The Collapse of Communist Power in Poland
The Collapse of Communist Power in Poland

Author: Jacqueline Hayden

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-03-23

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1134208006

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Based on extensive original research, including interviews with key participants, this book investigates the sudden and unforeseen collapse of communist power in Poland in 1989. It sets out the sequence of events, and examines the strategies of the various political groupings prior to the partially free election of June 1989. This volume argues that the specific negotiating strategies adopted by the communist party representatives in the Round Table discussions before the elections was a key factor in communism’s collapse. The book shows that on many occasions, PZPR decision-makers ignored expert advice, and many Round Table bargains went against the party’s best interests. Using in-depth interviews with major party players, including General Jaruzelski, General Kiszczak and Mieczyslaw Rakowski, as well as Solidarity advisors such as Adam Michnik, the text provides a unique source of first-hand accounts of Poland’s revolutionary drama.

Triggering Communism's Collapse
Triggering Communism's Collapse

Author: Marjorie Castle

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 9780742525153

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Through research and interviews Castle examines the causes and consequences of Poland's collapse as a communist state and explores how today's leaders confront some of the legacies of transition.

Communism: A Very Short Introduction
Communism: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Leslie Holmes

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2009-08-27

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 0199551545

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The collapse of communism was one of the most defining moments of the twentieth century. This Very Short Introduction examines the history behind the political, economic, and social structures of communism as an ideology.

The Collapse of Communism
The Collapse of Communism

Author: Lee Edwards

Publisher: Hoover Institution Press

Published: 2013-11-01

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0817998160

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Experts continue to debate one of the most important political questions of the twentieth century—why did Communism collapse so suddenly? These essays suggest that a wide range of forces—political, economic, strategic, religious, add the indispensable role of the principled statesman and the brave dissident—brought about the collapse of communism.

Spring Will Be Ours
Spring Will Be Ours

Author: Andrzej Paczkowski

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2010-11-01

Total Pages: 608

ISBN-13: 9780271047539

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The Spring Will Be Ours focuses on the turbulent half century from the outbreak of World War II in 1939, which started the chain of events that would lead to the communist takeover of Poland, to 1989, when futile attempts to reform the communist system gave way to its total transformation. Andrzej Paczkowski shows how the communists captured and consolidated power, describes their use of terror and propaganda, and illuminates the changes that took place within the governing elite. He also documents the political opposition to the regime - both inside Poland and abroad - that resulted in upheavals in 1956, 1968, 1970, 1976, and 1980. His narrative makes evident the pressures that the elite felt from above, from Moscow, and from below, from the population and from within the party. The history of Poland and the Poles is of special interest because on numerous occasions in the twentieth century this relatively small country influenced developments on a global scale.

The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power
The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power

Author: Jan Kubik

Publisher: Penn State University Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 9780271010847

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Jan Kubik begins his study by demonstrating how the strategy for remodeling the national culture was implemented through extensive use of public ceremonies and displays of symbols by the Gierek regime (1970-80). He then reconstructs the emergence of the Catholic Church and the organized opposition as viable counter-hegemonic politics. Their growing strength opened the way for counter-hegemonic politics, the delegitimization of the regime, the rise of the Solidarity, and the collapse of communism.

Empowering Revolution
Empowering Revolution

Author: Gregory F. Domber

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2014-10-06

Total Pages: 413

ISBN-13: 1469618524

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As the most populous country in Eastern Europe as well as the birthplace of the largest anticommunist dissident movement, Poland is crucial in understanding the end of the Cold War. During the 1980s, both the United States and the Soviet Union vied for influence over Poland's politically tumultuous steps toward democratic revolution. In this groundbreaking history, Gregory F. Domber examines American policy toward Poland and its promotion of moderate voices within the opposition, while simultaneously addressing the Soviet and European influences on Poland's revolution in 1989. With a cast including Reagan, Gorbachev, and Pope John Paul II, Domber charts American support of anticommunist opposition groups--particularly Solidarity, the underground movement led by future president Lech Wa&322;&281;sa--and highlights the transnational network of Polish emigres and trade unionists that kept the opposition alive. Utilizing archival research and interviews with Polish and American government officials and opposition leaders, Domber argues that the United States empowered a specific segment of the Polish opposition and illustrates how Soviet leaders unwittingly fostered radical, pro-democratic change through their policies. The result is fresh insight into the global impact of the Polish pro-democracy movement.

Post-Communist Poland - Contested Pasts and Future Identities
Post-Communist Poland - Contested Pasts and Future Identities

Author: Ewa Ochman

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-07-18

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 1135916004

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This book explores the reinterpretations of Poland’s past which have been undertaken by Polish national and local elites since the fall of communism. It focuses on remembrance practices and traces the de-commemorating of communism to examine the ways in which collective remembering and forgetting shapes present power constellations in Poland and impacts on foreign and domestic policy. The book outlines the detail of the new hegemonic national myths which are being established but also investigates fragmentation and diversification of commemorative practices at the local level that has the most potential to challenge the dominant vision of national Polish identity, historically centred on martyrdom, heroism and independence, as less relevant to Poland’s new aspirations for the future.

The Collapse of 'real Socialism' in Poland
The Collapse of 'real Socialism' in Poland

Author: Jacek Tittenbrun

Publisher: Janus Book Publishers

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13:

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Jacek Tittenbrun, born in 1952, is Professor of Sociology, Deputy Director of the Institute of Sociology and Head of the Economic Sociology Research Unit at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. He received his MA (with Distinction) and his PhD there. His research interests centre on the relationship between economy and society. He is the author of seven books. Among them are: Interactionism in Contemporary American Sociology, Financial Institutions and Ownership of Equity Capital; New Capitalists? Employee Pension Funds and Ownership of Equity Capital (all in Polish). His forthcoming book, co-authored with two other Polish scholars, is Ownership and Society (in English). He has published about seventy scholarly articles in professional (including Anglo-American) journals and contributions to collective volumes.