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German-Polish Ties: Special Relationship, Friendship, or Reconciliation?

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Friendship and International Relations

Abstract

A variety of academic and policy observers of German-Polish relations has encapsulated the dyad’s transformation after the Second World War from enmity to amity. They suggest the foundation of ties in both sentiment and interests, highlight multiplicity in governmental, subnational, and non-governmental actors, and hint at the reality that German-Polish ties are not unique in German foreign policy (Brandt, 1976, p. 181; Kohl, 1989, pp. 473–76; Tomala, 1992, p. 9; Auswärtiges Amt, 2011b). German leaders have consistently referred to the goal or reality of the German-Polish connection as ‘reconciliation’ (Brandt, 1976, p. 183; Schmidt, 1978, p. 4962; Kohl, 1988, p. 7279; Schröder, 2000; Merkel, 2007). The purpose of this chapter is twofold: to examine three extant International Relations (IR) concepts that might accommodate the depth, breadth, and complexity of the passage from enmity to amity — ‘special relationship’, ‘friendship’, and ‘reconciliation’ — and to demonstrate the utility of ‘reconciliation’ for understanding the longterm development of principles and practice in German-Polish ties. The German-Polish case reveals that friendship is a result of reconciliation in the process from enmity to amity.

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Authors
  1. Lily Gardner Feldman
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

    Simon Koschut (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

  2. University of Aberdeen, UK

    Andrea Oelsner (Senior Lecturer) (Senior Lecturer)

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© 2014 Lily Gardner Feldman

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Feldman, L.G. (2014). German-Polish Ties: Special Relationship, Friendship, or Reconciliation?. In: Koschut, S., Oelsner, A. (eds) Friendship and International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137396341_7

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