United Kingdom towards European integration in the years 1945-1950

Wielka Brytania wobec integracji europejskiej w latach 1945-1950

Author(s): Marek Mikołajczyk / Language(s): / Issue: 02/2015

Keywords: Great Britain; Labour Party; Winston Churchill; European integration

During the Second World War Winston Churchill called for a close cooperation among countries in postwar Europe with the purpose of uniting them under the leadership of Great Britain. After the war, on account of its prestige and international status, Great Britain seemed to be a natural leader of Western Europe. In 1945 the Conservative Party was replaced in power by the Labour Party but the latter’s attitude toward European integration and the place of Europe in Great Britain’s politics did not differ in essentials from that of the Conservatives, although it should be noted that the traditional reasons of reluctance in tightening cooperation with continental Europe were supplemented by the Labourites with new ones, in line with the party’s the anti-capitalist socio-economic program. In the years 1945-1950 the British government, contrary to the expectations of Western European countries had no intention of leading the process of European integration or even participating in it. However, it was ready to support such activities similarly to Britain’s stance in the interwar period. Churchill, who was then in opposition, championed European integration albeit on the French-German basis, without the participation of Great Britain. When he came back to power in 1951 he continued his predecessors’ policy of splendid isolation in relations with Europe. Therefore, one may speak of a continuity of British policy toward European integration from the interwar period to the early 1960s when the British government expressed its will to join the EEC. This policy had far reaching consequences both for Great Britain and Europe which can be experienced even today.

Max Weber and the German defeat

Max Weber i niemiecka klęska

Author(s): Zbigniew Mazur / Language(s): / Issue: 02/2015

Keywords: Max Weber; First World War; Germany’s responsibility

The author presents the views of Max Weber, a German sociologist, historian and political theorist on war and Germany’s responsibility for its outbreak. Max Weber (1864-1920) belonged to a generation in which condemnation of war as such was rare while the cult of armed combat as a test of individual fitness and collective organization was not infrequent. Like many of his contemporaries Weber claimed war to be an admissible, at times even a desirable way of regulating international conflicts. He considered politics in Darwinist categories i.e. in terms of ruthless rivalry and struggle for power played out inside and among countries.

Editorial

Od Redakcji

Author(s): Natalia Jackowska / Language(s): / Issue: 02/2015

Szanowni Państwo, czytelnicy „Przeglądu Zachodniego”, stwierdzenie Carla von Clausewitza (1780-1831), iż wojna jest jedynie kontynuacją polityki innymi środkami, brzmi współcześnie jak bardzo gorzka ironia. Ogrom dramatów spowodowanych wojnami determinuje relacje między społecznościami, narodami i państwami przez wiele dziesięcioleci po ustaniu działań militarnych, a pamięć o nich odżywa później pod nieobecność pokolenia bezpośrednich świadków. Za przykład – z tylko pozornie odległych czasów – służyć może historia krwawej eksterminacji ludów Nama i Herero na terytorium niemieckich kolonii w Afryce (patrz artykuły zawarte w „Przeglądzie Zachodnim” nr 1/2014)

The impact of World War II on the issue of nationality in Austria

Wpływ II wojny światowej na kwestię narodowościową w Austrii

Author(s): Ewa Godlewska / Language(s): / Issue: 02/2015

Keywords: national minority; ethnic policy; Austria; the Second World War; Nazism

The article deals with the still tangible consequences of the Second World War for the current situation of national minorities in Austria. After the war this country was granted a special status as it was recognized to be Hitler’s first victim and for this reason Austria never answered for its involvement on the side of the perpetrators. The author analyzes the impact of this state of affairs on the so called nationality issue and majority-minority relations. She also addresses a vital question on how the absence of settling accounts with history is the cause of recurring radicalism and to what extent the latter is aimed against national minorities inhabiting the territory of Austria.

Visions of a united Slavs and the settlement politics on the "Recovered Territories" in the Czechoslovak borderland press in 1945-1948

Wizje zjednoczonej Słowiańszczyzny a polityka osiedleńcza na „Ziemiach Odzyskanych” w pogranicznej prasie czechosłowackiej w latach 1945-1948

Author(s): Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska / Language(s): / Issue: 02/2015

Keywords: Recovered Territories; Borderland; Czechoslovakia; Lusatia; Slavic countries

The author analyzes the articles from the Czechoslovak press from the years 1945-1948, published in the Borderland, presenting the ideological project of a united Slavdom and its cultural and political role in Europe and in the world. This issue encompasses a range of other specific questions, including the role of the USSR in the community of Slavs, the place of Czechoslovakia, the demands on the correction of Czechoslovakia’s borders, the incorporation of Lusatia, as well as narrations about Poland and Poles. A special group of texts are those comparing Polish Recovered Territories to the Czech Borderland. The author emphasizes that their role was not only to show the similarities, but also, though not explicitly, to enhance the value of the solutions implemented in Czechoslovakia in the Borderland.

The question of German property in Austria as an international problem in the years 1945-1949

Kwestia własności niemieckiej w Austrii jako problem międzynarodowy w latach 1945–1949

Author(s): Agnieszka Kisztelińska-Węgrzynska / Language(s): / Issue: 02/2015

Keywords: German assets; nationalisation in Austria; Karl Renner

The problem of German assets in Austria after 1945 was an important element of the debate on the economic condition of the state and its political emancipation. German assets left in Austria after 1945 were under the control of the occupying powers and later the Austrian Government. This problem intertwined after the war with three key issues of an economic nature: 1.Food supply and regulation of the economic situation during the period May 1945 - July 1946; 2. Nationalization Act of July 1946; 3. International debate on the State Treaty. Postwar Austria was completely dependent economically on the decision of the occupying powers and cooperated with them successfully in overcoming the economic crisis. Austrian political elites used the supporting attitude of the United States and Great Britain to convince the international public opinion that a nation of six million people was unable to pay reparations worth hundreds of millions. By means of legal tools in the form of resolutions adopted at the Moscow Conference in 1943 Austrian authorities prepared and introduced a Nationalization Act to protect state assets, also those left behind by Germans, from an expansive Soviet policy. Prolonged work on a State Treaty ultimately resulted in a reduction of the amount of claims on the part of the Soviet Union. In turn the Western powers not only relinquished all claims but even returned the costs of their occupation of Austria. The basic sources which provide an insight into the assessment of the powers’ motivation are documents on Foreign Relations of the United States Policy from the Department of State Collections and Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1947-1949.

Great Patriotic War - the balance of exclusion

Wielka Wojna Ojczyźniana – bilans wykluczenia

Author(s): Jakub Wojtkowiak / Language(s): / Issue: 02/2015

Keywords: Second World War; Great Patriotic War; Stalinism; repressions; Red Army

The article deals with the problem of exclusion and repression of whole social groups by the Stalinist regime during the so called Great Patriotic War. It purports to show that Stalin and his milieu tried to consolidate a majority of the society by means of excluding and subjecting to repressions arbitrarily chosen social groups, seeking in this way to reduce the threat posed by instant successes of the German army in the war against the USSR. The first such group comprised Red Army soldiers who surrendered to the Germans and were prisoners of war – they were declared traitors and so their families were to suffer repressions. Another group consisted of the national minorities residing in the Soviet Union – in 1941 those were Germans and later during the liberation of the country from German occupation it meant whole nations whose representatives collaborated with the German occupants. The author argues that contrary to the claims of the Russian propaganda, victory in the war was not treated by Stalin as the victory of all the Soviet Union citizens.

Global power - the United States after World War II

Mocarstwo globalne – Stany Zjednoczone po II wojnie światowej

Author(s): Jadwiga Kiwerska / Language(s): / Issue: 02/2015

Keywords: Second world War; United States; global power

The United States took upon themselves the effort to shape the postwar international order already during the Second World War. Therefore the end of the war made a demand on the American politics to meet new challenges on the international arena. The enormous potential of the USA in 1945 and a new geopolitical situation, the threat posed by the Soviet Union included, compelled America to assume the role of a global power with all its consequences. Only the United States could cope with the new responsibilities in international relations. It meant for America a departure from its traditional principle of isolationism and involvement in world affairs on an unprecedented scale. In this way America became for the next decades a major if not the main creator and factor of international order.

Role of Poland in the anti-fascist politics of memory of the GDR in the years 1949-1972

Rola Polski w antyfaszystowskiej polityce pamięci NRD (1949-1972)

Author(s): Rafał Żytyniec / Language(s): / Issue: 02/2015

Keywords: Polish People’s Republic - German Democratic Republic relations; politics of memory; anti-fascism; Second World War

The object of the study is to show the activity of the Helmut von Gerlach Society for Cultural, Economic and Political Relations with the New Poland and the history of the building of the Memorial to Polish Soldiers and German Anti-Fascists in Berlin- Friedrichshain on the example of the reception of the drama “Niemcy” (“Germans”) by Leon Kruczkowski in the GDR. The focus is on the role of Poland in the anti-fascist politics of memory of the GDR in the years 1949-1972. The aim of this politics was to join the community of memory of the camp of winners of the Second World War. Poland, being the first victim of Germany’s aggression during the war which was started by Germany, played a special role in this process becoming an important element of the GDR’s legitimization strategy aimed against the FRG. Following a relatively short period of official atonement for the war crimes committed in Poland, the politics of memory of the GDR tended to underscore the two nations’ allegedly common fight against fascism. The overcoming of the asymmetries between the two countries in the still living memory of the Second World War was effected by a class interpretation of the criminal system thereby excluding individual guilt and responsibility. The reception of the politics of memory described in the study shows that it was used in completely different ways by each country for its own internal purposes. Whereas in the GDR the dominant narration was that of common fight, in the Polish People’s Republic emphasis was placed mainly on the Polish contribution to the defeat of Nazism.

Polish-American mutual direct investment

Polsko-amerykańskie wzajemne inwestycje bezpośrednie

Author(s): Marta Götz / Language(s): / Issue: 04/2014

Keywords: USA; Poland; foreign direct investment (FDI); business process offshoring (BPO); advantages; location’s attractiveness

This paper deals with the topic of international competitiveness focusing on mutual investment attractiveness of Poland and the United States. Based on available information on the activities of Polish and American firms preliminary conclusions can be formulated as to the factors determining companies’ competitiveness and location’s attractiveness. Scale of activity and experience including financial resources are decisive for American firms’ ability to invest on Polish market whose attractiveness rests on various factors depending on the investment wave, i.e. stage of development. Flexibility and novelty of supplied products and services enable young Polish firms to venture on the mature and highly competitive US market which offers specific local advantages such as access to advanced demand, networks or clusters.

Methodological and theoretical foundations of the Munich School

Teoretyczne i metodologiczne podstawy Szkoły Monachijskiej

Author(s): Szymon Maciejewski / Language(s): / Issue: 04/2014

Keywords: Munich School; German neorealism; theory of international politics; constellation analysis; Gottfried-Karl Kindermann

The article introduces the reader to the most significant methodological and theoretical foundations of the Munich School (Münchner Schule), which is commonly perceived as the German version of neorealism. Since the late 1970s when Professor Gottfried-Karl Kindermann, an Austrian scholar from the University of Munich, proclaimed his theory, it has become one the most relevant studies of international politics in West Germany. It should be noted that his chief work “Grundelemente der Weltpolitik” had been published (1977) before Kennth Waltz’s “The Structure of International Politics” (1979) came out. Kindermann’s theory was created as a consequence of a polemical dialog with classical and structural realism. The contribution of the Munich School, which is based on the so-called constellation analysis (Konstellationsanalyse), is relatively little known in the Polish scientific literature. Therefore, it could be a brilliant source of inspiration for both scholars and policymakers, primarily due to its comprehensive methodological approach to examination and explanation of international politics.

Genesis and conditions of the transformation process of Muslim community in Bosnia into Muslims - "constitutive nation" of Yugoslavia

Geneza i uwarunkowania procesu przekształcania na przełomie lat 60. i 70. XX wieku wspólnoty muzułmanów z Bośni w Muzułmanów - „konstytucyjny naród”

Author(s): Dariusz Wybranowski / Language(s): / Issue: 04/2014

Keywords: Bosnia; Herzegovina; Muslim Bosniaks; “constitutive nation” of Muslims

The focus of the article is to describe the processes and causes that led to the emergence among the Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina of an awareness of their distinction from Serbs and Croats, and of the reasons for the creation in mid-20th century a separate “constitutive nation” out of them in Tito’s Yugoslavia, officially called Muslims (Muslimani). At the beginning of the 19th century, during Turkish domination and later after Bosnia and Herzegovina passed under Austro-Hungarian occupation, a part of the native adherents of Islam cherished a sense of cultural and religious individuality. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries certian Croat and Serbian national activists treated Muslim Bosniaks as “Croats” or “Serbs” who only differed in terms of religious faith, and so tried to win them for their national-political projects, whereas the previously “Turkish” and then “Austrian” area of Bosnia was to be politically and administratively divided. In the interwar period and the time of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (the SHS Kingdom), later Yugoslavia, the Bosnian adherents of Islam (especially those of the upper classes) saw themselves either as “Islamized Croats” or “Islamized Serbs”, or “Serbs and Croats of Muslim religion”. During the Second World War a substantial part of Bosniaks and their elites for various reasons declared to be “Muslim Croats” and supported political collaboration with the Ustaše regime and the totalitarian government of Ante Pavelić in the Independent State of Croatia. After 1945 when the communists and Josip Broz Tito seized power, the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina was recreated in the borders of 1878 as part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Official recognition of a new “constitutive nation” of Muslims took place in the years 1968-1974.

Weak institutionalization of the Slovak party system (until 2012)

Schwache Institutionalisierung des slowakischen Parteiensystems (bis zum Jahr 2012)

Author(s): Radoslav Štefančík / Language(s): / Issue: 04/2014

Keywords: Slovak party system; Iveta Radičová government; political parties

The treatise outlines the current Slovak party system from the perspective of its institutionalization. The text is based on the assumption that weak institutionalization was an ongoing attribute of the Slovak party system after the general elections in 2010, which eventually led to the overthrow of the Radičová government. The text presents the theory of the institutionalization of political parties and development of the Slovak party system and thus analyzes features of the weakly established party system. A weak anchoring of parties in the party landscape and high volatility are presented as the most striking features of the Slovak party system.

Editorial

Od Redakcji

Author(s): Natalia Jackowska / Language(s): / Issue: 04/2014

Szanowni Państwo, czytelnicy „Przeglądu Zachodniego”, prezentowane w bieżącym tomie opracowania wskazują dynamikę i zróżnicowanie zjawisk oraz czynników wpływających na integrację instytucjonalną, jak i relacje Unii Europejskiej z otoczeniem międzynarodowym. Podjęte przez autorów tematy skłaniają do refleksji o potrzebie większego dystansu w ocenie form i skuteczności instytucji, biorących początek m.in. w ideach integracji wspólnotowej Paula-Henriego Spaaka, a których obecne emanacje polityczne oraz prawne zmierzyć się muszą z ogromem niełatwych wyzwań.

Paul-Henri Spaak's concept of community integration

Koncepcja integracji wspólnotowej Paula-Henriego Spaaka

Author(s): Andrzej Madeja / Language(s): / Issue: 04/2014

Keywords: Paul-Henri Spaak; integration; community; supranationality; federation

Paul-Henri Spaak is rightly counted among the European Founding Fathers. After a debacle of the European Defense Community project (30 August 1954) it was Spaak who became a fruitful source of new and efficient initiatives. He closely collaborated with J. Monnet and J.W. Beyen but formulation of a new model of community structure was his own achievement. Thereby Spaak fully deserves the name of the father of the Treaties of Rome, especially of the European Economic Community. Spaak was deeply convinced about the validity of international cooperation. Its efficiency required limitation of sovereignty. Yet Spaak represented a different understanding of the term “supranational” than Monnet. His view was closer to R. Schuman’s and K. Adenauer’s. He did not abandon the idea of a supranational organ but the community model did not have to comprise a powerful and dominating supranational institution. For him “supranationality” meant a majority mode of decisions-making. Due to such an assumption an organ comprising representatives of national governments could be recognized as supranational. Another modification referred to the scope of community remit. Spaak, just like K. Adenauer, eventually “converted” to a horizontal, i.e. comprehensive model. As to the final goal, he wished to create a federation. It should be broadly empowered in matters of foreign relations, military security and economic policies. Yet states would not disappear. The EEC and various forms of intergovernmental cooperation in the political sphere were measures serving the attainment of the goal.

The efforts of the European Union to accede to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

Starania Unii Europejskiej o przystąpienie do Konwencji o ochronie praw człowieka i podstawowych wolności

Author(s): Natalia Buchowska / Language(s): / Issue: 04/2014

Keywords: European Union; Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; accession to the treaty; international organization

European Union’s accession to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is a significant legal, political and organizational challenge. Its specific character is primarily due to the fact that the Union is a non-state entity. The aforementioned accession raises a number of questions, to which the answers have been sought not only by the negotiators of both organizations, but also by researchers and other experts. The purpose of this article is to analyze some of the institutional problems, seen primarily from the perspective of public international law. Firstly, the object of the article is to analyze the problem of choosing an appropriate legal form and scope of the accession. Subsequently, some of the most important institutional aspects of the EU’s participation in the system of the Convention are considered, namely the issue of the representation of the Union in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, as well as the potential choice of a judge of the Union in the European Court of Human Rights.

The role of the European Court of Human Rights in protecting the rights of victims of armed conflicts

Rola Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka w ochronie praw ofiar konfliktów zbrojnych

Author(s): Larysa Leszczenko / Language(s): / Issue: 04/2014

Keywords: The European Court of Human Rights; the victims of armed conflicts; post-Soviet countries

The paper attempts to draw attention to the problem related to ensuring protection of the rights and freedoms of victims of armed conflicts in the post-Soviet space. To date this research problem is rather modestly represented in the Polish political science publications. Membership in the Council of Europe of six post-Soviet states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine) at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries provided an opportunity for the citizens as well as temporary residents of these countries, to fully exercise their right to legal personality. Due to lack of effective national legal instruments which make it possible to seek compensation from the state for violating personal rights and freedoms, victims of armed conflicts in the post-Soviet space widely use the possibility of individual claims against the state in the European Court of Human Rights. Despite the fact that the ECHR is not considered competent in the issues of war crimes and crimes against humanity, it acts based on its competence related to the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms. The lack of interest of post-Soviet states in cooperation with the International Criminal Court is one of the reasons why in the coming years the European Court of Human Rights will remain the only international judicial institution with a potential of improving the condition of victims of armed conflicts in the region.

Reviews

Omówienia i recenzje

Author(s): Krzysztof Jaskułowski,Barbara Jankowska,Bogdan Koszel,Janusz Józef Węc,Marceli Kosman / Language(s): / Issue: 04/2014

Krzysztof Siwek: Próby dialogu politycznego Stanów Zjednoczonych z Kubą w latach 1961–1975, Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2013, 301 ss. Józef M. Fiszer , Paweł Olszewski (red.): System euroatlantycki w wielobiegunowym ładzie międzynarodowym, Dom Wydawniczy Elipsa, Warszawa 2013, 311 ss. Zbigniew Czachór: Kryzys i zaburzona dynamika Unii Europejskiej, Dom Wydawniczy Elipsa, Warszawa 2013, 692 ss. Tomasz Młynarski : Francja w procesie uwspólnotowienia bezpieczeństwa energetycznego i polityki klimatycznej Unii Europejskiej, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Kraków 2013, 353 ss. Marta Götz : Polskie bezpośrednie inwestycje za granicą. Metodologia teorii ugruntowanej, Wydawnictwo Instytutu Zachodniego, Poznań 2013, 290 ss. Jaroslav Pánek : Historici mezi domovem a světem. Studie – články – glosy – rozhowory, Univerzita Pardubice 2013, 800 ss.; idem: Czesi a Polska na progu czasów nowożytnych, tłumaczenie Elżbieta J. Baron, Henryk Gmiterek, Wojciech Iwańczak, Jerzy Tomaszewski, Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2014, 627 ss.

Eastern Dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy as a risk management strategy

Wymiar wschodni Europejskiej Polityki Sąsiedztwa jako strategia zarządzania ryzykiem

Author(s): Anna Moraczewska / Language(s): / Issue: 04/2014

Keywords: European Neighbourhood Policy; Eastern Dimension; risks; risk management

The article analyzes the European Neighbourhood Policy of the European Union and its Eastern Dimension using the method associated with risk analysis. The European Union is recognized primarily as an actor of international economic relations oriented towards maximizing profits and minimizing losses on the international market. It is assumed that creation of the multilateral regional cooperation for the area of Eastern Europe, where Russia remains an important and risky player, was based on the mechanisms of risk management. It is not treated as a single act but a process that requires continuous verification or confirmation of the adopted methods, based on the results of this management and new challenges posed by the international environment. In addition, armed conflict between Ukraine (included in the European Neighbourhood Policy) and Russia in 2014 confirmed the presence of a high level of risk in the area, highly influenced the European Union’s decisions on economic relations with Russia, and has brought significant losses for the European market, in response to which further strategies of risk management must be created.

The role of public diplomacy in creating an external image of the European Union

Rola dyplomacji publicznej w kreowaniu zewnętrznego obrazu Unii Europejskiej

Author(s): Marta Ryniejska-Kiełdanowicz / Language(s): / Issue: 01/2015

Keywords: European Union; soft power; public diplomacy; image; foreign policy

The aim of this article is to provide an answer to the question of how the European Union uses the tools and methods of public diplomacy, the extent to which these can help achieve international goals and what their functions are. I characterize soft power and public diplomacy, and point out which programs proposed by the EU are of worldwide interest, that concern not only the European Union but also foreign audience. What are the current tendencies and what challenges do countries face on the international stage? As T. Łoś-Nowak rightly notes contemporary foreign policy in the late-Westphalian international system is becoming increasingly complex in the context of a radically changing world. Therefore articulating and implementing foreign policy has become complex and multi-faceted. Beata Ociepka presents public diplomacy as a two-way, dialogue-based form of international communication, directed at the public abroad, implemented via the mass media and direct channels. Its aim is to shape and foster abroad a positive image of one’s country and community by influencing public opinion and thus shaping positive attitudes to the country that sponsors such undertakings. Public diplomacy is to help the European Union achieve its aims on the international stage. Thus, Europe’s public diplomacy is an important element of EU relations with the rest of the world and thus plays a part in shaping the EU’s reputation and affects the exercise of union interests.