1st Edition

Poland The Conquest of History

By George Sanford Copyright 1999
    140 Pages
    by Routledge

    140 Pages
    by Routledge

    Poland pioneered the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. Domestic reformism and the negotiated abdication of ruling elites in 1989 have structured the country's politics in the 1990s. But the division between the communist and Solidarity camps continues to cause problems for a potential reform coalition aiming to complete modernisation through the restructuring required for EU membership. Secular-Catholic and rural-urban conflicts, and well as the growing regional split between the north-west and south-east, have fragmented political life and the party system. Nevertheless, Poland has made remarkable steps in the consolidation of democracy and the development of her political system, whilst maintaining social stability; she is also successfully transcending her historical security dilemma of open western and eastern frontiers and stronger, aggressive neighbours, by embedding herself in Europe through membership of NATO and the EU. Poland is overcoming her historical problems.

    From God's playground to normality; politics in democratic Poland; economy, society and modernization; Poland's place in the New Europe.

    Biography

    George Sanford

    " A coverage of past and present Polish affairs for the informed but non-specialist reader."