Polish-Austrian Relations at the End of the Cold War, 1980-1989

This book proposes a new historical framework for the analysis of the relationship between communist Poland and neutral Austria during the final decade of the Cold War. The method of historical analysis was used to report political meetings and negotiations accompanying the introduction of martial law in Poland. The analysis concerns Polish-Austrian bilateral relations as seen from the perspective of Polish diplomatic documents. The tragic events of the Polish crisis of 1980-1982 were presented against the background of Poland's partnership relations with a wealthy, neutral Western country such as Austria. In the analysis, particular emphasis was placed on Polish attempts to recruit Austrian politicians to overcome the political isolation in which Warsaw found itself after December 13, 1981. The hypothesis guiding the analysis concerns the political boundaries that Austria could and wanted to cross, helping the Polish regime in fear of financial losses resulting from Polish financial obligations to Vienna. Austria's willingness to support the Polish communist regime resulted from the magnitude of Poland's financial obligations to Vienna that could potentially be lost in case of the regime's collapse. The narrative is divided into three parts: the first shows Austria's attitude to reforms in Poland in 1980-1981. The second - Austria's reaction to the imposition of martial law in Poland. The third part is divided into three chapters in which cooperation between the two countries is shown (investments, environment protection, multilateral cooperation in the region), as the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs carried out intensive work to overcome the political isolation in the years 1981-1982.