Rapacki Plan

The Rapacki Plan (pronounced Rapatz-ki) was presented by Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki on 2 October 1957 to the UN General Assembly. It was a limited plan for demilitarization in Central Europe. The proposal provided for the establishment of a nuclear-free zone, which should include the People's Republic of Poland, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. The area was later extended to Czechoslovakia.^[1]

The plan was supported by all of the Soviet-dominated states of the Warsaw Pact, but the opposing NATO countries rejected it for fear that it would leave Western Europe vulnerable to communist conventional armies that were perceived to be a relatively much greater military threat. The United States feared that it would mean a loss of the balance of power in Europe. The United Kingdom also saw a threat to the security of NATO countries because of the dominance of Soviet forces in Eastern Europe. West Germany was strongly opposed to the idea and looked to the Hallstein Doctrine in the signing of a treaty with East Germany. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev finally dealt the final blow when he tried to force West Germany to accept the plan during the Berlin Crisis of 1958–1959.^[2]

Rapacki in 1958 presented several modified versions of his original plan but won little support. The project never happened.

Notes[]

^ David Stefancic, "The Rapacki Plan: A Case Study of European Diplomacy." East European Quarterly 21.4 (1987): 401–412.
^ Stefancic, 1987.

Further reading[]

Albrecht, Ulrich, and Michel Vale. "The Political Background of the Rapacki Plan of 1957 and Its Current Significance." International Journal of Politics 13.1/2 (1983): 117-133.

Kourkouvelas, Lykourgos. "Denuclearization on NATO's Southern Front." Journal of Cold War Studies (2012) 14#4 pp 197-215.
Ozinga, James R., The Rapacki Plan: the 1957 Proposal to Denuclearize Central Europe, and an Analysis of Its Rejection, (McFarland & Co, 1989), ISBN 0-89950-445-0.
Pasztor, Maria. "France, Great Britain, and Polish conceptions of disarmament, 1957-1964." Acta Poloniae Historica 90 (2004): 113-155. online

Rapacki, Adam. "The Polish Plan for a Nuclear-Free Zone Today" International Affairs 39#1 pp. 1-12 online, a primary source.

Stefancic, David. "The Rapacki Plan: A Case Study of European Diplomacy." East European Quarterly 21.4 (1987): 401–412.
Wandycz, Piotr. "Adam Rapacki and the search for European security." The Diplomats, 1939-1979. Princeton University Press, 2019. 289-318., Piotr (1994). "Adam Rapacki and the Search for European Security". In Craig, Gordon A.; Loewenheim, Francis L. (eds.). The Diplomats, 1939-1979. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 289–318. ISBN 0691194467.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) online

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[1] David Stefancic, "The Rapacki Plan: A Case Study of European Diplomacy." East European Quarterly 21.4 (1987): 401–412.

[2] Stefancic, 1987.

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