Bonn–Warsaw–Solidarity: West German diplomacy’s relations with the People’s Republic of Poland and Solidarity In the late 1980s, the diplomacy of the Federal Republic of Germany had to confront long-term problems which had existed long before the emergence of mass opposition in the People’s Republic of Poland. For West Germany, Poland was not the most important player in relations with the eastern bloc; for obvious reasons, the German Democratic Republic was of paramount importance. From the perspective of Bonn, the most key issues in contacts with Warsaw were: the troubled legacy of World War II, the problem of borders, the German minority in Poland, and economic relations, particularly in the context of Poland’s debt. Even the turbulent events of 1989, with Poland’s systemic transformation and the fall of the Berlin wall, did not initially affect this list of key issues. Bonn’s diplomatic relations with Poland in 1989 were framed by two events: Mieczysław Rakowski’s visit in Bonn in January and Helmut Kohl’s far more important visit to Poland, which was interrupted by the Berlin events. The former took place according to the old rules and confirmed the impasse in mutual relations. By contrast, the November 12 symbolic embrace of prime minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and the West German Chancellor opened the way for normalization in the new political context. Yet the breakthrough in the two countries’ relations occurred somewhat later than in the case of the other western powers. When Poland hosted François Mitterand (in June) and George Bush (in July), the West German authorities were conducting difficult financial and economic negotiations with their Polish partners. Significantly, the West German approach to Polish issues in this period was also less influenced by the Polish opposition than the approach of the French, British, or US diplomacies.