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2.TheExternalRelationsofthePeople’sRepublicofPoland
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partycontacts,withgovernmentsreducedtobringingwhathadbeenagreedinto
effect.Thecommuniststateswerethusentitiesoflimitedorinfactcurtailedsov-
ereignty,manifestinga"BrezhnevDoctrine”thatofferedexpostjustificationfor
SovietinterventioninHungary(sincethecontinuedsurvivalofcommunisminthat
countrywasperceivedtohavecomeunderthreat).
Thedoctrinewasnextappliedinrelationtothearmedinterventionbyfive
WarsawPactcountries(Polandincluded)takingplaceinCzechoslovakiain1968.
Theideologicaljustificationinthiscasesoundedverymuchthesameasthatapplied
previouslytoHungary.
ThestrategicfocusholdingthecommunistbloctogetherwasthustheWarsaw
Pact,itsmaindecisionsbeingmadeinthecourseofregularmeetingsofaPolitical
ConsultativeCommittee.21Informalmeetingsofheadsofcommunistpartiestook
placeinCrimea,whiletheeconomicspheretorelationswasregulatedbythe
CouncilonMutualEconomicAssistance.ItwasComeconthatdecidedon"the
internationalsocialistdivisionoflabour”,beforemovingontoaprogrammefor
theintegrationofthesocialiststatesthatsought–ineffectivelyasitturnedout–to
mirrordevelopmentsintheEEC.
Overtime,theforeigneconomicrelationsandtradepursuedbythePolish
People,sRepubliccametobeshapedasfollows:aroundonethirdofalltradeturn-
overinvolvedtheUSSR,whileafurtheronethirdinvolvedremainingComecon
states.Thatmeantthattwothirdsoftheinteractioninvolvedthecommunistworld,
whiletherestoftheplanetaccountedfortheotheronethird–theWesterncountries
andthedevelopingworldtakingroughlyhalfeach.Thecentralisationandplanning
ofstates,economiesandtheirforeignlinkagesthustookplaceatthedomesticand
Comeconlevels.Theultimateresultwasprogressingeconomicbackwardnessand
growingshortagesofallthebasicconsumergoods.Thisalsoreflectedthepriority
statusassignedtoheavyindustry(coal,steel,cement,etc.),whosedevelopment
wasessentialfromthedefensivepointofview,ormorepreciselybecauseacon-
tributionhadtobemadetothemilitarypotentialandstrategyoftheWarsawPact.
However,thatPact,sstrategy–bothpoliticalandmilitary–wassetoutinMoscow,
andMoscowalone,theactionsofthememberstatesotherwisebeingconfinedto
themakingofmaterialcontributions,aswellaspreparationsforthemomentwhen
thatmuch-heralded"imperialistaggression”wouldatlasttakeplace.Thisnotwith-
standingthetruesituationknowntous,wherebyitwasactuallytheWarsawPact
whosestrategywasoffensive–asopposedtodefensive–incharacter.
AcentrallocationalongtheEast-WestaxisassuredPolandaplaceoffunda-
mentalimportancewhereWarsawPact(i.e.Soviet)strategywasconcerned.When
itcametolinkswithWesterncountries–withwhomantagonisticrelationswiththe
communistblocheldsway–the1956rejectionbythe20thCongressofthePolish
21Itincludedheadsofcommunistpartiesandgovernments,aswellasforeignministersofthemem-
berstates.