journal of european integration history revue d'histoire de l ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

10 Ania Krok-Paszkowska and Jan Zielonka compounded by an “anti-Zionist” and anti-intellectual campaign. The revisionist, Marxist, anti-clerical movement among the left-wing intelligentsia collapsed, and for the first time they sought to form an alliance with the independent Catholic intellectual movement. 9 The opposition no longer had any illusions about the possibility of liberal reform within the system. The gap between the Polish ruling elite and Polish intellectuals widened and in 1975 fifty-nine prominent intellectuals signed an open letter protesting against amendments to the constitution that would reinforce the leading role of the communist party, arguing that this would be an infringement of basic freedoms and civil rights. In the following years various independent oppositional groups emerged. They aimed at defending human and political rights. Concepts such as individual responsibility and legality as well as human rights were revived. Clandestine independent publishing houses documented abuses of power and corruption by party functionaries. The emerging opposition movements were shielded by the Catholic Church which had considerable institutional resources as well as moral authority. The Church had been a self-appointed guardian of the Polish national tradition throughout the entire post-war period. 10 Its political influence increased following the election of a Polish pope in 1978. Moreover, from the mid-1970s onwards, the institutional and ideological decline of the party-state was accompanied by increasing reliance on Western assistance and credits. The authorities devised a policy of “repressive toleration”, meaning that informal political opposition was tolerated in an attempt to gain greater access to foreign credits. 11 This, together with the Helsinki process allowed the West to put increasing economic and some political pressure on the authorities. It also opened the way to the birth of Solidarity in August 1980, which signalled the creation of an independent civil society. 12 These groups and later social movements were all influenced by “European” values. 13 In other words, one cannot understand Poland’s entry to the EU only by considering the economic or legal aspects of this entry. Historic and cultural symbols are extremely important in shaping the thinking and behaviour of Poland’s political elite vis-à-vis the EU. Europeanization was a process that long predated both the fall of the iron curtain, and indeed it also predates World War II and the division of Europe that followed. In the next section we trace the political developments relating to Poland’s foreign policy and the EEC. 9. A. MICHNIK, Kościół, lewica, dialog, Instytut Literacki, Paris, 1997. 10. J. TISCHNER, Polska jest Ojczyzna, Éditions du Dialogue, Société d’Éditions Internationales/ Znaki Czasu, Paris, 1985 and J. ZARIN, Kościół a władza w Polsce (1945-1950), “DIG” TSS, Towarzystwo im. Stanisława ze Skarbimierza, Warszawa, 1997. 11. See J. STANISZKIS, Poland’s Self-Limiting Revolution, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1984, p.166. 12. D. GAWIN (ed.), Lekcja Sierpnia: dziedzictwo “Solidarności” po dwudziestu latach, Wydawnictwo IFiS PAN, Warszawa, 2002. See also J. ZIELONKA, Political Ideas in Contemporary Poland, Avebury, Aldershot, 1989. 13. See for instance A. MICHNIK, Letters from Prison, California University Press, Berkeley/Los Angeles, 1998.
Poland’s Road to the European Union 11 Relations with the EEC During the final stages of World War II the various segments of Poland’s political and military elite tried to prevent their country falling under the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence. 14 Their efforts failed, however. Poland was restored as a state within new borders and under a new name: the Polish People’s Republic. Its sovereignty was severely constrained by the power holders in the Kremlin and initially almost all of Poland’s links with the West were severed. 15 However, after 1956, some economic, cultural, and human links with Western Europe were gradually renewed although, politically, Poland remained in the Soviet sphere of influence. 16 While relations with the EEC were desirable for political and trade reasons, progress was structurally inhibited given Poland’s place in the Soviet security and defence architecture, in particular the Warsaw Pact. Very little literature is available specifically on Poland’s relationship with the EEC in the 1960s and 1970s, although there are some more general works on the EEC and the Eastern bloc. 17 Poland, as well as Hungary and Romania, took a pragmatic attitude towards relations with the EEC. The first contacts between Poland and the EEC or Common Market, took place in November 1964. These were unofficial contacts of a “technical” nature at the level of “experts”. Subsequent meetings took place within the GATT framework in which the EEC was represented as a single entity. The Poles were principally interested in the lifting of export quotas on certain goods, the lowering of customs tariffs and 14. N. DAVIES, op.cit.; and W. DOBRZYCKI, Historia stosunków międzynarodowych w czasach nowożytnych 1815-1945, Fundacja Studiów Międzynarodowych, “Scholar”, Warszawa, 2002. 15. Poland and Czechoslovakia initially expressed an interest in participating in the Marshall Plan but the Soviet Union objected, calling it American economic imperialism. See www.marshallfoundation.org/ about_gcm/marshall_plan.htm. 16. N. ASCHERSON, Polish August, what has Happened in Poland, Penguin Books, Suffolk/New York, 1981. 17. For instance, J. DE GARA, Trade Relations Between the Common Market and the Eastern Bloc, in: Cahiers de Bruges, no.7, De Tempel, Bruges, 1964; H. SCHAEFER, East Europe’s New Look at the Common Market, in: East Europe, 20.3(1971), pp.12-17; J. ŁUKASZEWSKI, The European Community and Eastern Europe. Some Geopolitical Perspectives, Round Table, 249, 1973, pp.41-50; C. RANSOM, The European Community and Eastern Europe, Rowman and Littlefield, Totowa, NJ, 1974; A. FONTAINE and J.P. QUENTIN, Les relations entre la CEE et l'Europe de l'Est: Aspects politiques et juridiques, in: Problèmes politiques et sociaux, no.254, Paris, 1975; J. PINDER and P. PINDER, The European Community’s policy towards Eastern Europe, in: European series, no.25, Chatham House, Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, 1975; D. CORNELSEN, H. MACHOWSKI, and K. SCHENK, Perspektiven und Probleme wirtschaftlicher Zusammenarbeit zwischen Ost- und Westeuropa [Sonderheft], Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, 1976; A. SHLAIM and G. YANNOPOULOS, The EEC and Eastern Europe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1979. Data bases of state archives are available at www.archiwa.gov.pl/index.eng.html. Opening hours, conditions of accessibility to archival material in Poland as well as in institutions of Polish communities abroad are contained in “Archiwa w Polsce. Informator adresowy” (newest version 2002). The Archival Information Centre is at 6 Długa Street, 00-950 Warsaw, tel. +48 22 635 68 22, fax +48 22 831 75 63. E-mail address for enquiries is coia-info@archiwa.gov.pl.
Page 1 and 2: JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION HIS
Page 7 and 8: 5 Introduction Anne Deighton This v
Page 9 and 10: 7 Poland’s Road to the European U
Page 11: Poland’s Road to the European Uni
Page 15 and 16: Poland’s Road to the European Uni
Page 27 and 28: Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic a
Page 45 and 46: Our Man in Paris: The British Embas
Page 47 and 48: Our Man in Paris 45 The Pompidou vi
Page 49 and 50: Our Man in Paris 47 Brown’s desir
Page 51 and 52: Our Man in Paris 49 The Paris embas
Page 53 and 54: Our Man in Paris 51 The probe: Janu
Page 55 and 56: Our Man in Paris 53 the best the Ge
Page 57 and 58: Our Man in Paris 55 “Our informat
Page 59 and 60: Our Man in Paris 57 “I would gues
Page 61 and 62: British Personal Diplomacy and Publ
Page 63 and 64:
The Soames Affair 61 However, recen
Page 65 and 66:
The Soames Affair 63 reiterated old
Page 67 and 68:
The Soames Affair 65 hours left bef
Page 69 and 70:
The Soames Affair 67 Divided Counse
Page 71 and 72:
The Soames Affair 69 Spreading the
Page 73 and 74:
The Soames Affair 71 Relations with
Page 75 and 76:
The Soames Affair 73 However, the a
Page 77 and 78:
The Soames Affair 75 After effects
Page 79 and 80:
A propos des archives Emile Noël:
Page 81 and 82:
A propos des archives Emile Noël 7
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
93 Das Post- und Fernmeldewesen im
Page 97 and 98:
Das Post- und Fernmeldewesen im eur
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
115 Book reviews - Comptes rendus -
Page 119 and 120:
Book reviews - Comptes rendus - Buc
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
139 Abstracts - Résumés - Zusamme
Page 143 and 144:
Abstracts - Résumés - Zusammenfas
Page 145 and 146:
Abstracts - Résumés - Zusammenfas
Page 147 and 148:
145 Contributors - Auteurs - Autore
Page 149 and 150:
Books received - Livres reçus - Ei
Page 151 and 152:
Annual subscription: 47,- € inclu
show all

journal of european integration history revue d'histoire de l ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?