Polish Workers' Party
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The Polish Workers' Party (, PPR) was a communist party in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
from 1942 to 1948. It was founded as a reconstitution of the
Communist Party of Poland The interwar Communist Party of Poland (, KPP) was a communist party active in Poland during the Second Polish Republic. It resulted from a December 1918 merger of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL) and the ...
(KPP) and merged with the
Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...
(PPS) in 1948 to form the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). From the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the PPR led Poland, with the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
exercising moderate influence. During the PPR years, the centers of opposition activity were largely diminished, and a
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
system was established in the country. Arriving from the Soviet Union, a group of Polish communists was parachuted into
occupied Poland ' (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV 2 (Norway), TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. ...
in December 1941. With
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's permission, in January 1942 they established the Polish Workers' Party, a new communist party. The PPR established a partisan military organization '' Gwardia Ludowa'', later renamed '' Armia Ludowa''. In November 1943,
Władysław Gomułka Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish Communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of Polish People's Republic, post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948, and again from 1956 to 1970. Born in 1905 in ...
became secretary (chief executive) of the Central Committee of the PPR. On 1 January 1944 the party created the
State National Council Krajowa Rada Narodowa in Polish language, Polish (translated as State National Council or Homeland National Council, abbreviated to KRN) was a parliament-like political body created during the later stages of World War II in Nazi Germany, German- ...
(KRN), proclaimed to be a wartime parliament of Poland; the body was chaired by
Bolesław Bierut Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of History of Poland (1945–1989), communist-ruled Poland from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 ...
. In June 1944 the Union of Polish Patriots, a rival to the PPR Polish-communist organization operating in the Soviet Union, recognized the KRN as "the true representation of the Polish nation". The PPR was initially a small party with marginal support; it grew because of its alliance with the victorious Soviet Union. In July 1944 the Polish communists, working in close cooperation with Stalin and other Soviet leaders, established and declared in liberated
Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
a provisional executive quasi-government of Poland, which they called the
Polish Committee of National Liberation The Polish Committee of National Liberation ( Polish: ''Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego'', ''PKWN''), also known as the Lublin Committee, was an executive governing authority established by the Soviet-backed communists in Poland at the la ...
(PKWN). In the
PKWN Manifesto The Manifesto of the Polish Committee of National Liberation, also known as the July Manifesto () or the PKWN Manifesto (), was a political manifesto of the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN), a Soviet-backed administration, whi ...
issued at that time, the PKWN claimed its authority in Poland and promised post-war reconstruction as well as
land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...
. The KRN and the PKWN were established when the
Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent Occupation ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
was the internationally recognized government of Poland. By the end of 1944, the PKWN was replaced with the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland, recognized by the Soviet Union, with which it signed in April 1945 a 20-year friendship, alliance and cooperation treaty. As a result of the
Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (), held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. The three sta ...
Allied determinations, the Provisional Government was converted to a formally coalition
Provisional Government of National Unity The Provisional Government of National Unity (, TRJN) was a puppet government formed by the decree of the State National Council (, KRN) on 28 June 1945 as a result of reshuffling the Soviet-backed Provisional Government of the Republic of Pola ...
(TRJN) in June 1945. The Polish government-in-exile was excluded from participation and the PPR ended up controlling the new government, which was soon recognized by the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, and other countries. Establishment of a permanent government was conditioned on national elections being held, as mandated by the Allies. In the meantime the PPR engaged in a massive program of rebuilding the country and its industry, in combating and containing the various forms and manifestations of opposition to its rule, but also in manipulating the election preparation process to ensure the party's lasting domination. The
1946 Polish people's referendum 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...
and the following 1947 Polish legislative election were rigged and declared a decisive victory of the PPR's "Democratic Bloc". The only legal opposition, the
Polish People's Party The Polish People's Party (, PSL) is a conservative political party in Poland. It is currently led by Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Its history traces back to 1895, when it held the name People's Party, although its name was changed to the pre ...
, was marginalized. Gomułka's victory, however, was short-lived. Pressured by the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, Stalin had no more patience for the Polish leader's national brand of communism, and from August 1948 the PPR was led by Bierut. In December 1948, the PPR and the purged PPS were merged to form the PZPR. What was left of democratic and pluralistic practices and pretenses was abandoned and Poland entered its period of Stalinist rule.


Communist Party of Poland and its demise

The
Communist Party of Poland The interwar Communist Party of Poland (, KPP) was a communist party active in Poland during the Second Polish Republic. It resulted from a December 1918 merger of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL) and the ...
(KPP, until 1925 the Communist Workers' Party of Poland) was an organization of the
far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...
. The views adhered to and promulgated by its leaders ( Maria Koszutska, Adolf Warski, Maksymilian Horwitz, Edward Próchniak) led to the party's difficult relationship with
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
already in 1923–24. The
Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...
(Comintern) condemned the KPP for its support of
Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...
's May Coup of 1926 (the party's "May error"). From 1933, the KPP was increasingly treated with suspicion by the Comintern. The party structures were seen as compromised due to infiltration by agents of the Polish military intelligence. Some of the party leaders, falsely accused of being such agents, were subsequently executed in the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. In 1935 and 1936, the KPP undertook a formation of a unified worker and peasant front in Poland and was then subjected to further persecutions by the Comintern, which also arbitrarily accused the Polish communists of harboring
Trotskyists Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as a ...
elements in their ranks. The apogee of the
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
-held prosecutions, aimed at eradicating the various "deviations" and ending usually in death sentences, took place in 1937–38, with the last executions carried out in 1940. The KPP members were persecuted and often imprisoned by the Polish Sanation regime, which turned out to likely save the lives of a number of future Polish communist leaders, including
Bolesław Bierut Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of History of Poland (1945–1989), communist-ruled Poland from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 ...
,
Władysław Gomułka Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish Communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of Polish People's Republic, post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948, and again from 1956 to 1970. Born in 1905 in ...
, Edward Ochab, Stefan Jędrychowski and Aleksander Zawadzki. During the
Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...
, seventy members and candidate members of the party's Central Committee fled or were brought to the Soviet Union and were shot there, along with a large number of other activists (almost all prominent Polish communists were murdered or sent to labor camps). The Comintern, in reality directed by Stalin, had the party dissolved and liquidated in August 1938.


The PPR's World War II foundations

On 28 June 1940, soon after the
Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...
, Stalin received Wanda Wasilewska, an unofficial leader of Polish communists, at the
Moscow Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...
. The event initiated a reorientation of Soviet policies in regard to Poles. As a result, a wide range of official political, military, social, cultural, educational and other Soviet-Polish projects and activities commenced in 1940 and continued during the years that followed. The German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 changed the course of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and with it the nature of Polish-Soviet governmental relations. Pressured by the British government, the London-based
Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent Occupation ...
, led by
Władysław Sikorski Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Before World War I, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause of Polish independenc ...
, signed an agreement with the Soviet Union, which included a Soviet recognition of the Polish government. A
Polish army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...
was formed in the Soviet Union, but was soon taken out of there and into the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
by
Władysław Anders Władysław Albert Anders (11 August 1892 – 12 May 1970) was a Polish military officer and politician, and prominent member of the Polish government-in-exile in London. Born in Krośniewice-Błonie, then part of the Russian Empire, he serv ...
. The Katyn massacre perpetrated by the Soviets on Polish POWs was revealed and the Soviet Union "suspended" diplomatic relations with the Polish government. Prime Minister Sikorski was killed in an airplane crash in July 1943. These and other factors, including disagreements about future borders, caused the Polish-Soviet relations to deteriorate. Meanwhile, Stalin, beginning in the summer of 1941, pursued other Polish options, utilizing Polish communists and other Poles willing to cooperate, many of whom were present at that time in the Soviet Union. Polish language radio broadcasts began in August 1941; they called upon the Poles in Poland to unconditionally engage in anti-German resistance. Some prewar Polish officers were transferred to occupied Poland to conduct pro-Soviet conspiratorial activities and the Polish communists worked in November on organizing the Poles in the Soviet Union. Among the communist groups that became active in Poland after
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
was the Union for Liberating Struggle (''Związek Walki Wyzwoleńczej''), whose leaders included Marian Spychalski. A September 1941 attempt to transport activists from the Soviet Union to Poland was unsuccessful, but beginning in late December, a group of Polish communists which included Marceli Nowotko, Paweł Finder, Bolesław Mołojec and Małgorzata Fornalska, was parachuted into Poland. They had Stalin's permission to create a new Polish communist party. In Polish society the communists could count on marginal support only, so to avoid negative connotations it was decided not to include the word "communist" in the party's title. The party took the name "Polish Workers' Party." The PPR, intended in some sense as a continuation of the prewar KPP, was established in
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
on 5 January 1942, when some of the new arrivals met with local communist activists. The new party, which presented itself as an anti-
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
Polish patriotic front, distributed a manifesto printed in Moscow entitled ''To workers, peasants and intelligentsia! To all Polish patriots!'', in which it called for an uncompromising struggle against the German occupier. A leftist, formally democratic program was proposed and the party, whose operations concentrated mostly in the
General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...
, grew to about six thousand members by the summer of 1942. From 1943, an affiliated youth organization existed; it was called the Union for the Struggle of the Youth (''Związek Walki Młodych''). The PPR operated under the Central Committee led by Secretary Marceli Nowotko. Nowotko was killed on 28 November 1942. Mołojec took over as secretary (party chief), but he was suspected of arranging Nowotko's murder and subsequently condemned and executed by the ruling of the party court. In January 1943, Finder became secretary and the three-person Secretariat also included
Władysław Gomułka Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish Communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of Polish People's Republic, post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948, and again from 1956 to 1970. Born in 1905 in ...
and Franciszek Jóźwiak. Gwardia Ludowa (the People's Guard) military organization originated together with the party it served. It was led by Mołojec and then Jóźwiak. Gwardia Ludowa attacked Germans in Warsaw and organized partisan units in the countryside, primarily to destroy the German communication facilities. In February 1943 the PPR undertook talks with the Government Delegation for Poland, which represented in occupied Poland the Polish government-in-exile, and the central command of the underground
Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
, on possible cooperation. The negotiations made no progress because of the irreconcilable points of view of the two sides. After the Soviet Union broke diplomatic relations with the Polish government (25 April 1943), the contacts were terminated and the PPR's attitude toward the exile government-led Polish authority became hostile. The war progressively radicalized Polish society and the communists tried to take advantage of the situation by forming a coalition with other leftist and agrarian forces. However, a common "democratic front", meant as a platform for the future power struggle, failed to materialize because the rival parties were generally unwilling to cooperate with the PPR.


Polish communist institutions in the Soviet Union

Facilitated by Stalin, communist-controlled Polish civilian and military institutions were also formed in the Soviet Union. The leading roles in them were initially assumed by Wanda Wasilewska, a daughter of former Polish minister and Piłsudski's associate, herself a friend of Stalin, and the Polish officer
Zygmunt Berling Zygmunt Henryk Berling (27 April 1896 – 11 July 1980) was a Polish general and politician. He fought for the independence of Poland in the early 20th century. Berling was a co-founder and commander of the First Polish Army (1944–1945), First ...
. From October 1940, Berling led a group of Polish officers working to establish a Polish division within the Soviet
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
. The Union of Polish Patriots, proposed and organized from January 1943, had its founding congress in June 1943 and was led by Wasilewska. Berling, Alfred Lampe, Stefan Jędrychowski, Andrzej Witos and Bolesław Drobner were among the communists and individuals of other political orientations active in the organization, people willing to participate in a communist-dominated undertaking. After the Soviet authorities closed the branches of the Polish government's delegation in Soviet controlled territories, the union, assisted by a Soviet agency, established a social welfare department to look after the Poles scattered throughout its range of operations. The Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division, commanded by Berling, was formed beginning in May 1943. The division fought at the
Battle of Lenino The Battle of Lenino was a tactical World War II engagement that took place on 12 and 13 October 1943, north of the village of Lenino, Mahilyow Voblast, Lenino in the Mogilev region of Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussia. The battle itself was a part ...
in October 1943. The Polish National Committee, intended to develop into a communist government, was organized under Wasilewska from December 1943, but its formation was abandoned when Moscow found out about the existence of the
State National Council Krajowa Rada Narodowa in Polish language, Polish (translated as State National Council or Homeland National Council, abbreviated to KRN) was a parliament-like political body created during the later stages of World War II in Nazi Germany, German- ...
in Warsaw. The Polish civilian and military activities in the Soviet Union were managed from January 1944 by the Central Bureau Communists of Poland. Its important members were Chairman Aleksander Zawadzki, Wasilewska, Karol Świerczewski, Jakub Berman, Stanisław Radkiewicz, Roman Zambrowski, Hilary Minc and Marian Spychalski. Some of them would later form the core of the Stalinist and strictly pro-Soviet ( internationalist in outlook) faction of Poland's ruling communists, who worked closely with
Bolesław Bierut Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of History of Poland (1945–1989), communist-ruled Poland from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 ...
and were opposed to the national PPR current led by Gomułka. On the military side, the First Polish Corps was formed from the Kościuszko Division and expanded into the First Polish Army in March 1944, still under command of General Berling. The army was incorporated into the 1st Belorussian Front.


Gomułka's leadership, State National Council, Polish Committee of National Liberation

In November 1943 Finder and Fornalska were arrested by the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
, which also took the PPR's radio equipment. Communication between Warsaw and Moscow was no longer possible. Władysław Gomułka became secretary of the Central Committee of the PPR on 23 November 1943 and Bierut became a member of the Secretariat. The PPR published the "What are we fighting for" (''O co walczymy'') program declaration. Democratic ideas and future elections were proclaimed there, while the government-in-exile and the Underground State were denied the right to represent the Polish nation. Territorial changes after the war were indicated and
nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...
of industry was promised together with
land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...
. At that time the Central Committee decided to create the
State National Council Krajowa Rada Narodowa in Polish language, Polish (translated as State National Council or Homeland National Council, abbreviated to KRN) was a parliament-like political body created during the later stages of World War II in Nazi Germany, German- ...
(''Krajowa Rada Narodowa'', KRN), a quasi-parliament rival to the government-in-exile and the Underground State institutions. The council was established on 1 January 1944 and was chaired by Bierut. Members of splinter socialist and peasant groups were co-opted to participate. The communist partisan military formation was now named Armia Ludowa (AL); it was placed under command of General Michał Rola-Żymierski. After communications with Moscow were restored, a KRN delegation left for Moscow. Upon arriving there, they were officially greeted by Soviet officials and in June the Union of Polish Patriots had to recognize the KRN as the "true representation of the Polish nation". After the second KRN delegation arrived in Moscow, the Polish communists, in close cooperation with Stalin and other Soviet leaders, began working on a temporary executive government to administer the Polish lands (west of the
Bug River The Bug or Western Bug is a major river in Central Europe that flows through Belarus (border), Poland, and Ukraine, with a total length of .Polish Committee of National Liberation The Polish Committee of National Liberation ( Polish: ''Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego'', ''PKWN''), also known as the Lublin Committee, was an executive governing authority established by the Soviet-backed communists in Poland at the la ...
(PKWN), was officially established in the
Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
province. The
PKWN Manifesto The Manifesto of the Polish Committee of National Liberation, also known as the July Manifesto () or the PKWN Manifesto (), was a political manifesto of the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN), a Soviet-backed administration, whi ...
was issued, in which the committee claimed its authority in liberated Poland and announced fundamental and wide-ranging reconstruction and systemic changes, most prominently a land reform, to be implemented in the country. The socialist Edward Osóbka-Morawski was the PKWN's head and General Żymierski led the defense department, which diminished the role of General Berling. Most of the remaining PPR and KRN leaders left Warsaw and entered the Soviet-controlled territory. Zenon Kliszko and few others stayed in the capital to coordinate communist activities in the still occupied part of Poland.


Government-in-exile after Sikorski's death

After the death of Prime Minister Sikorski, the important figures in the exile government in London were President Władysław Raczkiewicz, the newly nominated Prime Minister Stanisław Mikołajczyk and Commander-in-chief Kazimierz Sosnkowski. During the
Tehran Conference The Tehran Conference (codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of the Allies of World War II, held between Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943. It was the first of the Allied World Wa ...
(November–December 1943) Stalin,
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
and
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
determined the geographic location of the future Polish state (between the
Oder River The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through west ...
and the Curzon Line) without consulting or even notifying the Polish leaders.
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, previously Poland's partner for a planned confederation, signed in December 1943 a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union. As a result of the developing Soviet wartime advantage, the Polish government was gradually abandoned by its allies. Early in January 1944, the Soviet forces crossed the 1939 border of Poland. The British pressured the Polish government to accept the Soviet conditions for a resumption of Polish-Soviet diplomatic relations and practical cooperation (a recognition of the Curzon Line border and removal of anti-Soviet politicians from the Polish government), but the Polish side balked. Mikołajczyk advocated compromising with the Soviets for the sake of preserving the country's independence, while Sosnkowski, counting on the outbreak of war between the Allies, rejected making any concessions. In February Churchill publicly announced his government's support for a Curzon Line Polish-Soviet border anyway. In June 1944, Mikołajczyk officially traveled to the United States, where President Roosevelt suggested that he visits the Soviet Union to conduct political discussions. Roosevelt also asked Stalin to invite the Polish prime minister for talks on a resumption of bilateral relations. On 30 July Mikołajczyk arrived in Moscow accompanied by Foreign Minister
Tadeusz Romer Tadeusz Ludwik Romer (6 December 1894 in Antanašė near Rokiškis - 23 March 1978 in Montreal) was a Polish diplomat and politician. Life and career He was a personal secretary to Roman Dmowski in 1919. Later he joined the Polish Ministry of For ...
and
Stanisław Grabski Stanisław Grabski (; 5 April 1871 – 6 May 1949) was a Polish economist and politician associated with the National Democracy (Poland), National Democracy political camp. As the top Polish negotiator during the Peace of Riga talks in 1921, Gra ...
, chairman of the National Council. The PKWN had already been established and Stalin proposed negotiations between the two Polish representations aimed at their unification. The talks with Bierut, Osóbka-Morawski and Wasilewska did take place, but Mikołajczyk found the communist ideas and demands unacceptable, even though he was offered the job of prime minister in a combined government. The PKWN leaders were willing to grant the pro-Western Poles only four out of the eighteen discussed ministerial seats. Mikołajczyk reported to the government delegate in Poland that the Soviets would consider establishing diplomatic relations if the Poles first agreed between themselves, that "the Soviet government has not yet finally sided with the (Polish) communists", but "Polish communists are determined to exploit the situation for turning Poland into a communist state". Thus the prime minister, himself unable to convince his government of the necessity of offering significant concessions to victorious communists, believed that Polish communist leaders were effectively blocking his deal with Stalin. After Mikołajczyk's return to London, the government-in-exile came up with its own version of compromise proposals which included the PPR's participation in the government, but they were rejected by the PKWN.


Defeat of Operation Tempest and the Warsaw Uprising

In 1944, the lack of Polish-Soviet diplomatic relations and the resultant inability to conduct negotiations forced the Polish leadership to undertake political and military actions in an attempt to create a ''fait accompli'' situation in Poland that the Soviets would be compelled to accept. According to the planned
Operation Tempest file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right Operation Tempest or Operation Burza (, sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home Arm ...
, the retreating German forces would be attacked by the
Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
, temporary Polish civilian administration would be installed in the liberated areas and its members, representing the government-in-exile, would greet the incoming Soviets as the rightful hosts. Consequently, in the spring and summer of 1944, the Polish underground waged numerous military operations in the areas where the Soviet advance was taking place. The actions resulted in military and political defeats, because the Soviets disarmed, arrested and deported the Home Army fighters, while the Western Allies cultivated good relations with the Soviet Union and were not interested in investigating the Polish claims of mistreatment or lending the Poles practical support. Fighting and winning a battle for Warsaw seemed the only opportunity left for the mainstream Polish independence movement. The establishment of the PKWN provided an additional motivation for starting the
Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...
on 1 August 1944. The Soviets did not join the battle and stopped their offensive. The insurgents were being overpowered by the Germans and the belated rescue attempt in September by the 1st Infantry Division of Berling's First Polish Army ended in a bloody defeat. The Home Army capitulated on 2 October, Warsaw was subsequently largely demolished per
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
's orders, and the Polish government-in-exile was no longer capable of staging major armed demonstrations in Poland. General Sosnkowski, having criticized the lack of effective aid to the Warsaw Uprising participants from the Allies, was removed from his top command position in September 1944.


Mikołajczyk's resignation, Provisional Government

In October, Churchill and
Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...
went to Moscow, as did Mikołajczyk, Grabski and Romer. They negotiated again with Bierut, Osóbka-Morawski and Rola-Żymierski. Mikołajczyk resisted the British and Soviet pressure to accept the communist territorial and other demands. In November in London, the Polish government rejected the Curzon Line border again. President Roosevelt disappointed the Poles by designating the Polish, British and Soviet governments as the proper forum for border discussions, but Prime Minister Mikołajczyk, unable to convince his colleagues of the need for further compromises, resigned on 24 November 1944. The Polish government, now led by Tomasz Arciszewski, was no longer seriously considered by the Allies. On 31 December 1944, the State National Council converted the PKWN to the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland, with Osóbka-Morawski as the prime minister. The Soviet Union recognized the new institution and the Western Allies did not object. The KRN and the Provisional Government gradually strengthened their position, as the Soviet
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
facilitated the process by performing large scale arrests of opponents of communist rule. The Provisional Government signed a 20-year friendship, alliance and cooperation treaty with the Soviet Union on 21 April 1945.


Communist-led war effort

The leftist, Soviet-allied
Polish armed forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (, ; abbreviated SZ RP), also called the Polish Armed Forces and popularly called in Poland (, roughly "the Polish Military"—abbreviated ''WP''), are the national Military, armed forces of the Poland, ...
, placed under the authority of the PKWN and then the Provisional Government, were rapidly expanded, ultimately to about 400,000 people in two armies. In the summer of 1944, the First Polish Army established bridgeheads on the Vistula'a left bank south of Warsaw and in August its 1st Armoured Brigade fought the Germans at the Battle of Studzianki. Many diversionary military actions and other combat operations were undertaken by Armia Ludowa and the
Soviet partisans Soviet partisans were members of Resistance during World War II, resistance movements that fought a Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war against Axis powers, Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Territories of Poland an ...
in September and October 1944, especially, but not only, in the
Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...
province. At the end of October, led by the AL commander
Mieczysław Moczar Mieczysław Moczar (; birth name Mikołaj Diomko, pseudonym ''Mietek'', 23 December 1913 – 1 November 1986) was a Polish communist politician who played a prominent role in the history of the Polish People's Republic The Polish People's R ...
, most units broke through the front lines to the Soviet-Polish side. The Soviet offensive was resumed on 12 January 1945. On 17 January the First Polish Army led by General Stanisław Popławski entered the destroyed Warsaw. It fought on the 1st Belorussian Front and during the following month participated in overcoming strongly fortified German defenses at the Pomeranian Wall, losing 6,500 soldiers; in March it took Kolberg. The 1st Armoured Brigade fought within the
2nd Belorussian Front The 2nd Belorussian Front (, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussian"), was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. I ...
and contributed to the liberation of
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
and
Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...
. The First Army forced its way across the
Oder River The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through west ...
on 16–17 April and reached the
Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...
near
Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smalle ...
on 3 May. Its 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division and other Polish formations participated in the final Battle of Berlin. The Second Polish Army, led by General Karol Świerczewski, operated with the
1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (), previously the Voronezh Front (), was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. They took part in the capture of Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. Wartime ...
. It crossed the Lusatian Neisse on 16 April and heading for
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Bautzen, due to poor command. However, a German rescue force heading for
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
was stopped. Helping to defeat
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
in Poland, the two Polish armies suffered losses equal to the Polish military losses encountered during the September Campaign of 1939—66,000 soldiers killed (according to Antoni Czubiński).


Provisional Government of National Unity

The Polish social
Left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...
was critical with respect to the prewar Sanation-ruled
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...
and called for the establishment of a more just and democratic post-war Poland. A return to the March Constitution of 1921 was advocated. These postulates and the Soviet demand for Poland's eastern
Kresy Eastern Borderlands (), often simply Borderlands (, ) was a historical region of the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. The term was coined during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with ...
territories were accepted by the PPR and allied
Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...
(PPS) leaders, with considerable support from the agrarian movement politicians, who were also opposed to the April Constitution (1935) regime. Leftist sentiments, increasingly prevalent in Poland in 1944 and 1945, mixed with the widespread unease and fear regarding Poland's expected domination by the Soviet Union. Further determinations regarding the future of Poland were made at the
Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (), held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. The three sta ...
in February 1945. The United States and Britain accepted the Soviet position in respect to postwar borders (the extent of Poland's western expansion at the expense of Germany was not specified), but differed with the Soviets on the issue of participation of the
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
-based
government-in-exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovereign state or semi-sovereign state, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usu ...
in the formation of Poland's new compromise government. The Allied leaders ultimately authorized converting the existing in Poland, communist-dominated
Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...
to
Provisional Government of National Unity The Provisional Government of National Unity (, TRJN) was a puppet government formed by the decree of the State National Council (, KRN) on 28 June 1945 as a result of reshuffling the Soviet-backed Provisional Government of the Republic of Pola ...
(TRJN), with greater participation of democratic and pro-Western forces, but no formal role for the government-in-exile. The TRJN was charged with conducting free elections soon, based on which a permanent Polish government would be established. As for the practical implementation, a commission representing the three great powers negotiated the issue of the TRJN in Moscow and the talks had been stalled for a long time, until joined by former Prime Minister Mikołajczyk of the government-in-exile. In June Mikołajczyk agreed to a temporary deal, which turned out to permanently favor the communist side. The exact shape of the TRJN was determined during talks in Moscow on 16–21 June 1945. The KRN and the Provisional Government were represented there by seven politicians, including Bierut and Gomułka, three representatives, including Mikołajczyk, came from the emigrant circles and there were five non-communists from Poland. Mikołajczyk unsuccessfully tried to limit the dominant role of the communists and became only a deputy prime minister. Mikołajczyk's People's Party was granted the right to nominate ⅓ of the KRN members;
Wincenty Witos Wincenty Witos (; 21 or 22 January 1874 – 31 October 1945) was a Polish statesman, prominent member and leader of the Polish People's Party (PSL), who served three times as the Prime Minister of Poland in the 1920s. He was a member of the Pol ...
and
Stanisław Grabski Stanisław Grabski (; 5 April 1871 – 6 May 1949) was a Polish economist and politician associated with the National Democracy (Poland), National Democracy political camp. As the top Polish negotiator during the Peace of Riga talks in 1921, Gra ...
were the new vice-chairmen of that body. On 28 June 1945, Chairman Bierut of the KRN created the TRJN, and on 5 July the US and the United Kingdom withdrew their recognition of the government-in-exile. The TRJN was led by the socialist Prime Minister Osóbka-Morawski of the previous Provisional Government. Gomułka and Mikołajczyk were included as deputy prime ministers. The formally coalition government had seven PPR members, six from the peasant People's Party and
Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...
each, and two from the centrist Democratic Alliance (SD). The government was controlled by the PPR and other politicians reconciled to the reality of Soviet domination. Mikołajczyk's party however, aware of its popularity, counted on winning the planned parliamentary elections and was the only participant that actually thought of the TRJN as being temporary.


Formation of a new sociopolitical system, PPR's role and program

Operating within the Soviet-controlled international environment, regardless of the results of the upcoming mandated elections, the Polish communists had no intention of giving up political power and made no secret of it. Nonetheless, many of them believed that the reforms they undertook under the evolving new system would remain popular and would enable them to win future elections. The PPR invoked the tradition of social struggle in the Second Polish Republic and the party gained support of many politicians of leftist orientation from the peasant and socialist movements, who shared that point of view. The PPR promised radical land ownership and agrarian reforms as well as
nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...
of the industry, banking and trade. The communists used nationalistic rhetoric of the prewar
National Democracy National Democracy may refer to: * National democratic state, a state formation conceived by the Soviet concept of national democracy * National Democracy (Czech Republic) * National Democracy (Italy) * National Democracy (Philippines) * National De ...
movement in regard to the post-German " Recovered Territories". A "Democratic Bloc" of parties was organized around the PPR; it included pro-communist factions of the socialist, agrarian and centrist movements. Mikołajczyk's
Polish People's Party The Polish People's Party (, PSL) is a conservative political party in Poland. It is currently led by Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Its history traces back to 1895, when it held the name People's Party, although its name was changed to the pre ...
was legalized and functioned independently as the only formal opposition; other political formations were banned and their supporters persecuted. The PPR itself comprised different factions, reflecting different experiences of its members. Some of the PPR leaders referred to the
Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...
tradition and proclaimed internationalist ideas. They believed in strict hegemony of the Soviet Union, which they saw as both necessary and desirable. This group was led by activists of Jewish origin: Jakub Berman, Hilary Minc and Roman Zambrowski, and by
Bolesław Bierut Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of History of Poland (1945–1989), communist-ruled Poland from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 ...
. Berman, Minc and Zambrowski spent the war in the Soviet Union and were leaders of Polish-communist organizations formed there under
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's supervision. PPR chief
Władysław Gomułka Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish Communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of Polish People's Republic, post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948, and again from 1956 to 1970. Born in 1905 in ...
led the faction that also believed in the (politically necessary) Polish-Soviet alliance, but wanted to form it on more pragmatic bases. They stressed the Polish national interest and wished to pursue a more limited cooperation, as conditioned by that interest. All PPR factions were actually strongly dependent on and therefore practically dominated by Stalin's regime. In a broader historical perspective, the cooperation of Polish communists, other leftists and some non-leftist politicians with Stalin prevented a territorial reduction of the Polish state of great magnitude. In
geopolitical Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of states: ''de facto'' independen ...
reality, such reduction would be irreversible.


Incorporation of post-German territories, postwar reconstruction and state socialist reforms

Poland's eastern borders had not become a major international issue, as the Western powers accepted the Soviet position in this regard. Decisions concerning the Polish–German border were made at the Potsdam Conference, where Stalin lobbied for Poland's maximal extension in the west, arranged for the Polish government delegation to present their point of view and in the end thwarted the long-standing British policy (aimed at keeping some of the lands in question for the future German state). In Poland, the PPR led the massive " Recovered Territories" propaganda campaign, the Allied-authorized expulsion of ethnic Germans and the repopulation of the region by Poles " repatriated" from the lost
Kresy Eastern Borderlands (), often simply Borderlands (, ) was a historical region of the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. The term was coined during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with ...
eastern areas. The exact eastern boundary was determined in the Polish–Soviet treaty signed on 16 August 1945, which finalized the contested issue of
Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
(the city stayed on the Soviet Ukrainian side of the border). The resettlement of Ukrainians who lived on the Polish side followed. The settlement and development of post-German lands was considered a high priority and the Ministry of the Recovered Territories, established in November 1945, was led by Gomułka himself. Being convinced of the crucial importance of the acquired areas for Poland, he energetically pursued their economic development and integration with the rest of the country. After the war, Polish officials had to engage in complicated bargaining with the Soviet authorities, who considered industrial installations in former Germany their war loot and wanted to take as much of it as possible to the Soviet Union. The
land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...
decree was issued by the PKWN on 6 September 1944. Over one million peasant families benefited from the parcellation of larger estates and post-German property (6 million
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...
s of land). The act and its implementation concluded the various land reform attempts and partial realizations that went back to the partitioned Poland and Second Polish Republic periods. Thousands of State Agricultural Farms were also established (1.5 million hectares). They were intended as model farming enterprises, demonstrating, in addition to their role in food production, the progressive ways of agriculture. The reforms, whose consequences fundamentally altered the antiquated social and economic structure of Polish society, were sharply criticized by advocates of the inviolability of
property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their Possession (law), possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely ...
. Existence as a
social class A social class or social stratum is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the working class and the Bourgeoisie, capitalist class. Membership of a social class can for exam ...
of '' ziemiaństwo'' (large scale land owners) was undercut, while the
free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...
economic system was for the most part still functioning in the country. Reforms of more moderate nature were undertaken in regard to private industry. Various, sometimes chaotic developments took place in 1944–45, including the taking over of thousands of enterprises by workers' councils. A charged national debate that followed resulted in the KRN statute of 3 January 1946. It was decided that the state would take over enterprises that employed over 50 people on a given shift, but the owners who were Polish or foreign (not German) would be paid compensation. Based on that statute, 5,870 enterprises were nationalized by 1948, while 15,700 were left in private hands.
Central planning A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, ...
got started with the establishment of the Central Planning Office in November 1945, directed by socialist Czesław Bobrowski. The Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers was led by Hilary Minc. The economic reconstruction of Poland was undertaken, combined with prospective planning for the next 12 years. 230,000 residential apartments were built in the cities and 300,000 in the country in 1945–47, which resulted in more evenly spread population, living under considerably improved conditions. Compulsory general education was brought back and higher education was tuition free. A shortage of teachers had to be addressed first and many were needed, given the massive program of elimination of
illiteracy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...
and part-time evening schooling for the employed. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) helped with food, clothes and equipment for the Polish people (the assistance amounted to 22% of the country's national income in 1946). Inflation went up to 38% in 1947, but was brought down to 4% in 1949. In late 1946 Poland's economy approached the 1938 prewar level, which allowed gradual discontinuation of the previously imposed
rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution (marketing), distribution of scarcity, scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resourc ...
of mass consumption products. Legislation concerning the Three-Year Plan (1947–49) for economic development was passed by the KRN in 1946 and again in 1947 by the new " Legislative ''Sejm''" (parliament) that replaced the KRN after the 1947 Polish legislative election. In 1947, the ''Sejm'' proclaimed the right to work. Unemployment was eliminated and real wages increased by 58% during the plan years, but still lagged behind their 1938 level. The
public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...
produced 50% of the national income in 1947, which went up to 64% in 1949. The
private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...
was being reduced, while the network of
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...
enterprises experienced significant growth in the area of
trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...
.


Political struggle and persecution of opposition

Politicians in Poland connected in the past to the Sanation and
National Democracy National Democracy may refer to: * National democratic state, a state formation conceived by the Soviet concept of national democracy * National Democracy (Czech Republic) * National Democracy (Italy) * National Democracy (Philippines) * National De ...
formations did not recognize the new realities and waged a determined campaign against the communist authorities, boycotting decisions of the government, especially the ones having to do with the establishment of administrative and military structures. This led to conflicts and intensified repressions. Polish
internal security Internal security is the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other Self-governance, self-governing territories, generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats. This task and rol ...
organs were created and resolved, in cooperation with their Soviet counterparts, to disable the opposition using persecution and terror. The political confrontations were accompanied by armed activity of anti-government conspiracy groups. The Polish
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, led by Cardinal August Hlond until his death in 1948, took an anti-regime stand. It coped with difficulties related to the lack of Polish church organization in the Recovered Territories. In the fall of 1945, with permission from the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
, the Church embarked on the establishment of provisional administrative structures in the territories taken from Germany. Authorization for permanent Polish church administration there was not forthcoming and the instability in this area added to the existing German-Polish antagonisms. In April 1946, a new volunteer citizen militia ORMO was formed to help the police (''
Milicja Obywatelska Milicja Obywatelska (MO; ), known as the Citizens' Militia in English, was the national police organization of the Polish People's Republic. The MO was established on 7 October 1944 by the Polish Committee of National Liberation under Chief Co ...
''), political police ( UBP), the
Internal Security Corps The Internal Security Corps (, KBW) was a special-purpose military formation in Poland under History of Poland (1945–1989)#Stalinist era (1948–1956), communist government, established on 24 May 1945. History The KBW consisted of 10 new ca ...
, the Polish army, the Soviet political police (
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
), and the Soviet army to eliminate armed opposition to the government. The NKVD killed, arrested, harassed, and used propaganda to suppress and discredit opponents of the regime. Already during the 1944–48 period, many were imprisoned or taken to the Soviet Union, some executed under court rulings. The whole security system was directed by Soviet politician
Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria ka, ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია} ''Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria'' ( – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph ...
. On May 23, 1946, the Central Committee of the Polish Workers' Party passed a resolution to establish the Department of Party History at the Central Committee. Its goal was pro- communist propaganda and slandering
independence movements Below are the articles listing active separatist movements by continent: * List of active separatist movements in Africa *List of active separatist movements in Asia *List of active separatist movements in Europe * List of active separatist m ...
. The resolution provided for the creation of 4 positions for political and scientific workers. The same resolution appointed Regina Kaplan-Kobrynska as the first head of the department. Government authorities offered two amnesties for fighters from the opposition militia groups, which originated from remnants of the disbanded
Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
and other organizations. Tens of thousands of oppositionists took advantage of the amnesties declared in 1945 and 1947. Some were subjected to further prosecution and imprisonment, but the amnesties effectively terminated the anti-communist armed resistance movement.


Elections of 1947 and elimination of legal opposition

The replacement of postwar cooperation among the great powers with the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
derailed the planned peace conference—the issue of Poland's western border was not going to be amicably resolved. In the West only
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
clearly upheld its support for Poland in the border dispute. " Revisionist" circles had a prominent voice in what was becoming
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
and the PPR, for existential reasons, felt compelled to strengthen its policy of reliance on the Soviet Union. The TRJN was now in no position to maneuver any degree of independence for itself. The PPR delayed nationwide parliamentary elections because it believed that the ongoing implementation of reforms would move the public opinion in its favor. The party strengthened its position by first holding a
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
in June 1946, intended as a plebiscite for or against the new system. For the election, the PPR-dominated Democratic Bloc prepared a unified list of candidates; the
Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...
agreed to join the bloc, but the
Polish People's Party The Polish People's Party (, PSL) is a conservative political party in Poland. It is currently led by Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Its history traces back to 1895, when it held the name People's Party, although its name was changed to the pre ...
, led by Mikołajczyk, refused. The bloc was also opposed by other groups, some of which were not legally registered, while other were semi- or fully conspiratorial and hostile to the bloc. The referendum asked three questions: about abolishing the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
(parliament's upper chamber), future constitutional moderate socialist reforms, and the permanency of Poland's western and northern borders. The ruling regime needed to show an overwhelming support for its program before the elections. Accordingly, the referendum was conducted under considerable pressure (such as heavy military and police presence) and the results were falsified to give the Democratic Bloc a strong majority it wanted. The PPR and its allies in the bloc were large parties, each with membership in hundreds of thousands, supported in addition by the several million-strong
trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
structure. They had public security forces at their disposal. The also large and popular People's Party invoked Poland's Western connections and its tradition of struggles for independence. It was supported by the Catholic clergy. The campaign was harsh and the PPR was often subjected to
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
'' Żydokomuna'' accusations. Given the Soviet pressure, the bloc could not just have won elections by receiving a majority of the votes; it had to produce a result impressive enough for propaganda purposes. The communists feared losing the elections to Mikołajczyk's party and that this outcome would cause a complete Soviet occupation of Poland. During the election campaign, the PPR targeted the People's Party, the Democratic Bloc's main (but not only) election rival, arresting its candidates, harassing them, and denying them public exposure. About one hundred opposition party activists were murdered; many PPR members were also killed. In the 1947 Polish legislative election the bloc claimed to have won 80% of the votes, but the election was widely seen as fraudulent. Factors such as the scale of the fraud or who actually received the largest number of votes are not known. The campaign and election results eliminated the People's Party from the political scene, which left Poland with no legally functioning opposition. Mikołajczyk, harassed and threatened, fled the country in October 1947.


Removal of Gomułka, Stalinism, Polish United Workers' Party

In accordance with the announced election results, the PPS, which competed within the Democratic Bloc, received two more legislative mandates than the PPR. The Presidency of Poland was reestablished by the ''Sejm'' and Bolesław Bierut, previously chairman of the KRN, was given that job. Józef Cyrankiewicz, a socialist, became the new prime minister and Gomułka was kept as deputy prime minister. The intermediate Small Constitution of 1947 was passed by the ''Sejm''. The newly created Council of State had emergency powers and was led by the president. Despite the elections conducted under communist control and
amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...
for armed and political opponents declared by the ''Sejm'', the situation in Poland underwent further polarization. Because of the deepening division in international politics and the emergence of two mutually hostile blocs, Stalin demanded stricter loyalty in the Soviet sphere; purges of circles and individuals considered ideologically corrupt or otherwise unreliable were pursued. Gomułka's criticism of Soviet policies was now seen as inappropriately nationalistic. Gomułka's "Polish road to socialism", adapting to conditions specific to Poland, was no longer tolerated as Stalin tightened his control over the PPR. Gomułka and his group were removed from positions of responsibility and in August 1948 the Central Committee installed Bierut as general secretary of the PPR. Bierut would strictly follow the Soviet lead and remold Polish society on the Stalinist model. The PPR pressured the remaining left-wing faction of the
Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...
(PPS) to merge the two parties. The merger occurred in December 1948 and the Polish United Workers' Party (''Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza'', PZPR) was formed. The merger was conducted almost entirely on PPR terms;Władysław Gomułka
at
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the PPS had by then been "purified" with the expulsion of hundreds of its members. The
Polish People's Party The Polish People's Party (, PSL) is a conservative political party in Poland. It is currently led by Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Its history traces back to 1895, when it held the name People's Party, although its name was changed to the pre ...
managed to survive for another year, albeit under growing harassment. In 1949, its remains merged with a pro-communist splinter party to form the United People's Party (''Zjednoczone Stronnictwo Ludowe'', ZSL). Under PPR rule, the Republic of Poland was a declared "people's democracy" and was not officially considered a socialist entity. Private property and free market functionality were tolerated and the role of the state was not overly exposed. All this had changed with the establishment of the PZPR: the Six-Year Plan of heavy industrial development was imposed and the building of
state socialist State socialism is a political and economic ideology within the socialist movement that advocates state ownership of the means of production. This is intended either as a temporary measure, or as a characteristic of socialism in the transition ...
system and society commenced in earnest.


Election results


Sejm


See also

* List of Polish Workers' Party politicians


References

{{Authority control 1942 establishments in Poland 1948 disestablishments in Poland Aftermath of World War II in Poland Defunct communist parties in Poland Poland in World War II Political parties disestablished in 1948 Political parties established in 1942 Polish United Workers' Party Stalinism in Poland World War II resistance movements