Neutrality at stake. The Cold War and the diplomatic contacts between Sweden and Poland 1956-1974

The project concerns Cold War history and international relations in the Baltic Sea region, with a special focus on politics and diplomatic practice between Sweden and Poland.

Paying attention to the power relations during the Cold War and to Poland’s dependency on Soviet interests, the main research questions are: how was Swedish neutrality interpreted by Poland - a country belonging to the East during the Cold War and what were the consequences of Swedish neutrality for the development of bilateral relations.

Along with an empirical study on foreign relations between Poland and Sweden after Stalin’s death, the empirical study maps the revival of the dialogue between two European countries representing two different blocks - East and West. In order to contribute with new source-based knowledge on public diplomacy from the late 1950s to the 1970s, the investigation is based on sources from the Archive of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Digital National Security Archive, the Swedish National Archive including the collection of Swedish Embassy in Warsaw.