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Poland Postwar Consolidation
The noncommunist Home Army officially disbanded in
January
1945, and the course of the war left the eastern front
armies in
control of all Polish territory. In the immediate postwar
era,
the army took second place to Poland's new internal
security
forces in purging political opponents and consolidating
communist
power. This purging process lasted until the formation of
the
Polish United Workers' Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia
Robotnicza--PZPR) in 1948
(see Consolidation of Communist Power
, ch. 1).
Unlike other important institutions, the army did not
suffer
wholesale purges of its noncommunist elements in the
immediate
postwar period. Communists controlled the top ranks and
leadership positions, however, and political commissars
installed
in military units taught communist party principles to
regular
soldiers and ensured their loyalty to the party. Many
wartime
political officers played a significant role in the
indoctrination process and based glittering civilian
careers on
their contributions to the building of the communist
state.
In the late 1940s, the main roles of the military were
resettlement of Poland's newly acquired western territory,
helping in economic reconstruction, and waging a
three-year civil
war against former Home Army supporters, Ukrainian
nationalists,
and various outlaw bands in the foothills of the
Carpathian
Mountains. Some 70,000 people were arrested by internal
security
and military authorities in the repression of civil
uprisings
between 1945 and 1948. In 1981 General Wojciech
Jaruzelski, who
later would head the last communist government, cited the
threat
that such uprisings would recur in his rationale for
imposing
martial law in Poland.
The sociological composition of Poland's army changed
dramatically after World War II. The interwar officer
corps had
come mostly from the gentry and professional classes. By
1949,
however, only 29 percent of Polish officers had begun
service
before the war, and peasants and workers were favored
highly in
postwar officer training programs. From 1948 through 1953,
in
keeping with Stalin's intrusive totalitarian influence
throughout
Eastern Europe, the PZPR and the Soviet Army exercised
increasing
influence in Polish military affairs. Soviet officers
headed the
Polish General Staff, all service branches, and all
military
districts during this period. A Soviet general, Konstantin
Rokossovskii, served as minister of defense of Poland
between
1949 and 1956. His first assignment was to purge the
Polish armed
forces of remaining prewar personnel who were considered
ideologically unreliable. Accordingly, between 1950 and
1955,
many faithful communist officers were imprisoned or
executed. In
1949, as the Cold War set in, the Polish People's Army (as
it was
renamed after World War II) went on a war footing,
conscription
was reinstituted, and preparations were made to operate as
part
of the Soviet army in a future European land war.
The ravages of World War II somewhat eroded society's
faith
in the Polish military's ability to defend the country.
Postwar
politicization caused a further decline in the military's
stature
and a parallel decline in military morale and
organization.
Soviet army officers in close cooperation with the
Committee for
State Security (Komitet gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti--KGB)
occupied all key commands until 1956. This command
structure
bypassed Polish communist authorities often and openly in
making
military policy.
Data as of October 1992
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