# Rapacki Plan (1957)

URL: https://poland-history.com/timeline/1957-rapacki-plan
Location: United Nations

Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki proposed at the United Nations a zone free of nuclear weapons in Central Europe, covering both German states, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The West rejected it. Within the broader People'S Republic period: Shifted westward and placed under communist rule, Poland rebuilt from the war but repeatedly rose against the regime, until the Solidarity movement forced a negotiated transition in 1989. At this point in the timeline (1957), the governing authority was Aleksander Zawadzki (Chairman of the Council of State), together with Władysław Gomułka (First Secretary of the PZPR). First chairman of the collective head of state created by the 1952 constitution. Rapacki Plan mattered because diplomacy defined Poland's relations with its neighbours and the wider world. The event is placed here so readers can follow it alongside changes in government, warfare, society, religion and culture across Polish history.

## Why it matters
Rapacki Plan mattered because diplomacy defined Poland's relations with its neighbours and the wider world.

Ruler at the time: [August Zaleski](https://poland-history.com/rulers/august-zaleski)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Rapacki Plan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapacki_Plan)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Rapacki Plan](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Rapacki+Plan)
- [Wikipedia — Polish People's Republic (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_People's_Republic)