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ABSTRACT
This article explores the effects of Western European integration on socialist Poland in the 1970s. It argues that the existence of the European Economic Community (EEC) and its actions in that period helped weaken the Polish regime by accelerating its engagement with the West and provoking conflicts, at the national level between different groups within the socialist elite, and at the international level between members of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA).
Acknowledgements
The paper leading to this article was awarded the Saki Ruth Dockrill Memorial Prize at the International Graduate Conference on the Cold War in 2019. I would like to thank the organisers of the event, and especially my discussants: Hope Harrison and Luc-André Brunet. I would also like to express my gratitude towards Angela Romano, Federico Romero, and anonymous reviewers for their comments and advice.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Notes
1 Suvi Kansikas, Socialist Countries Face the European Community: Soviet-Bloc Controversies over East-West Trade (New York: Peter Lang, 2014); Jack G. Kaikati, “Models of Success and Failure in European Integration,” East European Quarterly 23, no. 3 (1992): 291–307; and Domenico Mario Nuti, “Economic Relations between the European Community and CMEA,” Working Paper No. 88/360 (Florence: European University Institute, 1988).
2 Suvi Kansikas, “Room to Manoeuvre? National Interests and Coalition-Building in the CMEA, 1969–74,” in Reassessing Cold War Europe, ed. Sari Autio-Sarasmo and Katalin Miklóssy (London: Routledge, 2011), 193–209.
3 Maximilian Graf, “Nichtanerkennung zu eigenen Lasten? Die DDR und die Europäische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft in den ‘langen 1970er-Jahren’,” in Jahrbuch für historische Kommunismusforschung (Berlin: Metropole Verlag, 2020), 225–38; Elena Dragomir, “Breaking the CMEA Hold: Romania in Search of a ‘Strategy’ towards the European Economic Community, 1958–1974,” European Review of History (2019), doi:10.1080/13507486.2019.1694492; Pál Germuska, “Balancing Between the COMECON and the EEC: Hungarian Elite Debates on European Integration during the Long 1970s,” Cold War History (2019), doi:10.1080/14682745.2018.1544972; Maximilian Graf, “Die DDR und die EWG 1957–1990,” Revue d’Allemagne et des pays de langue allemande 51, no. 1 (2019): 21–35, doi: 10.4000/allemagne.1352; Elitza Stanoeva, “Squeezed between External Trade Barriers and Internal Economic Problems: Bulgaria’s Trade with Denmark in the 1970s,” European Review of History (2019), doi:10.1080/13507486.2019.1663796; Benedetto Zaccaria, “Yugoslavia, Italy, and European Integration: was Osimo 1975 a Pyrrhic Victory?,” Cold War History (2019), doi:10.1080/14682745.2019.1657094; Stefano Bottoni, “Unrequited Love? The Romanian Communist Party and the EEC in the 1960s and 1970s,” in Kommunismus und Europa. Europapolitik und vorstellungeneuropäischer kommunistischer Parteien im Kalten Krieg, ed. Francesco Di Palma and Wolfgang Mueller (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2016), 118–37; Benedetto Zaccaria, The EEC’s Yugoslav Policy in Cold War Europe, 1968–1980 (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016); and Ivan Obadić, “A Troubled Relationship: Yugoslavia and the European Economic Community in Détente,” European Review of History 21, no. 2 (2014): 329–48, doi:10.1080/13507486.2014.888709.
4 Wanda Jarząbek, “The Polish United Workers’ Party and Western European Integration, 1957–1979,” in Kommunismus und Europa. Europapolitik und vorstellungeneuropäischer kommunistischer Parteien im Kalten Krieg, ed. Francesco Di Palma and Wolfgang Mueller (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2016), 106–17; and Dagmara Jajeśniak-Quast, “Reaktionen auf die Westeuropäische Wirtschaftsintegration in Ostmitteleuropa: Die Tschechoslowakei und Polen in den fünfziger bis zu den siebziger Jahren,” Journal of European Integration History 13, no. 2 (2007): 69–84.
5 Piers Ludlow, “European Integration and the Cold War,” in The Cambridge History of the Cold War, ed. Melvyn Paul Leffer and Odd Arne Westad (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), vol. 2, 179–97.
6 Angela Romano, “Untying Cold War Knots: The European Community and Eastern Europe in the Long 1970s,” Cold War History 14, no. 2 (2014): 153–73, doi: 10.1080/14682745.2013.791680.
7 Ministry of Foreign Affairs guidelines for 1971, accepted by Political Bureau, 11 May 1971, Komitet Centralny Polskiej Zjednoczonej Partii Robotniczej (Central Committee of Polish United Workers Party) (KC PZPR) 1354, V/92, Archiwum Akt Nowych (Warsaw, Poland: Central Archives of Modern Records, AAN).
8 Wanda Jarząbek, “Hope and Reality: Poland and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 1964–1989,” Working Paper No. 56 (Washington DC: Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, 2008).
9 Special issue on the Hague Summit 1969, Journal of European Integration History 9, no. 2 (2003).
10 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Trade report on relationship with EEC, 4 May 1971, KC PZPR 1354, V/92, 2–3, AAN.
11 Laurien Crump and Simon Godard, “Reassessing Communist International Organisations: A Comparative Analysis of COMECON and the Warsaw Pact in Relation to their Cold War Competitors,” Contemporary European History 27, no. 1 (2018): 85–109, doi:10.1017/S0960777317000455; and Kansikas, Socialist Countries Face, 28–34.
12 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Trade report on relationship with EEC, 4 May 1971, KC PZPR 1354, V/92, 2–3, AAN.
13 Ibid., 3–5.
14 Minute from Political Bureau meeting, 4 May 1971, KC, PZPR 1354, V/92, 4, AAN.
15 Jarząbek, “The Polish United Workers’ Party,” 117.
16 Ministry of Foreign Affairs guidelines for 1971, accepted by Political Bureau, 11 May 1971, KC PZPR 1354, V/92, 21, AAN.
17 Jakub Szumski, “Leonid Brezhnev and Edward Gierek: The Making and Breaking of an Uneven Friendship,” The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review 45, no. 3 (2018): 253–86, doi:10.1163/18763324.20181290; Włodzimierz Borodziej, “Polskie peryferie polityki zagranicznej Związku Radzieckiego- lata siedemdziesiąte,” in Modernizacja. Centrum. Peryferie, ed. Włodzimierz Borodziej and Sławomir Dębski (Warsaw: PISM, 2009), 51–72; and Andrzej Skrzypek, Mechanizmy klientelizmu. Stosunki polsko-radzieckie 1964–1989 (Pułtusk: Akademia Humanistyczna im. A. Gieysztora, 2008).
18 Proposal for creating special unit in Brussels, September 1971, Dep. IV (Department for Western Europe), 27/77, w.11, Archiwum Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych (Warsaw, Poland: Archives of Ministry of Foreign Affairs) (AMSZ).
19 Trepczyński to Olszewski, 26 August 1971, Dep. IV, 27/77, w.11, AMSZ.
20 Chrupek file, 2521/8683. Ministerstwo Edukacji Narodowej (Ministry of National Education) (MEN), AAN.
21 Paszek to Kociołek, 12 October 1971, Dep. IV, 27/77, w.11, AMSZ.
22 Paczocha file, BU 2602/21,123, Archiwum Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej (Warsaw, Poland: Archives of Institute of National Remembrance) (AIPN).
23 Jarecki file, BU 2974/454/D, AIPN.
24 Chrupek’s report, May 1972, Dep. IV, 48/77, w.16, AMSZ.
25 Sokolak to Embassies in EEC states, 30 June 1973, Dep. IV, 48/77, w.16, AMSZ.
26 Memo from meeting about EEC, 2 May 1973, Dep. IV, 48/77, w.15, AMSZ.
27 Memo from meeting about EEC, 16 February 1972, Dep. IV, 46/77, w.10, AMSZ.
28 Proposal for institutional changes, 8 May 1971, Ministerstwo Handlu Zagranicznego (Ministry of Foreign Trade) (MHZ) 351, 33/11, AAN.
29 Proposal for creating international organisation team, June 1973, Dep. IV, 48/77, w.16, AMSZ.
30 Work plan concerning EEC, 2 April 1976, BU 3559/12, AIPN.
31 Jarecki’s report, 10 February 1976, BU 03264/898, AIPN.
32 Work plan for 1979, 17 January 1979, BU 3559/12, AIPN.
33 Rycki’s report, 6 November 1977, BU 3559/12, AIPN.
34 Grabska’s report, 29 October 1978, Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych (Polish Institute of International Affairs) (PISM), 1738/988, AAN.
35 Kociołek to Staniszewski, 3 October 1971, Dep. IV, 28/77, w.6, AMSZ.
36 Report on EEC, 17 January 1972, Dep. IV, 46/77, w.10, 8, AMSZ.
37 E.g. Michał Łytko, “Pierwsze zarysy rozszerzonej EWG,” Sprawy Międzynarodowe 10 (1971): 34–55.
38 E.g. Olszowski to Jaroszewicz, 7 August 1971, Dep. IV, 27/77, w.11, AMSZ.
39 Ministry of Foreign Affairs guidelines for 1971, accepted by Political Bureau, 11 May 1971, KC PZPR 1354, V/92, 20, AAN.
40 Report from CMEA meeting, 20 June 1972, KC PZPR 1354, V/104, 8, AAN.
41 Ministry of Foreign Affairs guidelines for 1971, accepted by Political Bureau, 11 May 1971, KC PZPR 1354, V/92, 20–21, AAN.
42 Memo from meeting about EEC, 16 February 1972, Dep. IV, 46/77, w.10, AMSZ.
43 Takeshi Yamamoto, “Détente or Integration? EC Response to Soviet Policy Change towards the Common Market, 1970–1975,” Cold War History 7, no. 1 (2007): 81–3, doi:10.1080/14682740701197680.
44 Work plan for 1971, 23 March 1971, Dep. IV, 27/77, w.10, 15, AMSZ.
45 Work plan for 1978, 3 January 1978, Dep. IV, 2/84, w.4, 43, AMSZ.
46 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Trade report on multilateral cooperation, accepted by Political Bureau, June 1977, KC PZPR 1354, V/145, 6, 145, AAN.
47 Instruction for talks with Western diplomats, 26 January 1972, Dep. IV, 46/77, w.10, 1, AMSZ.
48 Report on US-EEC relations, 7 January 1972, Dep. IV, 46/77, w.10, AMSZ.
49 Zajączkowski and Szuman’s report, 14 September 1972, Dep. IV, 46/77, w.10, 20, AMSZ.
50 Zdzisław Rurarz, Dylematy rozwoju. Dziewięć wykładów z międzynarodowych stosunków gospodarczych (Warsaw: Polskie Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne, 1977), 145.
51 Memo on Oliver Long visit, 13 June 1973, MHZ 351, 33/11, AAN.
52 Ministry of Foreign Affairs guidelines for 1975, accepted by Political Bureau, 28 January 1975, KC PZPR 1354, V/128, 17, AAN.
53 E.g. Michał Dobroczyński and Witold Zaremba, “Koordynacja europejskiej współpracy gospodarczej,” Sprawy Międzynarodowe 5 (1972): 27–38.
54 Chrupek and Paczocha’s report, 29 January 1974, Dep. IV, 20/79, w.12, 10, AMSZ.
55 Work plan for 1974, December 1973, Dep. IV, 20/79, w.11, 3, AMSZ.
56 Report on CMEA-EEC relations, accepted by Political Bureau, 14 March 1972, KC PZPR 1354, V/101, 12, AAN.
57 Romano, “Untying Cold War Knots,” 14.
58 Ministry of Foreign Trade memo on foreign loans, 25 January 1972, Urząd Rady Ministrów (Government) (URM) 290, KT 75/8, 10, AAN.
59 Proposal on cooperative production, accepted by Government, 18 February 1977, URM 290, 5.4/135, 8, AAN.
60 Economic Bulletin for Europe, UN, 37 (1985): 236.
61 Chrupek and Paczocha’s report, 30 January 1974, AMSZ, Dep. IV, 20/79, w.12.
62 Kociołek to Długosz, 27 June 1974, Dep. IV, 20/79, w.12, AMSZ.
63 Topa to Kisiel, 14 November 1974, Dep. IV, 20/79, w.11, AMSZ.
64 Kansikas, Socialist Countries Face, 59–115.
65 E.g. Józef Sołdaczuk, “Handel Wschód-Zachód a rozwój gospodarczy w Europie Wschodniej i Zachodniej,” Sprawy Międzynarodowe 9 (1971): 37–53; and “Dyskusja: Procesy międzynarodowej integracji w Europie,” Sprawy Międzynarodowe 10 (1979): 153–68.
66 Interview with Professor Andrzej Zawistowski, 70 lat temu utworzono RWPG, 25 January 2019, https://nowahistoria.interia.pl/prl/news-70-lat-temu-utworzono-rade-wzajemnej-pomocy-gospodarczej,nId,2801930, accessed 1 February 2020.
67 Kisiel to Winiewicz, 25 October 1969, Dep. IV, 27/77, w.11, AMSZ.
68 Zdzisław Rurarz, Byłem doradcą Gierka (Chicago: Andy Grafik, 1990), 137.
69 Kociołek to Staniszewski, 5 October 1971, Dep. IV, 28/77, w.6, AMSZ.
70 Zaccaria, The EEC’s Yugoslav Policy; and Obadić, “A Troubled Relationship.”
71 Kansikas, Socialist Countries Face, 98–100; and Dragomir, “Breaking the CMEA Hold,” 20.
72 Report on EEC, 16 June 1973, 48/77 w.16, 2, AMSZ.
73 Kociołek to Staniszewski, 22 February 1972, Dep. IV, 46/77, w.10, AMSZ.
74 Romano, “Untying Cold War Knots,” 165.
75 Topa to Sokolak, 12 November 1974, Dep. IV, 20/79 w.12, AMSZ.
76 Kansikas, Socialist Countries Face, 110–15.
77 Kociołek to Feliksiak, 20 February 1975, Dep. IV, 17/81 w.9, AMSZ.
78 Nowak to Trepczyński, 13 February 1975, Dep. IV, 17/81, w.9, AMSZ.
79 Draft CMEA-EEC agreement, April 1977, Dep. IV, 2/83, w.6, AMSZ.
80 Graf, “Nichtanerkennung zu eigenen Lasten?”; Graf, “Die DDR und die EWG.”
81 Romano, “Untying Cold War Knots,” 171.
82 Olszewski to Czyrek, 21 April 1977, Dep. IV, 2/83, w.6, AMSZ.
83 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Trade report on multilateral cooperation, accepted by Political Bureau, June 1977, KC PZPR 1354, V/145, 6, AAN.
84 Kociołek to Feliksiak, 7 February 1975, Dep. IV, 17/81, w.9, AMSZ.
85 Rocznik statystyczny 1977 (Warsaw: Główny Urząd Statystyczny), 289.
86 Planning Commission report, 20 October 1976, KC PZPR 1354, XIA/486, 33–5, AAN.
87 Work plan for 1978, 30 December 1978, Dep. IV, 2/84, w.4, 2, AMSZ.
88 Angela Romano, “The Main Task of the European Political Cooperation: Fostering Détente in Europe,” in Perforating the Iron Curtain: European Détente, Transatlantic Relations, and The Cold War, 1965–1985, ed. Poul Villaume and Odd Arne Westad (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2010), 123–41.
89 Jurgen Nielsen-Sikora, “The Idea of a European Union and a Citizen’s Europe: The Tindemans Report and its Impact on Today’s Europe,” in Beyond the Customs Union: the European Community’s Quest for Deepening, Widening and Completion, 1969–1975, ed. Jan Van Der Harst (Brussels: Bruylant, 2007), 377–89.
90 Chrupek’s report, 22 January 1976, Dep. IV, 32/82, w.18, 2, AMSZ.
91 Paczocha’s memo, 14 April 1978, Dep. IV, 1/84, w.16, 1, AMSZ.
92 Olszewski to Feliksiak, 17 July 1978, Dep. IV, 2/84, w.4, AMSZ.
93 Orzeszko’s report, 23 November 1977, Dep. IV, 1/83, w.17, 1–2, AMSZ.
94 Długosz to Czyrek, 13 July 1978, Dep. IV, 1/84, w.16, AMSZ.
95 Bottoni, “Unrequited Love?”; Kansikas, Socialist Countries Face, 185–8.
96 Germuska, “Balancing Between.”
97 Romano, “Untying Cold War Knots,” 169.
98 Report from CMEA meeting, 27 May 1978, Dep. IV, 1/84, w.16, 3, AMSZ.
99 Rurarz’s report on strategy in CMEA-EEC negotiations, 14 November 1977, Dep. IV, 1/83, w.17, AMSZ.
100 Paczocha’s report on CMEA-EEC negotiations, 16 March 1979, Dep. IV, 3/84, w.22, 3, AMSZ.
101 Report on CMEA-ECC negotiations, 26 March 1980, Dep. IV, 43/84, w.16, AMSZ.
102 Jarecki’s report on EEC, 30 March 1979, BU 3559/12, AIPN.
103 Tomasz Bartoszewicz, Zewnętrzna polityka gospodarcza EWG (Warsaw: PISM, 1977), 215.
104 Memo on Osmański-Stefani meeting, Dep. IV, 44/84, w.6, AMSZ.
105 Olechowski to Embassies in the EEC states, 18 December 1980, Dep. IV, 44/84, w.6, AMSZ.
106 Economic Bulletin for Europe, UN 37 (1985): 236.
107 Germuska, “Balancing Between”; Zaccaria, “Yugoslavia, Italy and European Integration.”
108 Silvio Pons, The Global Revolution: A History of International Communism 1917–1989 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).
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Aleksandra Komornicka
Aleksandra Komornicka is a PhD student at the European University Institute and a PhD researcher of the ERC-funded project ‘Looking West: The European Socialist Regimes Facing Pan-European Cooperation and the European Community’. In her dissertation, she looks at Poland’s increasing economic and political cooperation with Western Europe in the 1970s.