Editing History of Poland (section)

===The Thaw and Gomułka's Polish October (1955–1958)===

[[File:Gomulka speech.jpg|thumb|right|[[Władysław Gomułka]] addressing the crowd in Warsaw in [[Polish October|October 1956]]]]

In March 1956, after the [[20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] in Moscow ushered in [[de-Stalinization]], [[Edward Ochab]] was chosen to replace the deceased Bolesław Bierut as first secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party.<ref name="Poland under Communism 68-75">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=68–75}}.</ref> As a result, Poland was rapidly overtaken by social restlessness and reformist undertakings; thousands of political prisoners were released and many people previously persecuted were officially rehabilitated.<ref name="Poland under Communism 76-86">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=76–86}}.</ref> [[Poznań 1956 protests|Worker riots in Poznań in June 1956]] were violently suppressed, but they gave rise to the formation of a reformist current within the communist party.<ref name="Poland under Communism 86-92">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=86–92}}.</ref><ref name="Stelmachowski 24–25">{{Harvnb|Stelmachowski|2011|pp=24–25}}.</ref>

Amidst the continuing social and national upheaval, a further shakeup took place in the party leadership as part of what is known as the [[Polish October]] of 1956.<ref name="Poland under Communism 96-104">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=96–104}}.</ref>{{Ref label|k|k|none}} While retaining most traditional communist economic and social aims, the state under [[Władysław Gomułka]], the new first secretary of the PZPR, liberalized internal life in Poland. The dependence on the Soviet Union was somewhat mollified, and the state's relationships with the Church and [[Znak (association)|Catholic lay activists]] were put on a new footing.<ref name="Poland under Communism 116-123">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=116–123}}.</ref> A repatriation agreement with the Soviet Union allowed the [[Repatriation of Poles (1955–59)|repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Poles]] who were still in Soviet hands, including many former political prisoners.<ref name="Stelmachowski 26">{{Harvnb|Stelmachowski|2011|p=26}}.</ref> [[Collectivization in the Polish People's Republic|Collectivization efforts]] were abandoned—agricultural land, unlike in other [[Comecon]] countries, remained for the most part in the private ownership of farming families.<ref name="Stelmachowski 26"/><ref name="Poland under Communism 80, 101">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=80, 101}}.</ref> State-mandated provisions of agricultural products at fixed, artificially low prices were reduced, and from 1972 eliminated.<ref name="Stelmachowski 36">{{Harvnb|Stelmachowski|2011|p=36}}.</ref>

The [[1957 Polish legislative election|legislative election of 1957]] was followed by several years of political stability that was accompanied by [[real socialism|economic stagnation and curtailment of reforms and reformists]]. One of the last initiatives of the brief reform era was a nuclear weapons–free zone in Central Europe proposed in 1957 by [[Adam Rapacki]], Poland's foreign minister.<ref name="Poland under Communism 124-143">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=124–143}}.</ref>

[[Culture in the Polish People's Republic]], to varying degrees linked to the [[intelligentsia]]'s opposition to the authoritarian system, developed to a sophisticated level under Gomułka and his successors. The creative process was often compromised by [[Censorship in the Polish People's Republic|state censorship]], but significant works were created in fields such as literature, theater, cinema and music, among others. Journalism of veiled understanding and varieties of native and Western [[popular culture]] were well represented. Uncensored information and works generated by [[émigré]] circles were conveyed through a variety of channels. The [[Paris]]-based ''[[Kultura]]'' magazine developed a conceptual framework for dealing with the issues of borders and the neighbors of a future free Poland, but for ordinary Poles [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|Radio Free Europe]] was of foremost importance.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prażmowska|2011|pp=198–200}}.</ref><ref name="Poland under Communism 59-60">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=59–60}}.</ref><ref name="Snyder 218-222">{{Harvnb|Snyder|2003|pp=218–222}}.</ref>