Poland During The Cold War

Introduction
Many people know about USSR during the cold war, but very little know that Poland also had a big role in the cold war. What was that role exactly? By asking ourselves that question, many other questions start to surface. When and how was Poland liberated from communist dictatorship? What were Poland’s social, economic, and political conditions from 1945 to1989? Was Poland involved in the Czechoslovakian uprising? How? How did the Yalta conference affect Poland? Which agreement completed the westerly shift of Polish borders? What caused Poland to become an ethnically homogeneous nation state? Which political party gained control of the country? What importance did Stalin’s death have for Poland? Following Stalin’s death, how was Poland economicallychanged? How did the oil crisis in 1973 affect this? Who was Lech Walesa and how did he help defeat communism? What was Solidarity? Who was solidarity’s leader? How did it help Poland end communism once and for all? When and why did Poland’s communist authorities declare martial law? Did this put an end to Solidarity? What happened to the organization? Who was the inspiration for the Solidarityworkers movement in Poland? Who was Karol Wojtyla? What importance does he have for the Polish nation and how was he involved in the fall of communism? As a result of what did Poland hold its first competitive election since before World War II? Who formed the first non-communist government within the Soviet bloc since 1948? How did Poland survive a military crackdown and years of repression? Howwere the riots in Poland in 1956 stopped, and who put a stop to them? All of these are the immediate questions that come to our minds when we think of Poland during the cold war, but other than wondering this, there is so much more that we don’t know. For instance, did you know that the history of Poland during the cold war (1945-1989) spans the period of Soviet Communist dominance imposed after theend of World War II over the People’s Republic of Poland? Although these years featured many improvements in the standards of living in Poland, there was great unrest and economic depression which caused great instability amongst the citizens Poland. Or did you know that Poland, believe it or not, was actually quite involved in defeating communism. In fact, the reform movement that endedcommunism in east central Europe began in Poland. Overall, Poland is a very interesting country who had a considerably important role throughout progress of the cold war. There are many things that you probably don’t know about Poland’s participation in the cold war (1945-1989), and if you are interested in learning more, you should keep reading this essay which is being written with the objective toclarify any doubts or questions that you might have about Poland during the cold war.

Liberation of Poland (1945)
Continental Europe emerged from German domination in 1945 both destroyed and transformed. One consequence of the defeat in Germany was the expansion of Soviet power and its influence in Eastern Europe. The Soviet victory led to a tremendous geographic shiftin Polish territory and to the establishment of a communist dictatorship in Poland.
Virtually all of Poland in its prewar boundaries had been liberated by Soviet forces by the end of January 1945. After Germany's surrender, Soviet troops occupied most of Eastern Europe, including Poland. As a consequence of decisions made by the American President Franklin D. Roosevelt,the British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill, and the Soviet Communist party chief Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference (which was held in February 1945), the Soviet Union retained the Polish territory that it had added to its possession after it divided Poland in 1939 under the provisions of the German-Soviet Pact.
Poland's eastern border was moved towards the west...