Ana Ivanovic Studies Spanish

Visitor   Sat May 08, 2010 2:33 am GMT
But Serbia remembers that France was the one help them break free form Austro-Hungarian grip and Serbia is so grateful for it.
Franco   Sat May 08, 2010 2:39 am GMT
France (as well as Germany) promotes everything that has to do with disintegrating other European states, so they become relatively stronger. First they helped Serbia to split from Austro Hungarian empire, and now they help Kosovans to split from Serbia. Future European Union will be composed by lilliputian states with only two big states (France and Germany).
Baldewin   Sat May 08, 2010 2:41 am GMT
Anyway, after all of this I won't judge people just for being Albanian. I also believe that especially Northern Albanians (Gheg) still have a very archaic mentality. Still, what was the main reason Kosovo needed to be recognized? It's obvious this won't be digested for centuries in the Balkans and in history books it will be remembered as a shame.
Baldewin   Sat May 08, 2010 2:49 am GMT
Kosovo only could split because Josip Broz Tito did nothing when the heartland of Serbia got violently invaded by Albanian immigrants. Also, in Albanian nationalism they justify their expansion politics because there used to be Illyrians (of which they claim descent from) who lived there centuries ago, before the Slavs invaded the Byzantine empire the VIIth century.
Visitor   Sat May 08, 2010 2:52 am GMT
You forgot Russia, Sweden, Italy, Poland, Norway.

Maybe UK because it's on its way to disintegration since the Scots, Welsh, and Northern Irish are now asserting their true identity which are distinct from that of English.

UK was formed by forcing the 3 other nationalities to accept the union under England's leadership.

All I can say is, the Anglo-Saxon maybe far more successful in disseminating the English language and culture than the French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Russians. But I would say that France is more successful in it domestic situation. Non-French ethnic groups such as Occitan, Breton, Catalan, Basque, Alsatian, or Flemish do not get antagonized if they are called French. But it cannot be done to let's say a Scot to be called an English.

Spain too, may disintegrate if the Catalans, Basque, and Galicians are antagonized by the central government so it has be very careful so that it won't start the fire.
Franco   Sat May 08, 2010 2:55 am GMT
I've met Corsicans who didn't consider themselves French.
Baldewin   Sat May 08, 2010 3:12 am GMT
Always strikes me how France, with its - we have to give it a name - violent approach on assimilating peoples got away with it unpunished. France always played it rock-hard and from all European countries they have come out the best of them all. Even nowadays when you visit France you'll notice their chauvinist tradition is very well alive. Contrary to for example in Germany, in France it's allowed to bluntly stereotype other Europeans without putting the French culture to shame.
I personally would consider it a nightmare being annexed to France and I'm glad Flemish aren't culturally linked to French culture as they used to be decades ago. Also the Corsican Napoleon started hating France, but eventually he would identify himself with the French nation and he became a respected general and later an usurper and dictator/emperor who today is well-respected by the mainstream French public and honoured with a tomb in Les Invalides in Paris which even put's Lenin's tomb to shame.
This is not different than how to Roman assimilated people into becoming Romans.

It seems the French mentality is in a way very politically incorrect and very aggressive also (they've got a tough spine), and also successful because its people know to sell a quality high and low culture which facilitates the assimilation process (panem et circenses), which even attracts people into wanting to become French.
I do notice Germans becoming more aggressive, however, now they lost their shame of their nazi past and they might become very promising in the future. Still, Germany isn't made to be centralized and cannot get away with that much France can.

One lesser thing of France, which may be linked to its chauvinism. Immigrants get marginalized easier, because they don't give away the Frenchness for free and make it something you have to want and earn. They lack some soft-power Germanic countries have. It also cuts to both sides, but perfection cannot be achieved anywhere.
Franco   Sat May 08, 2010 3:29 am GMT
Why couldn't Germany be centralised? Germany is ethnically much more uniform than France. Appart from the Danish minority near to the Danish border I can't think of another significant minority in Germany right now (Turkish immigrants are excluded). They have to overcome their past of independent German kingdoms, but France was not much different before the French Revolution. III Reich was wrong in many things, but centralising Germany was right in my opinion, otherwise France will countinue annexing German territories like Alsatia in the long term.
Shiptarka   Sat May 08, 2010 2:41 pm GMT
Serbian population in Kosovo is 1%.
Kosovo is as Serbian just as Bruxelles is Flemish: one was, but now all lost and to be forgotten.

Remember the old Californian saying: There's no use crying over spilled milk.
Baldewin   Sat May 08, 2010 2:45 pm GMT
How Mexican can we call California today?
Franco   Sat May 08, 2010 2:46 pm GMT
Kosovo was a muslim ghetto within Serbia due to high amont of Albanian muslims who migrated to there. Of course there are not Serbians among them because they didn't want to live among human trash . Just because these Muslism migrated to a part of Serbia and became numerous does not mean they have the right to split from Serbia. Otherwise the Turks in Germany would concentrate in certain part and declare secession. Or think about Hispanics in California, they are becoming majority too.
**   Sat May 08, 2010 6:42 pm GMT
Sabed que a la diestra mano de las Indias existe una isla llamada California muy cerca de un costado del Paraíso Terrenal; y estaba poblada por mujeres negras, sin que existiera allí un hombre, pues vivían a la manera de las amazonas. Eran de bellos y robustos cuerpos, fogoso valor y gran fuerza. Su isla era la más fuerte de todo el mundo, con sus escarpados farallones y sus pétreas costas. Sus armas eran todas de oro y del mismo metal eran los arneses de las bestias salvajes que ellas acostumbraban domar para montarlas, porque en toda la isla no había otro metal que el oro.

–Las Sergas de Esplandián, (novela de caballería)
by García Ordóñez de Montalvo.
Published in Seville in 1510.
FUCK BRUSSELS!!!   Sun May 09, 2010 9:47 am GMT
Only 2 years later I bet Europe is really regretting their little Kosovan adventure. Now they're about to be dismembered themselves.