Poland and European East-West Cooperation in the 1970s

Introduction

This book offers an international reading of the Polish socialist regime's history in the 1970s, and its opening up to the West.

Context and Developments

It bridges Poland's socialist domestic history with critical developments of the global and European 1970s, including detente in the Cold War, western European integration, and globalisation.

Polish Socialist Regime under Edward Gierek

In this period of international transformations, socialist Poland under Edward Gierek's leadership multiplied its economic and political contacts with capitalist countries, especially western Europe, and became a leader of East-West cooperation among Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and Warsaw Pact members.

Sources and Methodology

Relying on sources from public and corporate archives in five different European states, the book demonstrates both that the global political and economic transformations of that period were critical for the decision-making process in Poland and, moreover, that the national socialist elites participated in shaping these transformations.

Goals and Practices of the Socialist Elites

By looking at the goals and expectations of the Polish socialist elites and their practices of political and economic exchanges with western Europe, the book explains the logic which drove the socialist regime into entanglement with the West.

Implications of Entanglement

As is shown here, this entanglement proved inextricable and critical for the socialist regime's failure and Poland's political and economic future.

Intended Audience

This book will be of much interest to students of European history, cold war studies, socialism studies and International Relations.