Poland [antikvár]

The Poles: History and a Touch of the PresentPoland entered Europe during a tense period. The year 1000 was soon to come. As always happens at the close of any millennium, people were scared to death of the approaching doomsday.In King Lothar's France the great Carolingian dynasty was already nearing its end. England had its King Edgar of Wessex, too peaceful for his stormy time, since the island was repeatedly invaded and plundered by Norman troops from Scandinavia. Having crushed the harassing bands of Magyars, Germany was growing in power under Otto I, called the Great, a sort of Chancellor Helmut Kohl of that time. Otto I was also driven by an ambition to unite not only Germany, but the whole of Europe and the whole of the Christian world. He had just then been crowned emperor.The 10th-century Poles absolutely liked it! They were just emerging out of the tribal magma and had to split up with paganism as quickly as they now wish to forget communism. In order to avoid being converted to Christianity by sword and to enter the forerunner of the European Union, they needed a protector.Otto I was quite inclined to be such a protector. He wanted to defend himself from the savage East, constantly threatening Germany with hordes of Huns, Vandals, Avars and the like. So the Emperor gave his assent to the marriage of his vassal Duke of Bohemia, Boleslav the Cruel's beloved daughter Dobravka with Mieszko, some little known duke of the Polane tribe. The duke was growing in strength and it was the Polanes who began the formation of the Polish state by forcing other West Slavonic tribes to unite.Historians are still fascinated by the question of whether the young couple had consummated their marriage before they were properly wed. Most of them favour the shameful opinion that Duchess Dobravka had shared her bed with a pagan for at least one full year before her husband was solemnly baptized. The ceremony took place most probably in Ratisbon (now Regensburg), in the year 966.Such was Poland's way of becoming a part of Europe a thousand years ago, when the first attempt at continental integration was being made. It surely was a successful entrance, for within two years following the baptism the Polish neophytes were sent a bishop of their own, named Jordan. Eventhe Bohemians, Christians already for more than a century, were granted such privilege only five years after the Poles. It would seem quite possible that the western countries were more interested in a large Poland than in a tiny Bohemia. Maybe they saw Poland as a promising trade partner. The famous Arab traveller Ibrahim-ibn-Yaqub of Tortosa, well informed at Otto I's court, wrote that the land of Mieszko, the largest of all Slavonic dukedoms, abounded in food, especially meat and honey, and its ruler owned a strong army of three thousand warriors.Today Poles yearn to hear Western journalists similarly praise the values of their country, aspiring to join NATO and the European Union.Poland has been so unfortunate in its history that it has to strive anew for its admission to the European structures. Not all Westerners are in favour of that. As in the times of Mieszko Poland could not rid itself of the label of a postpagan country, so today, despite the popularity gained by Lech Walesa, it continues to be referred to as a postcom-munist state.The Poles' Coming of AgeLuckily, other opinions prevail in the West. Poland is ever more frequently described as a 'European tiger' - which sounds least convincing to the Poles themselves. Poland is far from being as wealthy as the present European Union members. Unemployment and inflation are still very high. However, in recent years the economic growth rate has been truly record-breaking. The poverty margins are shrinking. Rich and very rich people grow in number. They can easily afford a holiday on the Seychelles, skiing at Chamonix or even a mansion of their own in imitation of a castle. Shops have already met Western standards. Cities and towns resemble those in Germany or France, not necessarily in tidiness but surely in the amount of adverts for the same products as in the West. Every now and then you see a newly-built house, skyscraper or church, as well as new restaurants, bars and pubs.In short, Poland is quickly becoming more and more like the countries it may within a few years accompany in the European and Atlantic communities. At the same time, many parts of Poland have maintained their traditional ways, old-fashioned charm and naturalness, to the satisfaction of Poles as well as foreign, especially Western visitors. The latter are attracted by the somewhat east-