On Wednesday, September 19, Pawel Machcewicz, WWICS Public Policy scholar, and a former WWICS fellow, discussed his research in the causes, effects, and developments of the Polish 1956 events. Even before learning the details of and securing a summary or copy of Khrushchev’s speech, the U.S. began to position itself to take advantage of the revelations. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 but may have had an even deeper impact on the Eastern Bloc and on the Soviet Union's relationship to its satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe. Gruson, Sydney. Okupant w roli sojusznika, LOC: From Stalinism to the Polish October, Russian Revolution, Russian Civil War, Polish–Soviet War, 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance, 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Aggravation of class struggle under socialism, National delimitation in the Soviet Union, Demolition of Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization, 1906 Bolshevik raid on the Tsarevich Giorgi, Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia, Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR, On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland, 1987 Polish political and economic reforms referendum, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polish_October&oldid=1000029692, Articles with Polish-language sources (pl), Articles with unsourced statements from August 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Diffusion of Polish-Soviet tensions; armed conflict averted. This essay will compare the events of 1956, drawing on recently declassified materials from Hungarian, Polish and Russian archives.While the recently accessible archival sources do not call for a radically new interpretation of events, they do yield [2], For the People's Republic of Poland, 1956 was a year of transition. Starting with the June 28 general strike in Poznan, the Polish and Hungarian workers launched a general revolutionary uprising against the rule of the Kremlin bureaucracy. The majority of the Polish leadership, backed by both the army and the Internal Security Corps, brought Gomułka and several associates into the Politburo and designated Gomułka as First Secretary. A large demonstration in Budapest, which called in support of the Polish reformers, and escalated out of control Khrushchev's speech worked against him. The demonstrations were suppressed but they did afford reformist Communists the opportunity to advance an agenda that included significant concessions to … In addition, the unexpected death in Moscow in 1956 of Bolesław Bierut, the PZPR First Secretary (known as the "Stalin of Poland"),[6] led to increased rivalry between various factions of Polish communists and to growing tensions in Polish society, which culminated in the Poznań 1956 protests (also known as June '56). 1956 Polish and Hungarian Crises. The Secretariat's plan succeeded beyond what it had expected. ", 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, On the Personality Cult and Its Consequences. The 1956 crises in the Soviet Bloc states, and the Hungarian October events in particular, had a profound impact on China’s international and domestic policies. Three years had passed since Joseph Stalin's death and his successor at the Soviet Union's helm, Nikita Khrushchev, denounced him in February. The demonstrations were suppressed but they did afford reformist Communists the opportunity to advance an agenda that included significant concessions to … Crowds often took radical action, which often resulted in unrest on the streets and clashes with police and other law enforcement agencies. Attempts were made to force entries into the homes of Soviet citizens, mostly in Lower Silesia, which was home to many Soviet troops. The uprising began in Hungary as a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, while in Poland similar political uprisings began in October 1956. [2][7] Because of these restricted ambitions, which were recognized by the Soviets, the limited Polish revolution succeeded where the radical Hungarian one did not. On November 18, 1956, in his address to Western ambassadors at the Polish embassy in Moscow, Russia, Khrushchev issued a threat, Мы вас похороним! Between 57[9] and 78[10][11] people, mostly protesters, were killed, and hundreds were wounded and arrested. By February 1956, Khrushchev had become First Secretary of the Communist Party, and that month, at the party's 20th All Union Congress, Khrushchev gave his famous six-hour "secret speech" denouncing the "crimes of the Stalin era." However, the real attractions for the Polish people were the foreigners, many of whom were from Western Europe and contrasted starkly with local Poles because they shared a similar culture but were much richer and more open. On the afternoon of 23 October 1956, approximately 20,000 protesters convened next to the statue of József Bem—a national hero of Poland and Hungary. Destalinisation was underway in the Soviet Union as well, but the Soviet leadership did not view the democratic reform that the Polish public desired as an acceptable solution. The international situation significantly weakened the hardline Stalinist faction in Poland, especially after the Polish communist leader Bolesław Bierut died in March. College students even held debating meetings with foreigners, many of whom turned out not to be communists. [22], Gomułka, however, could not and did not want to reject communism or Soviet domination; he could only steer Poland towards increased independence and "Polish national communism". After brief but tense negotiations, the Soviets gave permission for Gomułka to stay in control and made several other concessions, resulting in greater autonomy for the Polish government. Demands were made for the exposure of secret police collaborators, and suspected collaborators were frequently assaulted. [2][7] The Soviets were also pressured by the Chinese to accommodate the Polish demands[1][17] and were increasingly distracted by the events in Hungary. Thus, both countries held crucial power in different facets. Realizing the need for new leadership, the PZPR chose Gomulka as first secretary in October 1956. In the last ten days of October, monuments to the Red Army, despised by Poles, were attacked; red stars were pulled down from roofs of houses, factories and schools; red flags were destroyed; and portraits of Konstantin Rokossovsky, the military commander in charge of operations that drove the Nazi German forces from Poland, were defaced. For Poland, that meant a temporary liberalisation, but eventually, hopes for a full liberalisation were proven false, as Gomułka's regime gradually became more oppressive. Poznański Czerwiec 1956 r. – straty osobowe i ich analiza", Wydawnictwo Comandor, Warszawa 2006, Dallin, Alexander. or “we will bury you! Gomułka was a moderate who had been the First Secretary of the Party from 1943 to 1948 and had been ousted and imprisoned in 1951 after he had been accused of "right-wing nationalist deviation" by Stalinist hardliners, along with Bierut. The Polish Crisis and the Hungarian Rebellion, October 20-November 3, 1956: The Advent to Power of Gomulka in Poland and Nagy in Hungary; Soviet Military Intervention in and Subsequent Withdrawal From Hungary; Discussion of the Hungarian Question in the U.N. Security Council [2], Society became more liberal (as seen, for instance, in the achievements of the Polish Film School and the creation of such controversial movies as Ashes and Diamonds), and a civil society started to develop, but half-hearted democratization was not enough to satisfy the Polish public. Corrections? A new Party Congress was demanded, as were a greater role for the Sejm and a guarantee of personal liberties. In February 1956 Khrushchev denounced Stalin in a “secret speech” that quickly became public and sent shock waves throughout the Communist world. This study will analyze the Soviet decision as a discrete problem, and thereby contribute also both to the literature on the Hungarian crisis itself and on the nature of Soviet crisis decisionmaking.1 The leadership in Moscow took decisions in circumstances of acute strain, over a limited period of time from October to November 1956, and under considerable pressure. The Uprising was an almost spontaneous revolt by the Hungarian people against the ruling Communist Party of the time and the Soviet policies which were … In February 1956 Khrushchev denounced Stalin in a “secret speech” that quickly became public and sent shock waves throughout the Communist world. Hymns were sung, and the release of Stefan Wyszyński and the reinstatement of suppressed bishops were demanded. [8], In June 1956, there was an insurrection in Poznań. People across the country criticised the security police and asked for the dissolution of the public security committee and the punishment of its most guilty functionaries. "Khrushchev's 'Secret Speech' and Polish Politics: The Spring of 1956". In June, they were still treated as puppets and servants of alien, anti-Polish interests and excluded from the national community. [20], In the aftermath of the October events, Rokossovsky and many other Soviet "advisers" left Poland, signaling that Moscow was willing to grant Polish communists slightly more independence. [2] Norman Davies sums up the effect as a transformation of Poland from puppet state to client state;[2] Raymond Pearson similarly states that Poland changed from a Soviet colony to a dominion. 1956 Hungarian events as moving in the direction of proletarian political revolu tion. President Eisenhower handled it by choosing not to intervene militarily on the side of the Hungarians, fearing that it might start a war with the Soviet Union. Dallin, Alexander. In 1956, a deep political crisis developed in Poland. Hungarian communist and prime minister 1953-5 and from October to November 1956. Nationalism was the cement of mass mobilisation and dominated public meetings during which people sang the national anthem and other patriotic songs, demanded the return of the white eagle to the flag and traditional army uniforms and attacked Poland's dependence on the Soviet Union and its military. A student demonstration in Budapest in support of Gomułka, asking for similar reforms in Hungary, was one of the events that sparked the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. [18], Gomułka's anti-Soviet image was exaggerated but was justified in the popular imagination by his anti-Stalinist line in 1948 and years of subsequent internment. 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