The Polish government has made no secret of its hostile attitude towards Germany and Russia. Prime Minister Morawiecki said on October 27 that if Germany wants Russia to be punished for the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, then Germany should also fight for World War II. responsible for the crimes and massacres against Poland during the period.
Poland is a ill-fated country. In the second half of the 18th century, it was divided up by Tsarist Russia, Prussia and Austria-Hungary successively. By the time of the invasion of Nazi Germany, the country’s territory had been redrawn, and the death toll had reached 6 million, accounting for 17% of the total population, of which about half were Jewish.
In 1944, Germany brutally suppressed the Warsaw Uprising and razed the ancient city of Warsaw to ruins. The relationship between Poland and Germany has since formed a grudge, which has not yet been digested.
To put it bluntly, although Europe has indeed liquidated the Nazi forces in Germany after the war, and Germany is also doing a good job of reintegrating into the European circle, in Poland’s view, Germany has not fully paid off its debt to Poland. , especially on Germany’s atonement for its crimes.
If Russia wants to pay Ukraine as punishment for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, then in Poland’s view, Germany should also pay Poland hundreds of millions of World War II reparations.
What is interesting is that the current Polish claim against Germany is in an official form, and the relevant claims are still in the rhetoric of the relevant political figures.
This situation has historical roots. The previous Polish government publicly stated three times that it voluntarily gave up its claim against Germany, and it has been 50 years since the end of the Second World War. exists. Even so, the German side still promised to continue to provide Poland with practical support and compensation in morals.
Therefore, we can see that a large number of Leopard 2 series tanks have appeared in the Polish Army, and some of them have also been properly upgraded by the German side, making them maintain a strong combat effectiveness.
On the one hand, the relationship is good, on the other hand, they are still arguing for claims. The reason is very simple. The claim is a pretense. Poland does not like Germany, but there is actually something else.
In addition to the fact that Poland’s behavior pattern is due to the resentment that it has almost never won against Germany in frontal national competition in history, and that Russia has always been pressed to the ground by the latter two, Germany is supporting Ukraine, especially showing that it is anti-Russian. From a standpoint, Poland seems to have done not enough, far from enough.
Poland has clearly supported Ukraine as early as 2014 and is a complete European anti-Russian fighter.
After Crimea was annexed to Russia, the Polish government strongly condemned Russia’s actions and called for the maintenance of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, a Ukrainian territory, into the Russian Federation should be regarded as annexation, that is, the illegal seizure of another country’s territory by the threat or use of force. Russia’s annexation of Crimea violated basic principles of international law, such as the principle of territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and the prohibition of the threat or use of force against other countries.
After the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine, Poland supported a political solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine and opposed Russian intervention. After the escalation of the conflict in the east at the end of August 2014, the Polish foreign ministry strongly opposed the presence of Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine, saying that Russia’s actions had the “attribute” of aggression. Poland did not recognize the November 2 elections in Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, saying the elections violated the spirit of the Minsk agreement. To alleviate the humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine, the Polish government and civil society provided assistance to eastern Ukraine. According to Wilke, director of the Polish International Aid Center, a total of 1.5 million zlotys were donated. On December 19, a Polish humanitarian convoy arrived in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in February this year, Poland not only provided Ukraine with a large number of tanks and armored vehicles, but also organized a number of non-active personnel to enter Ukraine to help the Ukrainian army fight.
Poland’s assistance to Ukraine, on the one hand, can take this opportunity to show its brilliance, and on the other hand, it can also take the opportunity to expand its arms and prepare for war. This undoubtedly inflated Polish ambitions. It’s just that it’s hard to say whether this preparation is aimed at Russia.
In response to the Ukrainian crisis, Poland has adopted a number of military responses. The Polish government decided in 2014 to invest 100 billion zlotys, or about 24 billion euros, in the next 10 years to promote the modernization of the Polish military. Poland has imported 40 AGM158 Joint Standoff Air-to-Surface Missiles from the US that have a range of up to 250 miles and can reach Russia’s western border, approved by the US State Department.
Poland plans to build a missile defense system called the “Polish Shield”, a $43 billion system that can deter attacks from fighter jets, bombers, cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles. After the Ukraine crisis and Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Poland accelerated the bidding process for a missile defense system. The system will be different from the US missile defense system deployed in Poland by 2018.
Since the beginning of this year, Poland has started the process of updating its army’s main battle equipment. The Polish army will purchase up to 250 US-made M1A2C main battle tanks, enough to equip 4 full tank battalions. The Polish Army currently has 11 battalion-scale tank units, and one tank battalion has 53 tanks. The M1A2C main battle tanks will first replace the outdated T-72M/M1 main battle tanks, making the equipment performance of its tank units leap to the world. front row.
As for the positioning of this batch of equipment, the Polish side only stated that it will equip the 18th Mechanized Infantry Division and the 1st Tank Brigade in Poland to deter the so-called “potential aggressors”.
Who is the potential aggressor, and whether it also includes countries other than Belarus and Russia, only Poland knows.
In recent years, Poland has reiterated World War II compensation for multiple reasons. First of all, as the biggest victim of World War II in Europe, Poland has received very little compensation. I hope the outside world will pay more attention to the disasters it has suffered.
Second, the Polish side revisited the past, with the consideration of passing on domestic political pressure. In recent years, the EU has frequently questioned Poland’s judicial reform, accusing Poland of violating the primacy of EU law and the binding force of the European Court of Justice.
Over the years, Poland has become the core country in the European Union after France and Germany. The relationship between Poland and Germany is bad, which is harmful to the unity of the European Union.
And if Poland fails to break out of the current relatively cramped historical and national feelings, it may eventually lead to tragic consequences.
After all, history has shown that Poland is indeed a country that can easily and inexplicably disappear into history.