HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE POLITICS OF WESTERN DEMOCRACIES - COLLECTIVE WORK

Discover a fascinating analysis of the role of human rights in the relations between Western democratic states and Poland during the Cold War. This collective work, based on recently declassified documents, sheds new light on the complex political and social interactions of that time. Learn how human rights issues influenced the foreign policy of key Western players towards the Polish People's Republic.

• In-depth analysis of the West's relations with Poland in 1975-1981
• Declassified documents from foreign archives
• Influence of human rights on the foreign policy of Western states
• Assessment of human rights compliance in the Polish People's Republic
• Attitude to the Polish political opposition
• The role of the CSCE conferences in exerting pressure on the Polish People's Republic
• The period of "Solidarity" activity and its impact on relations

This book, written by four historians from renowned Polish academic centers, analyzes how the governments of the United States, Great Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Scandinavian countries and Canada approached the issue of human rights compliance in the Polish People's Republic. The authors examine the period from the signing of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1975 to the introduction of martial law in Poland in 1981.

The second half of the 1970s was a time of exceptionally good relations between Warsaw and the West. Western governments made attempts to implement the provisions of the so-called third basket to increase freedom of movement and enable the reunification of families separated by state borders. The authors analyze documents created by various government analytical centers, as well as the influence of public opinion in democratic states on policy on human rights issues.

The book presents the attitude of individual countries to the development of the Polish political opposition, compares the approach to dissidents and the policy of the authorities of the Polish People's Republic towards them. These issues are presented against the broader background of reflections on human rights after the Helsinki Conference and in the context of the concept of using the CSCE review conferences in Belgrade and Madrid as additional tools of pressure on the Polish People's Republic. Access to recently declassified sources also allowed for the examination of the period of "Solidarity" activity, the emergence of which was recognized in the West as a sign of improvement in the human rights situation, until the introduction of martial law on December 13, 1981, which ended the period of better relations.

Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN presents this publication in paperback, with 352 pages in 235x170 mm format. The year of publication is 2018.