Polish United Workers' Party Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | PZPR |
| General Secretary | Bolesław Bierut (first) Mieczysław Rakowski (last) |
| Founded | 21 December 1948[1] |
| Dissolved | 30 January 1990[2] |
| Merger of | PPR, PPS |
| Succeeded by | PUS, SdRP, KPP (not legal successors) |
| Headquarters | Nowy Świat 6/12, 00-497 Warsaw |
| Newspaper | Trybuna Ludu |
| Youth wing |
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| Paramilitary wing | ORMO (until 1989) |
| Membership | 3,000,000 (1980's est.)[3] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-left |
| National affiliation |
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| International affiliation | Cominform (1948–56) |
| Colors | Red |
| Slogan | "Workers of the world, unite!"[4] |
| Anthem | "The Internationale" |
The Polish United Workers' Party (Polish: Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, pronounced [ˈpɔlska zjɛdnɔˈt͡ʂɔna ˈpartja rɔbɔtˈɲit͡ʂa]), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other legally permitted subordinate minor parties together as the Front of National Unity and later Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth. Ideologically, it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism, with a strong emphasis on left-wing nationalism.[5] The Polish United Workers' Party had total control over public institutions in the country as well as the Polish People's Army, the UB and SB security agencies, the Citizens' Militia (MO) police force and the media.
The falsified 1947 Polish legislative election granted the Communist Polish Workers' Party (PPR) complete political authority in post-war Poland. The PZPR was founded forthwith in December 1948 through the unification of the PPR and the Polish Socialist Party (PPS). From 1952 onward, the position of "First Secretary" of the Polish United Workers' Party was de facto equivalent to Poland's head of state. Throughout its existence, the PZPR maintained close ties with ideologically-similar parties of the Eastern Bloc, most notably the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Between 1948 and 1954, nearly 1.5 million individuals registered as Polish United Workers' Party members, and membership rose to 3 million by 1980.[3]
The party's primary objective was to impose socialist agenda unto Polish society. The communist government sought to nationalize all institutions. Some concepts imported from abroad, such as large-scale collective farming and secularization, failed in their early stages. The PZPR was considered more liberal and pro-Western than its counterparts in East Germany or the Soviet Union, and was more averse to radical politics. Although propaganda was utilized in major media outlets like Trybuna Ludu (lit. 'People's Tribune') and televised Dziennik ('Journal'), censorship became ineffective by the mid-1980s and was gradually abolished.[citation needed] On the other hand, the Polish United Worker's Party was responsible for the brutal pacification of civil resistance and protesters in the Poznań protests of 1956, the 1970 Polish protests and throughout martial law between 1981 and 1983. The PZPR also initiated a bitter anti-Semitic campaign during the 1968 Polish political crisis, which forced the remainder of Poland's Jews to emigrate.
Amidst the ongoing political and economic crises, the Solidarity movement emerged as a major anti-bureaucratic social movement that pursued social change. With communist rule being relaxed in neighbouring countries, the PZPR systematically lost support and was forced to negotiate with the opposition and adhere to the Polish Round Table Agreement, which permitted free democratic elections. The elections on 4 June 1989 proved victorious for Solidarity, thus bringing 40-year communist rule in Poland to an end. The Polish United Workers' Party was dissolved in January 1990.