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Poland Integration into European Civilization
Without question the most significant development of
the
formative era of Poland's history was the gradual
absorption of
the country into the culture of medieval Europe. After
their
relatively late arrival as pagan outsiders on the fringes
of the
Christian world, the Western Slavs were fully and speedily
assimilated into the civilization of the European Middle
Ages.
Latin Christianity came to determine the identity of that
civilization and permeate its intellect and creativity.
Over time
the Central Europeans increasingly patterned their thought
and
institutions on Western models in areas of thought ranging
from
philosophy, artistic style, literature, and architecture
to
government, law, and social structure. The Poles borrowed
especially heavily from German sources, and successive
Polish
rulers encouraged a substantial immigration of Germans and
Jews
to invigorate urban life and commerce. From its beginning,
Poland
drew its primary inspiration from Western Europe and
developed a
closer affinity with the French and Italians, for example,
than
with nearer Slavic neighbors of Eastern Orthodox and
Byzantine (see Glossary)
heritage. This westward orientation, which
in some
ways has made Poland the easternmost outpost of Latinate
and
Catholic tradition, helps to explain the Poles' tenacious
sense
of belonging to the "West" and their deeply rooted
antagonism
toward Russia as the representative of an essentially
alien way
of life.
Data as of October 1992
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