Attitude Towards the Polish People's Republic in Poland and Nostalgia for the Soviet Union in Russia in the Context of Reflections on Historical Consciousness

The article explores how Polish and Russian societies relate to their socialist pasts — the Polish People’s Republic and the Soviet Union — as elements of historical consciousness. Using internet data (Google Trends, Wikipedia analytics) and cultural sources, Wiktor Werner identifies divergent emotional patterns of memory: critical detachment and irony in Poland versus nostalgic continuity in Russia. Through quantitative methods and digital humanities tools, the study reconstructs collective imaginaries of the past and shows how online behavior reflects deeper structures of identity and historical perception in Central and Eastern Europe.