Poland as a satellit

For almost half a century Poland was ruled by a communist government, which was created and establishment by the Soviet Union. Poland became Soviet satellite as a result of some historical events that took place at the end of the 1930’s and during the 1940’s.

The 45 years of Soviet control of Poland were marked by a constant struggle of the Polish people for economic and political freedom. Poland was invaded from the west by Germany on September 1, 1939. At that time, the Poles received no help and fought a defensive campaign for only 2 weeks. On September 17th the Soviet forces invaded Poland from the east, an event that completely surprised the Polish army, which now had to fight on both fronts the west, and the east. Poland surrendered on October 5th.

After the September campaign, Poland was divided into two zones: Germans, who took the central and western part and the Soviets, who took the eastern part of Poland. In the Soviet zone terror began as soon as the Soviet took over the territory. The cost of this was horrible as more that 1.5 million Poles were transported to labor camps in Siberia; many of those never came back. Thousands of captured Polish officers were shot at several secret forest sites; Katyn, Charkov and Miednoje.

In August of 1944, the Polish Home army organized an uprising against the Germans. Polish fighters received no help from the Soviets who wanted the Germans to kill the patriotic Poles- the men who could desire one day a free and independent Poland. By this time, the Allies, without Poland which was at the time one of the biggest military power in Europe, met in Yalta to decide about the future of post war Europe and especially Poland. At Yalta, the Allies put Poland within the Russian zone without any participation from Poland sides. To most of the Poles, at this time and today, the meaning of the conference has been - the betrayal of Poland.

In 1944, the Polish National Liberation Committee concluded an agreement with the USSR establishing the eastern border of Poland. A new communist government backed by the Soviets took control of Poland and banned all the opposition parties. The communists, to secure their power, started to catch and kill their enemies (at this time anyone could have been accused of being an enemy of the new system); it was the terror in Stalin’s style in which nobody could feel safe.

In May of 1945 the war was over. Poland was totally in ruin. War destroyed cities, bridges, railroads, farms and lives. The cost of war in Poland was horrible: more than 6,5 million people died. More than 40 % of national assets were destroyed, 85% of the capital was destroyed. The communists to secure their power, started to rebuild Poland.

The communists wanted to make Poland more urban and industrial and they wanted to accelerate the pace of agricultural collectivization - the Soviet-style reform that antagonized Polish farmers. To win the support of all the people, the communist gave everybody jobs, free education, and free medical and social care.

In the Soviet doctrine Poland was a satellite, which meant that every decision which the Polish government wanted to make had to have a “blessing from Moscow”. Soviets, to be sure that this system would be working, and also to protect communism in Poland, installed their military bases. In order to control the Polish army, they changed Polish generals into the Soviets.

Poland was Soviet Union’s the most troublesome satellite. The Poles always wanted greater freedom from the Soviet Union. The first sign of dissatisfaction of communism began in October of 1956 when workers asked the government to raise salaries and cut food prices. The government ignored their demands and sent the army as a warning.

Despite threats from the government, dissatisfaction with communism continued. In the 1970s, for example, a sudden increase in food prices led to riots in the seaside cities. Again, the government used force to intimidate the people, but this time it ended with great bloodshed.

The Church played a very important role in a communist Poland. In no other communist country in the world the church had so much power as in Poland (97% of population is Catholic). Soviets hated the church very much and tried to push Polish communists to destroy it. Also, many of the Polish workers that belonged to the party were Catholic (in the communist system there was no place for religion) and they really didn’t want to irritate the church. Church was the only institution which government couldn’t destroy.

The biggest shock for the communist occurred in October 1978, when Karol Wojtyla, the former Cardinal of Krakow, was elected Pope. In June of 1979, Pope John Paul II visited Poland – his visit gave the people hope for democracy and freedom. Poles always wanted to have more freedom, as much as it was possible to get from the Soviet block. In 1970, the Polish communist government also wanted to have more economic and political freedom. The Soviets thought that if they wanted to have control over Poland they would have to keep Poland weak. But in the 70s Poland, the government as well as the people, used every method to change this situation.

The change inside of the communist party started after the strikes in 1970 when Edward Gierek came to power. Gierek started to walk a new difficult path to satisfy both Soviets and the people. He started to prepare reforms, which gave Poland more freedom and better position in the Soviet block. Under his rule, life in Poland was good but almost everything was based on western imports and credits.

After the strike of the 70s, opposition groups were set up. The economy "overheated" and led to a period of acute consumer shortages, especially meat, and a soaring foreign debt. But price rises in July of 1980 touched off nation-wide strikes. In August, they reached the shipyard in Gdansk, where Lech Walesa became a leader of an independent workers union named Solidarity. By October, around 10 millions Poles joined this movement, (at the same time the communist party membership fell 20%) which stood for reforms, equality and workers right. Solidarity programs in many ways were a direct protest against the communist concept of communist party and rule, which terrified the Soviet Union leaders.

In the 1980s, the government tried ones again to raise the prices and again the results were the same- more strikes. In the summer of 1980, Poland was swept by a wave of strikes. Lech Walesa assumed leadership of the strike committee at the Gdansk Shipyard. The most outstanding Polish intellectuals became the workers' advisers. The authorities had to institute negotiations on a list of 21 demands, which, together with pay raises and many other things, called for an end to censorship and the establishment of free trade unions.

After the strikes took place and the establishment of Solidarity, the Polish communists were under pressure from the Soviet Union and the public. The Soviets become angry because they thought that Poland was starting to abandon the Soviet block. The Soviets were afraid and tried to put pressure on Polish communists to crack down on Solidarity. In December of 1981, the Polish communist party pressured by the Soviets cracked down on Solidarity. The communists put to prison many Solidarity leaders. Sometimes people just disappeared and never came back. Direct perpetrators were put on trial, revealing the disintegration of the state apparatus. At this time military units were sent to control factories and offices.

In 1988, Poland was again swept by a wave of strikes. In 1989 a roundtable talks between the authorities and the opposition were arranged and held with the mediation of the Church. At this time, the economic situation in Poland was going down every day. In June of 1989,the first free elections that had been agreed upon in the roundtable contract. The communist party did not even win the votes of its own members. This election showed how the Poles really felt about communism. Solidarity became the first opposition party, which won free elections in Eastern Europe sine 1939. Solidarity won 99 of 100 seats in the upper house of the parliament and took everything that it was allowed in the lower hose, by negotiations at the round table. Poland's example speeded up changes in all of Central-Eastern Europe, making it the father of modern democracy in that area of the world.


Poland has a long and sad history, but the Poles always wanted to fight for their independence sometimes by undertaking unequal battles with more powerful enemies. The Soviet Union by controlling Poland in the years following War World II, tried to break the Polish dream of independence. But Poles in the communist age never forgot their culture, history and the national heritage. During the 1980’s they created an independent movement, which restored freedom and peace not just in Poland but in every Eastern European nation ruled by communist governments.