Pope John Paul II: Cultural Awareness Of Poland

Cultural Awareness of Poland
In the area that is today called Poland has been a hotly contested region in Europe throughout its history. It has proximity to historically aggressive powers such as Germany, Russia, Austria, and other European empires. Its borders have been redrawn multiple times since the country was founded around the 10th century. During the 20th century the country was ravaged by the deadliest conflict on the planet to date; the war between the Nazi empire and the communist Soviet empire. The country was also saw the deadliest concentration camps built by the genocidal Nazi regime. Once the Nazi war machine collapsed from the advancing Red Army from the east, and the western democratic allies from the east, Poland was …show more content…
Pope John Paul II is a from Poland, and a survivor of the German occupation during WWII. Extermination death camps are treated as shrines for the public to visit, such as Treblinka and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Millions of Jews, Poles, prisoners of war and other “unwanted” were killed here, and these shrines remain as a reminder to people to never let these events happen again. The tragic events that have happened on Polish soil remain part of the country’s foreign policy and public sentiment about foreign policy. Poland is one of the few countries on the European continent that never cut its defense spending by a large margin after the collapse of the Soviet Union, keeping it at an average of around 1.9 percent of its GDP for the past two decades. President Trump has asked the NATO allies to shoot for a 2% of its GDP towards their defense budget. In addition to its professional army, by 2019 Poland wants to add up to 53,000 volunteers for a territorial defense force. The plan is to place 3,000-5,000 members in each one of the country’s 16 providences. The focus would be areas towards the east that have been deemed most exposed by Russia. Unlike other countries in Europe, Poland is not considered a “free rider” when it comes to national defense. There is a lot of concern about other European allies that base their national defense on American forces. Because of …show more content…
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Pope John Paul II: Cultural Awareness Of Poland

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