Editing Polish United Workers' Party (section)

=== Gomułka's autarchic communism ===
{{More sources|section|date=March 2025}}[[File:Gomulka speech.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Władysław Gomułka]], at the height of his popularity, on 24 October 1956, addressing hundreds of thousands of people in [[Warsaw]], asked for an end to demonstrations and a return to work. "United with the working class and the nation", he concluded, "the Party will lead Poland along a new way of [[socialism]]".<ref name="Luk">[[Hubert Zawadzki]], [[Jerzy Lukowski]], ''A Concise History of Poland'', Cambridge University Press, 2006, {{ISBN|0-521-85332-X}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HMylRh-wHWEC&pg=PA296&vq=gomulka&dq=Stalinism+in+Poland&sig=3x9G9ewYMYgmpBB1sX2JMkCFcUE Google Print, p.295-296]</ref>]]

On 20 March, 1956, shortly after the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the VI Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party was held, during which the memory of Bolesław Bierut was honored. Jerzy Albrecht and Edward Gierek were co-opted as secretaries of the Central Committee. In the fight for the election of Bierut's successor, the PZPR leadership split into two factions, dubbed ''[[Natolinians]]'' and ''[[Puławians]]''. The Natolin faction – named after the place where its meetings took place, in a government villa in [[Natolin]] – were against the post-Stalinist liberalization programs (''[[Gomułka thaw]]''). The most well known members included [[Franciszek Jóźwiak]], [[Wiktor Kłosiewicz]], [[Zenon Nowak]], [[Aleksander Zawadzki]], [[Władysław Dworakowski]], [[Hilary Chełchowski]].{{sfn|Kister|2019|p=66}}

The Puławian faction – the name comes from the Puławska Street in Warsaw, on which many of the members lived – sought great liberalization of socialism in Poland. After the events of [[Poznań June]], they successfully backed the candidature of Władysław Gomułka for First Secretary of party, thus imposing a major setback upon Natolinians. Among the most prominent members were [[Roman Zambrowski]] and [[Leon Kasman]]. Both factions disappeared towards the end of the 1950s.

During the plenum, the "Natolinians" candidate for the position of First Secretary was Zenon Nowak, who gained Khrushchev's favor. In turn, the Puławians put forward Roman Zambrowski. Ultimately, because none of the cliques was strong enough to take over full power, an amicable resolution of the dispute was reached. The centrist [[Edward Ochab]], who enjoyed the full trust of the [[Kremlin]], was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party.

On 18-28 July, 1956, during the 7th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party, the Natolinians and the Puławy faction clashed again. The former saw the [[1956 Poznań protests]] as an agent-like and counter-revolutionary action. The Pulawians saw it as a mass protest of an economic nature. The balance of power between the cliques meant that an absurd formula was finally adopted, in which two trends were distinguished in the Poznań protests: a broad, peaceful, mainly workers', which organized a strike and protest march, and a narrower, rebellious, which took up armed struggle. At the same time, mass rallies were ordered, during which party activists were to condemn the Poznań protests. The meetings – against the will of the party leaders – became a forum for discussions on the terrible material situation, shortages of basic food products and other topics.

On 24-26 October, 1957, the 10th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party was held. Gomułka indicated revisionism and liquidation as the main source of the party's weakness. In order to heal the party, a resolution was passed to verify its members. All members of the PZPR were to appear before special commissions to determine their ideological stance. As a result of the verification action, which turned out to be the largest purge in the history of the PZPR, by May 1958, 207,000 members (15.5%) of all members and candidates had been excluded from the party. In the 1960s Gomułka supported persecution of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and intellectuals (notably [[Leszek Kołakowski]] who was forced into exile). On 4 July, 1958, during the meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party, a decision was made to send a letter to the executives of the provincial, district and city committees regarding the policy towards the Church. This meant the beginning of a new stage of confrontation with the Church. The July letter warned of an offensive by militant clericalism. On the same day, the Central Committee Commission for Clergy was established in the Central Committee Secretariat, consisting of Zenon Kliszko, Antoni Alster, [[Władysław Bieńkowski]], [[Tadeusz Galiński]], [[Artur Starewicz]], [[Walenty Titkow]], [[Andrzej Werblan]] and [[Stanisław Zawadzki (politician)|Stanisław Zawadzki]].{{sfn|Eisler|2014|p=89-91}} The post-October liberalization of religious policy turned out to be merely a tactical move.

Initially very popular for his reforms and seeking a "Polish way to socialism",<ref name=time>{{cite magazine | title = Rebellious Compromiser | magazine = Time Magazine | date = 10 December 1956 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808728-1,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080412102621/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808728-1,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 12 April 2008 | access-date = 14 October 2006 }}</ref> and beginning an era known as ''Gomułka's thaw'', he came under Soviet pressure. Gomułka participated in the [[Warsaw Pact]] intervention in [[Czechoslovakia]] in 1968. At that time he was also responsible for persecuting students as well as toughening censorship of the media. In 1968, he incited an [[1968 Polish political crisis|anti-Zionist propaganda campaign]], part of a wider [[Communist bloc]] opposition to the [[Six-Day War]].

On 20-22 January 1960, during the 4th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party, many personnel changes were made in the highest positions in the party. [[Jerzy Morawski]]'s place in the Central Committee secretariat was taken by [[Ryszard Strzelecki]], associated with the [[Natolinians]]. Together with him, another experienced Edward Ochab was co-opted to the Central Committee secretariat, already as a full member. The idea of strengthening the power of the party apparatus was returned to by establishing two new departments in the Central Committee - the Department of Science and Education, headed by [[Andrzej Werblan]], and the Department of Culture headed by [[Wincenty Kraska]]. The personnel carousel also included several first secretaries of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party. Additionally, in May that year, [[Jerzy Albrecht]] resigned from the position of the Central Committee secretary. This confirmed the direction of staff exchange in key positions by purging the apparatus of active participants in the [[Polish October|October changes]].

On 4-6 July, 1963, the 13th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party was held, devoted to ideological matters. It is considered to be the symbolic end of the process of liberalization of the system in the Gomułka era. During the session, the First Secretary delivered one of the most important speeches in his career. He devoted the report "On the current problems of the ideological work of the party" to policy towards culture, considering that the most important threat on the "cultural front" is revisionism. He condemned the destructive fascination with the West, which was evident among young writers, and criticized the work of radio and television for their tendency towards sterile negation and mindless criticism. Gomułka also presented his vision of conducting historical policy, in which the development of the history of the workers' movement was to occupy a prominent place. He emphasized that the ideological front of the party was insufficiently offensive in the fight against opponents.{{sfn|Pawłowicz|1976|pp=85-88}}

On 15-20 June, 1964, the 4th Congress of the Polish United Workers' Party took place, which strengthened the so-called small stabilization. Gomułka outlined economic plans for the following years, assuming a 50% increase in industrial production. In the five-year period of 1966-1970, 1.5 million new jobs were to be created, and the national income was to increase by 30%. Gomułka, who was formally re-elected to the position of First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party, sharply criticized the leaders of the Chinese communists for their splitting activities. During the congress, the smell of incense wafted continuously over the conference hall. First secretaries of provincial committees, in particular, blew incense to Gomułka and themselves. The secretary of the Silesian Voivodeship Committee PZPR, Edward Gierek, was the most praised. Two "technocrats" became new members of the Political Bureau: [[Eugeniusz Szyr]] and [[Franciszek Waniolka]]. At the end of 1964, the PZPR had over 1.6 million members. Over the five years, between the 3rd and 4th Congresses, over 800,000 members and candidates were accepted into the party. At the same time, 150,000 were expelled from the PZPR for lack of activity and violations of party ethics, 33,000 of whom were for various offenses.{{sfn|Roszkowski|1998|p=226-228}}

On 16-17 May, 1967, the 8th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party was held, devoted to "current tasks in the political work of the party". Zenon Kliszko appealed to artists to promote heroes fighting for the victory of socialism and the topics of the "socialist approach to work".

On 8-9 July, 1968, the 12th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party was held, devoted to assessing the events of the past. As a sign of protest against the anti-Semitic campaign, [[Edward Ochab]] resigned from his mandate as a member of the Political Bureau and the Central Committee. On November 11-16 of that year, the 5th Congress of the Polish United Workers' Party was held with the participation of [[Leonid Brezhnev]], [[Walter Ulbricht]] and [[Todor Zhivkov]]. Brezhnev presented  the principles of [[Foreign relations of the Soviet Union|Soviet foreign policy]], assuming the [[Brezhnev Doctrine]]. The 5th Congress brought many changes in the highest positions in the party, introducing a group of young generation activists to the ruling elite. 25 new members joined the Central Committee. The expected assault on the positions of [[Mieczysław Moczar]]'s "Partisans", the [[Endo-Communist]] faction of the PZPR,<ref>{{cite book |page=30 |title=Holocaust Denial: The Politics of Perfidy |first=Robert Solomon |last=Wistrich |author-link=Robert S. Wistrich |year=2012 |location=Berlin |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston & Hebrew University Magnes Press, Jerusalem}}</ref> did not take place. He himself only retained the position of deputy member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party and secretary of the Central Committee, which was interpreted as an affront. He had already taken these positions in July in exchange for the position of head of the [[Ministry of the Interior and Administration|Ministry of Internal Affairs]], which Gomułka filled with his associate, [[Kazimierz Świtała]].{{sfn|Eisler|2014|p=35}}

On 18 June, 1969, during a meeting of the Central Committee of Party Control, its chairman Zenon Nowak informed that 1968 was a record year in terms of the number of new candidates to the Polish United Workers' Party. 213 thousand people were accepted, and this result was only improved after 10 years. By 31 December 1968, the PZPR had 2.1 million members and candidates, and since 1956 its numbers had increased by 700,000.{{sfn|Pawłowicz|1976|pp=91}}

In December 1970, a [[Coastal cities events|bloody clash]] with shipyard workers in which several dozen workers were fatally shot forced his resignation (officially for health reasons; he had in fact suffered a stroke). A dynamic younger man, [[Edward Gierek]], took over the Party leadership and tensions eased.