked, and many food products are cheaper than in Poland, agriculture is developing so well that Russia has become the world's largest supplier of wheat, and its share of global exports reaches more than 20% (the agricultural machinery industry, including combine harvesters, is besides thriving). Moreover, Russia has transferred wheat grains to African countries in fresh years, e.g. in early 2024 25 000 tonnes to Burkina Faso. The survey besides reveals various problems of the people of the federation: uneven economical growth in different regions, various pathologies, demographic crisis, notabene smaller than in Poland, spiritual conflicts, drug problem, etc. Like a average society. They have different problems of their own, as well as Poles, here in Poland. All the results of Russian society investigation are available online. On TV, there are debates on current social problems to consider what, how and erstwhile to do to reduce or destruct the problem. In the 2023 / 2024 season, Russia set a fresh export evidence that reached 25% of global wheat exports. According to these fewer data, Russia's stereotypical image, as a global gas station, which owes its improvement only to the export of natural materials, mainly oil and natural gas, is no longer present.
_Other Organiser
The verification of their own ideas about Russia and the Russians is facilitated by direct contacts with this country – tourist and business trips. After 1989, major economical reforms were rapidly started in Poland, capital was coming from abroad, national property was changing owners, unemployment increased importantly in the first phase of reforms. For many Poles this was a reason to go abroad to work for a while or permanently. Those who were better off in the country went to another countries for tourism. The main destinations were: (a) Western European countries – a advanced standard of tourist services, monuments, frequently warm climate and story of the West, rich and tolerant; (b) exotic countries, which, in addition to what European countries offer, tempt with warmth, tropical nature, cuisine, different customs, language, music, local clothing, and, of course, clean and warm water. However, tourist trips to Central and east European countries, including the Russian Federation, were not peculiarly popular. They decided about this aspiration to go to countries and places in the planet so far unattainable, as well as to remember that we were subject to our neighbour from the east, and the material civilization from which we came out was servial, small-colored, sidewalks curves, hollow streets, queues as a permanent component of the urban landscape; fresh to not call things as they are. And yet the belief that there is no adequate infrastructure for tourists there: hotels, hostels, cafes and restaurants, clean public toilets, yet monuments, which are few, due to the fact that they destroyed the majority throughout the USSR Bolsheviks. In 2011, Russia accepted nearly 4.4 million abroad guests arriving for business purposes – 14% more than the year before. A crucial part of this number are guests from Poland (over 300 1000 people). Comparing this figure with the state of late 2007 (99.5 thousand), it is noted that it increased 3 times. Turns outthat at the time 80% of tourists from the planet visited only Moscow (Sic!). Seeing Moscow doesn't mean gathering Russia. According to AI's search engine, Polish tourism to Russia from 2011 to 2022 was characterised by a decline, especially after 2014 (the annex of Crimea) and a violent breakdown in 2022 (the invasion of Russia to south-eastern Ukraine). Immediately before the invasion, in 2021, the number of abroad tourists visiting Russia decreased by 96.1% compared to years before the pandemic and the war. In 2022 it fell to just 200 100 people. Although Russia recorded an increase in home and global tourism before 2022, the current figures indicate a drastic decrease in the number of abroad tourists. In addition to tourist trips from Poland to Russia, there were besides business trips. Their number was much smaller, although it is hard to find accurate data on the Internet. As you can see, during the last decades of direct contact with the Russians as part of tourist trips there was not adequate to affect the correction in the eyes of Poles of the image of Russians and Russia mostly created in the Polish mainstream media.
Obsessions
In a book review Poland – Russia. past of Obsession, Obsession of past an interview of the river WojciechHarpula conducted with Prof. Andrzej Praise, read: "The fear and fear of Russia has been with us for a long time, and the attitude of deep distrust towards Russia – so dominant in Polish political life – translates into social sentiment. In Poland there is inactive a image of Russia as a dangerous, erratic and hostile country”. “Is that right, that is another matter. You can argue. We frequently scare ourselves with Russia” – reserves Andrzej Chwalba. Poland entered the road of confrontation with Moscow in 1569, after the Lublin Union. The time of Dmitriad was the highest minute of the dominance of the Republic of Moscow. This was the first time, but besides the last time, in the past of the Moscow Czara his capital was occupied by strangers. However, respective decades after the Dmitriads, good destiny was connected with the Romanov dynasty, and since the reign of Peter the large Russia, then already imperial, had full dominance over the Republic of Poland. "In Russia's centuries of history, the 18th century is an extraordinary century. They can be called the age of Russia. The Tsars have done their homework, which they should have done earlier. From a late country in the periphery of the continent, it has become a country that gives cards in Europe on an equal footing with the old powers" - We read. In addition, thanks Peter I and Catherine II Russia entered the 19th century as a planet power. "We lost militarily and politically in the 17th and 18th centuries to fight for immense rags of Lithuanian-Russian land, an inheritance of the erstwhile Kiev Rusi and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. But Russia didn't hold its prey either. Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine are independent. Poles were left with utmost sentiments and the Russians longed for the empire and wanted it back. Both sides — the memory of 5 centuries of struggle”. The bad relations between Poland and Russia are mostly liable for the historical policy pursued by both countries: "Moscow and Warsaw usage historical themes very much to conduct current politics. past becomes a political instrument. And erstwhile politicians start playing with themes from the past, historical fact ceases to matter. Memory is deformed. And then we become hostages of a bad, distorted memory”.
A hard Fight Against Prejudice
Aversion to Russians, prejudice to this nation, has its roots in the past of common relations. Poland borders Russia and a policy of dialog and cooperation should be pursued in the interests of our country. The hard historical relations between our countries should be the subject of evaluations and disputes between historians of both sides, not the subject of the publications and speeches of any cultural creators, or politicians proclaiming their anti-Russian views. safe and prosperous Poland is good relations with all the countries with which it borders, including Russia. If, in the short term, the scale of resentment does not decrease, and thus increases the sympathy of the Polish society to the Russians, we will accept the speeches and actions of leading Polish politicians – war hawks who effort to drag Poland into the war with Russia. Sociologists and social psychologists have created a pattern of actions that reduce the scale of prejudice between 2 groups. Unfortunately, these directives concern not very large groups and tiny groups. In the event of prejudices between nations, specified actions are impossible.
Overcoming Prejudice
Nevertheless, it is worth looking at this proposal in search of ideas that could work for large groups. It should be borne in head that both groups should participate in the process of reducing prejudice and that their position should be equalised. These groups should have a common goal. If there are rules in force in the countries where these groups live to support prejudice, they should be removed. The standard of prejudice should besides be promoted. In the country's publications, there should be mechanisms to block any speech of hatred against the Russians, mention to the Russian stereotype and combine the current policy of Russian power with the nation. This would apply to both parties afraid by prejudice. Both groups should admit any authority that encourages cooperation. Contact between groups pursuing the common nonsubjective should be comparatively durable and close. It is the contact that makes it clear to the members of the groups that many behaviours, habits, views of the members of the group against whom there is resentment and prejudice are very different from those which are the content of the negative stereotype in the prejudiced group. In a planet of large communities, specified a way of reducing prejudice seems to be a utopia.
Resume contacts
Nowadays, individual contact between Poles and Russians is increasingly difficult. The border movement is dying, Poland has banned the work of 2 Russian consulates in Krakow and Poznań, Polish media inform against tourist trips to Russia, and any politicians tell the public that we are already at war with Russia. any common goal for both nations – Polish and Russian seems impossible. This could be, for example, the bluntness of flagism. This thought sounds ghastly, and it's just an authorial hanging joke. In the absence of direct contact for most Poles, the net remains a origin of cognition about modern Russians. any YouTube channels (e.g. Adventures of any old wolf, wmatrioszce – Pole surviving in Russia, Warrior Journeys etc.) Polestravelling to Russia or surviving in that country shows how real it is in Russia. However, many channels are "taskful" and are so oriented to show only what is pathological in Russia, showing areas of poorness and the bad influence of power in Russia on the various dimensions of social life in that country. The extremist blockade of the presentation of Russian culture in the Western planet has made things a small more relaxed. In Poland, in the name of de-demonisation of Russians and Russia should be promoted if not promoted, at least present cultural works of both the erstwhile and contemporary ones. In the Polish communicative that brings the Russian problem closer, it should be stressed that the Russian people and the current policies of this country are 2 different things. The historical reflections of Polish historians and publicists should examine both these moments in common relations, which from the Polish position were an expression of Russian expansionism, as well as those in which cooperation and common benefits of nations can be seen. Many affirmative actions of Russians operating on Polish soils are unknown to contemporary Poles. 1 example is the construction of a modern water and sewage network in Warsaw at the initiative of the Russian president (1875-1892) Sokrat Starynkiewicz.
Radosław Krishna
The author is simply a doctor of sociology.