Polish People's Republic
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Polish People's Republic Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947–1989 | |||||||||
.svg) Coat of arms
(1955–1980) | |||||||||
| Anthem: Mazurek Dąbrowskiego "Poland Is Not Yet Lost" | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Status | Satellite state of the Soviet Union, member of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon | ||||||||
| Capital | Łódź (1947–1949) Warsaw (1949–1989) | ||||||||
| Largest city | Warsaw | ||||||||
| Official languages | Polish | ||||||||
| Religion | State atheism (de jure) | ||||||||
| Demonyms | Polish, Pole | ||||||||
| Government | Unitary communist state | ||||||||
| De facto leader | |||||||||
• 1947 | Jakub Berman | ||||||||
• 1948–1956 | Bolesław Bierut | ||||||||
• 1956 | Edward Ochab | ||||||||
• 1956–1970 | Władysław Gomułka | ||||||||
• 1970–1980 | Edward Gierek | ||||||||
• 1980–1981 | Stanisław Kania | ||||||||
• 1981–1989 | Wojciech Jaruzelski | ||||||||
| Head of Council | |||||||||
• 1947–1952 (first) | Bolesław Bierut | ||||||||
• 1985–1989 (last) | Wojciech Jaruzelski | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1944–1947 (first) | Edward Osóbka-Morawski | ||||||||
• 1989 (last) | Tadeusz Mazowiecki | ||||||||
| Legislature | Sejm[b] | ||||||||
| Senate[c] | |||||||||
| Historical era | |||||||||
• Established | 1947 | ||||||||
| 19 February 1947 | |||||||||
| 22 July 1952 | |||||||||
| 21 October 1956 | |||||||||
| 13 December 1981 | |||||||||
| 4 April 1989 | |||||||||
| 4 June 1989 | |||||||||
• Disestablished | 29 December 1989 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• Total | 312,685 km2 (120,728 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1989 estimate | 37,970,155 | ||||||||
| GDP (PPP) | 1989 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $172 billion[1] | ||||||||
• Per capita | $4,540 | ||||||||
| Currency | Złoty (PLZ) | ||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) | ||||||||
| UTC+2 (CEST) | |||||||||
| Calling code | +48 | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | PL | ||||||||
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The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989),[d] formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952),[e] was the Polish state that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day electoral Third Polish Republic. With a population of approximately 37.9 million near the end of its existence, it was the second most populous communist and Eastern Bloc country in Europe. It was also where the Warsaw Pact was founded.[2] The largest city and capital was Warsaw, followed by the industrial city of Łódź and cultural capital of Kraków. The country was bordered by the Baltic Sea to the north, the Soviet Union to the east, Czechoslovakia to the south, and East Germany to the west.
The Polish People's Republic was a unitary communist state established in the country after the Red Army's takeover of Polish territory from German occupation in World War II. Communist control was strengthened through electoral fraud in the 1946 Polish people's referendum[3] and the 1947 Polish parliamentary election.[4] The Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) became the dominant political faction in a one-party state, but the country had more liberal policies than other socialist states due to its strategic location in the Cold War and internal opposition. The state's official name was the "Republic of Poland" (Rzeczpospolita Polska) between 1947 and 1952 in accordance with the temporary Small Constitution of 1947.[5] The name "People's Republic" was introduced and defined by the Constitution of 1952. The Polish People's Republic was dissolved following the Revolutions of 1989 and the 1990 Polish presidential election, but the post-communist Third Polish Republic retained the 1952 constitution, with amendments, until the introduction of the current constitution on 17 October 1997, abolishing the socialist structure entirely and replacing it with a parliamentary system that has remained in place to the present-day.
The Ministry of Public Security (UB) and later the Security Service (SB) were the chief intelligence agencies that acted as the secret police. The official police organisation, Milicja Obywatelska (MO), along with its ZOMO squads, conducted mass surveillance and violent suppression of protests. The various crimes committed to maintain the PZPR in power, especially after the Cold War intensified, included the harsh treatment of protesters, arrest of opposition leaders and in extreme cases, executions,[6] with an estimated 22,000 people killed or disappeared from 1947 to 1989 according to the political scientist R. J. Rummel.[7] Despite the numerous economic hardships, some achievements were established during this period, such as the continuing industrialisation and urbanisation. Universal health care was improved following global trends in medical innovation, and the population almost doubled between 1947 and 1989. Poland also maintained a large standing army, known as the Polish People's Army. In addition, units of the Soviet Armed Forces were also stationed in Poland as in all other Warsaw Pact countries.[8]
History
[edit]1945–1956
[edit]In the summer of 1944, the Polish Committee of National Liberation was established by Soviet-backed Polish communists to control territory retaken from Nazi Germany.[9] On 1 January 1945, the committee was replaced by the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland, all the key posts of which were held by members of the communist Polish Workers' Party.[10]
At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Stalin was able to present his Western allies, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, with a fait accompli in Poland. His armed forces were in occupation of the country, and the communists were in control of its administration. The Soviet Union was in the process of reincorporating the lands to the east of the Curzon Line, which it had invaded and occupied between 1939 and 1941.
In compensation, Poland was granted German-populated territories in Pomerania, Silesia, and Brandenburg east of the Oder–Neisse line, including the southern half of East Prussia. As a result of these actions, Poland lost 77,035 km2 (29,743 sq mi) of land compared to its pre-WWII territory. These were confirmed, pending a final peace conference with Germany,[11] at the Tripartite Conference of Berlin, otherwise known as the Potsdam Conference in August 1945 after the end of the war in Europe. The Potsdam Agreement also sanctioned the transfer of the German population out of the acquired territories. Stalin was determined that Poland's new communist government would become his tool towards making Poland a satellite state like other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. He had severed relations with the Polish government-in-exile in London in 1943, but to appease Roosevelt and Churchill, he agreed at Yalta that a coalition government would be formed. The Provisional Government of National Unity was established in June 1946 with the communists holding a majority of key posts, and with Soviet support, they soon gained almost total control of the country.
In June 1946, the "Three Times Yes" referendum was held on a number of issues—abolition of the Senate of Poland, land reform, and making the Oder–Neisse line Poland's western border. The communist-controlled Interior Ministry issued results showing that all three questions passed overwhelmingly. Years later, however, evidence was uncovered showing that the referendum had been tainted by large-scale fraud, and only the third question actually passed.[12] Władysław Gomułka then took advantage of a split in the Polish Socialist Party. One faction, which included Prime Minister Edward Osóbka-Morawski, wanted to join forces with the Peasant Party and form a united front against the communists. Another faction, led by Józef Cyrankiewicz, argued that the socialists should support the communists in carrying through a socialist program while opposing the imposition of one-party rule. Pre-war political hostilities continued to influence events, and Stanisław Mikołajczyk would not agree to form a united front with the socialists. The communists played on these divisions by dismissing Osóbka-Morawski and making Cyrankiewicz Prime Minister.
Between the referendum and the January 1947 general elections, the opposition was subjected to persecution. Only the candidates of the pro-government "Democratic Bloc" (the PPR, Cyrankiewicz' faction of the PPS, and the Democratic Party) were allowed to campaign completely unmolested. Meanwhile, several opposition candidates were prevented from campaigning at all. Mikołajczyk's Polish People's Party (PSL) in particular suffered persecution; it had opposed the abolition of the Senate as a test of strength against the government. Although it supported the other two questions, the Communist-dominated government branded the PSL "traitors". This massive oppression was overseen by Gomułka and the provisional president, Bolesław Bierut.
The official results of the election showed the Democratic Bloc with 80.1% of the vote. The Democratic Bloc was awarded 394 seats to only 28 for the PSL. Mikołajczyk immediately resigned to protest this so-called "implausible result" and fled to the United Kingdom in April rather than face arrest. Later, some historians announced that the official results were only obtained through massive fraud.[13] Government officials didn't even count the real votes in many areas and simply filled in the relevant documents in accordance with instructions from the communists. In other areas, the ballot boxes were either destroyed or replaced with boxes containing prefilled ballots.
The 1947 election marked the beginning of undisguised communist rule in Poland, though it was not officially transformed into the Polish People's Republic until the adoption of the 1952 Constitution. However, Gomułka never supported Stalin's control over the Polish communists and was soon replaced as party leader by the more pliable Bierut. In 1948, the communists consolidated their power, merging with Cyrankiewicz's faction of the PPS to form the Polish United Workers' Party (known in Poland as "the Party"), which would monopolise political power in Poland until 1989. In 1949, Polish-born Soviet Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky became the Minister of National Defence, with the additional title Marshal of Poland, and in 1952, he became Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers (deputy premier).
Over the coming years, private industry was nationalised, the land seized from the pre-war landowners and redistributed to the lower-class farmers, and millions of Poles were transferred from the lost eastern territories to the lands acquired from Germany. Poland was now to be brought into line with the Soviet model of a "people's democracy" and a centrally planned socialist economy. The government also embarked on the collectivisation of agriculture, although the pace was slower than in other satellites: Poland remained the only Eastern Bloc country where individual farmers dominated agriculture.
Through a careful balance of agreement, compromise and resistance — and having signed an agreement of coexistence with the communist government — cardinal primate Stefan Wyszyński maintained and even strengthened the Polish church through a series of failed government leaders. He was put under house arrest from 1953 to 1956 for failing to punish priests who participated in anti-government activity.[14][15][16]
Bierut died in March 1956 and was replaced by Edward Ochab, who held the position for seven months. In June, workers in the industrial city of Poznań went on strike, in what became known as 1956 Poznań protests. Voices began to be raised in the Party and among the intellectuals calling for wider reforms of the Stalinist system. Eventually, power shifted towards Gomułka, who replaced Ochab as party leader. Hardline Stalinists were removed from power and many Soviet officers serving in the Polish Army were dismissed. This marked the end of the Stalinist era.
1970s and 1980s
[edit]
In 1970, Gomułka's government decided to adopt massive increases in the prices of basic goods, including food. The resulting widespread violent protests in December the same year resulted in a number of deaths. They also forced another major change in the government, as Gomułka was replaced by Edward Gierek as the new First Secretary. Gierek's plan for recovery was centered on massive borrowing, mainly from the United States and West Germany, to re-equip and modernise Polish industry, and to import consumer goods to give the workers some incentive to work. While it boosted the Polish economy and is still remembered as the "Golden Age" of socialist Poland, it left the country vulnerable to global economic fluctuations and Western undermining, and the repercussions in the form of massive debt are still felt in Poland even today. This Golden Age came to an end after the 1973 energy crisis. The failure of the Gierek government, both economically and politically, soon led to the creation of opposition in the form of trade unions, student groups, clandestine newspapers and publishers, imported books and newspapers, and even a "flying university".
On 16 October 1978, the Archbishop of Kraków, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, was elected Pope, taking the name John Paul II. The election of a Polish Pope had an electrifying effect on what had been, even under communist rule, one of the most devoutly Catholic nations in Europe. Gierek is alleged to have said to his cabinet, "O God, what are we going to do now?" or, as occasionally reported, "Jesus and Mary, this is the end". When John Paul II made his first papal tour of Poland in June 1979, half a million people heard him speak in Warsaw; he did not call for rebellion, but instead encouraged the creation of an "alternative Poland" of social institutions independent of the government, so that when the next economic crisis came, the nation would present a united front.
A new wave of labour strikes undermined Gierek's government, and in September Gierek, who was in poor health, was finally removed from office and replaced as Party leader by Stanisław Kania. However, Kania was unable to find an answer for the faster-eroding support of communism in Poland. Labour turmoil led to the formation of the independent trade union Solidarity (Solidarność) in September 1980, originally led by Lech Wałęsa. In fact, Solidarity became a broad anti-communist social movement ranging from people associated with the Catholic Church to members of the anti-Stalinist left. By the end of 1981, Solidarity had nine million members — a quarter of Poland's population and three times as many as the PUWP had. Kania resigned under Soviet pressure in October and was succeeded by Wojciech Jaruzelski, who had been Defence minister since 1968 and Premier since February.
On 13 December 1981, Jaruzelski proclaimed martial law suspended Solidarity, and temporarily imprisoned most of its leaders. This sudden crackdown on Solidarity was reportedly out of fear of Soviet intervention (see Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981). The government then disallowed Solidarity on 8 October 1982. Martial law was formally lifted in July 1983, though many heightened controls on civil liberties and political life, as well as food rationing, remained in place through the mid-to-late-1980s. Jaruzelski stepped down as prime minister in 1985 and became president (chairman of the Council of State).
This did not prevent Solidarity from gaining more support and power. Eventually, it eroded the dominance of the PUWP, which in 1981 lost approximately 85,000 of its 3 million members. Throughout the mid-1980s, Solidarity persisted solely as an underground organisation, but by the late 1980s was sufficiently strong to frustrate Jaruzelski's attempts at reform, and nationwide strikes in 1988 were one of the factors that forced the government to open a dialogue with Solidarity.
On the night of 19 October 1984, Jerzy Popiełuszko, a 37-year-old Polish Roman Catholic priest and a chaplain of Solidarity, was kidnapped and murdered by three secret police agents in Security Service, then his body was thrown into the Vistula River. Roughly 10 days later, his body was discovered at the reservoir. The assassination had sparked outrage among the Poles who attended Mass.
From 6 February to 15 April 1989, talks of 13 working groups in 94 sessions, which became known as the "Roundtable Talks" (Rozmowy Okrągłego Stołu), saw the PUWP abandon power and radically alter the shape of the country. In June, shortly after the Tiananmen Square protests in China, the 1989 Polish legislative election took place. Much to its own surprise, Solidarity took all contested (35%) seats in the Sejm, the Parliament's lower house, and all but one seat in the elected Senate.
Solidarity persuaded the communists' longtime allied parties, the United People's Party and Democratic Party, to switch their support to Solidarity. This all but forced Jaruzelski, who had been named president in July, to appoint a Solidarity member as prime minister. Finally, he appointed a Solidarity-led coalition government with Tadeusz Mazowiecki as the country's first non-communist prime minister since 1948.
On 10 December 1989, the statue of Vladimir Lenin was removed in Warsaw by the Polish authorities.[17]
The Parliament amended the Constitution on 29 December 1989 to formally rescind the PUWP's constitutionally guaranteed power and restore democracy and civil liberties. This began the Third Polish Republic, and served as a prelude to the democratic elections of 1991 — the first since 1928.[18]
The PZPR was disbanded on 30 January 1990, and Wałęsa was elected as president eleven months later. The Warsaw Pact was dissolved on 1 July 1991 and the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991. On 27 October 1991, the 1991 Polish parliamentary election was the first democratic election since the 1920s. This completed Poland's transition from a communist party rule to a Western-style liberal democratic political system. The last post-Soviet troops left Poland on 18 September 1993. After ten years of democratic consolidation, Poland joined OECD in 1996, NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.
Government and politics
[edit]
The government and politics of the Polish People's Republic were dominated by the Polish United Workers' Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, PZPR). Despite the presence of two minor parties, the United People's Party and the Democratic Party, the country was a one-party state because these two parties were completely subservient to the Communists and had to accept the PZPR's "leading role" as a condition of their existence.[citation needed] It was politically influenced by the Soviet Union to the extent of being its satellite country, along with East Germany, Czechoslovakia and other Eastern Bloc members.[citation needed]
From 1952, the highest law was the Constitution of the Polish People's Republic, and the Polish Council of State replaced the presidency of Poland. Elections were held on the single lists of the Front of National Unity. Despite these changes, Poland was one of the most liberal communist nations and was the only communist country in the world which did not have any communist symbols (red star, stars, ears of wheat, or hammer and sickle) on its flag and coat of arms. The White Eagle, founded by Polish monarchs in the Middle Ages, remained as Poland's national emblem; the only feature removed by the communists from the pre-war design was the crown, which was seen as imperialistic and monarchist.
The Polish People's Republic maintained a large standing army and hosted Soviet troops in its territory, as Poland was a Warsaw Pact signatory.[8] The UB and succeeding SB were the chief intelligence agencies that acted as secret police. The official police organisation, which was also responsible for peacekeeping and suppression of protests, was renamed Milicja Obywatelska. The Milicja's elite ZOMO squads committed various serious crimes to maintain the communists in power, including the harsh treatment of protesters, the arrest of opposition leaders and in some cases, murder.[19] According to Rudolph J. Rummel, at least 22,000 people were killed by the regime during its rule.[20][page needed] As a result, Poland had a high imprisonment rate but one of the lowest crime rates in the world.[21]
The Polish People's Republic was additionally a centralised[22] and unitary state.[23]
Foreign relations
[edit]
In foreign relations, the Polish People's Republic had a particularly close relationship with the Soviet Union and was within Moscow's circle of influence. However, during its existence, the Polish People's Republic maintained close relations not only with the Soviet Union, but also with other communist states in the Eastern Bloc. It also had friendly relations with the United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Western Bloc as well as the People's Republic of China. At the height of the Cold War, Poland attempted to remain neutral in the conflict between the Soviets and the Americans. In particular, Edward Gierek sought to establish Poland as a mediator between the two powers in the 1970s. Both the American presidents and the Soviet general secretaries or leaders visited communist Poland.
Poland was hostile to the Republic of China, which had retreated to Taiwan following the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War and was viewed as an illegitimate state by Poland's government. The seizure of the cargo ships Praca and Prezydent Gottwald in 1953 and 1954, respectively, particularly inflamed tensions between the two countries.[24]
Under pressure from the Soviet Union, Poland participated in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.
The Polish People's Republic's relations with Israel were on a fair level[clarification needed] in the aftermath of the Holocaust. In 1947, Poland voted in favour of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, which led to Israel's recognition by Poland on 19 May 1948.[25] However, by the Six-Day War, it severed diplomatic relations with Israel in June 1967 and supported the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) which recognised the State of Palestine on 14 December 1988. In 1968, Poland became the first communist country except China to sell weapons to the PLO.[26] In 1989, Poland restored relations with Israel.
The Polish People's Republic participated as a member of the United Nations (as a founding member), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the Warsaw Pact, Comecon, the International Energy Agency, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the International Atomic Energy Agency and Interkosmos.
The status of women and homosexuals
[edit]Homosexuality was always legal in the Polish People's Republic and Polish law has never provided for discriminatory measures such as different ages of consent for homosexual and heterosexual relations, but it remained socially unacceptable and was often kept out of public view. In the 1970s, though gay movements began to grow more active in Western Europe and some Eastern Bloc countries, such as East Germany and the Soviet Union, the Polish gay subculture remained politically passive. This is attributed to the influence of Catholicism on Polish society and same-sex sexual relations not being criminalized.[27] Nevertheless, an LGBT movement began to emerge in the 1980s, marked by the publication of the first gay magazines and the founding of the first LGBT organizations.[28]
Economy
[edit]Early years
[edit]
Poland suffered tremendous economic losses during World War II. In 1939, Poland had 35.1 million inhabitants, but the census of 14 February 1946 showed only 23.9 million inhabitants. The difference was partially the result of the border revision. Losses in national resources and infrastructure amounted to approximately 38%. The implementation of the immense tasks involved with the reconstruction of the country was intertwined with the struggle of the new government for the stabilisation of power, made even more difficult by the fact that a considerable part of society was mistrustful of the communist government. The occupation of Poland by the Red Army and the support the Soviet Union had shown for the Polish communists were decisive in the communists gaining the upper hand in the new Polish government.
As control of the Polish territories passed from occupying forces of Nazi Germany to the subsequent occupying forces of the Soviet Union, and from the Soviet Union to the Soviet-imposed puppet satellite government, Poland's new economic system was forcibly imposed and began moving towards a radical, communist centrally planned economy. One of the first major steps in that direction involved the agricultural reform issued by the Polish Committee of National Liberation government on 6 September 1944. All estates over 0.5 km2 in pre-war Polish territories and all over 1 km2 in former German territories were nationalised without compensation. In total, 31,000 km2 of land were nationalised in Poland and 5 million in the former German territories, out of which 12,000 km2 were redistributed to farmers and the rest remained in the hands of the government (Most of this was eventually used in the collectivisation and creation of sovkhoz-like State Agricultural Farms "PGR"). However, the collectivisation of Polish farming never reached the same extent as it did in the Soviet Union or other countries of the Eastern Bloc.[29]
Nationalisation began in 1944, with the pro-Soviet government taking over industries in the newly acquired territories along with the rest of the country. As nationalisation was unpopular, the communists delayed the nationalisation reform until 1946, when, after the 3xTAK referendums they were fairly certain they had total control of the state and could deal a heavy blow to eventual public protests. Some semi-official nationalisation of various private enterprises had also begun in 1944. In 1946, all enterprises with over 50 employees were nationalised, with no compensation to Polish owners.[30][31]
The Allied punishment of Germany for the war of destruction included Polish administration over the bulk of the former German East. These lands proved to be essential for the Polish Communists, because the former German industries and farms immediately passed to state control. In fact, the former German industrial facilities doubled Poland's industrial base.[32] Economic arguments had been an essential point in the arguments presented by the Polish delegation at the Potsdam Conferencec.[33]
There is a consensus that the German eastern provinces gained by Poland were economically better developed than the lost Kresy. A recent proposal for a macroeconomic calculation of the economic consequences of the westward Shift of Poland obtained that the German eastern provinces were valued 25,8 billion International Dollars, while the whole of the Kresy was valued 9,4 billion International Dollars.[citation needed]
Additionally, Germany was intended to transfer large-scale reparations to Poland. However, those were truncated into insignificance by the break-up of Germany into East (former Central Germany) and West and the onset of the Cold War. Poland was then relegated to receive its share from the Soviet-controlled East Germany. However, even this was attenuated, as the Soviets pressured the Polish Government to cease receiving the reparations far ahead of schedule as a sign of 'friendship' between the two new communist neighbours and, therefore, now friends.[34][35] Thus, without the reparations and without the massive Marshall Plan implemented in the West at that time, Poland's postwar recovery was much harder than it could have been.[citation needed]
Later years
[edit]
During the Gierek era, Poland borrowed large sums from Western creditors in exchange for the promise of social and economic reforms. None of these was delivered due to resistance from the hardline communist leadership as it would effectively require abandoning the Marxian economy with central planning, state-owned enterprises and state-controlled prices and trade.[36] After the West refused to grant Poland further loans, the living standards began to fall sharply again as the supply of imported goods dried up, and as Poland was forced to export everything it could, particularly food and coal, to service its massive debt, which would reach US$23 billion by 1980. In 1981, Poland notified Club de Paris (a group of Western European central banks) of its insolvency, and a series of negotiations on the repayment of its foreign debt was completed between 1989 and 1991.[37]
The party was forced to raise prices, which led to further large-scale social unrest and the formation of the Solidarity movement. During the Solidarity years and the imposition of