Did Putin actually refer to Russia as "The Fatherland?" I thought Nazi Germany was the only nation in history known to call its country the "Fatherland." It's always "the mother country," as in "Mother Russia."
"I thought Nazi Germany was the only nation in history known to call its country the "Fatherland."
The German Empire of the Kaiser also called Germany "Fatherland." It wasn't specifically a Nazi thing.
But I acknowledge with your point that Russians have always referred to their country as "the Motherland," or "Mother Russia." That stood out to me as I read the transcript.
Certainly not only Germany. For example, Koreans also use a similar expression, combining the character for ancestor / forebear / grandfather with nation - 조국 祖國. We'd translate that as either fatherland, or motherland, or possibly homeland. Literally, its "our ancestral land". Chinese language has a corresponding expression.
Many countries have similar expressions. "The mother country" is a similar one. Italians It's just that to English speakers, "Fatherland" sounds foreign, and so lots of folks associate that with Germany, even Nazism. It's more common than you think, and there is nothing sinister about it at all, despite the associations that Hilterites employed mid 20th century.
Did Putin actually refer to Russia as "The Fatherland?" I thought Nazi Germany was the only nation in history known to call its country the "Fatherland." It's always "the mother country," as in "Mother Russia."
Maybe it's just a translation thing. I hope so.
"I thought Nazi Germany was the only nation in history known to call its country the "Fatherland."
The German Empire of the Kaiser also called Germany "Fatherland." It wasn't specifically a Nazi thing.
But I acknowledge with your point that Russians have always referred to their country as "the Motherland," or "Mother Russia." That stood out to me as I read the transcript.
Certainly not only Germany. For example, Koreans also use a similar expression, combining the character for ancestor / forebear / grandfather with nation - 조국 祖國. We'd translate that as either fatherland, or motherland, or possibly homeland. Literally, its "our ancestral land". Chinese language has a corresponding expression.
Many countries have similar expressions. "The mother country" is a similar one. Italians It's just that to English speakers, "Fatherland" sounds foreign, and so lots of folks associate that with Germany, even Nazism. It's more common than you think, and there is nothing sinister about it at all, despite the associations that Hilterites employed mid 20th century.