Polish-Austrian Relations at the End of the Cold War in the Light of Polish Diplomatic Sources
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18778/1644-857X.23.01.06Keywords:
Polish People’s Republic, Austria, Cold War, European integration, fall of communismAbstract
The historical research methods adopted aim to answer the question of whether the Eastern countries neighboring Austria, constrained by their economic and political systems, could count on assistance in initiating political reforms. The disparity between the democratic West and the communist East had an unfavorable impact on Vienna. The research thesis concerns the possibility and scale of Austria’s involvement in economic reforms in Poland. The Austrians recognised that the development of their Eastern neighbors benefitted the development of the Second Republic and consistently strengthened it. Austria repeatedly confirmed its willingness to help Poland not only on a humanitarian basis, but also diplomatically and economically, without having to negatively evaluate the actions of the communist authorities. Therefore, Austria in Polish diplomatic documents and official press releases from 1985–1989 is characterized as an ally and a partner. An example eagerly used by the Polish authorities was the official position of Austria and its negative assessment of the economic sanctions imposed on Poland by the West. The narrative is divided into two periods. The first one covers the years 1985–1986 and reports on the revival of relations after the introduction of martial law in Poland. The second period concerns joint activities in the years leading to the breakthrough and the ‘autumn of nations’. The Austrian government’s policies strengthened the existing regime and prolonged the decay of the Polish political system. In unofficial talks, Poland’s economic reforms were assessed in Austria as superficial and an economic collapse was predicted, with potentially disastrous consequences for the whole of Europe. The Polish authorities used the influence and position of the neutral republic to achieve their own goals, especially to legitimise the government. The balance of bilateral relations in the final stage of the Cold War proved unfavorable for both c ountries.
Downloads
References
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: A briefing note on the official visit of Comrade S. Olszowski, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the Republic of Austria from 11 to 13 June 1985, f. 13/88, bdl 6
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: A briefing note on the political consultations at the Austrian Foreign Ministry in Vienna on 16–18 April 1985, f. 13/88, bdl 6
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: A note from the conversation between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Polish People’s Republic Comrade S. Olszowski and the Federal Chancellor of Austria F. Sinowatz on 12 June 1985, f. 13/88, bdl 6
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: A note of 21 March 1985 on economic and trade relations with Austria, f. 13/88, bdl 6
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: A note on the balance of bilateral relations with Austria in 1988, and the nodal tasks with respect to Austria in 1989, f. 1/92, bdl 1
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: A note on the conditions and existing impediments to the development of the relations between the Polish People’s Republic and Austria and the activities of the Embassy of the People’s Republic in Austria, f. 17/89, bdl 3
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: A political report of the Embassy in Vienna for 1986, f. 17/89, bdl 3
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: A political report of the Embassy in Vienna for 1988, f. 1/92, bdl 1
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: General of the Austrian Foreign Ministry – F. Bauer, f. 13/88, bdl 6
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: Guidelines for the work of the Embassy of the Polish People’s Republic in Vienna for 1988, f. 1/92, bdl 1
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: Polish Press Agency (PAP) release on the visit of Foreign Minister S. Olszowski in the Republic of Austria, f. 13/88, bdl 6
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: Polish-Austrian bilateral relations, f. 17/89, bdl 3
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: Suggestions for discussions on international issues with the Deputy
Secretary
Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych / Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs [AMSZ], Department IV [Dept. IV], Austria: Theses for talks between Minister S. Olszowski with the Austrian Foreign Minister L. Gratz of 4 June 1985, f. 13/88, bdl 6
Długosz S., Jak zadłużyłem PRL, Warszawa 1995.
Jaroszewicz P., Roliński B., Przerywam milczenie… 1939–1989, Warszawa 1991.
Kreisky B., Im Strom der Politik. Erfahrungen lines Europäers, Wien 1988.
Łętowski M., Ostatnia dekada PRL. Zapiski dziennikarza z lat 1982–1991, Lublin 2016.
Noworyta E., Polityka i dyplomacja – wspomnienia ambasadora, Łódź 2008.
Rakowski M. F., Dzienniki polityczne 1987–1990, Warszawa 2005.
Bailer-Galanda B., Garscha W., Der österreichische Staatsvertrag und die Entzazifizierung, [in:] Der Österreichische Staatsvertrag 1955. Internationale Strategie, rechtliche Relevanz, national Identität, eds. A. Suppan, G. Stourzh, W. Mueller, Wien 2005, pp. 629–654.
Barcz J., “Die sowjetische Hypothek”. Die Gestaltung der Sicherheitspolitik Österreichs Anfang der 1990er Jahre im Lichte der politischen Wende in Mittel- und Osteuropa, [in:] Austria w polskim dyskursie publicznym po 1945 roku. Österreich im polnishen öffentlichen Diskurs nach 1945, ed. A. Kisztelińska-Węgrzyńska, Kraków 2016, pp. 67–105.
Binder D., Bruckmüller E., Essay über Österreich. Grundfragen von Identität und Gechichte 1918–2000, Wien 2005.
Brix E., Busek E., Nowe spojrzenie na Europę Środkową. Czy od niej zależy przyszłość Europy?, Kraków 2019.
Bruckmüller E., Staatsvertrag und Österreichsbewusstsein, [in:] Der Österreichische Staatsvertrag 1955. Internationale Strategie, rechtliche Relevanz, national Identität, eds. A. Suppan, G. Stourzh, W. Mueller, Wien 2005, pp. 923–948.
Cede F., Prosl Ch., Anspruch und Wirklichkeit Österreichs Außenpolitik seit 1945, Innsbruck 2015.
Franczak K., Kalający własne gniazdo. Artyści i obrachunek z przeszłością, Kraków 2013.
Graf M., Ruggenthaler P., Entspannung trotz Krisen? Zu den eziehungen zwichen Österreich und Polen vom Staatsvertrag bis zum Ende des Kalten Krieges 1955–1990, [in:] Österreich – Polen. Stationen gemeinsamer Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert, eds. W. Jarząbek, P. Ruggenthaler, Graz–Wien 2021, pp. 173–201.
Holzer J., Europa zimnej wojny, Kraków 2012.
Hösele H., Die österreichische Identität, “Zeitreise Österreich. Menschen. Gesellschaft. Geschhichte” 2015, no. 2, pp. 38–39.
Jarząbek W., Österreich in den Jahren 1918 bis 1989 aus polnisher Perspektive, [in:] Österreich – Polen. Stationen gemeinsamer Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert, eds. W. Jarząbek, P. Ruggenthaler, Graz–Wien 2021, pp. 239–267.
Jasiński L. J., Bliżej centrum czy na peryferiach? Polskie kontakty gospodarcze z zagranicą w XX wieku, Warszawa 2011.
Kemp-Welch A., Polska pod rządami komunistów 1944–1989, Kraków 2010.
Kengor P., Ronald Reagan i obalenie komunizmu. Zbliżenie na Polskę, Warszawa 2007.
Kisztelińska-Węgrzyńska A., Bruno Kreisky. Polityka zagraniczna i dyplomacja wobec PRL (1959–1983), Łódź 2018. https://doi.org/10.18778/8142-077-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/8142-077-8
Knoll S., Flucht oder Migration? Polnische Flüchtlinge in Österreich 1981/82, [in:] Österreich – Polen. Stationen gemeinsamer Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert, eds. W. Jarząbek, P. Ruggenthaler, Graz–Wien 2021, pp. 223–239.
Kowal P., Koniec systemu władzy. Polityka ekipy gen. W. Jaruzelskiego w latach 1986–1989, Warszawa 2015.
Kreisky B., Z Polską wiązałem zbyt duże nadzieje, “Prawo i Życie” 1991, no. 32, p. 13.
Lebow R. N., The Long Peace, the End of the Cold War and the Failure of Realism, [in:] Twentieth Century International Relations, ed. M. Cox, vol. II (The Rise and Fall of the Cold War), London 2006, pp. 249–277. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818300028186
Lévesque J., The Emancipation of Eastern Europe, [in:] Ending the Cold War. Interpretations, Causation, and the Study of International Relations, eds. R. K. Herrmann, R. N. Lebow, New York 2004, pp. 107–129. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403982810_5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403982810_5
Miecznikowska J., Austriaccy Zieloni na drodze do władzy, “Przegląd Zachodni” 2022, no. 4, pp. 97–114.
Miecznikowska J., Europeizacja partii i systemu partyjnego Austrii, Warszawa 2018.
Paczkowski A., Dyplomacja polska czasów kryzysu (1980–1989), [in:] Historia dyplomacji polskiej, vol. VI, eds. W. Michowicz, W. Materski, Warszawa 2010, pp. 821–863.
Plassnik U., On the Road to a Modern Identity: Austrian Foreign Policy from the Cold War to the European Union, [in:] Austria’s International Position After the End of the Cold War, eds. G. Bischof, F. Karlhofer, New Orleans 2013, Contemporary Austrian Studies, vol. XXII, pp. 55–94. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1n2txd9.5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1n2txd9.5
Przeperski M., Mieczysław F. Rakowski. Biografia polityczna, Warszawa 2021.
Przeperski M., Ostatnia próba modernizacji PRL. Rząd Mieczysława Rakowskiego (1988–1989), “Pamięć i Sprawiedliwość” 2016, no. 27, pp. 197–230.
Przeperski M., Premier kontraktowy. Zbigniew Messner w systemie rządów Wojciecha Jaruzelskiego, [in:] Kryzys w Partii, Partia w Kryzysie. Ostatnia dekada PZPR, eds. T. Kozłowski, M. Siedziako, Warszawa 2023, pp. 151–187.
Schmidl E., Austrian Security Policy after the End of the Cold War, [in:] Austria’s International Position After the End of the Cold War, eds. G. Bischof, F. Karlhofer, New Orleans 2013, Contemporary Austrian Studies, vol. XXII, pp. 108–120. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1n2txd9.7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1n2txd9.7
Sheehan J. J., The Transformation of Europe and the End of the Cold War, [in:] The Fall of the Berlin Wall, ed. J. A. Engel, Oxford 2009, pp. 36–69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199832446.003.0002
Sheehan J. J., What Does it Mean To Be Neutral? Postwar Austria from a Comparative Perspective, [in:] Austria’s International Position After the End of the Cold War, eds. G. Bischof, F. Karlhofer, New Orleans 2013, Contemporary Austrian Studies, vol. XXII, pp. 121–140. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1n2txd9.8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1n2txd9.8
Sierpowski S., Niemcy jako problem międzynarodowy po II wojnie światowej, Poznań 2010.
Skrzypek A., Mechanizmy klientelizmu. Stosunki polsko-radzieckie 1965–1989, Pułtusk–Warszawa 2008.
Stosunki dyplomatyczne Polski. Informator, vol. I (Europa 1918–2006), eds. K. Szczepanik, A. Herman-Łukasik, B. Janicka, Warszawa 2007.
Tomczak M., Austriacy w poszukiwaniu tożsamości, “Przegląd Zachodni” 1997, no. 1, pp. 117–132.
Westad O. A., The Global Cold War, New York 2005. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511817991 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511817991
Witkowska J., Bezpośrednie inwestycje zagraniczne w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej, Łódź 1996.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
