Gensek privately. Leonid Brezhnev and Soviet policy in view of the diary of the Secretary-General of the CPSU.

In November 2016 a three-volume journal of Leonid Brezhnev was published, the material of which remained inaccessible to researchers up until now. Stored in the Russian State Archives of Contemporary History, the records of the Secretary-General of the CPSU constitute an excellent historical source. The years of his rule in the years 1964-1982 abounded in dramatic events, the centre of which was often the Polish People's Republic. Brezhnev's power takeover initiated also a new opening in relations between the two superpowers. The détente policy led to the signing of treaties SALT I, SALT II and the Helsinki Final Act in 1975. During the debate, we focused primarily on the reflection of the Polish matters in the journals. In addition, it was an opportunity to talk about the Secretary General of the CPSU himself.

Here you can find the recording of the event:

fot. Andrzej Gałązka

Guests:

Paweł Kowal – an employee of the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Natolin European College, historian, publicist, member of the European Parliament (2009-2014), former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He specializes in contemporary history (including the history of the Polish People's Republic), eastern policy of both Poland and the European Union. In 2015, together with Mariusz Cieślik, he published a book Jaruzelski. Życie paradoksalne [Jaruzelski. The paradoxical life].

Alexei Stepanov – an employee of the Russian History Institute RAS, collaborator of the Russian Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Science, member of the editorial board of the Рабочие и дневниковые записи  [Work and daily notes] of Leonid Brezhnev. He specializes in the history of World War II and the Khrushchev era. His last publication is: От «освободительного похода» 1939 года до «Доктрины Хрущева». Некоторые размышления о восточноевропейской политике СССР [From the "freeing period" of the year 1939 till the "Khrushchev’s doctrine". Thoughts on the East-European USSR politics].

Piotr Długołęcki – secretary of the Editorial Committee of the publishing series Polskie Dokumenty Dyplomatyczne [Polish Diplomatic Documents]. He has been working at the Polish Institute of International Affairs since 2004; a graduate of the Historical Institute and the European Centre of the University of Warsaw. Długołęcki published i.a. two volumes of Polish Diplomatic Documents (PDD 1959 and PDD 1976) and was a holder of the Kosciuszko Foundation Scholarship in the USA (2011/2012). Currently, he is preparing a monograph on the history of Polish-American relations in the 1970s and two more volumes of Polish Diplomatic Documents (PDD 1980 and PDD 1981).