Poland 1956 & 80
- Created by: Aaron_ZR
- Created on: 01-02-22 15:20
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- Challenges to Soviet Rule 1956-84
- Poland 1956
- Polish government sent in tanks to put down anti-communist protests in 1956 after strikes over pay. 74 workes were killed and 300 injured.
- Protests quickly called for wider political reforms and Poland's first post-war liberal democracy.
- Polish Communist Party leader, Lladyslaw Gomulka promised a move away from Stalinist policies when he was appointed general secretary of the Polish Communist Party in Oct 1956.
- Khrushchev decided to back down from confrontation with Poland and Gomulka.
- The Polish leader kept his promise to stay in the Warsaw Pact and follow a pro-Soviet policy. He also halted collectivisation and improved working conditions and pay for Polish workers.
- This was a sign that the USSR's iron grip on its satellites had loosened under Khruschev.Poland & Gomulka remained loyal to the USSR and didn't push the USSR too far.
- Gomulka halted collectivisation & implemented changes that improved working conditions and pay.
- Polish government sent in tanks to put down anti-communist protests in 1956 after strikes over pay. 74 workes were killed and 300 injured.
- Poland 1980
- Poland was facing a severe economic crisis, largely due to rising cost of oil & a recession in the West.
- Govt raised food prices by up to 100 per cent, as a result shipyard workers went on strike.
- Solidarity were led by the charismatic Lech Walsea, and soon joined by thousands of other workers to form an independent trade union.
- The Union was banned and went underground
- Solidarity were led by the charismatic Lech Walsea, and soon joined by thousands of other workers to form an independent trade union.
- Govt raised food prices by up to 100 per cent, as a result shipyard workers went on strike.
- USSR concerned West would impose economic sanctions, weakening Sov economy.
- Solidarity had become an unstoppable force, it would survive being underground.
- Walesa would be elected as Polish president in 1990 as communism collapsed.
- Solidarity had become an unstoppable force, it would survive being underground.
- The events in Poland were the last serious threat to Soviet control in Eastern Europe until the late 1980s
- Poland was facing a severe economic crisis, largely due to rising cost of oil & a recession in the West.
- Poland 1956
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