Suchergebnisse

This paper is an attempt to analyse European leadership and the role played by a reunited Germany in the European Union. The author proposes five fundamental theses: 1) the reunification of Germany ruined the balance of power in Europe; 2) the Eastern enlargement of NATO and the EU has moved the zone of political and military influence of the USA to the line of the Bug river; 3) the Germans have confirmed their position as a European power; 4) the foreign policy of Angela Merkel is a continuation of Gerhard Schroder's policy, meaning a transfer of the focus from European policy to prioritising German national interests; 5) the German issue has remained open. ; This paper is an attempt to analyse European leadership and the role played by a reunited Germany in the European Union. The author proposes five fundamental theses: 1) the reunification of Germany ruined the balance of power in Europe; 2) the Eastern enlargement of NATO and the EU has moved the zone of political and military influence of the USA to the line of the Bug river; 3) the Germans have confirmed their position as a European power; 4) the foreign policy of Angela Merkel is a continuation of Gerhard Schroder's policy, meaning a transfer of the focus from European policy to prioritising German national interests; 5) the German issue has remained open.

Austria's political and economic interest in the countries of Central Europe was diverse. Neighborhood policy was interpreted as "a small relaxation that without direct union with the USSR could have contributed to relaxation between East and West". In initiating economic cooperation, it was assumed that the economic stability of Eastern countries would be conducive to the implementation of the basic task of the SPÖ, which is maintaining full employment, would be an optical expression of Austria's neutrality and would contribute to alleviating the effects of Austria's unilateral economic links with Western countries, in particular with Germany. The assumption adopted in Vienna concerned the consent to undertake economic cooperation where it was profitable, but also while respecting the principles typical of the free market. At the beginning it was assumed that industrialization concerns only East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Over time, this approach has changed. Analyzing the foreign policy of Austria, research tools characteristic of the historian and political scientist's workshop were used. The method of analysis and synthesis was adopted. Additionally, the conducted research was supplemented with the institutional method (legal acts regarding the competence to create foreign policy and state treaties). A statistical method was also used to show the scale of trade.

Publikacja recenzowana / Peer-reviewed publication ; The objective of the article is to indicate similarities as well as discrepancies between the Polish and German governments' stands on the crisis and conflict in Ukraine. The author tries to respond to the question: What will be the implications of the conflict in Ukraine for the "Eastern policy" of Poland and Germany? Will they result in the continuation of their current "Eastern policy", its evolution or maybe they will bring an essential change to their policy in the region? In author's opinion, taking into account significant differences between the Polish and German foreign policies towards Russia and Ukraine between 2014 and 2015 as well as before that period, the possibility for enhanced cooperation between the two governments in relation to their foreign policy towards Russia and Ukraine will continue to be remote in the upcoming years.

In this paper an attempt is made to outline the views on the transformation of the former GDR formulated in the German scientific literature. Due to the limited scope of the paper and the magnitude and complexity of the phenomena, discussion is limited to the most important and most controversial - according to the author - aspects around which discussions were held between leading economists from academia and politicians. The study starts with a brief introduction regarding the merits of the transformation of the economic order of the former GDR. Further outlines early assessments of the economic condition of Eastern Germany and ideas on eventual reunification of the country. Then, following, if possible, the chronological order, an overview is provided of the most important assessment about elements of a new order, such as the monetary union and the deregulation of prices, changes in the ownership structure, the creation of the institutional framework and the situation on the labor market and financial transfers. The main scientific method applied is analysis of literature, evaluation of official documents and historical analysis.

School chronicles are an important but sometimes underestimated source of information for the history of education. The difficulties with their use result from their dispersion, lack of availability and subjective nature. However, despite their subjectivity, they can provide extremely interesting information, e.g. on the biographies of individual educators. This article focuses on the war fate of school teachers in the Eastern Greater Poland. Almost all of them lost their jobs as a result of the closure of schools. Many were deported to the General Government or to forced labour in Germany. Those who stayed undertook off-an-on work or jobs that had nothing to do with the teaching profession. Despite the threat to their lives, some of them were also engaged in secret teaching. Unfortunately, there were also those who decided to collaborate with the German occupier. The research included in this article should be considered an introduction to research in this source area. ; School chronicles are an important but sometimes underestimated source of information for the history of education. The difficulties with their use result from their dispersion, lack of availability and subjective nature. However, despite their subjectivity, they can provide extremely interesting information, e.g. on the biographies of individual educators. This article focuses on the war fate of school teachers in the Eastern Greater Poland. Almost all of them lost their jobs as a result of the closure of schools. Many were deported to the General Government or to forced labour in Germany. Those who stayed undertook off-an-on work or jobs that had nothing to do with the teaching profession. Despite the threat to their lives, some of them were also engaged in secret teaching. Unfortunately, there were also those who decided to collaborate with the German occupier. The research included in this article should be considered an introduction to research in this source area.

The aim of the present article is to outline the characteristics of Polish and German policy towards East, especially towards Russia. The author indicates the areas of common and different interests as well as objectives in the Polish and German policy towards East, particularly at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century. In spite of observing fewer differences between Poland and Germany in their present policy towards Russia, the article aims to emphasize the discrepancies that still exist and are visible in the bilateral as well as multilateral relations. At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, the Polish and German positions towards Russia and post‑soviet countries are noticeably more coherent than before. One of the main reasons is the modification of Polish Eastern policy by introducing pragmatic thinking (so‑called positive realism), implemented at the end of 2007 by the Polish government run by the Civic Platform (PO) and Polish People's Party (PSL). At the same time, the Angela's Merkel government introduced more critical attitude towards Russia. Nonetheless, in spite of growing convergence of interests in Polish and German policy towards Russia, there have been significant discrepancies. The main differences have been related to the role of Russia in the Commonwealth of Independent States and in the European security system. Therefore, Poland and Germany have had different opinion on the role of Russia: should it be a partner or a threat? To what extend the process of Europeanization of Russia should be introduced? There is also a discrepancy between Poland and Germany related to the following question: which relations among the post‑soviet countries should be prioritized, should it be relations with Ukraine or with Russia?

Publikacja recenzowana / Peer-reviewed publication ; The article aims to present the stand of relationship between Germany and Poland in context of changes that took place in the EU Common Foreign, Security and Defense Policy and New East Policy of Germany and Germany's Russia policy deeply infl uence threw aggressive Russian policy agents Ukraine and adders postsoviet countries. Author also analyses Poland's "resets" with Germany and Russia and interested in changing German-Russian relationship in the future. German see Russia as a partner due to its global role while Poles see it as a partner due to its geographic proximity and needs to stabilize the region. While Germans do not see Russia as a direct threat Poles understand why Ukraine, Belarus, and the Caucasus see it as a threat. Poland and Germany has consistently supported the strengthening of cooperation between member states within Common Foreign, Security and Defense Policy of the European Union with an aim of making this international organization gain a status of the key player in the international politics in the future.

This article deals with the Western countries reaction on "Arab Spring" phenomenon (a revolutionary wave of demonstration and protests against the power of country), especially the United States, Germany and France. The selection of countries was based on the following criteria: first of all, the US is a major power in the World and a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization; secondly, France and Germany are main European players due to European Union membership. Additionally, France maintains good relations with North African countries, while Germany is more neutral and represents economic power within the European continent, which might gain the trust of Arabic World. ; Artykuł został poświęcony reakcji krajów zachodniej części globu na zjawisko "Arabskiej Wiosny" (rewolucyjnej fali demonstracji i protestów przeciwko panującej władzy) na przykładzie Stanów Zjednoczonych, Niemiec i Francji. Wybór państw dokonano w oparciu o następujące kryteria: po pierwsze – USA są mocarstwem globalnym i członkiem Sojuszu Północnoatlantyckiego; po drugie – Francja i Niemcy należą do istotnych graczy europejskich ze względu na przynależność do struktur Unii Europejskiej. Dodatkowo Francja posiada dobre relacje z krajami Afryki Północnej, natomiast Niemcy są bardziej neutralne i stanowią potęgę gospodarczą w obrębie własnego kontynentu, co może budzić zaufanie świata arabskiego.

The article presents the development of the idea of building fast roads in Central and Eastern Europe in the first half of the 20th century. In Europe, until 1945, highways were built in: Germany, the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the Netherlands and Italy. In other countries, including Poland, the construction of this type of roads in the interwar period remained only in the planning and project phase. The concept of building highways was implemented by fascist countries, including: Italy (474 km of routes opened) in 1922-1942, Germany (3,896 km) in 1933-1943, and the dependent Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in 1939-1942 (188 km under construction), mainly to achieve a propaganda effect the agency of the totalitarian system in counteracting unemployment and the planned increase in motorization, which proves the wealth of workers.

The image of Poland and Poles in Germany emerging from the analysis of public opinion polls and press publications remains ambiguous - it is characterized by complexity and a lack of internal consistency. Positive aspects of the image of Poland and Poles are present to a greater extent in the German press than in the results of public opinion polls. The results of the polls also show a greater inconsistency in the image of Poland and Poles in Germany than press narratives. Two elements of Poland's image are particularly noteworthy in the German press: as an important European actor and as a country with a dynamically developing economy. From the Polish point of view, these two elements should constitute an important "anchor", a kind of starting point organizing the discussion about Poland in the German media. burdened with stereotypes. This is mainly due to the relatively poor knowledge of Germany's eastern neighbor. Poles living in Germany are not of special interest to either the German media or the public. They are also not present in the public discourse themselves. Locally, there was also a lot of interest in the issue of emigration to border areas - especially Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The attitude of the National Democracy towards the Soviet Union based on two factors: its political, military and economic weakness, which prevented Soviet aggressive foreign policy and common interest of Poland and the USSR, which was defence against German expansion in the East. So National Democracy wanted to have good relations with the Soviet state and objected of any intervention in internal affairs of the Soviet Union. National camp demanded from the USSR peacefulpolicy, stabilization on the Polish-Soviet border and cooperation in defending the territorial order in this part of Europe.The real relations between Poland and the USSR weren't so optimistic. The National Democracy accused communist government in Russia of the preparations to european revolution and to force all the countries to adopt totalitarian system. The ways of realization of that plan were Polish-Soviet war (1919-1920) and help given to Polish communists by the USSR in destructive activity against the Polish Republic. The National Democracy criticized east neighbour on dislike for political and economic cooperation with Poland, too. For the USSR better partners were Germany or France than poor Poland and national leaders had to resign from theirs conception of keeping close cooperation with the USSR.Poland was situated between Germany and the Soviet Union, what had grave influence on national conception of mutual relations with both neighbours. For the National Democracy Germany was the most dangerous enemy of the Polish state, so a natural partner had to be seek in the USSR. That's why, despite failures, national leaders during interwar period didn't change their main idea on good relations with the east neighbour on political and economic ground and were convinced, that the Soviet government would eventually change its foreign policy. Some political events strengthened the national camp in its conviction: a treaty of non-aggression, trade relations or influential Soviet politicians' speeches, for example ministries of foreign affairs, about the necessity of cooperation with Poland. But belief in their own conceptions caused misunderstanding of the real aims of the USSR, which were at odds with interests of Poland and based on intentions to destroy the Polish state.

The attitude of the National Democracy towards the Soviet Union based on two factors: its political, military and economic weakness, which prevented Soviet aggressive foreign policy and common interest of Poland and the USSR, which was defence against German expansion in the East. So National Democracy wanted to have good relations with the Soviet state and objected of any intervention in internal affairs of the Soviet Union. National camp demanded from the USSR peacefulpolicy, stabilization on the Polish-Soviet border and cooperation in defending the territorial order in this part of Europe.The real relations between Poland and the USSR weren't so optimistic. The National Democracy accused communist government in Russia of the preparations to european revolution and to force all the countries to adopt totalitarian system. The ways of realization of that plan were Polish-Soviet war (1919-1920) and help given to Polish communists by the USSR in destructive activity against the Polish Republic. The National Democracy criticized east neighbour on dislike for political and economic cooperation with Poland, too. For the USSR better partners were Germany or France than poor Poland and national leaders had to resign from theirs conception of keeping close cooperation with the USSR.Poland was situated between Germany and the Soviet Union, what had grave influence on national conception of mutual relations with both neighbours. For the National Democracy Germany was the most dangerous enemy of the Polish state, so a natural partner had to be seek in the USSR. That's why, despite failures, national leaders during interwar period didn't change their main idea on good relations with the east neighbour on political and economic ground and were convinced, that the Soviet government would eventually change its foreign policy. Some political events strengthened the national camp in its conviction: a treaty of non-aggression, trade relations or influential Soviet politicians' speeches, for example ministries of foreign affairs, about the necessity of cooperation with Poland. But belief in their own conceptions caused misunderstanding of the real aims of the USSR, which were at odds with interests of Poland and based on intentions to destroy the Polish state.