When did Poland leave communism?
The history of Poland from 1945 to 1989 spans the period of communist rule imposed over Poland after the end of World War II.
What was the movement in Poland that led to the fall of communism there?
The reform movement that ended communism in East Central Europe began in Poland. Solidarity, an anti-Communist trade union and social movement, had forced Poland’s Communist government to recognize it in 1980 through a wave of strikes that gained international attention.
Why were Polish people deported to Siberia?
Stalin wanted to destroy eastern Poland and absorb it into the Soviet Union, so he confiscated land, property and businesses, and deported over 1.5 million Polish people to slave labour camps in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the Arctic Circle.
What was the outcome of the strike in Poland?
The strikes in Gdańsk ended on September 1, and on September 3, both sides signed an agreement, according to which the communists promised not to persecute the strikers. The promise was broken, and hundreds of people were fired in the fall of 1988.
What happened to Polish POW in ww2?
As a result of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers became prisoners of war. Many of them were executed; 22,000 Polish military personnel and civilians perished in the Katyn massacre alone.
How many Polish people were deported to the Soviet Union?
In 1945 about 40,000 – 50,000 people from Polish territories were deported to forced labour camps in the USSR, most of them from Upper Silesia. Until 1947, units of the NKVD were stationed in Poland and participated in battles against the anti-communist underground.
What happened to Poland during the Soviet occupation of Poland?
The Sovietization of Poland, accompanied by terror, included the nationalization of industry and the expropriation of privately owned land parcels larger than 125 acres (50 hectares). Yet in some areas (namely, matters concerning the church and foreign policy), the communists trod lightly during this transition period.
What happened to the anti-Stalinists in Poland?
With the sudden death of Bierut, anti-Stalinists in Poland raised their heads; a violently suppressed workers’ strike in Poznań in June 1956 shook the whole country. Gomułka, who believed in a “Polish road to socialism,” became a candidate for the leadership of the party.
How did the Holocaust affect Poland’s ethnic makeup?
The Holocaust, together with the expulsion of several million Germans and population transfers with the U.S.S.R., left Poland virtually homogeneous in its ethnic composition.