The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus 1569-1999

In this ambitious treatise, Timothy Snyder summarized the tumultuous evolutions in these four countries. Poland, as the regional hegemony, more or less served as an underlying narrative to the historical events: from the earlier Lublin Union, to the contemporary entry to the European Union and NATO.The book started with a discussion of pre-modern periods. Vilnius served as a telling angle of the complexity of national narratives. Vilnius is the current capital of Lithuania but has historically been under claims from various countries. It is by no means simply a Lithuanian city. In the middle ages, a third of the inhabitants were Jewish, and Lithuanian was in minority. Its current ethnic composition was more or less the work of the Nazi Germany, who killed almost all the Jews, and the Soviet Union, who forcefully migrated the Poles. By discussing the historical evolution of the city, the author presented a very strong argument against the metahistorical attempts of political interests.The author did a good job pointing out the linguistic undertone of social structures and historical events. For example, Polish has always been the language of culture and elitism; thus various nationalists from the early modern period faced challenges constructing a non-Polish culture. Also, Polish minorities failed to integrate well into the post-war Lithuania partly because it was hard for Poles to learn a Baltic language (Lithuanian). Belarusian was historically mostly spoken among the peasants and lacked its own cultural texts; thus its nationalists faced a distinct challenge when they tried to use the language to define their nation. Russian was later elected as an official language and easily dominated education.Some of the discussions on the role of religions were interesting. In earlier periods, unification with the Roman Catholic Church was always perceived as a way to the West, whereas the Orthodoxy was perceived as a turn towards the East. The Brest Union in 1596 established the Uniate Church, which shared communion with the Roman Catholic Church but preserved some of the Orthodox rites. Thus it partly served as Poland-Lithuania’s move towards the Western tradition. However, the role of religion started to decline, and the establishment of modern states without any strong religious statements was in itself a demonstration of modernity.The book was published in 2003 but its narrative largely finished at the turn of the century (1999). By then, the Soviet Union has disintegrated. Poland, Lithuanian and Ukraine started to seek European integration, whereas Belarus decisively turned towards Russia. By recognizing the status quo of existing borders and regarding each state as its peer - which was essential when it comes to issues with the policy to deal with minorities - Poland swiftly laid the groundwork for EU integration and served as a gateway to the EU project for other countries in the region. In 2004, one year after the book’s publication, Poland joined the European Union after years of work that paved its path. The author speaks highly of Poland’s Kultura vision which served as the framework for post Soviet affairs.Timothy Snyder narrated mostly with a political and cultural perspective. Maybe adding an economic perspective would render something afresh, but admittedly it was not the book’s objective. The book was a narrative about narratives, and did not attempt to be an encyclopedic discussion of this region’s history. One other minor shortcoming may be the language - some of which was rather figurative. The sentences are sometimes constructed in a way that does not flow well. At various points I thought it was written by a non-native speaker, only to realize that he could not have been more native.It is best to read an introductory book prior to this one. I personally relied heavily on internet especially Wikipedia (unfortunately) to get the context of the discussions, but it was an arduous read. Especially when it comes to the 20th century, the author often do not give sufficient introduction to the plethora of regionally prominent but internationally obscure politicians - which apparently could make it less than an engaging read for readers without prior knowledge.

For anyone wishing to begin to understand the atrocities of the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, one might consider this as a useful primer. I say this not because what happened in the two regions--Poland, Ukraine, the western USSR in the mid to late 1940s; Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia during the post Cold War breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s--is related. Instead, one sees in the "The Reconstruction of Nations" the senseless, mindless, meaningless slaughter of groups of individuals (ethnicities) by neighboring groups when externally imposed controls are loosened--and even when such controls remain in place. One reviewer rated the book poorly, complaining of its Polish-centricity. Obviously, the reviewer in question understands little of Eastern European history between the two World Wars, during World War II, and in its immediate aftermath. No country in Eastern Europe suffered as much misery and betrayal throughout the years 1918 to 1946/7 as did Poland. Anyone who doubts this is free to delve deeper into the history of this period. This is not to say the Polish didn't commit their own share of atrocities and unforgivable acts. But to say that Snyder's book is merely an attempt to whitewash Polish sins and to praise Polish aims while denigrating those of surrounding countries is an intentional misreading of this text.What country in Eastern Europe after being partitioned three times in the 18th century by her more powerful neighbors ceased to exist? Poland disappeared from the map of Europe from 1795 until 1918. After being given back a set of borders within which Poles (and others) lived in relative harmony for a mere twenty years, Poland was savagely attacked by both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia in 1939. Poles were sent as slave labor to Germany to work in place of Germans who were foolish enough to begin fighting on two fronts in 1941. The Soviets deported hundreds of thousands of Poles from the eastern half of what had been Poland to die in labor camps in Siberia and Kazakhstan. And those who were left? They enjoyed being treated as a sub-human race by their Nazi occupiers for almost six years. Even as Poles fought to free Warsaw, the Soviet Army watched from across a river as German troops viciously put down the Warsaw uprising before moving in, themselves, and cleaning up the survivors. And our patron saint of the New Deal, FDR, sold out our Polish allies to Stalin in return for nothing but lies from the most vile, untrustworthy, and insane Georgian to ever walk the earth.Obviously, this book is about more than just Poland's trials and tribulations during its oft-interrupted history. If Belarus is considered by Snyder a "failed state", then maybe this is because it is. If Ukraine is somehow framed in a bad light, then perhaps Snyder understands, better than most, Ukranians' own faults and sins . . . especially during WWII. And if the histories of countries like Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania aren't covered in as much detail as some might wish, then this might be due to the fact that none of these three nations are "Slavic" in origin (unlike Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus).Don't misunderstand me, this book is not an easy read. Nor is it a book for the faint-hearted: Snyder's tales of OUN and UPA atrocities committed against Poles in Galicia and especially Volhynia are on the same reprehensible level as anything committed by Serbs in the 1990s. But Snyder doesn't sanitize a very cruel and destructive period in Eastern European history merely to spare the reader's feelings. What's more important, he casts light on a little known (at least to many) war that started during and continued through and after WWII: that of Poles and Ukrainians, who continued to fight and "ethnically cleanse" each other even as the German-Russian Eastern Front moved westward beyond their war within a war.And I haven't even touched on so much of the cultural history that forms the beginning of the book--the beginnings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of 1569 and its effect on the rise, fall, and (hopefully) continued resurrection of these two nations and peoples.If you want to know Eastern European history, especially the later history of Poland, the Ukraine, and Lithuania, not to mention much of the hardship their peoples faced as a result of regular Russian/Soviet interference, then this book is as good a place to start as any (if not better). And for those who have read extensively on the subject, Snyder presents a slightly different view that will fill in the gaps in any amateur historian's knowledge. For what it's worth, I heartily recommend it (and I'm not being paid to do so).

I knew very little about the Lithuania/ Poland/ Belarus/ Ukraine region before reading this book, other than general context from the Duchy and Commonwealth periods; and of course the fall of Communism and what has happened since. I learned a great deal by reading this book, I must say I was very surprised to learn what a violent and fluid history the region has had. I especially appreciated the author's emphasis on how the demographic make up of various areas have changed so dramatically over time, almost always by calculation and use of force by one side or the other. In some ways, it is amazing to now see all of these countries living peacefully together - and indeed Poland being one of Ukraine's strongest allies in the face of Russian aggression (although the author explains why this is the case, too). My only complaint is that sometimes the writing is a bit academic and dry, so it doesnt have the oooomph factor one needs sometimes to slog through certain slow points of history. But I would recommend it to anyone interested in the region that has a bit of patience. It is well researched and thoughtful.

Although I'm not a historian, my ancestors are from the region Snyder writes about, and I think he has written an excellent book. It's not for the faint-hearted, in the sense that the history of the region is very complicated indeed, and yet he takes us clearly, confidently and in a very structured way through four centuries and the intertwined histories of five peoples (for the Jews of the area had no country of their own). He comes across in full command of an enormous amount of material and data, and manages to explain without prejudice or bias, the most horrific events so that they can be seen and understood from the perspectives of all the peoples and nations involved. If you want or need to understand why the map of Europe is the way it is today, I can't imagine anyone doing it more fairly or clearly than Snyder. And if you are connected with Eastern Europe in any way, although you may feel sad about the way things have ended up as a result of twentieth century history, you will probably agree that the situation now is the best that could be achieved, given the past.

Excellent

Nuanced and thoughtfull exploration of the history, and prehistory of nationalisms in the marchlands of Europe. Something to read and reread. Recommended.

I have yet to read this, but know it is excellent.