The impact of 1968 on the shaping of the image of Poland and the Poles in German public opinion

Abstract

The article is an initial presentation of the problem of the reception of the Polish events of 1968 in other countries, and in particular, in Germany. Two areas have been subjected to a preliminary scrutiny. The first pertains to the attitude to Czechoslovakia and the participation of the Polish armed forces in suppressing the Prague Spring by force. This participation is interpreted as a result of the Brezhnev Doctrine. What is more controversial is the balancing of the relations between the positive elements, namely, a pro-democracy social movement, and the negative ones which, apart from the policy of the Communist authorities, also included anti-Semitism and nationalism as social phenomena. References to the positive elements seem to dominate in historical studies. The situation in the mass media requires an even more detailed analysis, as emotions take the upper hand there.