On 23 June 2016 the British in a referendum decided to leave the EU. The decision triggered an enormous wave of commentaries, a majority of which focused on the recently emergent problems of Great Britain and the EU. The author of the article argues that although those issues significantly influenced the referendum result the causes of the decision are more profound. First and foremost it should be emphasized that the British from the very beginning of the process of European integration treated it with reserve and for a long time had no intention of joining it and even tried to restrain it. When in 1973 Great Britain became a member of the European Communities it did not engage in the mainstream of the process of European integration and unlike France and the FR did not become its driving force. The British leaders either failed or did not want to convince British people of the benefits of membership in the European Communities. Successive British governments treated European affairs instrumentally, having the current political game in view. Moreover, European integration was an issue that affected deep internal divisions among the Tories and the Labourites. In consequence, the British society became increasingly convinced that European cooperation jeopardized rather than served their national interests. The policy of PM Cameron, who awkwardly tried to reconcile the interests of the opponents and supporters of EU membership eventually led to the victory of the former.
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After 1918 Poland was several times the object of increased interest on the part of western countries. In the interwar period Poland was an important element of European balance in the face of the threat posed by Germany and Soviet Russia. After the Second World War many Poles counted on the Americans and British to prevent the Sovietization of Poland and make Stalin respect the accepted obligation concerning free election in Poland. However, nothing like that happened. Later on, in such critical moments as 1956 or the years 1980-1981, the situation in Poland was attentively monitored by the western countries. Similarly also in the year 1989, which brought Poland a real chance to regain full independence. The aim of the present paper is to present the accounts and opinions of western observers, mainly diplomats and journalists, on the crucial events for Poland in the years 1918-1989. Most of the reports addressed the problems of political transformations, although economic, military and social matters were also brought up, as well as issues relevant to the Jewish minority. These accounts and the opinions they contained diverge at some points from our current knowledge on the discussed problems or events. Nevertheless a research hypothesis can be adopted that in numerous cases they served as abasisfor building the image of Polish reality in the United States, Great Britain or France and influenced the policy of these countries towards Poland. To prove the hypothesis the philological, comparative and sociological methods were used among others.
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