1.2 Polish - German relations, 1945 - 89

1.2 Polish “German relations, 1945 “89

The German Democratic Republic recognized the new German “Polish border in 1950. The Federal Republic of Germany followed suit in 1972, and as a consequence re-established diplomatic relations with Poland. This facilitated the conducting of bilateral political relations as well as economic cooperation and trade between the two countries . This phase of the ˜Ostpolitik of the SPD/FDP West German government peaked in 1975, when as a consequence of the spirit of d tente that followed the Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, West Germany and Poland signed an agreement that enabled 120 “125 000 German nationals to leave Poland. In return Poland received a development credit of DM1 billion.

The birth of the independent trade union Solidarno (solidarity) in Poland in 1980 and the consequent introduction of martial law in 1981 brought West German “Polish relations to a standstill. There followed a period of stalemate, with repression of the opposition in Poland being supported by East Germany and attempts being made by West German officials to continue their dialogue with their contacts in the Polish government. The inability of the government to resolve Poland s political and economic problems, a new wave of political and social protests in 1988 and Gorbachov s policies of perestroika and glasnost prompted the two sides of the Polish political division to strike a compromise: the staging in June 1989 of the first semidemocratic elections in Central and Eastern Europe since the 1950s (June 1989). As a result a new government came into power in September 1989, with the first non-communist prime and foreign ministers in the Warsaw Pact countries. A new era had begun.