Title: White spots, black spots : difficult matters in Polish-Russian relations, 1918-2008 /
Authors: Rotfeld, Adam Daniel; Torkunov, A. V. 1950-; Polsko-Rosyjska Grupa do Spraw Trudnych.
Year: 2015
Subjects: Poland Foreign relations Soviet Union; Soviet Union Foreign relations Poland.; Poland Foreign relations Russia (Federation); Russia (Federation) Foreign relations Poland.; Poland Relations Russia (Federation); Russia (Federation) Relations Poland.; Poland History; Soviet Union History.; Russia (Federation) History
Abstract: Poland and Russia have a long relationship that encompasses centuries of mutual antagonism, war, and conquest. The twentieth century has been particularly intense, including world wars, revolution, massacres, national independence, and decades of communist rule--for both countries. Since the collapse of communism, historians in both countries have struggled to come to grips with this difficult legacy. This pioneering study, prepared by the officially sanctioned Polish-Russian Group on Difficult Matters, is a comprehensive effort to document and fully disclose the major conflicts and interrelations between the two nations from 1918 to 2008, events that have often been avoided or presented with a strong political bias. This is the English translation of this major study, which has received acclaim for its Polish and Russian editions. The chapters offer parallel histories by prominent Polish and Russian scholars who recount each country's version of the event in question. Among the topics discussed are the 1920 Polish-Russian war, the origins of World War II and the notorious Hitler-Stalin pact, the infamously shrouded Katyn massacre, the communization of Poland, Cold War relations, the Solidarity movement and martial law, and the renewed relations of contemporary Poland and Russia.
Contents: Introduction: in search of the truth : a brief history of the Polish-Russian Group on Difficult Matters / Adam Daniel Rotfeld and Anatoly V. Torkunov -- The beginnings : Polish-Soviet relations, 1917-1921 / Daria Nałęcz and Tomasz Nałęcz (Poland), Gennady F. Matveyev (Russia) -- The interwar period : Poland and the Soviet Union in the late 1920s and early 1930s / Wojciech Materski (Poland), Aleksandr V. Revyakin (Russia) -- The causes of World War II : Poland, the Soviet Union, and the crisis of the Versailles system / Sławomir Dębski (Poland), Mikhail M. Narinsky (Russia) -- Poland between the Soviet Union and Germany, 1939-1941 : the Red Army invasion and the fourth partition of Poland / Albin Głowacki (Poland), Natalia S. Lebedeva (Russia) -- The Katyn Massacre : the process of revealing the truth and commemorating the victims / Andrzej Przewoźnik (Poland), Natalia S. Lebedeva (Russia) --^ World War II, 1941-1945 : politics and its consequences / Wojciech Materski (Poland), Valentina S. Parsadanova (Russia) -- The postwar decade, 1945-1955 : victory and enslavement / Włodzimierz Borodziej (Poland), Albina F. Noskova (Russia) -- The thaw : the Twentieth Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, the Polish October, and the struggle for autonomy / Andrzej Paczkowski (Poland), Nikolai I. Bukharin (Russia) -- The dissident movement : the way to freedom in culture / Jerzy Pomianowski (Poland), Andrei V. Vorobyov and Aleksandr V. Shubin (Russia) -- The Soviets and the Polish crisis : the road to martial law, 1980-1981 / Andrzej Paczkowski (Poland), Inessa S. Yazhborovskaya (Russia) -- Regained freedom and sovereignty : transformation processes in Poland and Russia / Włodzimierz Marciniak (Poland), Vladimir G. Baranovsky and Boris A. Shmelyov (Russia) --^ Assistance or exploitation? economic relations between Poland and the Soviet Union / Janusz Kaliński (Poland), Leonid B. Vardomsky (Russia) -- Russia versus sovereign Poland : political relations between Poland and Russia since 1990 / Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz (Poland), Artem V. Malgin (Russia) -- Continuity and change : the mutual perceptions of Poles and Russians / Andrzej Grajewski (Poland), Nikolai I. Bukharin (Russia) -- Heritage in archives : displaced collections and access to archives / Władysław Stępniak (Poland), Vladimir P. Kozlov (Russia) -- Appendix A. Reports on sessions of the Group on Difficult Matters -- Appendix B. The letter of the co-chairs of the Group on Difficult Matters to the Foreign Ministers of Poland and Russia.