Russian-Polish suspicions and disagreements date back to the sixteenth century, when Poland was the far greater power; indeed, the Grand Duchy of Moscow was a backwater. Across the centuries, there have been wars, started by both sides, and partitions of Poland executed by the Russians, followed by attempts at “Russification,” with the Russian Christian Orthodox Empire trying to control the “silver-tongued,” “deceptive,” West European-oriented Catholic Poland.