Polskie Dokumenty Dyplomatyczne 1976
- Piotr Długołęcki ( red. )
- Polskie Dokumenty Dyplomatyczne 1976
- Publication date: 2008
- Pages: 972
- Hard cover
- Format: 16 x 24 cm
This 10th volume in the series Polish Diplomatic Documents contains 417 documents presenting Polish diplomatic activity in 1976.
Relations with the Federal Republic of Germany were in the spotlight in the first half of the year, when the indemnities accord (agreed in Helsinki the previous year after protracted negotiations) was finally ratified. Minister of Foreign Affairs Stefan Olszowski and Party First Secretary Edward Gierek paid visits to the Federal Republic of Germany, and an array of economic agreements were signed.
In the latter half of the year, Polish foreign policy was impacted by domestic developments. Following worker protests at Radom, Ursus and Płock, the main task for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to control internationally the damage caused by the “June events.”
In bilateral relations with socialist countries, important visits were paid to the U.S.S.R., by a party and government delegation, and to Romania, by Edward Gierek. On the Western front, Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz visited France, Belgium and the United Kingdom, while Minister Olszowski stayed in France, Denmark and Canada.An interesting attempt was also made to settle relations with China following the deaths of Zhou-Enlai and Mao Zedong.
In multilateral relations, much attention was devoted to preparations for the CSCE review conference, attempts to normalize EEC–Comecon cooperation, and also reactions to the Lebanon crisis and the Angola conflict.
The main sources in the volume come from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Communist party’s Central Committee, and they are supplemented with documents created by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The bulk of the materials are classified, and previously unpublished. The volume has a name index and an extended subject index, with information about the MFA’s organizational structure and operation provided in the preface and Annex III. Annex II contains lists of major bilateral international agreements concluded by Poland and of multilateral agreements ratified by the Council of State in that year.
