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Solidarność, the Western World, and the End of the Cold War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2008

Idesbald Goddeeris
Idesbald Goddeeris*
Affiliation:
K.U. Leuven, Research Unit Modernity & Society 1800–2000, Blijde Inkomststraat 21, Box 3307 B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
*
E-mail: idesbald.goddeeris@arts.kuleuven.be
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Abstract

It is not unusual to credit certain individuals with having put and end to the Cold War. This essay discusses some of the most important of these people, focusing on their role in the Polish crisis of 1980–82: Mikhail Gorbachev, John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and Lane Kirkland. The author arrives at the conclusion that the question of the extent to which individuals can be held responsible for the victory over the Soviet Union is wrong, because it neglects underlying processes, such as the economic crisis in the Eastern Bloc and East–West contacts established during the détente of the 1970s.

Type
Focus: Solidarność
Information
European Review , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , February 2008 , pp. 55 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 2008

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References

Notes and References

1. This and the following two papers are a very small selection from a large number of papers offered at a conference on Solidarity? Western European trade unions and Solidarność, 1980–89, organised by the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Jean-Michel De Waele of Cevipol) and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Idesbald Goddeeris of the Research Unit Modernity & Society 1800–2000) on the 25th anniversary of the proclamation of Martial Law in Poland, on 7 and 8 December 2006.Google Scholar
2.Smolnar, N. (ed.) (1999) Wejdą nie wejdą. Polska 1980–1982. Konferencja w Jachrance (Warszawa: Aneks).Google Scholar
3.Evangelista, M. (2004) Explaining the end of the Cold War: turning points in Soviet security policy. In: Njølstad, Olav (ed.) The Last Decade of the Cold War. From Conflict Escalation to Conflict Transformation (London and New York: Frank Cass), pp. 118–134.Google Scholar
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