Russians regard Germans as law-abiding traditionalists appreciating order above all. The Russian view of Poles is fuzzier; what comes first is entrepreneurial attitude and religiosity. Russians treat themselves as the most tolerant nation.

MOSCOW, May 8, 2013. In the anticipation of the Victory Day Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data concerning the way that Russians perceive the participants of the World War II – Germany and Poland; how Russians perceive themselves, Germans and Poles; and how they assess the current relationship with these states.

Russians basically associate Germany with the Great Patriotic War (19%), rarer – with fascism (8%) and Hitler (2%). Other associations are as follows: the Berlin Wall, GDR and FRG (1%, for each).  The share of those who perceive Germany as a developed country (13%) or as one of the European states (11%) is quite high.  Russians also mention order (7%), well-being (5%), thoroughness, quality goods (3%, for each), and tidiness (1%). Some Russians associate Germany with German cars (5%), beer and football (1%. for each). Other participant of the WWII – Poland - is rarely perceived through the prism of the War 1941-1945 (only 2% have such associations). Poland is generally perceived as a state (6%), and being unfriendly towards Russia (5%); Russians also cite goods produced by this country (5%).

Germans, former enemies, are seen as a nation that prizes order (67%), a nation that respects the law (30%), traditions (26% and the power (20%), and rarer – family values (16%) and enterprise (15%).  The image of the Poles, a wartime ally, is less concrete: Russians think that they have an entrepreneurial attitude (26%), appreciate family values (21%) and order (20%). As to Russians themselves, they regard themselves as a tolerant nation (39%) having a sense of humor (34%), devoted to the family (28%) and having entrepreneurial attitude (24%).  At the same time, according to Russians, the qualities attributed by them to Germans are not typical for Russians: only in 5% of cases Russians mention order, and in 4% of cases they cite respect for the law. What bring Russians and Poles together are family values: 28% of Russians and 21% of Poles believe family is important.

Today relationship between Russia and Germany, a former wartime enemy, is perceived more positively than relationship between Russia and Poland, a wartime ally. When assessing Russia-Germany relationships using the 5-score scale, Russians give 3.65 points; that means that Russia sees Germany in positive light.  Russia-Poland relationships are more constrained (3.18 points).

The VCIOM opinion polls were conducted on April 27-28, 2013 and in November-December, 2012. During each of the polls 1600 persons were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions and republics of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.

The survey was conducted in November- December 2012.

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!