W cieniu problemu granicznego. Polska a proces jednoczenia Niemiec w latach 1989–1990

Abstrakt

The period during which both German states underwent unification was a difficult one for relations between Poland and Germany. The authorities in Warsaw, represented by a government with a non-communist prime minister at its head, expected to be able to obtain an unambiguous declaration regarding the acknowledgement of the border by the RFG as fixed and irrevocable, which, in view of the changes under way in Poland and in Europe, was becoming an urgent.
Initially, attempts were made, with a view to clarifying the doubts, on a bilateral basis. To Warsaw, it was incomprehensible that the German side would be  reluctant to make an unambiguous declaration, perceived as such in Warsaw. Then, with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the events in the GDR and Chancellor H. Kohl’s unveiling of his plan for German unification, the vision of unification drawing ever closer, Warsaw thus become aware of the necessity to  internationalise the issue of unification, e.g., by using the CSCE structures, and was also seeking international support for the unambiguous solution of the border issue. In order to avoid any ambiguities related to the status of the border on the Odra and Nysa Łużycka Rivers, and referring to the decisions taken by the Potsdam Conference, as well as having in mind the legal position of the FRG, according to which, any decisions regarding the borders may be made by the government of united Germany and settled in a peace treaty, Warsaw wanted a peace treaty or a legal settlement of equal rank, acknowledged to be equivalent to the peace settlement set forth in the Potsdam Treaty, to be signed with Germany. Not all Warsaw’s demands were taken into account. United Germany was, however, placed under an obligation to sign a border treaty with Poland. After the process of German unification was completed, the Polish side was left with the impression that Warsaw had fought the battle for the border successfully.