Time after ending World War II

Destroying the country during the war

During World War II Poland was occupied by Germany and Russia.

6 million of Polish were killed.Many cities were destroyed

including the capital – Warsaw, also Wrocław, Gdańsk, Szczecin...

Borders after the war

Polish borders were changed after the war: the eastern

lands were joined to The Soviet Union, Poland received

Śląsk, Pomorze and Mazury – in previous years they belonged

to Germany.

Communism in Poland

The end of the war did not mean for Poland

independent. The governments

of The Soviet Union, The Great Britain and USA during different

meetings decided about lot of Poland

and its borders.

We got under Russian influence what ment communism and lack of independent.

Characteristic of communism system:• one party – Polaska Zjednoczona Partia

Robotnicza - which ruled in country and decided about everything: society, trade, industry...

• farming belonged only to government,• private trade was closed down,• the workers were the main social group,• lack of religion meanning,• lack of freedom of speech,• terror and compulsion behind the law.

Three and six years plans

First three years plan – realized between 1947 and 1949 was the only one succeded. During that time Polish economy was rebuilt after the war'sdestroyes.

Second six years plan – realized between 1950 and 1955 was connected with developement of metal and heavy industry.

Polish economy developed thanks to economical plans.

Warsaw rebuilding

According to three years plan all main places in country had

to be rebuilt. The symbol of that time was rebuilding

of Warsaw which was completly destroyed during

the war in 1945.

Building of Nowa Huta

Building of Nowa Huta was one of the most important

assumption of six years plan. It was a city for workers of new metal

factory. Today Nowa Huta is a part

of Cracow.

Stalinism in Poland

The Stalinist era are the years following World War II until

Józef Stalin's death.During that time (40' and 50')

the communism was the strongest. The communistic

power was real and unlimited and our country was

dependent of The Soviet Union.

Persecution during Stalinism

The government fought with the opposition in very restrictive way.

People were persecuted in

different ways: object trials, capital

punishments, years in prison – all of

these caused that the opposition was

destroyed.

Also church was atteacked. The example of that persecution was

arresting of Stefan Wyszyński in 1953

– the Primate of Poland.

PropagandaDuring communism time propaganda was very important. It

presented what was good and what was neccessary to do and think. It was connected with politic, industry, cultural and social life.

Communistic power was strongly connected with propaganda and terror.

„Students – we work for you and we wait for you.”

„We build the strength of Poland”

After the war Poland as a country

dependent of The Soviet Union

found itself in opposition to western countries and USA. Officially America was believed as our

enemy.

Subbotniks

Subbotniks were days of volunteer work organising by schools, offices, factories. Subbotniks were mostly organized for cleaning the streets

of garbage, fixing public amenities, collecting recyclable material, and

other community services.

Authors:Authors:

Karolina PakulskaKarolina Pakulska

Weronika WojdaczWeronika Wojdacz