Germany, Poland and Europe: Conflict, Co-operation and Europeanization
by Marcin Zaborowski

The Second World War began with Germany's invasion of Poland and ended with Europe humiliated and split between two Superpowers. Fifty years later Polish-German reconciliation was taking place against the backdrop of the fall of the Berlin wall and collapse of the Cold War system. There is no doubt that developments in Polish-German relations have always had broader international significance and clearly this very complex and troubled relationship will continue to be of seminal importance for Europe's future. In this book Marcin Zaborowski argues that Polish-German relations are as important for Europe's 'East' as Franco-(West) German relations were for the 'West' after 1945.

Zaborowski's study is a vivid and authoritative account of Polish-German relations, convincingly analyzed using 'Europeanization' as a conceptual prism. The book evaluates the relationship from both a historical and contemporary perspective, assessing its broader European significance. Zaborowski puts particular emphasis upon EU enlargement, which he sees as a centrepiece of the post-1989 rapprochement between the two states.

Beginning with the effects of the post-1945 settlement for Bonn and Warsaw, the book considers the relationship in three phases, up to and including Poland's membership of NATO and the onset and intensification of Warsaw's EU accession. Zaborowski argues that from a state of 'structural conflict', bilateral relations entered a phase of detente in the 1970s and after 1989 fuller co-operation was assured through Poland's 'return to Europe' and Germany's unification.

The book is essential reading for those interested in Europe's international relations and European integration as well as Polish and German foreign policies.

MARCIN ZABOROWSKI is Lecturer in European Politics at Aston University in Birmingham, and Research Fellow at the Centre for International Relations in Warsaw, Poland.

Publishing House: Manchester University Press, New York 2005
Hardcover book measuring 5.75" x 8.75"
208 pages, figures, index
English Language Version

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