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{{short description|Structure built solely to deceive others into thinking that a situation is better than it really is}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
[[File:Castle and brewery in Kolín 2.jpg|thumb|Because of a newly painted [[façade]], the whole building looks as if it has been reconstructed, although the rest is still in decay (castle brewery in [[Kolín]], [[Czech Republic]]).]]
In politics and economics, a '''Potemkin village''' ({{lang-ru|link=no|потёмкинские деревни|translit=
== Origin ==
[[File:Princepotemkin.jpg|thumb|[[Grigory Potemkin]], namesake of the concept]]
[[Grigory Potemkin]] was a minister and lover of the Russian Empress [[Catherine the Great|Catherine II]].<ref name="Davies2010"/> After the 1783 Russian [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire|annexation of Crimea]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]] and liquidation of the Cossack [[Zaporozhian Sich]] (see [[New Russia]]), Potemkin became governor of the region. Crimea had been devastated by the war, and the Muslim [[Crimean Tatars|Tatar]] inhabitants of Crimea were viewed as a potential [[fifth column]] of the Ottoman Empire. Potemkin's major tasks were to pacify and rebuild by bringing in Russian settlers. In 1787, as a new war was about to break out between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, Catherine II, with her court and several ambassadors, made an unprecedented [[Crimean journey of Catherine the Great|six-month trip to New Russia]]. One purpose of this trip was to impress Russia's allies prior to the war. To help accomplish this, Potemkin was said to have set up "mobile villages" on the banks of the [[Dnieper River]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2008962_2008964_2009010,00.html|title=Top 10 Weird Government Secrets|last=Tharoor|first=Ishaan|date=2010-08-06|magazine=Time|access-date=2017-09-01|issn=0040-781X}}</ref> As soon as the barge carrying the Empress and ambassadors arrived, Potemkin's men, dressed as peasants, would populate the village. Once the barge left, the village was disassembled, then rebuilt downstream overnight.<ref name="Davies2010">{{cite book|author=Norman Davies|title=Europe: A History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vD7SWb5lXBAC&pg=PA658|date=30 September 2010|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4070-9179-2|pages=658–}}</ref>
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The close relationship between Potemkin and the empress could have made it difficult for him to deceive her. Thus, if there were deception, it would have been mainly directed towards the foreign ambassadors accompanying the imperial party.<ref>Davies, Norman. ''Europe: A history'', London, Pimlico, 1997, p. 658.</ref>
Although "Potemkin village" has come to mean, especially in a political context, any hollow or false construct, physical or figurative, meant to hide an undesirable or potentially damaging situation,<ref name="Maxwell2012">{{cite book|author=Joseph A. Maxwell|title=Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xAHCOmtAZd0C&pg=PA139|date=8 June 2012|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-8583-2|pages=139–}}</ref> it is possible that the phrase cannot be applied accurately to its own original historical inspiration. According to some historians,{{Who|date=February 2024}} some of the buildings were real, and others were constructed to show what the region would look like in the near future, and at least Catherine and possibly also her foreign visitors knew which were which. According to these historians, the claims of deception were part of a defamation campaign against Potemkin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2479/did-potemkin-villages-really-exist|title=The Straight Dope: Did "Potemkin villages" really exist?|access-date=5 June 2016|date=14 November 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/kultur/history/article12607459/An-Fuerst-Potemkin-war-alles-echt-Auch-die-Doerfer.html|title=Katharina die Grosse: An Fürst Potemkin war alles echt. Auch die Dörfer|first=Ulli|last=Kulke|date=28 February 2011|work=Die Welt|language=de|trans-title=Everything about Prince Potemkin was real. Including the villages}}<!-- Please do not remove this even though it's in German because it's apparently the article's only reference providing the name of a historian and publication supporting this claim --></ref>
According to a legend, in 1787, when Catherine passed through [[Tula, Russia|Tula]] on her way back from the trip, the local governor [[Mikhail Krechetnikov]] attempted a deception of that kind in order to hide the effects of a bad harvest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fershal.narod.ru/Memories/Texts/Anekdot/12_Naryshkin.htm |title=Русский литературный анекдот XVIII-XIX вв |publisher=fershal.narod.ru |date=18 November 2010 |access-date=20 March 2011}}</ref>
== Modern usage ==
{{Further|Façade}}▼
[[File:North_Korean_village_Kijong-dong.JPEG|thumb|The North Korean [[Peace Village (North Korea)|Peace Village]], located inside the [[Korean Demilitarized Zone|Demilitarized Zone]], appears empty despite its advertised population of two hundred families.]]
[[File:Greenhorn 7.JPG|thumb|False front commercial buildings in [[Greenhorn, Oregon]], 1913]]▼
In the [[Old West]] of the United States, [[Western false front architecture]] was often used to create the illusion of affluence and stability in a new frontier town. The style included a tall vertical façade with a square top in front of a wood-framed building, often hiding a gable roof. The goal for the architecture was to project an image of stability and success for the town, while the business owners did not invest much in buildings that might be temporary. These towns often did not last long before becoming [[ghost town]]s, so businessmen wanted to get started quickly but did not want to spend a lot on their stores. Many [[Western movies]] feature this kind of architecture because, just like the original buildings, it is quick and cheap to create.▼
As told in his book, [[The Gulag Archipelago]], [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn|Solzhenitsyn]] declined to visit the Kriukovo [[Gulag]] with a Soviet official, seemingly chosen by the Soviets well in advance of their meeting, as Solzhenitsyn assumed it would be a "Potemkin structure."
Many of the newly constructed base areas at ski resorts are referred to as Potemkin villages.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Hal | last=Clifford | year=2002 | title=Downhill Slide: Why the Corporate Ski Industry is Bad for Skiing, Ski Towns, and the Environment | publisher=Sierra Club Books | pages=[https://archive.org/details/downhillslidewhy00clif/page/106 106–110] | isbn=9781578050710 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/downhillslidewhy00clif/page/106 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skibum.net/rocky-mountains/colorado-ski-areas/|title=Colorado Ski Areas – SKI BUM|access-date=22 March 2017}}</ref> These create the illusion of a quaint mountain town, but are actually carefully planned theme shopping centers, hotels and restaurants designed for maximum revenue. Similarly, in ''The Geography of Nowhere'', American writer [[James Howard Kunstler]] refers to contemporary suburban shopping centers as "Potemkin village shopping plazas".<ref>Kunstler, James Howard (1993). ''The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape''. New York, Touchstone.</ref>▼
"Potemkin village" is a phrase that has been used by American [[judge]]s, especially members of a multiple-judge panel who dissent from the majority's opinion on a particular matter, to refer to an inaccurate or tortured interpretation and/or application of a particular [[legal doctrine]] to the specific facts at issue. Use of the phrase is meant to imply that the reasons espoused by the panel's majority in support of its decision are not based on accurate or sound law, and their restrictive application is merely a masquerade for the court's desire to avoid a difficult decision.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Global Governance: Critical Concepts in Political Science, Volumen 1|last=Sinclair|first=Timothy J.|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2004|isbn=9780415276627|pages= 56}}</ref> For example, in ''[[Planned Parenthood v. Casey|Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey]]'' (1992), [[Chief Justice of the United States|chief justice of the United States]] [[William Rehnquist]] wrote that ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' "stands as a sort of judicial Potemkin Village, which may be pointed out to passers-by as a monument to the importance of adhering to precedent".<ref>{{cite court |litigants = [[Planned Parenthood v. Casey|Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey]] |vol = 505 |reporter = U.S. |opinion = 833, 966 |date = 29 June 1992 |url= http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=505&invol=833 |quote = Roe v. Wade stands as a sort of judicial Potemkin Village, which may be pointed out to passers-by as a monument to the importance of adhering to precedent. But behind the façade, an entirely new method of analysis, without any roots in constitutional law, is imported to decide the constitutionality of state laws regulating abortion.}}</ref> Similarly, Judge [[William G. Young]] of the [[United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts|District of Massachusetts]] described the use of [[affidavits]] in U.S. litigation as "the Potemkin Village of today’s litigation landscape" because "adjudication by affidavit is like walking down a street between two movie sets, all lawyer-painted façade and no interior architecture."<ref name="usvmass">''United States v. Massachusetts'', {{Law report|781|F. Supp. 2d|1}}, 22 n.25 (D.Mass 2011).<!--{{cite court|▼
[[Image:Bothell-fence-3466.jpg|thumb|Motorists and pedestrians in [[Bothell,
Sometimes, instead of the full phrase, just "Potemkin" is used, as an adjective. For example, the use of a row of trees to screen a clearcut area from motorists has been called a "Potemkin forest".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-ol-patt-morrison-richard-powers-20180502-htmlstory.html | title=Humanity is waging an inexplicable war on trees. It's not going to work out for either side - Los Angeles Times | date=2018-05-02}}</ref> For example, the glossary entry for "clearcut" in ''We Have The Right To Exist: A Translation of Aboriginal Indigenous Thought'' states that "Much of the extensive clearcut in northern Minnesota is insulated from scrutiny by the urbanized public by a Potemkin forest, or, as the [[Minnesota Department of Natural Resources|D.N.R.]] terms it, an aesthetic strip – a thin illusion of forest about six trees deep, along most highways and fronting waters frequented by tourists."<ref name="We Have a Right to Exist: A Translation of Aboriginal Indigenous Thought">{{cite web|author1=Wub-e-ke-niew|title=We Have The Right To Exist: A Translation of Aboriginal Indigenous Thought|url=http://www.maquah.net/We_Have_The_Right_To_Exist/|website=Maquah.net|access-date=15 November 2016}}</ref> Another example is the phrase "Potemkin court", which implies that the court's reason to exist is being called into question (differing from the phrase "[[kangaroo court]]" with which the court's standard of justice is being impugned).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fbj7mv3j2uUC&q=Potemkin+court&pg=PT23|title=International Criminal Justice at the Yugoslav Tribunal: A Judge's Recollection|last=Shahabuddeen|first=Mohamed|date=2012-11-01|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780191649851|language=en}}</ref>▼
▲"Potemkin village" is a phrase that has been used by American [[judge]]s, especially members of a multiple-judge panel who dissent from the majority's opinion on a particular matter, to refer to an inaccurate or tortured interpretation and/or application of a particular [[legal doctrine]] to the specific facts at issue. Use of the phrase is meant to imply that the reasons espoused by the panel's majority in support of its decision are not based on accurate or sound law, and their restrictive application is merely a masquerade for the court's desire to avoid a difficult decision.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Global Governance: Critical Concepts in Political Science, Volumen 1|last=Sinclair|first=Timothy J.|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2004|isbn=9780415276627|pages= 56}}</ref> For example, in ''[[Planned Parenthood v. Casey|Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey]]'' (1992), [[Chief Justice of the United States|chief justice of the United States]] [[William Rehnquist]] wrote that ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' "stands as a sort of judicial Potemkin Village, which may be pointed out to passers-by as a monument to the importance of adhering to precedent".<ref>{{cite court |litigants = [[Planned Parenthood v. Casey|Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey]] |vol = 505 |reporter = U.S. |opinion = 833, 966 |date = 29 June 1992 |url= http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=505&invol=833 |quote = Roe v. Wade stands as a sort of judicial Potemkin Village, which may be pointed out to passers-by as a monument to the importance of adhering to precedent. But behind the façade, an entirely new method of analysis, without any roots in constitutional law, is imported to decide the constitutionality of state laws regulating abortion.}}</ref> Similarly, Judge [[William G. Young]] of the [[United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts|District of Massachusetts]] described the use of [[affidavits]] in U.S. litigation as "the Potemkin Village of
litigants=United States of America v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts|
reporter=781 F. Supp. 2d 1
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|year=2011
}}--></ref>
▲{{Further|Façade}}
▲[[Image:Bothell-fence-3466.jpg|thumb|Motorists and pedestrians in [[Bothell, Washington|Bothell]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], can see a forest-like view at this construction site]]
▲Sometimes, instead of the full phrase, just "Potemkin" is used, as an adjective. For example, the use of a row of trees to screen a clearcut area from motorists has been called a "Potemkin forest".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-ol-patt-morrison-richard-powers-20180502-htmlstory.html | title=Humanity is waging an inexplicable war on trees. It's not going to work out for either side - Los Angeles Times | date=2018-05-02}}</ref> For example, the glossary entry for "clearcut" in ''We Have The Right To Exist: A Translation of Aboriginal Indigenous Thought'' states that "Much of the extensive clearcut in northern Minnesota is insulated from scrutiny by the urbanized public by a Potemkin forest, or, as the [[Minnesota Department of Natural Resources|D.N.R.]] terms it, an aesthetic strip – a thin illusion of forest about six trees deep, along most highways and fronting waters frequented by tourists."<ref name="We Have a Right to Exist: A Translation of Aboriginal Indigenous Thought">{{cite web|author1=Wub-e-ke-niew|title=We Have The Right To Exist: A Translation of Aboriginal Indigenous Thought|url=http://www.maquah.net/We_Have_The_Right_To_Exist/|website=Maquah.net|access-date=15 November 2016}}</ref> Another example is the phrase "Potemkin court", which implies that the court's reason to exist is being called into question (differing from the phrase "[[kangaroo court]]" with which the court's standard of justice is being impugned).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fbj7mv3j2uUC&q=Potemkin+court&pg=PT23|title=International Criminal Justice at the Yugoslav Tribunal: A Judge's Recollection|last=Shahabuddeen|first=Mohamed|date=2012-11-01|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780191649851|language=en}}</ref>
▲[[File:Greenhorn 7.JPG|thumb|False front commercial buildings in [[Greenhorn, Oregon]], 1913]]
▲In the [[Old West]] of the United States, [[Western false front architecture]] was often used to create the illusion of affluence and stability in a new frontier town. The style included a tall vertical façade with a square top in front of a wood-framed building, often hiding a gable roof. The goal for the architecture was to project an image of stability and success for the town, while the business owners did not invest much in buildings that might be temporary. These towns often did not last long before becoming [[ghost town]]s, so businessmen wanted to get started quickly but did not want to spend a lot on their stores. Many [[Western movies]] feature this kind of architecture because, just like the original buildings, it is quick and cheap to create.
▲Many of the newly constructed base areas at ski resorts are referred to as Potemkin villages.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Hal | last=Clifford | year=2002 | title=Downhill Slide: Why the Corporate Ski Industry is Bad for Skiing, Ski Towns, and the Environment | publisher=Sierra Club Books | pages=[https://archive.org/details/downhillslidewhy00clif/page/106 106–110] | isbn=9781578050710 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/downhillslidewhy00clif/page/106 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skibum.net/rocky-mountains/colorado-ski-areas/|title=Colorado Ski Areas – SKI BUM|access-date=22 March 2017}}</ref> These create the illusion of a quaint mountain town, but are actually carefully planned theme shopping centers, hotels and restaurants designed for maximum revenue. Similarly, in ''The Geography of Nowhere'', American writer [[James Howard Kunstler]] refers to contemporary suburban shopping centers as "Potemkin village shopping plazas".<ref>Kunstler, James Howard (1993). ''The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape''. New York, Touchstone.</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Theresienstadt (1944 film)|''Theresienstadt'' (1944 film)]]
* [[Theresienstadt Ghetto and the Red Cross]]
* ''[[Czech Dream]]''
* [[Disneyfication]]
* [[Potemkin Island]]
* [[Potemkin City Limits]], an album by punk band [[Propagandhi]]
* ''[[The Truman Show]]''
* [[Legends of Catherine the Great]]
* [[Novorossiya]]
* [[Folly]], architecture vernacular
* [[Fake building]]
* [[Façadism]]
* [[Sportswashing]]
* [[Kijong-dong]]
* [[Portmeirion]] , a 1967 TV series '[[The Prisoner]]' set in a forcible enclosed community, a prison without physical walls.
== References ==
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{{Disinformation}}
[[Category:Hoaxes
[[Category:1787 in the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Propaganda techniques]]
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