#YourQuestions: WHY DOES POLAND NOT USE THE CYRILLIC ALPHABET?
■ This goes back to the 10th century when Poland was baptized. The ruler of Poland at the time (Mieszko I) made a political decision to make the country matter in Europe. In order to do that he needed to get rid of the stigma of a "pagan nation" and started the christianization of Poland. He had to choose between Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Church. Due to many factors he chose the former. As Latin was the official language of the Church and the Vatican, it eventually led to the adoption of the Roman alphabet as a means to write Polish.
■ It appears that the Polish ruler at the time was under pressure (wars, territorial disputes) from various German entities, all associated with the Roman Church. By “joining the Roman Church clan” the said ruler gained a decisive sympathy from the German Emperor of the time, which lessened the pressure from the West substantially.
■ Today it seems strange, but a gesture like this (conversion to a Christian faith) would really stop some armies back then. Of course Orthodox Christianity was seen fully legitimate as well (this was before the East-West schism), but moving into the Western structures made the statement much more pronounced and easily verifiable by Western missionaries who flooded Poland.
