Our national tradition is to fight “for our freedom and yours“, but more generally as “yours” instead of “ours”. Firstly, king of Poland - John The 3rd Sobieski, beaten Turkish army in the battle of Vienna, but less than 100 years later, Vienna took part in the partition of Poland. In the name of our freedom and yours, Polish soldiers followed Napoleon throughout almost entire Europe on the occasion destroying the city of Zaragoza (the residents of that city still remember Polish dragons), and in return got a fictitious creature in the form of the Duchy of Warsaw, which survived only 8 years. Who, on the Congress of Vienna, did bother of Poles - allies of defeated French emperor?
In the twentieth century we also chose our allies not very smart. As we know, united Catholic and nationalistic pomp on the alliance with France and Great Britain was the only cheating themselves, especially in the circumstances when it was easy to predict how our allies would act in the state of war. It was enough to look at the dying Czechoslovakia - also an ally of these two “major powers”. England and France with virtually no blenching agreed to the seizure of the Sudetenland, and then the whole Czechoslovakia, and Polish national democracy blowing the child trumpet entered the Zaolzie (Trans-Olza River Silesia) by joining them to our fatherland. It was clear that the next target will be Poland and that our allies would not move the finger to help us. But we’re not a smart nation, but a nation of honour - but often we do not even understand the meaning of the word. For us honour is what stomach drops for a cat, for example, our tendency to the troubles or battles. Thus, Poland stood honorary at attention hoping or believing that our allies would keep their promises (which they did not kept in case of Czechs and Slovaks - for us not enough tough and brave). Looking at the German army parade in Warsaw in 1939, many of our grandparents were still repeating the mantra that France and England would move on in the few days. But Germany went on, half a year later.
So, it appeared that the British and the French military did not appreciate the power of Germany, Polish soldier once again become necessary. Our pilots in the RAF planes were chasing and shooting down German Luftwaffe, the crew of our destroyer “Piorun” risked their necks under the massive gunshot of German battleship Biskmarck, seafarers and other units frozen in the convoys with the help for the Soviet Union. When we tried to raise our voices in defense of our interests, because in the middle of the war, Poland still count as ad hoc ally - purveyor of cannon fodder, our friends from the UK’s MI5 cleverly silenced this voice - and General Wladyslaw Sikorski (chief of the Polish army) died in the unfortunate crash of the plane.
Flagrant example of this, that our allies again “flushed us with the water into the toilet” was hesitance of Churchill and Roosevelt to recognize our National Army’s (AK - Polish resistance) as the official formation of the allied forces. Previously its soldiers were regarded by Germans as ordinary bandits. How much water our allies flushed with us and our honour turned out at the end of the war and immediately after it, when the Polish Government in exile in London became no longer recognized by the Western powers, while Poland was given on a plate to Stalin. English also forgotten (for the next 50 years or more) that the Enigma was broken by the Poles. Well, a Pole did his duty, Pole may depart.
60 years later, we are still in this strange state of delusion of honour and alliances with powers, for which we are only a tool for the moment. This time, we strive to be at any price - that is, unilaterally without reciprocity - the biggest ally of the United States. Polish soldiers has been dying in the name of U.S. interests and U.S. corporations in Iraq and Afghanistan. We stand against the interests of the European Union, leading often hostile policy towards our two much stronger neighbours than we are, trying to become something of the spokesman of U.S. policy in Europe.Our nation politicians , together with the President, mumbling about honour don’t realize (or just pretend) that the U.S. did not need any ombudsman in Europe, since there are currently (and even long would be) the strongest power in the world. The don’t need Poland because we are unpredictable in our pro American zeal, that can go too far at all will not be in the interest of the United States. However, all the time like a dog running around its owner, Poland tries to convince the U.S. that is their greatest and the most loyal friend and ally, awaiting grace and valuable gifts from Washington in return. We bought stale (though does not dispute that once magnificent) F-16 fighter jets, but promised further offset is miserable, and those American fighter jets spoil quite often.We expected U.S. to abolish visas for Poles, and it turned out that Poland was not on the announced list of countries whose citizens would soon go to the U.S. without visas - a wonder there were countries of the former Soviet Union, and our neighbours, which many Poles still considers as weak and fun (the Czechs). Polish General was to be elected, with the support of the United States, a chairman of NATO’s military committee but has not been, and the United States didn’t supported him.
For centuries, Poland in a national trance fueled with a closer indefinite concept of honour, has been choosing the worst possible allies. Tighten proudly breast and waving the fist against its two great neighbours, who have once proved that our country can be turned into ruin very quickly. They couldn’t destroy us until the end - is also a fact undeniable, but it is not too great consolation. We must be heartwood, pride, honour and mighty.
As we joke - The Czechs have 4 reverse gears in their tanks, but they have Prague and its original, not destroyed monuments while our capital city fears us with the communist era blockhouses in the center of a city and Warsaw has the old town built from ruins in nineteen fifties and the Royal Castle built from nothing in the nineteen seventies.
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