East-Central Europe in the Cold War, 1945-1989

International scholarly conference organised by:
Institute of National Remembrance, Poland
Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences
Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, D.C.

For almost half a century the Cold War conflict shaped international relations and to a large extent influenced the history of individual nations. The Cold War was a global conflict, but in a particular manner was also a European conflict. The beginning and end of the Cold War (at least the beginning of its end) took place in Central Europe. For several dozen years Europeans on either side of the Iron Curtain prepared themselves for a potential apocalyptic conflict, or sought to prevent one from occurring. These preparations and preventative measures, to a hitherto insufficiently recognized degree, influenced their histories.

Thanks to the ‘archival revolution’, which began in the 1990s in the wake of the opening of communist-era archives, our knowledge about the Cold War, and its influence on the countries of East-Central Europe and their roles in this conflict in particular, has greatly increased. Numerous topics, once the domain of pure speculation, can today be presented as grounded in primary sources. The aim of the conference is to present the newest studies and enable discussion among leading specialists from different countries.

The conference agenda includes seven thematic blocks:
1. Activities of European Soviet Bloc countries towards the West during the Cold War.
2. Western European countries towards East-Central Europe during the Cold War.
3. Rifts between the European countries of the Communist Bloc and their exploitation by the West.
4. Countries of East-Central Europe and the Sino-Soviet conflict and other Communist Bloc tensions.
5. The role of East-Central Europe in Soviet policy towards the Third World.
6. Military aspects of the Cold War - the role of East-Central European countries in the Warsaw Pact and their place in the military plans of the East and West.
7. Demobilization in Europe after the Cold War - military, economic, political and cultural."

SUBMIT PAPER PROPOSALS BY: 15 April, 2008
Conference languages: English and Polish.

Participants not presenting papers are also cordially invited to register for the conference. For full CFP, registration forms, and further organisational details, please see: http://ipn.gov.pl/portal/pl/618/6781/