At first glance, the development of national identity in Russia and Poland appears to run along parallel lines. Both peoples converted to Christianity in the second half of the tenth century; the church helped to shape each country's national identity; for a long time both the Poles and the Russians saw themselves as bastions of Christendom, defending European civilization from Asiatic hoards; they have both felt at one time or another unappreciated by the West Europeans; and until recently the Poles and the Russians tended to characterize themselves as “civilizations” rather than narrow ethnic polities.

Despite these similarities, a tremendous gulf divides these two Slavic nations. For example, the founders of the Polish state embraced the Roman Catholicism of Western Europe, whereas the rulers of Kievan Rus adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine empire. The Asiatic hordes from which the Russians protected Europe were the Mongols, while the Asiatic hordes from which the Poles protected Europe were the Russians.