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Iron Curtain was a political, not cultural border. Western civilization usually includes all European catholic countries, i. e. also Poland. (Huntington is a no
by The_Colonel 3y ago
Iron Curtain was a political, not cultural border. Western civilization usually includes all European catholic countries, i. e. also Poland. (Huntington is a notorious example)
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago>Western civilization usually includes all European catholic countries, i. e. also Poland. (Huntington is a notorious example) What about European Orthodox countries? Does civilization only tie to catholic religion?
- jowea 3y agoOnly person I know to try to actually sit down and draw civilization borders was Huntington and put the Orthodox on a separate but linked civilization to the Western world, but even he admitted that's arguable. Although even then Poland counts as West.
- philwelch 3y agoIt’s no coincidence that the term “Eastern Orthodox” is widely used for that communion of churches; while the Orthodox world is still traditionally considered part of Christendom, it is still distinguished from the “West”.
- bluefirebrand 3y agoYeah of course it was a political border but it absolutely had cultural consequences. You can literally see the difference in Berlin on either side of the wall. The Eastern side is similar but still different to the Western, culturally. Even the architecture is still quite different between the two sides.
- The_Colonel 3y agoYou can see stronger cultural differences within western Germany (or any country, really), e.g. between Bavaria and North Germany.
- philwelch 3y agoOne of the classic dividing lines between East and West, the Hajnal line, goes straight through modern Poland. It’s closer to the historic border between Poland and Germany though.
- The_Colonel 3y ago> One of the classic dividing lines between East and West, the Hajnal line Hajnal line is pretty controversial / outright rejected by many academics. Irrespective of whether it is true or not, the idea that this should be somehow defining the border of (Aryan) West and (Slavic/Untermensch) East was pushed by Nazis. Otherwise it's just one line out of thousands without special merit.
- philwelch 3y agoHajnal himself was a refugee from Nazi Germany of Hungarian Jewish descent; it’s offensive and glib of you to dismiss him, of all people, as a Nazi.