A thing come across, as an incidental mention on a specialist message board; which is puzzling me a little. A poster mentioned a relatively recent visit of his, to the Ukraine (his only language ability re anywhere in that part of Europe, was his knowing a little Russian). He wrote that in the "culturally Polish" western part of the Ukraine, people were often offended by his speaking to them in Russian.
While I don't follow world news in any very great detail -- I'd find it unsurprising for Ukrainian patriots not to like being addressed in Russian; but the "culturally Polish" thing above, puzzles me a little. By my understanding: between the two World Wars, the western parts of the present-day Ukraine were Polish territory -- with more Polish inhabitants, than of any other single ethnicity; but featuring various other ethnicities, including a large Ukrainian population, who were not always treated well by the Polish rulers / administration. In the "readjustments" of 1945, these regions were taken into the USSR (Ukrainian Republic): nearly all Polish inhabitants were expelled, relocating westward into what was still Poland (replaced I suppose by some Ukrainians from elsewhere in the country, and by Russians). With this having taken place; and that, three-quarters of a century ago -- I have difficulty seeing any way in which this part of the world could nowadays still be "culturally Polish".
Was the poster told of above, expressing a mistaken and inaccurate view of this situation vis-a-vis the western Ukraine -- or is my own idea, as above, of this matter; over-simplified and / or mistaken? I would be grateful to learn the views of anyone with accurate relevant information.
While I don't follow world news in any very great detail -- I'd find it unsurprising for Ukrainian patriots not to like being addressed in Russian; but the "culturally Polish" thing above, puzzles me a little. By my understanding: between the two World Wars, the western parts of the present-day Ukraine were Polish territory -- with more Polish inhabitants, than of any other single ethnicity; but featuring various other ethnicities, including a large Ukrainian population, who were not always treated well by the Polish rulers / administration. In the "readjustments" of 1945, these regions were taken into the USSR (Ukrainian Republic): nearly all Polish inhabitants were expelled, relocating westward into what was still Poland (replaced I suppose by some Ukrainians from elsewhere in the country, and by Russians). With this having taken place; and that, three-quarters of a century ago -- I have difficulty seeing any way in which this part of the world could nowadays still be "culturally Polish".
Was the poster told of above, expressing a mistaken and inaccurate view of this situation vis-a-vis the western Ukraine -- or is my own idea, as above, of this matter; over-simplified and / or mistaken? I would be grateful to learn the views of anyone with accurate relevant information.
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/39VKMHz
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