The main purpose of this text is to explain how Bonn diplomats accredited to Warsaw perceived the changes taking place in Poland and to examine their infl uence on Germany’s policy toward the People’s Republic of Poland. By quoting and analyzing the reports, we can also view the period of change in Poland through the eyes of individuals who had a less emotional attitude to them than many Poles. The Embassy, through dispatches and periodic notes, conveyed information gathered from
conversations with participants of the events from the government, opposition, and Catholic Church, as well as from the media and conversations with others. Embassy included assessments as well. The depiction of the internal situation in Poland emerging from these reports began to change in the autumn of 1988. Notably, German diplomats began to see Solidarity as a force without which Poland could not stabilize its economic situation. Previously, it was thought that the government would manage to do so by changing its way of ruling, including co-opting individuals from outside the Communist party. The growing need for change was perceived, despite a kind of public fatigue
with everyday diffi culties. The image conveyed and created by the embassy infl uenced perceptions of Poland and the changes taking place. Thus, it necessarily infl uenced decision-making at the time, although it was not the only factor and not necessarily the most important in this process. Admittedly, the need to change policy toward the People’s Republic of Poland was pointed out in the German Foreign Ministry’s studies, but the chancellor’s offi ce, which played a key role in the power system, was guided by other priorities its Polish policy. Consequently, decisions on economic support for Warsaw, which the German Foreign Ministry considered appropriate, were delayed for a considerable time. This is also not to say that information from the West German Foreign Ministry was unimportant for the formation of the chancellor and his entourage’s view of the Polish transition.
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