The main components of the situation in Poland: 1980–1983

The paper consists of five parts. Part I describes the situation on the eve of martial law. Its main conclusion says: The release of this enormous tension could be achieved only through free elections, but it was absolutely clear that such a solution, tantamount to the total surrender of Communism in Poland, would never be accepted by the Russians’.

Part II describes the evolution of the system of ‘partocracy’ in Poland from the early 1950s to the late 1970s. This evolution consisted in the gradual de‐ideologization of the party and the consequent change in the basic principle of legitimation. In the beginning it legitimized its rule by the Marxist theory of historical progress, in later years this was replaced by invoking the objective interests of the nation in given historical conditions. A positive feature of this development was the de‐ideologization of many spheres of life; this, however, did not entail their de‐politicization, in the sense of replacing changing and arbitrary political commands by stable and general rules of law. In the economic sphere it resulted in a series of irresponsible decisions, the rule of fiction and widespread corruption.

Part III deals with some features of the historically‐formed national character of the Poles, concluding that it was peculiarly uncongenial to Soviet‐type socialism.

Part IV describes the attitudes of the main strata of the population. It shows the Solidarity movement as a populist movement, often anti‐socialist at a conscious level but almost always deeply socialist at an unconscious one. The author sees the main contradiction of this movement in the fact that its hostility towards ‘really existing socialism’ as a political system was not combined with a readiness to accept a consistent de‐politicization of the economy, i.e. the replacement of political commands by market mechanisms. The author also shows the plight of the Polish peasantry and the attitudes dominant among the intelligentsia.

The last part, ‘The Effects of Martial Law and the Prospects for the Future’, presents the efforts of Jaruzelski's government to introduce economic reform and to base its rule on the principle of ‘socialist constitutionalism’. The author is pessimistic about the chances of economic reform and stresses the necessity of a minimum of political and moral consensus. He concludes: ‘The experiment in participatory democracy and in dual power has failed, but the only acceptable alternative is the greatest possible liberalization’.     

Federation Projects in Central Europe, 1848–1918

This paper deals with the less researched issue of regional federation projects in East-Central Europe from the period 1848 to 1918. Based on exhaustive research, primarily using original sources—works of the intellectuals who designed these projects—the paper examines the reasons why these federation projects were written, their historical-political context, and why these plans had to fail at their time. Similarities and differences of ideas in these projects are also presented. The intention is not to give a simple presentation of a series of historical facts, but to present some early ideas focused on regional integration, which, in turn, could also provide inspiration in the present.     

The Rise and Fall of ‘Mediterranean Atlanticism’ in Italian Foreign Policy: the Case of the Near East

The article aims at studying the reasons for the new way of looking at the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by the Italian political world: the mutual recognition of Israel and the Vatican, the visit to Jerusalem by the leader of the formerly fascist party, Mr. Gianfranco Fini, and the beginnings of a movement of interest towards the Jewish State also within the political left. From a historical viewpoint, anti-Semitism in Italy found its origins in the Church's attitude toward the ‘deicide people’. Beginning with WWI, to this position was added the worry that the Holy Places might fall under Jewish control. From those times dates the Holy See's evermore manifest liking for the Arab populations of Palestine. Nowadays the line of conduct of the Church has as its basic objective the defense of Christian minorities in the Middle East, and for this reason it maintains dialogues with all actors in the region. The weight of the Church influenced also the attitude of the Italian State, even though from its inception the latter had to make adjustments because of other international requirements. This multiple subordination caused the different republican governments to always keep an official equidistant stance among the conflicting parties in the Near East. Behind this apparent neutrality, however, the feelings of benevolence for the Arab countries and the Palestinians have gradually intensified. Italian leaders have been trying to conduct a Mediterranean policy on the borders of the Western alliance, and their feelings have been oriented in consequence. During the 1970s, the governments went as far as to conclude a secret pact with Palestinian terrorists, to avoid terror acts on the Peninsula in exchange for some freedom of action. And in the mid-eighties the Craxi government did not hesitate to challenge the US in order to guarantee the continuity of that line of conduct. On that occasion Craxi, speaking in Parliament, compared Arafat to Mazzini. The end of the Yalta-established order has modified the traditional data of Italian foreign policy. However, the increased attention paid to Israel has also other causes: the changed attitude of the Church after the civil war and the Syrian occupation in Lebanon, events which both caused difficulties for the consistent Christian minorities; the hope that the Oslo process could reward the Italian ‘clear-sightedness’; last, but not least, the quarrelsome internal politics that make the Palestine conflict a mirror of the Roman conflicts. Lastly, the article connects the recent goodwill for Israel with the threats of Islamic terrorism in Italy. A political opinion trend would revisit the Middle Eastern conflict as the upturned perspective of a ‘clash of civilizations’ already existent nowadays. And a possible act of terrorism in Italy might give to this opinion a mass basis.