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The introduction of the Soviet system into Poland

University of British Columbia

World-wide expansion of the Soviet system has always been regarded by the Kremlin as a basic condition on which "true" communism can develop towards its final goal: the Marxist Utopia of a "perfect State". Consequently, the first object of sovietization on the path of communist expansion toward the West was Poland. The purpose of the essay is to trace, step by step, the still-progressiong but not yet accomplished process of the sovietization of Poland. It attempts to show how the Soviet system has come to prevail in a country traditionally hostile to Russia and to the communist ideology. The introductory part deals with the development of Soviet-Polish relationships before and during the Second World War. It shows how, after twenty years of peaceful co-existence, the Soviet system, preceded by military aggression, was forced upon the eastern provinces of Poland, and how these territories were incorporated into the Soviet Union and "purged" of elements regarded as dangerous to the "Soviet way of life". Further, the Introduction describes the short period of Soviet-Polish "co-operation" in the war effort, when, in spite of the fact that the Soviet Union was forced to join the camp of the western democracies, far-sighted plans for the sovietization of the post-war Polish State were maturing in Moscow. This part describes, as well, the birth of the communist Underground in Poland, which united with the Union of Polish "patriots" and came out into the open after the severance of diplomatic relations by Moscow with the Polish Government in London. Part Two, "The Struggle for Power", relates how the Committee of National Liberation, supported by the Russian Army, assumed the role of a government in Poland, and gained the recognition of the Western Powers. It describes the destruction of the Home Army, with the extermination of the democratic Underground. It also shows communist methods in the pre-election campaign, the election of a Diet supporting the Government of National Unity, and the suppression of the legalized opposition. Furthermore, it deals with the liquidation of socialist opposition groups within the Government-sponsored "Bloc", of sham political parties, and with the purge of "Polish Titoism" within the United Workers' Party. Part Three, "The Sovietization of Life and Constitution", is an attempt to sketch roughly the immediate post-war sovietization of the Polish economy and the main trends in Polish industry and agriculture during the two National Plans of 1947 and 1950. It also deals with the sovietization of Courts of Justice, the Army, the schools and universities, and the youth organizations. Finally there is a brief analysis of the Constitution of 1952 in the light of its final goal of "putting into effect the great ideals of socialism", of the Soviet type. An effort has been made throughout to set out the facts as they have happened, without bias or emotion. No conclusions of any kind have been drawn.

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2012-02-08

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/40542

European Studies

University of British Columbia

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