The
closer and closer cooperation between the PPR (Polish Workers’ Party) and PPS
(Polish Socialist Party) that was taking place simultaneously with pushing the
right-wing elements out of the PPS, strengthening the united front of the
Polish working class and also of the unity between the workers and farmers has
strengthened the forces of the Polish popular masses in their struggle to
fulfil the tasks of the first year of the three-year plan.
The year 1947 has brought about substantial industrial
successes. The year’s plan was fulfilled by 103.4%. The volume of industrial
production in 1947 has reached 135% of the 1946 level and surpassed the level
of the pre-war year 1938 by 10%. As far as separate industries are concerned,
coal production, which was 59.1 million tonnes in 1947, was 155% of the
production in 1938, steel production 109% compared with 1938. Also production
of steam locomotives, train carriages, agricultural machinery and products of
chemical industry, especially nitrogenous fertilizer, grew significantly
compared with 1938. Sugar production has increased, along with that of other
items of mass consumption. Production of metal- and woodworking machines has
developed especially quickly (in 1947 85% more machines were produced than in
1946).
Despite bad meteorological conditions, agricultural
production also increased in 1947: production of cereal by 8%
and potatoes and livestock products by 30% compared with 1946.
Not only has national income increased, but changes
also took place in its distribution benefiting the working masses and the
working class. The battle for the trade that started in 1947 has also achieved
some positive results at the end, such as the curbing of speculators,
introduction of the system of normalization and control of prices, control of
price increases and even lowering of prices for some items. At the same time,
thanks to the energetic actions of the PPR supported by the large masses of working
people and by civil organisations, it became possible to curb speculation and
increase taxes on the private sector. The state created substantial stocks of
bread. Thanks to increase of production and labour productivity, the curbing of
black markets and the lowering of prices, it became possible to raise the real
income of the workers and all working people by an average of 14%, compared
with the level of real income in 1946.
The year 1947 was marked by the growing activity of
the working class, unfolding of labour competition, growth of the vanguard role
of the Polish proletariat, both in the restoration of the country and in the
struggle against the reactionary forces. The working class came out as the
winner in the struggle for allies against the remnants of the exploiting
classes, and it has strengthened the cooperation with the broad masses of
farmers. For the working farmers, the idea of a union between the working class
and the farmers appeared to be closer than the reactionary “theories” of the PPS
party members and the terrorist actions of fascist gangs hiding in the forests,
against whom the people’s government of the PPR is fighting decisively and in a
non-compromising manner.
The international position of People’s Poland has also
strengthened. Along with the USSR and other countries of people’s democracy, it
rejected the predatory Marshall Plan, whose goal is to enslave other countries
economically and politically. The rejection of the Marshall Plan has crushed
the plans of the American imperialists dreaming of world domination.
At the same time, successes achieved in 1947 have set
new goals for the working masses, for the PPR, for the people’s state. In 1948,
the second year of the three-year plan, it was necessary to assure industrial
growth of 23% and growth of agricultural production (taking into account the
increased use of agricultural land) by 8%. In 1948 it was necessary to ensure the further
mobilization of all forces of the working masses for the resolution of their
political, economic and cultural tasks. At the same time this year was one of
further sharpening of the class struggle.
At that time in Poland, along with the socialist
sector of the economy which played the decisive role and included all big and
almost all medium-sized industry, banks, transport and the majority of the
wholesale trade, there also existed small-scale economic structures that was
represented by the economy of the working farmers as well as the capitalist
sector that at that time was still relatively strong in the retail, small
industry and partially in medium-sized industry, as well as in the countryside
(kulak economy).
The capitalist elements in the cities and in
countryside did not give up. They are continuing their struggle against the
people’s democracy both in politics and in the economy. The so-called “private
initiative” tried everywhere possible to slip away from the control of the
people’s power and, with the help of black markets and price increases, to
enrich themselves at the expense of the working masses, to undermine the
exchange of goods between the cities and the countryside, to cause damage to
the state economy.
In 1948 the question of how to proceed further has
risen sharply for the Polish Workers Party, for the working masses, for the
people’s power. It was vital to decisively limit the activity of private
capital, since it was sucking the blood out of the country’s economy and was a
great hindrance to the planned development of the economy; it was necessary to
strengthen control over private companies, taking the course towards quickly
squeezing the capitalist elements out of the economy and trade.
It was necessary to decide whether Poland should
remain an agro-industrial country in the future, which would be forced to
export raw materials and semi-finished products and to import machinery and
industrial tools from the big capitalist countries, or whether it should follow
the path of socialist industrialization, the example of the Soviet Union, by
creating a modern socialist industry, as the basis for the general all-sided
economic and cultural development of the country and a powerful factor in its
defence ability.
It was necessary to decide whether Polish agriculture
should continue its centuries-long backwardness, using primitive tools, whether
it should continue to serve the interests of just a small group of exploiters,
the kulaks, or whether we should begin providing our agriculture with the most
modern agricultural machinery and to introduce modern methods of working the
land, which will guarantee big harvests, an increase in the well-being of the
working farmers and in the supplies of raw materials for the quickly growing
industry in the cities and towns.
Already at that time it became clear that there was a
growing disproportion between the tempo of industrial development (where the
socialist sector was playing the decisive role) and the tempo of development of
small-scale Polish agriculture, where the kulaks and speculators were enriching
themselves.
It is clear that the party had to make the only right
decision: to continue to follow the path of squeezing the capitalist elements
out of industry and trade, the path of Poland’s industrialization and the path
of development of modern agriculture, the path of setting up co-operatives in
the Polish countryside. It is quite clear that taking up this path meant the
end of all hopes of restoring capitalism in Poland. The agents of imperialism
have mobilized all their forces against this path of development, including all
those who were under influence of these agents and all those who have not yet
freed themselves from the ideological influence of the exploiting classes.
Naturally, in such conditions the class struggle in
Poland would sharpen, and the aggressive character of Anglo-American
imperialism would grow.
American imperialism, having thrown away its mask,
began to prepare openly for a war against the USSR and the countries of
people’s democracy; it began to openly support the attempts of reactionary
coups in those countries that have overthrown the rule of the capital. The
Marshall Plan was a tool of the American military economy that aimed to enslave
the economies of all the major capitalist countries in order to create an
aggressive imperialist bloc out of them. The attitude towards the Soviet Union,
the socialist country that was so enormously hated by the world’s imperialists
and all their agents, became more than ever a decisive factor in determining
the real social character of each movement, each party, each
activist of the workers’ movement.
Considering all these issues, the resolution of the
August-September 1948 Plenum of the CC of the PPR remarked: “In the course of
realisation of the deep-going social and political reforms within the framework
of the people’s democracy, the countries of peoples democracy are moving
towards the tasks of socialist construction, which will lead toward the
sharpening and deepening of the class struggle. At the same time it is becoming
clear that socialist construction in the countries of people’s democracy is
only possible based on close cooperation with the Soviet Union, that the
defence of the sovereignty of these countries against the encroachment of
American imperialism demands, in connection with a worsening international
situation, closer and closer cooperation with the Soviet Union and the other
countries of people’s democracy.
“Under these conditions, the main contradiction is
again sharpening between the capitalist forces that would like to ‘freeze’ the
existing balance of class forces (in the hope for waiting for a situation that
would be more suitable for themselves), that would attempt to achieve
‘stabilization’ based on safeguarding the capitalist elements under conditions
of the system of people’s democracy, hoping for their adaptability and the
revival of capitalism from small-scale economy, and those class forces (the
working class in cooperation with the poor and middle peasantry) that aim for
the further strengthening of the socialist elements through squeezing out and
liquidating the capitalist elements.”
The sharpening of the class struggle, the activation
of the capitalist and kulak elements who were under the patronage of
Anglo-American imperialism, also influenced the right-wing opportunists and
right-wing nationalists within the PPR.
The right-wing nationalist group within the PPR, which
was under the leadership of Gomulka, has expressed its malicious, reactionary
right-wing “theories” even earlier, while still under occupation. But at that
time its attempts to surrender the party to the bankrupt London reactionaries
were paralysed in a timely manner thanks to the decisive actions of the
majority of the party’s leadership. The quick liberation of Poland by the
Soviet Army prevented the further attempts of realising these right-wing ideas.
But the right-wing and nationalist views remained,
overwhelming some members of that group. These views could be seen in the
damaging decisions taken by some members of the group, in some fields of work
given to them by the party; they were expressed in distorting the party line,
in the carrying out of policies that were against the party line.
Gomulka and his followers were misinterpreting the
correct party line of using all available resources to speed up the country’s
recovery and develop its Western lands, by maintaining the class agreement with
the capitalist elements. In the Western territories Gomulka and his followers
were creating big kulak farms. Gomulka and his followers were striving to
diminish the role of the poor peasantry, the main ally of the proletariat, in
the party organisations in the countryside, to contaminate the party cells in
the countryside with “good business people” – the kulaks.
Gomulka and his followers were distorting the correct
party line aimed at involving all honest people in the construction of the new
Poland, including democrats, as well as those people who during the occupation
were under reactionary influence but who managed to free themselves from this
influence and took up the path of honestly serving the new Poland, by
contaminating the party and the state apparatus with real enemies, people who
were linked to the fascist oppression of Poland in the past, who were linked to
the foreign intelligence services (under Gomulka the Ministry of Recovered
Lands became the base for all sorts of agents of former security services and
the Gestapo, such as Lechowicz and Payor, and provocateurs such as Dubel).
In the reborn Polish Army, Spychalski planted various
spies of the type of German and Kirkhmayerists; he
attempted, though fruitlessly, to squeeze out of the Polish army new officer
cadres, who were formed in the flames of the
liberation of the country.
Gomulka and his followers stubbornly attempted to
diminish the party’s role in the political and social life of the country, by
opposing to it the state apparatus where it was easier for them to do their
damaging work.
Part of this plan aimed at undermining the country
were Gomulka’s actions against the revolutionary traditions of the Polish
workers’ movement, especially against the Polish Communist Party. Gomulka had
as a goal to undermine the reputation of the hard-tested revolutionary cadres,
who rose up against Gomulka’s anti-Leninist and anti-party “little theories”.
The international revolutionary workers’ movement
replied to the worsening of the international situation, to the strengthening
of the expansion and war preparations of the imperialist camp under the
leadership of the USA, by holding a conference of some communist and workers
parties in Poland in 1947 and also by the creation of the Information Bureau of
these parties. The creation of the Information Bureau of the communist and
workers parties created guarantees for the unification of the attempts of the
working people of the USSR and the countries of people’s democracy, as well as
their Marxist-Leninist parties headed by the AUCP(b), with the struggle of the
communist parties and working masses of the capitalist countries of the West,
for peace and independence of the nations threatened by Anglo-American imperialism,
in their struggle for people’s democracy and socialism.
The resolution on the creation of the Information
Bureau stated: “The need for exchange of experience and voluntary coordination
of actions of several parties is especially great now, under conditions of the
worsening of the international situation in the post-war period, when the
division between the communist parties can cause damage to the cause of the
working class”.1
Gomulka attempted to sabotage the formation of the
Information Bureau and took a clearly nationalist position in relation to it,
aimed against international proletarian solidarity. The decisive position of
the majority of the Polish Workers Party leadership paralysed Gomulka’s
trickery; he was forced to submit to the will of the majority, but even later he
did not stop his anti-party intrigues.
The “activities” of Gomulka and his followers caused
especially great harm in the area of ideology. Diminishing the importance of
Marxism-Leninism, the only truly scientific ideology that serves as a guiding
star for all revolutionary workers parties in all their activities, denying the
great importance of the experience of the AUCP(b), which is an example for all
communist and workers parties, Gomulka and his followers tried to substitute
Marxism-Leninism by a mix of “little theories” that were in reality nothing but
a variation of the bourgeois nationalist conceptions of the right-wing of the
PRP. At the same time, Gomulka supported the opportunist and nationalist
policies of his followers in the field of culture.
Gomulka’s defeat on the issue of the creation of the
Information Bureau forced him to look for new methods for his struggle against
the party, against its Marxist-Leninist line, against socialism.
Gomulka realized that his method of setting parts of
the state apparatus occupied by his followers against the party was unreliable
and insufficient. Gomulka also realized that his right-wing nationalist,
opportunist, social democratic, anti-Leninist and anti-party views could not
count on the support of the members of our party. That is exactly why Gomulka
began to look for supporters in the right wing of the PPS, among the
social-democrats and social-nationalists.
Realising that the day of the unity within the
workers’ movement was near, Gomulka took the course for the creation within the
future united party of a bloc that could unite the right-wing leaning members
of the PPR and the right wing of the PPS, a bloc that would lead the whole
party on the road for Poland to become enslaved by the imperialists.
In his speeches in the spring of 1948, Gomulka more
and more frequently bowed towards the Pilsudski traditions of the PPS, toward
the so-called contributions of the right wing of the PPS for the Polish people,
because he was interested in finding a common language with the right-wing,
anti- Leninist groups within the PPS.
This line was completely and clearly expressed in
Gomulka’s speech at the June 1948 Plenum of the CC of the PRP.
For the Polish Workers Party 1948 became the year of
struggle for the correct, Marxist-Leninist line and became known in the history
of the PRP as the year of uncompromising and merciless struggle of the party
with the right-wing nationalist deviation. Already in September 1947, during
the first working meeting of the representatives of the communist and workers
parties that created the Information Bureau, the incorrect position of Gomulka
became obvious. The source of this position was Gomulka’s nationalist,
unfriendly, mistrustful attitude towards the USSR, towards the AUCP(b).
Already in those days his anti-internationalist
position became clear, as well as his opportunism and flunkeyism towards
Anglo-American imperialists, his capitulation to the enemy’s bourgeois
ideology. Only the decisive position of the PPR’s leadership forced Gomulka to
give up his position, but this did not prevent him from continuing to express
his “doubts and reservations” on the issue of the creation of the Information
Bureau.
In 1948, when the party was fighting with Gomulka,
Tito’s treachery that took place within the Yugoslav Communist Party, made
clear with full force the anti-Leninist and anti-Soviet nature of Gomulka’s
“little theories”. Today we can say that, just as in 1944 Gomulka’s attitude
towards the CKL (Central Populist Committee) and the Council of National Unity
made clear his real attitude towards the cause of fighting for workers’ power
and the future free Poland, so his conciliatory attitude towards Tito’s
betrayal made mercilessly clear the whole rotten opportunist and nationalist
character of Gomulka’s “political conceptions”, clarified his real attitude
toward socialist construction in Poland.
In 1948 during the August Plenum of the CC of the PRP,
Comrade Bierut in his speech about the right-wing
nationalist deviation in the leadership of the party and the ways to overcome
it proved without a doubt that the Yugoslavia events served as a stimulus for
Gomulka’s June actions. The deep analysis made by Comrade Bierut
showed that there is a deep inner connection between Gomulka’s June speech (which was not agreed upon by the Politbureau)
about the historical traditions of the Polish workers’ movement and Tito’s
betrayal. In his June speech Gomulka presented a conscious and deliberate
revision of Lenin’s view of the history of the Polish workers’ movement. The
evaluation of the traditions and history of the Polish workers’ movement in
this speech had a false, nationalist character. The nationalist conception,
which consisted of separating the struggle for independence from the cause of
the proletarian revolution, from the issue of the struggle for power, was
already visible in Gomulka’s position in 1944, but in this speech it was even
more sharply and openly obvious, even less masked than before. That proved
clearly that the errors committed by Gomulka during the occupation were not an
accident, were not an isolated case, but that they became a developed programme
of anti- Leninist theories, a programme of right-wing treachery.
The revolutionary workers’ movement in Poland, while
struggling for national independence, did not even for a second give up the
struggle for working class power. In this struggle it encountered not just the
strong resistance of the bourgeoisie, but also the no less passionate struggle
of its agents within the working class movement, among whom the most important
part was played by the right-wing leadership of the PPS.
Thus, on the eve of the unification of the PPR and the
PPS, Gomulka was prepared to offer an anti-Leninist platform of the struggle
for independence as the ideological base for this unification. This completely
false, opportunist and nationalist speech of Gomulka was met by sharp criticism
at the Plenum of the CC of the PPR. The proceedings of the June
Plenum
of the CC demonstrated the maturity and strength of the members of the Central
Committee of the party, who stood on correct, Leninist positions. The members
of the Central Committee, without the slightest doubt, immediately rejected and
criticised Gomulka’s false “theories”. This struggle that the CC of the party
underwent in June 1948 (and it was really a big battle, considering the respect
that Gomulka enjoyed at that time!) demonstrated that our party has strong and
healthy Marxist-Leninist foundations, that no reputation of a single individual
can cause any doubts within the party or lead it astray from its correct path.
Hard-tested comrades of the PPR were like a sensitive seismograph – in a timely
manner they noticed and exposed the mistakes and distortions of the party line
in Gomulka’s speech and pointed out the catastrophic consequences that such a
distortion of the Marxist-Leninist party line can cause.
It is no coincidence that the nationalist mistrust
towards the Soviet Union and the AUCP(b) became so
obvious in Gomulka and his little right- wing group in 1948. It was exactly the
time when the crisis within the Yugoslav communist party became clear; the
anti-party, nationalist, anti-Leninist line of the leadership of the CPY came
out, which was aimed against the USSR, against the AUCP(b),
against the worldwide camp of peace and democracy. It was also no coincidence
that Gomulka in no way wanted to agree with the sharp criticism of this
anti-Soviet position of the leadership of the CPY Even at the August Plenum,
after the speech of Comrade Bierut that was deep in
its ideological content, after 3 months of discussions, Gomulka, making a
speech of “self-criticism”, said about the Yugoslav issue in particular:
“Comrades, when I ask myself today if it was possible to react in a different
way to the mistaken, nationalist and anti-Marxist position and policy of the
CPY, I have to confess that I still do not have a straight answer.”
Thus, when the betrayal of the CPY leadership was
already clear to every honest Marxist, Gomulka “still did not have a straight
answer” to the question as to whether the revolutionary vigilance and position
of the AUCP(b) (thanks to which it became possible for the communist and
workers party to recognize and unmask the treacherous role of the CPY
leadership in a timely manner) was correct, and whether it was possible to
react in a different way to the betrayal of the Leninist internationalist
ideals by the leadership of the CPY and to their betrayal of the worldwide camp
of peace and democracy. The nationalism and opportunism of Gomulka forced him
to turn his back on the historic decision of the Information Bureau of several
communist and workers parties that was taken in June 1948. Nationalism and
opportunism made him mistrust the revolutionary position of the AUCP(b).
Gomulka’s attitude towards the Yugoslav question
sharply highlighted his right-wing tendencies also in the issue of evaluation
of the road of development for People’s Poland, of the character of people’s democracy,
of the party’s policy in the countryside.
When in 1948 the issue of beginning of socialist
reconstruction in the countryside in countries of people’s democracy arose,
Gomulka’s rejection of the teaching of Marxism-Leninism became fully exposed.
This happened precisely in connection with the
decision of the Information Bureau on the situation in the CPY Gomulka declared
openly that the Polish Workers Party should break its ties with the Information
Bureau and change its Leninist position on the agrarian issue. On this issue,
long before the June Plenum, there were serious differences between Gomulka and
the Politbureau members. At the August Plenum,
Gomulka, in his speech of “self-criticism”, confirmed once again that he wanted
to postpone the question of socialist reconstruction of the countryside until
the distant future. In reality this position meant a policy of encouraging the
kulaks and rejection of socialist construction in general, because it is hard
to talk about real construction of socialism when the issue of socialist
changes in agriculture are indefinitely postponed into the “distant future”.
In the August 1948 Plenum Comrade Bierut
demonstrated in depth that Gomulka’s right-wing opportunist, nationalist
tendencies that were exposed by the first working meeting of the Information
Bureau, and that were fully shown in his attitude towards the Yugoslav
situation, was not an accident, but a logical development of those opportunist
and nationalist “theories” in which Gomulka was already trapped during the Nazi
occupation of the country. The reason for the formation of these theories was
his disbelief in the strength of the working class, his capitulation to
bourgeois ideology, his overestimation of the strength of the bourgeoisie, his
nationalist attitude towards the Soviet Union and the AUCP(b), full of
animosity and mistrust, his opportunist tendency of rejection of the class
struggle against the capitalist elements, which in reality practically led to
the continuation and safeguarding of the social and political system that
existed at that time, and thus to the rejection of the construction of
socialism.
Gomulka's tactic of “self-criticism” at the
August Plenum was also very typical. First Gomulka’s speech of “self-criticism”
was in fact an attempt to maintain his old positions, which were marked by his
sharp opposition towards point 5 of the resolution’s draft,
that exposed an inner link between Gomulka’s right-wing nationalist
tendency that he had in 1948 and his very similar position during the
occupation.
In his speech during the August Plenum Gomulka
stubbornly defended his thoroughly rotten position on the issue of CKL and
defended Beinkowski’s article “Our position” that was
published in “Tribuna Volnosci”
on the 1st
of July 1944, thus defending the policy of accommodation
to the CKL (on the eve of the liberation of Poland), and through the
CKL also
with the Council of National Unity, based on reorganisation of the
“government-
in-exile” based in London, that is, he defended an article that, 3
weeks prior
to the coming to power of the Polish Committee of National Liberation,
tried to
convince the leadership of the WRN (Freedom, Equality, Independence)
and Mikolajczyk’s “People’s Party” (PSL) that they represent
serious forces in Polish society and at the same time tried to weaken
the
vigilance of the party by empty talk of democratism
of the traitors of the WRN.
Not for nothing did Gomulka protest so passionately
against point 5 of the resolution, pretending that he supported the other points.
His tactic was clear. He hoped to use the loyalty of the PPR’s cadres to the
party’s traditions, and by doing so, to form a group around himself of at least
some sector of activists, who were working during the occupation, in order to
divide the party into former members of the Polish CP and members of the PPR,
into those who were “inside the country” and those who were “abroad” at that
time. But under sharp criticism from the members of the CC, Gomulka, having
realised that his attempt to bet on his personal reputation and on division
between party members, failed; he changed his tactic in the course of the
Plenum. He began to express “regrets” and “agreement” with point 5; he begged
not to be expelled from the party. But those who
believed that this second “self-criticism” was more complete than the first
one, were mistaken. Not only it was not sincere, because it did not even try to
analyse his own errors committed in previous years, the main motive for this
second “self-criticism” was his excuse of not knowing the history of the
workers’ movement, of not knowing Marxist-Leninist theory, his lack of
understanding of the root of his mistakes committed in the past. But after
these formal excuses, new attacks on the party leadership followed.
In the proceedings of the July and August 1948 Plenums
the Polish Workers’ Party enriched itself with experience, armed itself with
Leninist analysis of the development of Poland, of the development of the
agrarian sector in particular. It acquired a clear platform of unification with
the PPS, based on Marxist-Leninist principles. The party came out of the July
and August Plenums stronger than ever, ready to fight, better prepared to
undertake the new tasks that it had to complete in the process of socialist
construction.
The August Plenum not only crushed the right-wing and
nationalist tendencies, but also made an outline of the ideological
basis of
the Polish United Workers Party, based on Marxist-Leninist principles;
it
defined a clear perspective of the further development of the party; it
drew up
the plans of the further development of People’s Poland. The August
Plenum
strengthened the party ideologically, liquidated the crisis in its
leadership
and brought the party closer than ever around its leadership, around
comrade Bierut. The August Plenum demonstrated the party’s strength
and capacity, its high ideological level, its uncompromising position
towards
all deviations from the Marxist-Leninist line. This has helped to raise
the
party and its leadership’s reputation among the party members. This
helped to
raise the party’s reputation among the workers and all Polish people.
The August Plenum pointed out to the PPR and the PPS
the danger of “Poland’s own road to socialism”; it pointed out the unbreakable
link between the struggle for peace and socialism with the struggle of the
fraternal communist and workers parties, and in the first place, with the
struggle of the most developed, most progressive party – AUCP(b) – the only
party in the world under whose leadership socialism was victoriously built, the
party that has given to the world two genius theoreticians and practitioners of
Marxism, Lenin and Stalin, the party whose path became an example for the
communist parties of the whole world, the party without whose teachings and
experience it would have been impossible for us to achieve such successes in
the construction of People’s Poland.
The August Plenum worked out a correct ideological
platform, and using it as a base, it became possible to unite the two parties.
It confirmed that unification with the renewed, reborn PPS,
cleared of right wingers, of the agents of the WRN, bearers of an ideology that
is alien and hostile to the working class; such unification is only possible
when based on Marxism- Leninism.
The materials and decisions of the August Plenum of
the CC of the PPR showed the ways and means towards rectification of the errors
of the PPS. The declaration of the Central Executive Commission of the PPS,
confirmed by the Chief Council, mentioned this, for example: “The PPR has
recently shown us an example of how to strengthen its members, of how to raise
their ideological level and how to strengthen the party itself.”
The Chief Council of the PPS, in its meeting in
September 1948, sharply criticized the errors and doubts of a part of
its
activists and the PPS leadership which were expressed in the evaluation
of the
power of people’s democracy as the “golden middle”, in the damaging
tendencies
of the right- wing groups of the PPS, aimed at turning the PPS into the
“third
force”, in giving in to nationalist views, in the lack of understanding
of the
necessity to fight against the nationalist and reformist burden that
was still
borne by some members of the PPS. Despite the great changes that have
taken
place within the PPS after the liberation of the country, despite the
strengthening of its activists and leadership who supported the idea of
the
united front, despite the rejection of the hostile, anti-Soviet
tendencies and
the overcoming, to a certain extent, of the reformist traditions, at
that time
the PPS had not liberated itself fully from the influences of the
right-wing,
bourgeois nationalist ideology. There were still many bearers of the
WRN policy
within the PPS, enemies of the united front; there were also many
nationalist
elements who glorified the “55-year-old traditions of the PPS in the
struggle
for socialism and independence”. There were still strong tendencies of
the right-wing groups aimed at turning the PPS into the “third
force”, that would act between the PPR and PSL while at the same time
shamelessly flirting with Mikolajczyk. This campaign
to weaken the united front was naturally met with delight by all the
reactionaries in Poland, including the Anglo-American agents, who did
not hide
their delight when they saw an opportunity to break the unity of action
between
the PPR and the PPS.
When in March 1948 the Central Executive Committee of
the PPS decisively took the path of organisational unity of the two parties,
the PPS still had many right-wing elements, some of them even of the WRN type.
Those elements wanted to achieve unity immediately, at any cost, without first
cleansing party ranks. Precisely those who were yesterday shouting the loudest
against unity, against the PPR, were now calling for immediate unification.
Their manoeuvres were clear: if there was now no hope to break the unity of the
working class, then at least they wanted to attempt to try to sneak as many
right wingers as possible into the new, united party and to keep them there in
order to use them at the right time, to undermine the unity of the working
class again. The right wing-leaning position of Gomulka was broadly based on
the same concept. Gomulka wanted unification without broad ideological
discussion in advance, without cleansing the ranks of the PPS. He wanted the
party to lean ideologically on the right-wing, bourgeois nationalist conception
of the PPS. Such an aim for a “total merger” with “the whole PPS”, without
disengaging from the right wingers, ignoring the danger of thus involving
various nationalist and opportunist elements in the future united party, in
reality had its roots in the very same bourgeois nationalist tendencies that
were borne by the right wing of the PPS.
The ideological help of the PPR, in the first place in
the July and August Plenums of the PPR, gave the PPS
an opportunity to deal with those dangerous right-wing tendencies in a timely
manner. For the first time in its history the renewed PPS mercilessly and
critically reviewed its own past and called the treacherous, nationalist and
opportunist policy of the pre-war PPS by its proper name. It chose the path of
continuation of the most noble traditions of the
Polish workers’ movement, SDPL (Social Democracy of Poland), KPP (Communist
Party of Poland), left wing of the PPS. As a result of the crushing of the
right-wing tendencies within the PPS it became possible to unite both parties
based on true Marxist-Leninist principles.
Alongside the great achievements in the struggle
against the distortion of the Marxist-Leninist party line (which were expressed
in the crushing of the right-wing nationalist tendency, strengthening the party’s
forces and influence, its unification around the Politbureau
and Comrade Bierut), 1948 was marked by great
achievements of the party in strengthening of the people’s power, crushing the
bandit underground movement, in the development of the economy and rise in the
living standards of the broadest possible masses, in strengthening the
reputation of Poland in international affairs. At that time the division
between the two camps in the international arena was deepening, that is,
between the imperialist, anti-democratic camp headed by the US and the
anti-imperialist, democratic camp headed by the USSR. The evaluation of the
international situation given by comrade Zhdanov at the first working meeting
of the communist and workers parties in 1947 was the most correct evaluation of
the essence of the policies of the United States. Comrade Zhdanov said at that
time: “The main goal of the imperialist camp is the strengthening of
imperialism, in the preparation of a new imperialist war, the struggle against
socialism and democracy and worldwide support for the reactionary and
anti-democratic pro-fascist regimes and movements.”2
In the struggle for the establishment of their control
over the countries of Western Europe, for their political and economic
submission, American imperialism, using Truman’s doctrine and the Marshall
Plan, in 1948 used unheard of, shameless provocations and cynical methods.
Following the decision of the US and British governments, control over the
(German)
Ruhr
region was given to the US. It became obvious that US imperialism began to
revive German imperialism in Western Germany, that with the help of the Americans
the “Fourth Reich” was supposed to turn into the bastion of Prussian revanchism and the “Drang nach Osten” (thrust to the East)
policy, into a stronghold against the Soviet Union and the countries of
people’s democracy.
At the UN session in 1948 the true character of the
plans of US imperialism was fully unmasked. At that session the Soviet Union
presented a grand plan of strengthening peace worldwide, a plan of prohibition
of nuclear weapons and of arms reduction. American imperialism attended this session
with a plan for its disruption; it was prepared at any cost, by using its
“voting machine”, to prevent the adoption of all constructive propositions of
the USSR and the people’s democracies aimed at strengthening world peace. The
whole UN session and the reaction of the European peoples to the discussion
that had taken place there, once again confirmed the evaluation that was given
at the first working meeting of the Information Bureau of the communist and
workers parties. It is known that the representatives of the US government as
well as of the governments of Britain, France, Belgium and some other US
satellites voted against the propositions of the Soviet Union; at the same
time, millions of working people voted for these propositions of the socialist
country; the French working class voted by its general strike, the English and
Italian workers supported them, as did all people of good will, who through
their best representatives, the representatives of the communist and workers
parties, declared that the English, French and Italian people will never take
part in a war against the Soviet Union and the countries of people’s democracy.
A worthy response to those anti-Soviet speeches of the
agents of the Marshall Plan was given in simple and clear words by comrade
Stalin in his interview with the Pravda correspondent:
“The
thing is that those in the United States and Great Britain who inspire an
aggressive policy do not consider themselves interested in an agreement and in
co-operation with the U.S.S.R. What they want is not agreement and
co-operation, but talk about agreement and cooperation, so as to put the blame
on the U.S.S.R. by preventing agreement and thus to ‘prove’ that co-operation
with the U.S.S.R. is impossible. What the war instigators who are striving to
unleash a new war fear most of all is the reaching of agreements and
co-operation with the U.S.S.R. because a policy of concord with the U.S.S.R.
undermines the position of the instigators of war and deprives the aggressive
policy of these gentlemen of any purpose. It is for this reason that they
disrupt agreements that have already been reached, that they disavow their
representatives who have drawn up such agreements together with the U.S. S.R.,
and in violation of the United Nations Charter refer the question to the
Security Council, where they have a guaranteed majority and where they can
‘prove’ whatever they like. All this is done to ‘show’ that co-operation with
the U.S.S.R. is impossible and to ‘show’ the necessity for a new war, and thus
to prepare the ground for the unleashing of war. The policy of the present
leaders of the U.S.A. and Great Britain is a policy of aggression, a policy of
unleashing a new war.”3
The words of the great leader of the international
workers’ movement, the banner of peace, have fully unmasked the Anglo-American
imperialists and exposed the whole depth of their criminal warmongering war
policy that contradicts the will of millions of the ordinary people.
The warmongering was conducted in West Germany
simultaneously with a revanchist campaign against Poland, against its Western
borders. Even the Vatican took part in this anti-Polish campaign. On March the
1st Pope Pius XII published his well-known letter to the German
bishops in which he addressed the “refugees from the East”.
Pius XII did not even refrain from threatening Poland,
declaring that the issue of its Western borders will be “condemned by history”
and saying that “we are afraid that its judgement will be harsh”. The Vatican,
which during the whole period of the occupation by Hitler’s troops, could not
find a single word of condemnation for those who created death camps,
crematoriums and gas chambers, was threatening the Polish people with the
“court of history”; it has forgotten that this very same court had already long
ago condemned the Vatican itself and kept in its archives the truth about its
reactionary, false, pro-imperialist and continuously anti-Polish expressions.
The Polish people have replied to the continuous provocations of American imperialism
blessed by the Vatican, to the intrigues of the Wall Street bankers aimed at
undermining peace, by stronger unification around its people’s government,
around its vanguard, the PPR, by powerful socialist labour competition, by new
remarkable successes in their struggle to fulfil the three-year plan.
The Polish working class approached the unity of its
ranks with big achievements.
In 1948 in the field of industrial development we
surpassed the pre-war level by more than 40%. If we take industrial production
per capita in 1937 as 100%, then in 1948 it became 199.5%. In 1937 the
production of the means of production was 47% of total industrial production,
and production of consumer goods was 53%. In 1948 the production of means of
production was already 54% and the production of consumption goods was 46%.
In many important fields of people’s economy the
production grew significantly. For example, production of electrical energy per
capita in comparison with the pre-war period was 266%, the production of coal –
264%, of steel – 177%. The production of consumer goods also grew
significantly. For example, in 1948 production of sugar per capita reached 170%
of the level of pre-September (1939) Poland, production of wool stuff – 154%,
of cotton stuff – 151%. In 1948 thanks to the great attempts of the
hard-working farmers and with the help of the state, abandoned lands were
recovered, and that has allowed the volume of agricultural land to increase and
to achieve the pre-war harvest level. As a result of this, total production of
cereal, meaning the three main cultivations, reached 122.1% of the pre-war level. This allowed Poland not just
to meet the country’s need for bread but also to export a surplus for the first
time since the war. The number of agricultural animals has increased, but this
industry has not yet achieved its pre-war level. For example, in 1938 there
were 308.2 animals per 1000 people, and in 1948 – 241.5. In 1938 there were
215.9 pigs per 1000 people, and in 1948 – 214.3. The cattle stock was just a
little over 80% of the pre-war 1938 level. A big role in the recovery of
abandoned land and in increasing agricultural production was played by the
growth in the numbers of tractors; by mid 1948 there
were already 14,300 tractors, and also the supply of the agricultural sector by
the draught force, the growth in the quantity of chemical fertilizers per
hectare of agricultural land. If we consider the quantity of such fertilizer
per hectare in 1937 as 100%, then by 1948 it was already 170.4%. A typical
factor that shows the growth of the standard of living of the Polish village
and the growth of its cultural level is the electrification of the countryside.
In 1948, 627 villages had electricity, while before the war it was on average
just 50 villages per year.
Remarkable successes were also achieved in trade. The
percentage of the socialist sector in trade of the products of state industry
was 96% in 1948, while the private sector was just 4% here, and by the end of
the year it became just 2.5%. The percentage of socialist trade in retail has
grown to 35%. Thanks to the fact that the socialist sector has commanding
positions in wholesale trade and its growing role in retail, it became possible
to achieve a certain stabilization of prices in the private market. Continuous
growth of production of goods permitted the abolition of rationing for several
products: potatoes, sugar, flour, bread and coal. The continuous growth of
agricultural production and the over-fulfilment of the plans for industrial
production have led to the growth of the real income of the workers and the
improvement of the standard of living of the broad masses of the working people
in the cities and in the countryside.
At the same time there were also substantial successes
achieved in the development of land in the new, Western regions. By December
1948, 6 million
people were already living in these new lands. This mass movement to the new
lands was the result of the hard political work of the PPR, of the large
investment in these new lands (in 1946, 1947 and 1948 the investments totalled
1.5 billion zloty at the pre-war exchange rate). The industry in the Western
lands was restored. This can be confirmed, for example, by the fact that in
1948 more than 22% of the state industry’s industrial products came from this
territory. The agriculture was also on the rise, abandoned lands were
developed.
The productivity of labour grew; there was a lot of
work completed in the areas of education, culture and healthcare of the working
masses.
In 1948, 38% of the budget was destined for these
goals. In 1948 the number of children attending pre-school education has
doubled in comparison with the pre-war period. The number of young people in
education has increased from 63% in 1938 to 75% in 1948. In 1948, 212,000 young
people were getting their education at schools and on professional courses; in
1938 it was only 94,000. The number of young people in higher education has
grown from 51,000 in 1939 to 108,000 in 1948. The social class of the young
people in education has also changed: if in 1938 children of workers and
farmers were just 14% of their total number, by 1948 they already made up 42%.
That is how people’s power and the party were conducting the struggle for the
new, workers’ and farmers’ intelligentsia.
The struggle to raise the cultural level of the broad
masses of the working people in the cities and in the countryside was also
increasing. By 1948 the country already had 68 theatres, 136 museums, 266 acting, arts and musical
schools, and the number of young people studying in them has grown to 35,000. A
broad network was created, consisting of “red corners”, clubs and libraries for
young people, workers and farmers; many amateur art groups were formed.
The
healthcare system was also strengthened; the network of hospitals, first-aid
stations and clinics was broadened. For example, the number of women’s and
children’s clinics has increased from 2245 in 1938 to 5550 in 1948. The number
of people with insurance has grown from 130,000 in 1938 to more than 6 millions in 1948.
Before the war, Poland had 20 hospital beds for every
10,000 people, and in 1948 there were already 36, and the number of beds in TB
clinics, sanatoriums and preventive clinics has more than doubled. Care for the
health of the working masses, young people, children and mothers has led to an
improvement of the people’s health, to a decrease in mortality and growth in
the birth rate. In 1948 population growth was 17.9 per 1000 people while in
1938 it was only 11.5.
All these achievements became possible thanks to the
overthrow of the power of the landlords and capitalists, to the fact that
immediately after liberation we received comprehensive and generous, selfless
help from the Soviet Union, that thanks to co-operation with the Soviet Union
and other countries of people’s democracy, we were able to reject the pressure
of American imperialism, which was aiming to place the yoke of the Marshall
Plan on us. These achievements became possible thanks to the
creative energy and hard work of all the working people, in the first place,
the working class, thanks to the party – the brain of the working class – that
was guided in its enormous work and struggle by the teaching of Marxism-
Leninism, using the experience of the fraternal AUCP(b) and learning from it.
The working class was moving towards unification,
armed by the decisions of the July and August plenums of the CC of the PPR,
armed by the decisions of the Chief Council of the PPS.
September and October 1948 have passed in the process
of cleansing the party. Comrade Bierut, summarising
the August 1948 Plenum, said: “The best guarantee for the continuous growth of
the tempo of this successful development can be only in a party that is
endlessly dedicated to the ideals of the revolutionary proletariat, that is
unshakeable in its loyalty to these ideals, that is capable of carrying its
creative principles into reality under concrete real specific conditions. From
this it is clear what the first duty and the most important task of each party
member is: to strengthen the party’s achievements on the ideological front, to
remain loyal to its principles, to struggle for overcoming in one’s own mind
and in the minds of others the old ideological remnants that have gathered
there since our childhood, from a very different social system, that constantly
invaded the mind and the psychology of the broad masses, that also invaded the
party ranks, when we weaken our revolutionary and class vigilance even for just
a moment”.
The CC of the PPR adopted special decisions about the
cleansing of the party ranks. The period between the end of the August plenum
and the unification was marked by the rise in activity and battle spirit of the
party ranks. More than ever before, the comrades were learning how to use our
most powerful and effective weapon: the weapon of criticism and self-criticism.
The ideological level was growing, as well as the revolutionary vigilance; the
links between the party and the masses have been strengthened, the party’s
style of work was raised to a higher level, the sense of responsibility among
party members also grew. In the conditions of the powerful rise of the whole
party a serious cleansing of the PPR’s ranks was conducted, it was cleansed of
casual members, careerists, those who were ideologically unsteady, the bearers
of right-wing and nationalist ideology. The ideological struggle within the PPR
also helped the PPS to cleanse itself of the WRN types, of the right wingers,
of the casual members, of those who were alien and hostile towards the working
class.
On the 15th of December 1948 the
Unification Congress took place in Warsaw, uniting the PPR and the PPS; it was
the unification of the Polish working class.
The heroic Polish working class came to its
Unification Congress with great ideological and political achievements; it met
it with great labour successes.
In honour of the Congress, the workers decided to take
on an extra workload; the initiator of this movement was the coal mine “Zabze Vshud”. As a result of the
labour enthusiasm linked to the party congress the country achieved industrial
production of more than 6 million zloty, the labour productivity in many fields
of industry has increased. This labour enthusiasm has shown in practice that it
is possible to abolish the old work norms and to move forward towards new ones.
On the occasion of the party congress, well ahead of the plan, six bridge spans
of the new Slasko-Dabrowski
bridge4 were completed, a new open-hearth furnace was
completed at the “Zsigmond” metallurgical factory, as
well as a new rolling mill at the Kosciuszko factory and many other things, On
the 14th of December the first group of trucks was produced at the Starachowice car factory.
The working masses of Poland celebrated their holiday
– the unification of the working class – by remarkable successes at their work
places; that was their contribution towards the cause of building a happy,
socialist, peaceful life in People’s Poland. This collective labour effort was
the sign of growing political consciousness of the working class, of the rise
of the ideological level of the working masses.
The Unification Congress summed up the historical
achievements of the 70 years of working class struggle and victories, and also
summarized the successes of people’s power, provided a Marxist-Leninist
explanation of the nature of people’s democracy, marked a further step of
Poland on the road towards socialism.
The congress was a sign of the victory of the
revolutionary ideology over alien and hostile influences. The congress was a
sign of the victory of Marxism-Leninism. At the same time the Unification
Congress became a sign of the unbreakable proletarian solidarity of the Polish
United Workers Party (PUWP) with its teacher and guide, the AUCP(b).
In his ideologically deep speech at the Congress,
Comrade Bierut, summarizing the 70 years experience of the Polish working class in its heroic
struggle, gave a Marxist-Leninist evaluation of the history of the struggle of
our working class.
Giving a description of the place and the role of the
PPR, Comrade Bierut said: “Organisational forms and
names of the party have changed over time, starting with creation of the first
social revolutionary party “Proletariat”, then SDP and L (Social Democracy of
Poland and Lithuania), PPS-left, KPP and PPR, up to creation of the Polish
United Workers Party. But the essence of the issue was the party’s character,
that the party should express the united ideology of the proletariat. Because
the proletariat has only one ideology – the ideology of scientific socialism,
that is Marxism- Leninism.
“...
The PPR was just the historic continuer of the same cause in essence of
‘uniting the workers’ movement with socialism’, that is the Marxist definition
of a party such as ours. It was struggling for the victory of the proletarian
cause under special historical conditions, when the struggle of the proletariat
for power was linked to the national liberation struggle… But while fighting
for national liberation, not only did the PPR not give up the struggle for the power
of the proletariat; just the opposite, it was the only party for which the
struggle for proletarian power was inseparable from the struggle for national
liberation”.5
The Unification Congress produced a Marxist-Leninist
definition of the essence of people’s democracy, clarifying a widespread but
theoretically incorrect definition at that time of the essence of our people’s
power. Before the congress there existed various definitions of the essence of
people’s power. The right-wing opportunists saw people’s democracy as a special
social system, where socialist and capitalist elements live peacefully side by
side, and they were secretly hoping for the restoration of pre-war capitalist
conditions. According to their views, this so-called “harmonious” compromise
should serve as a bridge between the capitalist West and the socialist East,
which in reality would have meant the restoration of the capitalist system.
Gomulka was a supporter of such a “harmonious compromise”, of the coexistence
of socialist and capitalist elements. The opportunists were distorting the road
of people’s democracy, because, as Comrade Bierut
mentioned, “they saw in this road the characteristics in principle different
from the road outlined by Marxism-Leninism”.
“The equivalent of this false conception of people’s
democracy as a special road towards socialism, in the political and party field
was the definition of the PPR as a radically new type of party, which was not
linked by any revolutionary traditions with its own predecessors, that was a
type of ideological conglomerate of the inheritance of ‘the struggle for
independence’ of the PPS and the traditions of the class battles of the SDP and
L and the KPL”6, said Comrade Bierut
further in his report.
Gomulka’s false, anti-Leninist conceptions of the
nature of people’s power and of the Polish Workers party as a Party that is not
linked by its roots with its revolutionary predecessors was caused by
opportunism and social democracy, of which Gomulka and his right-wing
nationalist group were the bearers.
Comrade Bierut correctly
defined the revolutionary ideology and the tasks of the PPR, gave the correct
definition of people’s democracy based on principles of Leninist Stalinist
science:
“...
People’s democracy is not a form of synthesis or solid co-existence of two
different social systems, but a form of a gradual pushing-out and in the long
run liquidation of the capitalist elements and at the same time a form of
development and strengthening of the basis of the future socialist economy.
Just as the basis of the victory of our form of people’s democracy rests upon
the selfless, heroic help of the Soviet Union, the basis of the difference
between our road and the road of the Soviet Union also lies in the existence of
the Soviet Union, in its comprehensive help and support, in the opportunity to
get support from the experience and achievements of the victorious dictatorship
of proletariat in the USSR. Thanks to that we can realize the functions of the
dictatorship of the proletariat within the framework of people’s democracy.”7
The Unification Congress raised the main tasks of the
people’s power: strengthening of the union of the workers and farmers,
liquidation of the exploitation by the capitalist elements in the cities and
the countryside, struggle for socialist construction in the countryside by
means of strengthening of cooperative production and development of the network
of the MTS (machine-tractor stations), struggle for the improvement of the
living conditions of the working class, struggle for the development of
national culture, work on bringing up and educating the cadres, strengthening
the economic power and defence capabilities of People’s Poland based on the
victorious fulfilment of the six-year plan of the construction of the basis of
socialism.
The Unification Congress has raised a great,
historical task for the Polish United Workers Party (PUWP): to provide
leadership for completing these tasks, to stand by the principles of patriotism
and internationalism, to safeguard vigilance and keep the Marxist-Leninist
party line clear.
On the 15th of December 1948, for the first
time in the history of the Polish workers’ movement the division in the ranks
of the working class was defeated once and for all. For the first time in the
history of the revolutionary Polish working class movement a united
revolutionary, Marxist-Leninist party of the workers was formed, called the
Polish United Workers Party (PUWP). It came to life as a result of the 70
years’ history and experience of the struggle of the Polish working class, as a
result of the victory of the Marxist-Leninist ideas, of the ideas of working
class unity, thanks to heroic continuous and selfless work and struggle of the
Marxist- Leninist Polish Workers Party for the power for the working class, for
Polish independence, for working class unity, for the freedom and happiness of
the Polish people.
Ten years have passed since the creation of the PPR.
These 10 years were full of heroic struggle, full of
sacrifice but also of victories for the PPR, for the Polish People’s Army and
People’s Guards, for the First Polish Army in the fight for our independence.
These were the years of struggle of the Polish working class for power, for the
realisation of the historic tasks of the PPR: land reform, nationalisation of
big and medium-sized industries, of the struggle against Mikolajczik’s
reactionaries and the bandit underground, of glorious achievements in
fulfilment of the three-year plan of recovery and reconstruction, and
fulfilment of the first two years of the six-year plan of construction of the
basis of socialist society.
The past 10 years were the years of struggle, under
the leadership of the PPR in the Parchevsky forests
and near Lenino, until the victory near Warsaw and Kolobrzeg, at the Oder and Neisse (rivers). These were the
years of the reconstruction of Warsaw, Wroclaw and Szczecin, of building the
B-3 highway8, Nova Huta, Zeran and Hozuv. These were the
years when the Polish countryside changed from extreme poverty to having 3000
production co-operatives9. These were the years of changing from
backwardness to the almost complete elimination of illiteracy, to the growth in
numbers of higher education students almost up to 125,000, and the number of
primary school pupils up to 3,168,293.
These past 10 years were also years of changing from
the division within the working class towards the creation of a united
Marxist-Leninist party, from the division among the Polish young people towards
the creation of a united organisation, the Union of the Polish Youth (UPY), a
reliable helper of the PUWP.
These past 10 years are the years of continuous
realisation in practice of proletarian internationalism, ideas of brotherhood
and unity with the AUCP(b), the period of continuous
strengthening of the union between the Polish people and the heroic nations of
the Soviet Union.
The results of these 10 years of struggle for the most
beautiful ideals of socialism, independence and peace are clear and simple.
The first three years were the years of struggle of
the Polish working class under the leadership of the PPR for the national
liberation of Poland and the power of the proletariat. The construction of a new
state of people’s democracy on the ruins of bourgeois Poland became possible
thanks to the PPR working out a programme of a broad national-liberation front,
that it was able to lead and guide this front, that it was able to find the
correct organisational form for successful work of this front, the Krajowa Rada Narodowa (State
National Council), that it was able to link the people’s national liberation
struggle with the victorious struggle of the Soviet army, the army of
liberation.
The following seven years were the years of the
struggle of the working class for power, under the leadership of the PPR and
later its successor, the PUWP, for strengthening of the people’s power and
Polish independence, for the rise of economy, the living standards and culture,
for peace. Thanks to the fact that under the leadership of the PPR (later the
PUWP) in the hard struggle against the reactionaries, the old state apparatus
was destroyed, the most important social and economic changes were realized in
practice (land reform, nationalisation of industry and railroads, banks and
trade), thanks to the fact that bourgeois agents within the workers’ movement
were crushed and the division within the working class was healed, the role and
position of the working class was also strengthened, and as a result of this it
became possible to move towards the new era, the era of socialist construction.
Our struggle continues with unremitting force. We are
working on the construction of the new building of our life, the building of
socialism, under conditions of sharp class struggle without compromises – the
struggle against the remnants of the capitalist elements, speculators, spies
and saboteurs who are being sent into our country by the Anglo-American
imperialists, of struggle with the remnants of bourgeois ideology in people’s
minds that still remain strong.
In this struggle our party, overcoming various
difficulties, has had great victories and achievements. The expression of these
achievements is the Constitution of the Polish People’s Republic adopted by the
Sejm on the 18th of July 1952.
In
his speech in the Sejm on this important day, Comrade Bierut
said:
“By adopting the Constitution of the Polish People’s Republic^ we show
our respect to the memory of Poland’s best sons, who from generation to
generation were fighting for justice, for progress and freedom, who gave up
their lives in the struggle against violence and exploitation; we show respect
for the memory of those who, during the dark night of the Nazi occupation, have
given up their lives for the better, bright future of Poland, believing in its
freedom and greatness. We respect the memory of the Soviet officers and
soldiers who died in our country in the struggle for our mutual cause.
“The
adoption by the Sejm of the Constitution of the Polish People’s Republic will
strengthen our people, will make even stronger our
national front that fights for peace, for the realisation of the six-year plan.
Today, this will increase our contribution to the cause of struggle that is
being conducted by the whole great camp of peace and progress.
“The
Constitution of the Polish People’s Republic, against all attempts of our
enemies, will not just strengthen our achievements, but will also clear the way
for us towards the complete victory of socialism”.
But we do not only have achievements and successes, we
also have many tasks ahead of us, great tasks and serious difficulties to
overcome, and the completion of the first and the overcoming of the latter will
demand great physical and intellectual effort, great strengthening of the
will-power and great self-sacrifice. The struggle for the further
industrialisation of the country, for the realisation of the six-year plan of
construction of the basis of socialism in our country, will set difficult tasks
for our party, which is the vanguard of the working class, the whole working
masses and the whole people. It demands even greater efforts from the working
class, all working people and the whole nation, it demands further development
of socialist competition, of the selfless struggle for the increase in labour
productivity and labour discipline, for careful way of saving resources, it
demands the strengthening of the union between the workers and farmers, and the
realisation of further social and economic changes in the countryside.
We will need to complete great and serious work in the
area of increasing agricultural production, which cannot yet catch up with the
tempo of industrial development, and also in the tasks of further development
of agricultural co-operatives, of clearing the way for the countryside to move
fully towards socialism.
Our people also have great responsibility in the field
of strengthening the struggle for peace, within the ranks of the
anti-imperialist camp, led by the great Soviet Union, in the field of
strengthening our armed forces, of unification of all the healthy forces among
our people, of all patriots in the national front of struggle for peace and for
fulfilment of the six-year plan.
The working class is working towards these great and
difficult tasks under the leadership and guidance of the PUWP.
The PUWP accepted responsibility for the correct
leadership in this great struggle for the realisation of building the basis of
socialism, in the struggle for peace, for the happiness of our people.
The great task of the bolshevisation of our party
demands even greater efforts, and we will not spare our efforts for that,
guided by the example of the party of Lenin and Stalin.
Taking our inspiration from the heroic, most beautiful
pages of the history of the Polish people, from the glorious traditions of the
revolutionary battles of the heroic working class, from the self-sacrifice of
the Polish communists, of the soldiers of the PPR, the participants in the
struggle against the Nazi occupation, for national and social liberation,
participants in the struggle against reactionaries inside the country, for the
establishment and strengthening of the power of people’s democracy, for
clearing the way for socialist construction, the Polish United Workers Party
will greatly continue to struggle for socialism, for the blossoming and
happiness of our Motherland.
Frantsishek
Yuzyak (Vitold): “Pol’skaya Rabochaya Partiya v borbe za natsionalnoe i
sotsialnoe osbobozhdeniye” ["The Polish Workers Party in the struggle
for national and social liberation"], translated from the Polish to the
Russian by Ya. A. Lomko. Published in Warsaw, 1952. Russian edition
published
by: I*L, Izdatelstvo inostrannoi
literatury, Moscow, 1953, pages 224-255.
Translated
from the Russian to English by Irina Malenko.
Endnotes:
1 “Information report on the meeting of the
representatives of several communist parties in Poland in September 1947”, Gospolitizdat, 1948, page 11.
2 Information meeting of the representatives of
some of the communist and workers parties held in Poland at the end of
September 1947. Gospolitizdat, 1948, page 23.
3
Questions of the Pravda correspondent and replies of Comrade Stalin. Pravda, 29th of
October, 1948.
4
Bridge over the Vistula river in Warsaw
5
B. Bierut . Basic ideology of the PUWP, “Books and Knowledge”, 1949,
pp. 4445
8
B-3 – East-West highway in Warsaw
9
On April 1, 1953, there were 7,000
agricultural production co-operatives, involving 146,500 households.
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