185-719: PRL may refer to: Places [ edit ] Polish People's Republic ( Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa ), 1952–1989 Punggol Regional Library , an upcoming regional library in Punggol, Singapore Business and enterprises [ edit ] Pakistan Refinery Limited , a refinery in Karachi Penn Eastern Rail Lines , reporting mark Computing and technology [ edit ] Preferred Roaming List , in CDMA phones Proportional reduction in loss ,
370-757: A Marxist–Leninist state , is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism , a branch of the communist ideology . Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union , the Comintern after its Bolshevisation , and the communist states within the Comecon , the Eastern Bloc , and the Warsaw Pact . After the peak of Marxism–Leninism, when many communist states were established,
555-447: A Soviet economy that remained capitalist to a significant degree ." This changed with the introduction of the command economy , and the term socialist law was conceived to reflect this in the 1930s. Hungarian legal theorist Imre Szabó acknowledged similarities between socialist law and civil law, but he noted that "four basic types of law may be distinguished: the laws of the slave, feudal, capitalist, and socialist societies." Using
740-545: A civil law system . The countries of Eastern Europe had formally been governed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire , German Empire , and Russian Empire —all of whom had a civil law legal system. Cuba had a civil law system imposed on them by Spain, while China introduced civil law to overlay with Confucian elements, and Vietnam used French law. Since the establishment of the Soviet Union, there has been
925-637: A communist society . Other terms used by communist states include national-democratic , people's democratic , socialist-oriented , and workers and peasants' states. Academics, political commentators, and other scholars tend to distinguish between communist states and democratic socialist states, with the first representing the Eastern Bloc and the latter representing Western Bloc countries that have been democratically governed by socialist parties such as France , Sweden , and Western social-democracies in general, among others. During
1110-433: A "great number of legal institutions and legal relations remain the same in socialist law", further stating that it is "necessary and justified" to put them to use if they are "in conformity with the corresponding interests of the ruling class in the state in question." Importantly, socialist law had retained civil law institutions, methodology, and organisation. This can be discerned by the fact that East Germany retained
1295-463: A broader 'segment of society' [...] than the court itself." Despite this, it does not mean that the communist states use legislatures to strengthen their communication with the populace—the party, rather than the legislature, could take that function. Ideologically, it has another function, namely, to prove that communist states do not only represent the interests of the working class but all social strata. Communist states are committed to establishing
1480-576: A classless society and use legislatures to show that all social strata, whether bureaucrat, worker, or intellectual, are committed and have interests in building such a society. As is the case in China, national institutions such as the legislature "must exist which brings together representatives of all nationalities and geographic areas." It does not matter if the legislatures only rubber stamp decisions because by having them, it shows that communist states are committed to incorporating minorities and areas of
1665-639: A communist party rule to a Western-style liberal democratic political system . The last post-Soviet troops left Poland on 18 September 1993. After ten years of democratic consolidation , Poland joined OECD in 1996, NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. The government and politics of the Polish People's Republic were dominated by the Polish United Workers' Party ( Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, PZPR ). Despite
1850-403: A decision has been reached, all people have a duty to account to that decision. When used within a political party, democratic centralism is meant to prevent factionalism and splits. When applied to an entire state, democratic centralism creates a one-party system . The constitutions of most communist states describe their political system as a form of democracy. They recognize the sovereignty of
2035-886: A fair level in the aftermath of the Holocaust . In 1947, Poland voted in favour of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine , which led to Israel's recognition by Poland on 19 May 1948. However, by the Six-Day War , it severed diplomatic relations with Israel in June 1967 and supported the Palestine Liberation Organization which recognized the State of Palestine on 14 December 1988. In 1989, Poland restored relations with Israel. The Polish People's Republic participated as
SECTION 10
#17327732778842220-624: A few days. When the unitary legislature is not in session, its powers are transferred to a smaller council (often called a presidium ) which acts as a collective head of state . In some systems, the presidium is composed of crucial communist party members who vote the resolutions of the communist party into law. A feature of communist states is the existence of numerous state-sponsored social organisations (associations of journalists, teachers, writers and other professionals, consumer cooperatives , sports clubs , trade unions , youth organisations , and women's organisations ) which are integrated into
2405-486: A given country. It deals with states that define themselves either as a socialist state or as a state led by a governing Marxist–Leninist party in their constitutions. For this reason alone, these states are often called communist states. All communist political systems practice unitary state power . This means that the legislature, usually defined as the highest organ of state power, has executive, legislative and judicial power and can interfere in these organs as long as
2590-754: A measure of reliability Protocol-relative link , URLs which do not specify a protocol Political parties [ edit ] Liberal Reformist Party (Dominican Republic) Parti Réformateur Libéral , a former political party in Belgium Party of the Radical Left ( Partija radikalne levice ), a political party in Serbia Republican Party of Liberty , a conservative political party in France, 1945–1951 Other organisations [ edit ] Premiership Rugby Limited,
2775-900: A member of the United Nations (as a founding member), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , the Warsaw Pact , Comecon , the International Energy Agency , the Council of Europe , the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe , the International Atomic Energy Agency and Interkosmos . Poland suffered tremendous economic losses during World War II. In 1939, Poland had 35.1 million inhabitants, but
2960-527: A path for China, recording what has been won in China and what is yet to be conquered." A constitution in a communist state has an end. The preamble of the 1954 Chinese constitution outlines the historical tasks of the Chinese communists, "step by step, to bring about the socialist industrialisation of the country and, step by step, to accomplish the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicraft and capitalist industry and commerce." In communist states,
3145-555: A propaganda tool to control the masses. Transmitted daily at 07:30 p.m CET since 1965, it was infamous for its manipulative techniques and emotive language as well as the controversial content. For instance, the Dziennik provided more information on world news, particularly bad events, war, corruption or scandals in the West. This method was intentionally used to minimize the effects of the issues that were occurring in communist Poland at
3330-490: A reprobate category, the Romanist laws and the common law, is the fact that they reason less as jurists and more as philosophers and Marxists; it is in taking a not strictly legal viewpoint that they affirm the originality of their socialist law." However, some socialist legal theorists, such as Romanian jurist Victor Zlatescu differentiated between type of law and family of law. According to Zlatescu, "[t]he distinction between
3515-647: A result of these actions, Poland lost 77,035 km (29,743 sq mi) of land compared to its pre-WWII territory . These were confirmed, pending a final peace conference with Germany, at the Tripartite Conference of Berlin, otherwise known as the Potsdam Conference in August 1945 after the end of the war in Europe. The Potsdam Agreement also sanctioned the transfer of the German population out of
3700-579: A result, Poland had a high imprisonment rate but one of the lowest crime rates in the world. During its existence, the Polish People's Republic maintained relations not only with the Soviet Union , but several communist states around the world. It also had friendly relations with the United States , United Kingdom , France , and the Western Bloc as well as the People's Republic of China . At
3885-455: A scholarly debate on whether socialist law is a separate legal system or is a part of the civil law tradition. Legal scholar Renè David wrote that the socialist legal system "possesses, in relation to our French law, particular features that give it a complete originality, to the extent that it is no longer possible to connect it, like the former Russian law, to the system of Roman law ." Similarly, Christoper Osakwe concludes that socialist law
SECTION 20
#17327732778844070-433: A single centralised communist party apparatus. These parties are usually Marxist–Leninist or some national variation thereof such as Maoism or Titoism . There have been several instances of communist states with functioning political participation (i.e. Soviet democracy ) processes involving several other non-party organisations such as direct democratic participation, factory committees , and trade unions , although
4255-413: A socialist state. A socialist state is more than a form of government and can only exist in countries with a socialist economy . There are examples of several states that have instituted a socialist form of government before achieving socialism. The former socialist states of Eastern Europe were established as people's democracies (a developmental stage between capitalism and socialism ). Regarding
4440-419: A tool to defend the socialist nature of the state and attack its enemies. This contrasts with the liberal conception of constitutionalism that "law, rather than men, is supreme." Unlike the relatively constant (and, in some instances, permanently fixed ) nature of democratic constitutions, a Marxist–Leninist constitution is ever-changing. Andrey Vyshinsky , a Procurator General of the Soviet Union during
4625-427: Is "an autonomous legal system to be essentially distinguished from the other contemporary families of law." Proponents of socialist law as a separate legal system have identified the following features: Legal officials argue differently for their cases compared to Westerners. For instance, "[t]he predominant view among Soviet jurists in the 1920s was that Soviet law of that period was Western-style law appropriate for
4810-772: Is also why amendments to constitutions are not enough and major societal changes need a novel constitution which corresponds with the reality of the new class structure. With Nikita Khrushchev 's repudiation of Stalin's practices in the " Secret Speech " and the Chinese Communist Party's repudiation of certain Maoist policies, Marxist–Leninist legal theories began to emphasise "the formal, formerly neglected constitutional order." Deng Xiaoping , not long after Chairman Mao Zedong 's death, noted that "[d]emocracy has to be institutionalised and written into law, to make sure that institutions and laws do not change whenever
4995-505: Is different from country to country. In the Soviet Union, the Supreme Soviet did "little more than listen to statements from Soviet political leaders and to legitimate decisions already made elsewhere" while in the legislatures of Poland, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia it has been more active and had an impact on rule-making. Marxist–Leninists view the constitution as a fundamental law and as an instrument of force. The constitution
5180-440: Is ruled by the bourgeoisie class, and socialism, where the proletariat leads, the socialist-oriented state represents a broad and heterogeneous group of classes that seek to consolidate national independence. Since peasants were usually the largest class in socialist-oriented states, their role was emphasised—similar to the working class in other socialist states. However, Marxist–Leninists admitted that these states often fell under
5365-642: Is that the socialist-oriented state was divided into two stages: a national-democratic socialist-oriented state and a people's democratic socialist-oriented state. Countries belonging to the national-democratic socialist-oriented state category were also categorised as national-democratic states. Examples of national-democratic socialist-oriented states are Algeria , ruled by the National Liberation Front , Ba'athist Iraq , and Socialist Burma . In contrast, people's democratic socialist-oriented states had to be guided by Marxism–Leninism and accept
5550-590: Is the most common and is currently in use in China. Marxism–Leninism was mentioned in the Soviet constitution . Article 6 of the 1977 Soviet constitution stated: "The Communist Party, armed with Marxism–Leninism, determines the general perspective of the development of society and the course of the domestic and foreign policy of the USSR." This contrasts with the 1976 Albanian constitution which stated in Article 3: "In
5735-637: Is the source of law and legality. Unlike in liberal democracies , the Marxist–Leninist constitution is not a framework to limit the power of the state. To the contrary, a Marxist–Leninist constitution seeks to empower the state—believing the state to be an organ of class domination and law to be the expression of the interests of the dominant class. Marxist–Leninists believe that all national constitutions do this to ensure that countries can strengthen and enforce their own class system. In this instance, it means that Marxist–Leninists conceive of constitutions as
PRL - Misplaced Pages Continue
5920-433: Is to create the conditions for socialism in countries where the social, political, and economic conditions for socialism do not exist. The second feature to be met is the establishment of a revolutionary-democratic party which has to establish itself as the leading force and guide the state by using Marxist–Leninist ideology. While introduced in these states, democratic centralism is rarely upheld. Unlike capitalism which
6105-553: The 1896 German civil code until 1976 while Poland used existing Austrian, French, German, and Russian civil codes until adoption of its own civil code in 1964. Scholar John Quigley wrote that "[s]ocialist law retains the inquisitorial style of trial, law-creation predominantly by legislatures rather than courts, and a significant role for legal scholarship in construing codes." Communist states have established two types of civil-military systems. The armed forces of most socialist states have historically been state institutions based on
6290-458: The Archbishop of Kraków , Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, was elected Pope , taking the name John Paul II . The election of a Polish Pope had an electrifying effect on what had been, even under communist rule, one of the most devoutly Catholic nations in Europe. Gierek is alleged to have said to his cabinet, "O God, what are we going to do now?" or, as occasionally reported, "Jesus and Mary, this is
6475-687: The Catholic Church to members of the anti-Stalinist left. By the end of 1981, Solidarity had nine million members—a quarter of Poland's population and three times as many as the PUWP had. Kania resigned under Soviet pressure in October and was succeeded by Wojciech Jaruzelski , who had been Defence minister since 1968 and Premier since February. On 13 December 1981, Jaruzelski proclaimed martial law , suspended Solidarity, and temporarily imprisoned most of its leaders. This sudden crackdown on Solidarity
6660-479: The Holocaust were taboo topics, avoided and downplayed when possible. In most cases, producers and directors were encouraged to portray the Soviet Red Army as a friendly and victorious force which entirely liberated Poland from Nazism , Imperialism or Capitalism . The goal was to strengthen the artificial Polish-Soviet friendship and eliminate any knowledge of the crimes or acts of terror committed by
6845-604: The Iron Curtain broke under public pressure during a wave of mostly non-violent movements as part of the Revolutions of 1989 which led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. China's socio-economic structure has been referred to as "nationalistic state capitalism" and the Eastern Bloc ( Eastern Europe and the Third World ) as "bureaucratic-authoritarian systems." Today, the existing communist states in
7030-534: The Middle Ages remained as Poland's national emblem; the only feature removed by the communists from the pre-war design was the crown, which was seen as imperialistic and monarchist . The Polish People's Republic maintained a large standing army and hosted Soviet troops in its territory, as Poland was a Warsaw Pact signatory. The UB and succeeding SB were the chief intelligence agencies that acted as secret police. The official police organization, which
7215-712: The Narodniks in Russia, it is now associated with communist states. A number of the short-lived communist states which formed during World War I and its aftermath called themselves people's republics. Many of these sprang up in the territory of the former Russian Empire following the October Revolution . Additional people's republics emerged following the Allied victory in World War II, mainly within
7400-594: The Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland , was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland . With a population of approximately 37.9 million near the end of its existence, it was the second most-populous communist and Eastern Bloc country in Europe, and one of the main signatories of the Warsaw Pact alliance. The largest city and official capital since 1947
7585-542: The Revolutions of 1989 brought down most of the communist states; however, Communism remained the official ideology of the ruling parties of China , Cuba , Laos , Vietnam , and to a lesser extent, North Korea . During the later part of the 20th century, before the Revolutions of 1989, around one-third of the world's population lived in communist states. Communist states are typically authoritarian and are typically administered through democratic centralism by
PRL - Misplaced Pages Continue
7770-672: The Sejm , the Parliament's lower house, and all but one seat in the elected Senate . Solidarity persuaded the communists' longtime allied parties, the United People's Party and Democratic Party, to switch their support to Solidarity. This all but forced Jaruzelski, who had been named president in July, to appoint a Solidarity member as prime minister. Finally, he appointed a Solidarity-led coalition government with Tadeusz Mazowiecki as
7955-815: The Soviet Union , and from the Soviet Union to the Soviet-imposed puppet satellite government , Poland's new economic system was forcibly imposed and began moving towards a radical, communist centrally planned economy. One of the first major steps in that direction involved the agricultural reform issued by the Polish Committee of National Liberation government on 6 September 1944. All estates over 0.5 km in pre-war Polish territories and all over 1 km in former German territories were nationalised without compensation. In total, 31,000 km of land were nationalised in Poland and 5 million in
8140-514: The mass line and learning from the people." This reasoning gives communist legislatures the right to interfere in every state institution unless the legislature itself has made a law that bars it from it. This also means there are no limits to politicisation, unlike in liberal democracies, where politicians are legally barred from interfering in judicial work. This is a firm rejection of the separation of powers found in liberal democracies since no institution can legally enforce checks and balances on
8325-605: The 1930s, notes that the "Soviet constitutions represent the total of the historical path along which the Soviet state has travelled. At the same time, they are the legislative basis of subsequent development of state life." That is, the constitution sums up what has already been achieved. This belief is also shared by the Chinese Communist Party , which argued that "the Chinese Constitution blazes
8510-662: The 1952 constitution, with amendments , until the introduction of the current constitution on 17 October 1997, abolishing the socialist structure entirely and replacing with a parliamentary system that has remained in place to the present-day. The Ministry of Public Security (UB) and later the Security Service (SB) were the chief intelligence agencies that acted as the secret police. The official police organization, Milicja Obywatelska (MO), along with its ZOMO squads, conducted mass surveillance and violent suppression of protests. The various crimes committed to maintain
8695-664: The 1986–2006 period, active military figures sitting in the CPV Central Committee stood at an average of 9,2 per cent. Military figures are also represented in the national legislature (the National Assembly ) and other representative institutions. In China, the two CMC vice chairmen have had by right office seats in the CCP Politburo since 1987. A Marxist–Leninist party has led every communist state. This party seeks to represent and articulate
8880-540: The 20th century, the world's first constitutionally communist state was Soviet Russia at the end of 1917. In 1922, it joined other former territories of the empire to become the Soviet Union . After World War II , the Soviet Army occupied much of Eastern Europe and helped bring the existing communist parties to power in those countries. Originally, the communist states in Eastern Europe were allied with
9065-678: The CPSU Central Committee was responsible for implementing the party personnel policies and supervised the KGB , the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. In the Chinese party-state model, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is a party institution. In the preamble of the Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party , it is stated: "The Communist Party of China (CPC) shall uphold its absolute leadership over
9250-519: The Chairman of the Council for National Defense and Security of Vietnam), National Supervisory institutions (such as the Director of China's National Supervisory Commission ) and other institutions if they exist. Moreover, in all communist states, the ruling party has either had a clear majority, such as China or held every seat as they did in the Soviet Union, in their Supreme Soviet. A majority in
9435-523: The Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping , who stated in 2013 that "[n]o organisation or individual has the privilege to overstep the Constitution and law." After Soviet Union general secretary Joseph Stalin 's death, several communist states have experimented with some sort of constitutional supervision. These organs were designed to safeguard the supreme power of the legislature from circumvention by political leaders. Romania
SECTION 50
#17327732778849620-463: The Chinese working class, the Chinese people, and the Chinese nation." As noted by both communist parties, the ruling parties of communist states are vanguard parties . Vladimir Lenin theorised that vanguard parties were "capable of assuming power and leading the whole people to socialism, of directing and organising the new system, of being the teacher, the guide, the leader of all the working and exploited people in organising their social life without
9805-511: The Communist ideology." Therefore, the sole ideological purpose of communist states is to spread socialism and to reach that goal these states have to be guided by Marxism–Leninism. The communist states have opted for two ways to achieve this goal, namely govern indirectly by Marxism–Leninism through the party (Soviet model), or commit the state officially through the constitution to Marxism–Leninism (Maoist China–Albania model). The Soviet model
9990-508: The Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War and was viewed as an illegitimate state by Poland's government. The seizure of the cargo ships Praca and Prezydent Gottwald in 1953 and 1954, respectively, particularly inflamed tensions between the two countries. Under pressure from the Soviet Union, Poland participated in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. The Polish People's Republic's relations with Israel were on
10175-491: The Council of State). This did not prevent Solidarity from gaining more support and power. Eventually, it eroded the dominance of the PUWP, which in 1981 lost approximately 85,000 of its 3 million members. Throughout the mid-1980s, Solidarity persisted solely as an underground organization, but by the late 1980s was sufficiently strong to frustrate Jaruzelski's attempts at reform, and nationwide strikes in 1988 were one of
10360-511: The Main Political Directorate supervises not only the military, but also intelligence, the security services, and counterespionage work. Unlike in liberal democracies, active military personnel are members and partake in civilian institutions of governance. This is the case in all communist states. The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has elected at least one active military figure to its CPV Politburo since 1986. In
10545-463: The Marxist theory of historical materialism , Szabó argues that socialist law cannot belong to the same law family since the material structure is different from the capitalist countries as their superstructure (state) has to reflect these differences. In other words, law is a tool by the ruling class to govern. As Renè David notes, socialist jurists "isolate their law, to put into another category,
10730-545: The Marxist–Leninist-ruled countries of Africa and the Middle East, the Soviet Union deemed none of them socialist states—referring to them as socialist-oriented states. While many countries with constitutional references to socialism and countries ruled by long-standing socialist movements exist, within Marxist–Leninist theory a socialist state is led by a communist party that has instituted a socialist economy in
10915-610: The PZPR in power, especially after the Cold War intensified, included the harsh treatment of protesters, arrest of opposition leaders and in extreme cases, executions, with an estimated 22,000 people killed or disappeared from 1947 to 1989. Despite the numerous economic hardships, some achievements were established during this period, including improved living conditions, rapid industrialization, and urbanization . Access to universal health care and free education were made available, and
11100-404: The People's Liberation Army and other people's armed forces." The PLA carries out its work in accordance with the instructions of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party . Mao Zedong described the PLA's institutional situation as follows: "Every communist must grasp the truth, ' Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun .' Our principle is that the party commands the gun, and
11285-433: The People's Socialist Republic of Albania the dominant ideology is Marxism–Leninism. The entire social order is developing on the basis of its principles." The 1975 Chinese constitution had a similar tone, stating in Article 2 that "Marxism–Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought is the theoretical basis guiding the thinking of our nation." The 1977 Soviet constitution did also use phrases such as "building socialism and communism", "on
SECTION 60
#173277327788411470-424: The Polish economy slowed to a crawl. Most visibly, work on most of the major investment projects that had begun in the 1970s was stopped. As a result, most Polish cities acquired at least one infamous example of a large unfinished building languishing in a state of limbo. While some of these, such as the Szkieletor skyscraper in Kraków, were eventually finished decades later, most were never finished at all, wasting
11655-425: The Soviet Union's Eastern Bloc . In Asia, China became a people's republic following the Chinese Communist Revolution and North Korea also became a people's republic. During the 1960s, Romania and Yugoslavia ceased to use the term people's republic in their official name, replacing it with the term socialist republic as a mark of their ongoing political development. Czechoslovakia also added
11840-405: The Soviet Union, which they felt was not yet ready to accept a non-Communist Poland. The origins of Polish television date back to the late 1930s, however, the beginning of World War II interrupted further progress at establishing a regularly televised program. The first prime state television corporation, Telewizja Polska , was founded after the war in 1952 and was hailed as a great success by
12025-427: The Soviet Union. Yugoslavia would declare itself non-aligned , and Albania later took a different path. After a war against Japanese occupation and a civil war resulting in a Communist victory, the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. Communist states were also established in Cambodia , Cuba , Laos , North Korea , and Vietnam . In 1989, the communist states in Eastern Europe collapsed after
12210-441: The Soviet government was known as the Council of Ministers and identical names were used for the governments of Albania , East Germany , Hungary , Poland , and Romania . It was independent of the other central agencies such as the legislature and its standing committee, but the Supreme Soviet was empowered to decide on all questions it wished. The Soviet government was responsible to the legislature, and in between sessions of
12395-426: The Soviet model of a "people's democracy" and a centrally planned socialist economy. The government also embarked on the collectivisation of agriculture, although the pace was slower than in other satellites: Poland remained the only Eastern Bloc country where individual farmers dominated agriculture. Through a careful balance of agreement, compromise and resistance — and having signed an agreement of coexistence with
12580-404: The Soviet model, but in China, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam, the armed forces are party-state institutions. However, several differences exist between the statist (Soviet) and the party-state models (China). In the Soviet model, the Soviet armed forces was led by the Council of Defense (an organ formed by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union ) while the Council of Ministers
12765-433: The Soviet one, the NPC is the highest organ of the state and elects a Standing Committee (the Soviets had a Presidium ), the government (named the State Council in China and the Council of Ministers in the Soviet Union), the Supreme Court (such as the Supreme Court of East Germany), the Supreme Procuratorate (such as the Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam ), the Chairman of the National Defence Council (for example,
12950-419: The Soviets during World War II, such as the Katyn massacre . Hence, the Polish audience was more lenient towards a TV series exclusively featuring Polish history from the times of the Kingdom of Poland or the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . Being produced in a then-socialist country, the shows did contain a socialist agenda, but with a more informal and comical tone; they concentrated on everyday life which
13135-422: The Supreme Soviet's Presidium, union republic constitutions and laws, some central administrative decrees, Supreme Court explanations, and other central normative documents." If the committee deemed the legislature to have breached legality, the legislature was obliged to discuss the issue, but it could reject it if more than two-thirds voted against the findings of the Constitutional Supervision Committee. While it
13320-637: The abolition of the Senate as a test of strength against the government. Although it supported the other two questions, the Communist-dominated government branded the PSL "traitors". This massive oppression was overseen by Gomułka and the provisional president, Bolesław Bierut . The official results of the election showed the Democratic Bloc with 80.1 percent of the vote. The Democratic Bloc
13505-591: The acquired territories. Stalin was determined that Poland's new communist government would become his tool towards making Poland a satellite state like other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. He had severed relations with the Polish government-in-exile in London in 1943, but to appease Roosevelt and Churchill he agreed at Yalta that a coalition government would be formed. The Provisional Government of National Unity
13690-430: The additional title Marshal of Poland , and in 1952 he became Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers (deputy premier). Over the coming years, private industry was nationalised , the land seized from the pre-war landowners and redistributed to the lower-class farmers, and millions of Poles were transferred from the lost eastern territories to the lands acquired from Germany. Poland was now to be brought into line with
13875-558: The agency in question failed to heed its advice, it needed to petition the legislature. In 1989, the Soviets established the Constitutional Supervision Committee, which "was subordinate only to the USSR constitution." It was empowered "to review the constitutionality and legality of a range of state acts of the USSR and its republics. Its jurisdiction included laws [passed by the legislature], decrees of
14060-400: The amount that could be exchanged, and so the only practical way to obtain it was from remittances or work outside the country. An entire illegal industry of street-corner money changers emerged as a result. These so-called Cinkciarze gave clients an exchange rate far better than the official one and became wealthy from their opportunism albeit at the risk of punishment, usually diminished by
14245-618: The armed forces through the Main Political Directorate (MPD) of the Ministry of Defense , a state organ that functioned "with the authority of a department of the CPSU Central Committee ." The MPD organised political indoctrination and created political control mechanisms at the centre to the company level in the field. Formally, the MPD was responsible for organising party and Komsomol organs as well as subordinate organs within
14430-440: The armed forces; ensuring that the party and state retain control over the armed forces; evaluates the political performance of officers; supervising the ideological content of the military press; and supervising the political-military training institutes and their ideological content. The head of the MPD was ranked fourth in military protocol, but it was not a member of the Council of Defense. The Administrative Organs Department of
14615-420: The census of 14 February 1946 showed only 23.9 million inhabitants. The difference was partially the result of the border revision. Losses in national resources and infrastructure amounted to approximately 38%. The implementation of the immense tasks involved with the reconstruction of the country was intertwined with the struggle of the new government for the stabilisation of power, made even more difficult by
14800-717: The committee was replaced by the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland , all the key posts of which were held by members of the communist Polish Workers' Party . At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Stalin was able to present his Western allies, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill , with a fait accompli in Poland. His armed forces were in occupation of the country, and
14985-441: The communist authorities. The foundation date corresponds to the time of the first regularly televised broadcast which occurred at 07:00 p.m CET on 25 October 1952. Initially, the auditions were broadcast to a limited number of viewers and at set dates, often a month apart. On 23 January 1953 regular shows began to appear on the first and only channel, TVP1 . The second channel, TVP2 , was launched in 1970 and coloured television
15170-521: The communist government was illegal, though Poland remained the most liberal of the Eastern Bloc members and censorship eventually lost its authority by the mid-1980s. The majority of the TV shows and serials made during the Polish People's Republic earned a cult status in Poland today, particularly due to their symbolism of a bygone era. Communist government Former parties Former parties Former parties A communist state , also known as
15355-525: The communist government — cardinal primate Stefan Wyszyński maintained and even strengthened the Polish church through a series of failed government leaders. He was put under house arrest from 1953 to 1956 for failing to punish priests who participated in anti-government activity. Bierut died in March 1956 and was replaced with Edward Ochab , who held the position for seven months. In June, workers in
15540-438: The communist legislature. The legislature passes the constitution, which can only be amended by the legislature. Soviet legal theorists denounced judicial review and extra-parliamentary review as bourgeoisie institutions. They also perceived it as a limitation of the people's supreme power. The legislature, together with its suborgans, oversaw the constitutional order. Since the legislature is the supreme judge of constitutionality,
15725-412: The communist party remained the centre of power. As a term, communist state is used by Western historians, political scientists, and media to refer to these countries. However, these states do not describe themselves as communist nor do they claim to have achieved communism — they refer to themselves as socialist states that are in the process of constructing socialism and progressing toward
15910-618: The communist party. This shows that legislatures are tools to garner popular support for the government in which leading figures campaign and spread information about the party's policies and ideological development. Furthermore, Western researchers have devoted little attention to legislatures in communist states. The reason is that there are no significant bodies of political socialisation compared to legislatures in liberal democracies. While political leaders in communist states are often elected as members of legislatures, these posts are not relevant to political advancement. The role of legislatures
16095-575: The communists were in control of its administration. The Soviet Union was in the process of reincorporating the lands to the east of the Curzon Line , which it had invaded and occupied between 1939 and 1941 . In compensation, Poland was granted German-populated territories in Pomerania , Silesia , and Brandenburg east of the Oder–Neisse line , including the southern half of East Prussia . As
16280-408: The communists. In other areas, the ballot boxes were either destroyed or replaced with boxes containing prefilled ballots. The 1947 election marked the beginning of undisguised communist rule in Poland, though it was not officially transformed into the Polish People's Republic until the adoption of the 1952 Constitution . However, Gomułka never supported Stalin's control over the Polish communists and
16465-435: The concept of the national-democratic state "never received full theoretical elaboration as a political system." However, one feature was clearly defined, namely, that these states did not need to be led by a Marxist–Leninist party. A socialist-oriented state seeks to reach socialism by non-capitalist development. As a term, it substantially differs from the concept of the national-democratic state. The singular difference
16650-478: The conduct of processes of production. The state is not 'abolished'. It dies out." In "The Tax in Kind", Vladimir Lenin argued: "No one, I think, in studying the question of the economic system of Russia, has denied its transitional character. Nor, I think, has any Communist denied that the term Soviet Socialist Republic implies the determination of the Soviet power to achieve the transition to socialism, and not that
16835-560: The considerable resources devoted to their construction. Polish investment in economic infrastructure and technological development fell rapidly, ensuring that the country lost whatever ground it had gained relative to Western European economies in the 1970s. To escape the constant economic and political pressures during these years, and the general sense of hopelessness, many family income providers traveled for work in Western Europe, particularly West Germany ( Wyjazd na saksy ). During
17020-413: The constitution was a tool to analyse the development of society. The Marxist–Leninist party in question would have to study the correlation of forces, literally society's class structure, before enacting changes. Several terms were coined for different developmental states by Marxist–Leninist legal theorists, including new democracy , people's democracy , and the primary stage of socialism . This
17205-460: The control of certain cliques such as the military in Ethiopia . The establishment of a legal system and coercive institutions are also noted to safeguard the socialist-oriented nature of the state. The fifth feature is that the socialist-oriented state must take over the media and educational system while establishing mass organisations to mobilize the populace. Unlike the Soviet economic model,
17390-470: The country by including them in the composition of the legislature. In communist states, there is usually a high proportion of members who are government officials. In this instance, it might mean that it is less important what legislatures do and more important who its representatives are. The members of such legislatures at central and local levels are usually either government or party officials, leading figures in their community, or national figures outside
17575-423: The country under a military junta . As a result, several newsreaders had difficulty in finding employment after the fall of communism in 1989. Despite the political agenda of Telewizja Polska, the authorities did emphasize the need to provide entertainment for younger viewers without exposing the children to inappropriate content. Initially created in the 1950s, an evening cartoon block called Dobranocka , which
17760-452: The country was re-unified under the communist party in 1976 and the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Cuba states that the role of the communist party is to "guide the common effort toward the goals and construction of socialism." The DPRK's constitution outlines a socialist economy and the ruling Workers' Party of Korea remains ideologically committed to communism. Communist states share similar institutions, which are organised on
17945-529: The country's first non-communist prime minister since 1948. On 10 December 1989, the statue of Vladimir Lenin was removed in Warsaw by the Polish authorities. The Parliament amended the Constitution on 29 December 1989 to formally rescind the PUWP's constitutionally-guaranteed power and restore democracy and civil liberties. This began the Third Polish Republic , and served as a prelude to
18130-470: The democratic elections of 1991 — the first since 1928 . The PZPR was disbanded on 30 January 1990, and Wałęsa was elected as president eleven months later. The Warsaw Pact was dissolved on 1 July 1991 and the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991. On 27 October 1991, the 1991 Polish parliamentary election , the first democratic election since the 1920s. This completed Poland's transition from
18315-438: The economy at all levels, resulting in a growing black market and the development of a shortage economy . The only way for an individual to buy most Western goods was to use Western currencies, notably the U.S. dollar , which in effect became a parallel currency. However, it could not simply be exchanged at the official banks for zlotys , since the government exchange rate undervalued the dollar and placed heavy restrictions on
18500-451: The economy of the socialist-oriented states are mixed economies that seek to attract foreign capital and which seeks to maintain and develop the private sector . In the words of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev , these states were in the process of taking over the commanding heights of the economy and instituting a state-planned economy. According to Soviet sources, Laos was the one socialist-oriented state that has managed to develop into
18685-418: The election process by "universal suffrage in the various wards and towns." While the institution of such a legislature might not be important in itself, they "have a place in the literature and rhetoric of the ruling parties which cannot be ignored—in the language of the party's intimacy with working masses, of its alleged knowledge about interests of working people, of social justice and socialist democracy, of
18870-456: The end of the Stalinist era. In 1970, Gomułka's government decided to adopt massive increases in the prices of basic goods, including food. The resulting widespread violent protests in December the same year resulted in a number of deaths. They also forced another major change in the government, as Gomułka was replaced by Edward Gierek as the new First Secretary. Gierek's plan for recovery
19055-571: The end". When John Paul II made his first papal tour of Poland in June 1979, half a million people heard him speak in Warsaw; he did not call for rebellion, but instead encouraged the creation of an "alternative Poland" of social institutions independent of the government, so that when the next economic crisis came, the nation would present a united front. A new wave of labour strikes undermined Gierek's government, and in September Gierek, who
19240-455: The era, hundreds of thousands of Poles left the country permanently and settled in the West, few of them returning to Poland even after the end of socialism in Poland. Tens of thousands of others went to work in countries that could offer them salaries in hard currency, notably Libya and Iraq . After several years of the situation continuing to worsen, during which time the socialist government unsuccessfully tried various expedients to improve
19425-461: The existing economic system is recognised as a socialist order." The introduction of the first five-year plan in the Soviet Union got many communists to believe that the withering away of the state was imminent. However, Joseph Stalin warned that the withering away of the state would not occur until after the socialist mode of production had achieved dominance over capitalism. Soviet jurist Andrey Vyshinsky echoed this assumption and said that
19610-558: The existing framework until 2018, when the Constitution and Law Committee of the National People's Congress was bestowed the right of constitutional review. The government of communist states is usually defined as the "executive organ of the highest state organ of power" or as the "highest administrative agency of state power". It functions as the executive organ of the legislature. This model has been introduced with variations in all communist states. For most of its existence,
19795-463: The fact that a considerable part of society was mistrustful of the communist government. The occupation of Poland by the Red Army and the support the Soviet Union had shown for the Polish communists was decisive in the communists gaining the upper hand in the new Polish government. As control of the Polish territories passed from occupying forces of Nazi Germany to the subsequent occupying forces of
19980-558: The factors that forced the government to open a dialogue with Solidarity. From 6 February to 15 April 1989, talks of 13 working groups in 94 sessions, which became known as the " Roundtable Talks " ( Rozmowy Okrągłego Stołu ) saw the PUWP abandon power and radically altered the shape of the country. In June, shortly after the Tiananmen Square protests in China, the 1989 Polish legislative election took place. Much to its own surprise, Solidarity took all contested (35%) seats in
20165-468: The financial practices in East Germany running its own ration stamps at the same time. The trend led to an unhealthy state of affairs where the chief determinant of economic status was access to hard currency. This situation was incompatible with any remaining ideals of socialism, which were soon completely abandoned at the community level. In this desperate situation, all development and growth in
20350-442: The form of a powerful All-Russian Soviet power; the object of which is to secure complete suppression of the bourgeoisie, the abolition of exploitation of man by man, and the establishment of Socialism, under which there shall be neither class division nor state authority". The communist state is the dictatorship of the proletariat , where the advanced elements of the proletariat are the ruling class. In Marxist–Leninist thinking,
20535-460: The form of massive debt are still felt in Poland even today. This Golden Age came to an end after the 1973 energy crisis . The failure of the Gierek government, both economically and politically, soon led to the creation of opposition in the form of trade unions , student groups, clandestine newspapers and publishers, imported books and newspapers, and even a "flying university". On 16 October 1978,
20720-561: The formation of the Solidarity movement. During the Solidarity years and the imposition of martial law , Poland entered a decade of economic crisis, officially acknowledged as such even by the regime. Rationing and queuing became a way of life, with ration cards ( Kartki ) necessary to buy even such basic consumer staples as milk and sugar. Access to Western luxury goods became even more restricted, as Western governments applied economic sanctions to express their dissatisfaction with
20905-457: The former German territories, out of which 12,000 km were redistributed to farmers and the rest remained in the hands of the government (Most of this was eventually used in the collectivization and creation of sovkhoz -like State Agricultural Farms "PGR"). However, the collectivization of Polish farming never reached the same extent as it did in the Soviet Union or other countries of the Eastern Bloc. Nationalisation began in 1944, with
21090-406: The government repression of the opposition, while at the same time, the government had to use most of the foreign currency it could obtain to pay the crushing rates on its foreign debt. In response to this situation, the government, which controlled all official foreign trade, continued to maintain a highly artificial exchange rate with Western currencies. The exchange rate worsened distortions in
21275-661: The gun must never be allowed to command the Party." The Central Military Commission (CMC) is both an organ of the state and the party—it is an organ of the CCP Central Committee and an organ of the national legislature, the National People's Congress. The CCP General Secretary is ex officio party CMC Chairman and the President of the People's Republic of China is by right state CMC Chairman. The composition of
21460-475: The height of the Cold War , Poland attempted to remain neutral to the conflict between the Soviets and the Americans. In particular, Edward Gierek sought to establish Poland as a mediator between the two powers in the 1970s. Both the U.S. presidents and the Soviet general secretaries or leaders visited communist Poland. Poland was hostile to the Republic of China , which had retreated to Taiwan following
21645-640: The highest law was the Constitution of the Polish People's Republic , and the Polish Council of State replaced the presidency of Poland . Elections were held on the single lists of the Front of National Unity . Despite these changes, Poland was one of the most liberal communist nations and was the only communist country in the world which did not have any communist symbols ( red star , stars, ears of wheat , or hammer and sickle ) on its flag and coat of arms . The White Eagle founded by Polish monarchs in
21830-470: The inauguration of the July Theses . Hungary and Poland experimented with constitutional supervision in the early 1980s. Hungary established the Council of Constitutional Law, which was elected by the legislature and consisted of several leading jurists. It was empowered to review the constitutionality and legality of statutes, administrative regulations, and other normative documents; however, if
22015-477: The industrial city of Poznań went on strike, in what became known as 1956 Poznań protests . Voices began to be raised in the Party and among the intellectuals calling for wider reforms of the Stalinist system. Eventually, power shifted towards Gomułka, who replaced Ochab as party leader. Hardline Stalinists were removed from power and many Soviet officers serving in the Polish Army were dismissed. This marked
22200-426: The interests of the classes exploited by capitalism . It seeks to lead the exploited classes to achieve communism. However, the party cannot be identified with the exploited class in general. Its membership comprises members with advanced consciousness above sectional interests. Therefore, the party represents the advanced section of the exploited classes and, through them, leads the exploited classes by interpreting
22385-556: The law does not illegalise it. This is because both Marx and Lenin abhorred the parliamentary systems of bourgeois democracy , but neither sought to abolish the legislature as an institution. Lenin wrote that it would be impossible to develop proletarian democracy "without representative institutions." Both of them considered the governing model of the Paris Commune of 1871 , in which executive and legislative were combined in one body, to be ideal. More importantly, Marx applauded
22570-457: The law of the socialist countries and the law of the capitalist countries is not of the same nature as the difference between Roman-German law and the common law, for example. Socialist law is not a third family among the others, as in certain writings of Western comparatists." In other words, socialist law is civil law, but it is a different type of law for a different society. Yugoslav jurist Borislav Blagojević [ sr ] noted that
22755-464: The leadership changes or whenever the leaders change their views. [...] The trouble now is that our legal system is incomplete. [...] Very often what leaders say is taken as law and anyone who disagrees is called a lawbreaker." In 1986, Li Buyan wrote that "the policies of the Party usually are regulations and calls which to a certain extent are only principles. The law is different; it is rigorously standardised. It explicitly and concretely stipulates what
22940-418: The leadership of the communist party. In communist states, the government may not tolerate criticism of policies that have already been implemented in the past or are being implemented in the present. According to Marxist–Leninist thought, the state is a repressive institution led by a ruling class . This class dominates the state and expresses its will through it. By formulating law, the ruling class uses
23125-462: The legislature ensures the centralised and unitary leadership of the central committee of the ruling Marxist–Leninist party over the state. By having legislatures, the Marxist–Leninist parties try to keep ideological consistency between supporting representative institutions and safeguarding the party's leading role. They seek to use the legislatures as a linkage between the rulers and the ruled. These institutions are representative and usually mirror
23310-402: The legislature's acts cannot be unconstitutional. Moreover, this means that judicial independence in communist states does not mean the same as in liberal democracies. In communist states, judicial independence means stopping all interference not granted by law, but interference in itself is not barred. The Supreme Soviet was the first socialist legislature, and the Soviet legislative system
23495-557: The legislature, it reported to the legislature's standing committee. The standing committee could reorganise and hold the Soviet government accountable, but it could not instruct the government. In communist states, the government was responsible for the overall economic system, public order, foreign relations, and defense. The Soviet model was more or less identically implemented in Bulgaria , Czechoslovakia , East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, with few exceptions. One exception
23680-479: The name of the" National People's Congress , and through it, the Chinese Communist Party . These bodies are responsible to and report on their work to the legislature. For instance, the Prosecutor-General of Vietnam's Supreme People's Procuracy delivers an annual Work Report to the legislature, the National Assembly , every year. Moreover, all communist states have been established in countries with
23865-463: The national liberation movements took power and instituted an anti-imperialist foreign policy and sought to construct a form of socialism were considered national-democratic states by Marxist–Leninists. An example of a national-democratic state is Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser which was committed to constructing Arab socialism . Except Cuba, none of these states developed socialism. According to scholar Sylvia Woodby Edington, this might explain why
24050-466: The opposition side. The government accepted the idea that some kind of a deal with the opposition would be necessary, and repeatedly attempted to find common ground throughout the 1980s. However, at this point, the communists generally still believed that they should retain the reins of power for the near future, and only allowed the opposition limited, advisory participation in the running of the country. They believed that this would be essential to pacifying
24235-533: The organising body of Premiership Rugby Science and healthcare [ edit ] Physical Research Laboratory , India Physical Review Letters , a scientific journal PRL-8-53 , Nootropic research chemical Prolactin , a hormone Other [ edit ] Parramatta Rail Link , a formerly proposed railway project in Sydney, Australia Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
24420-614: The party CMC and the state CMC are identical. The CMC is responsible for the command of the PLA and determines national defence policies. fifteen departments report directly to the CMC and that are responsible for everything from political work to administration of the PLA. Of significance is that the CMC eclipses by far the prerogatives of the CPSU Administrative Organs Department while the Chinese counterpart to
24605-569: The people as embodied in a series of representative parliamentary institutions. Such states do not have a separation of powers and instead have one national legislative body (such as the Supreme Soviet in the Soviet Union), which is bestowed with unitary power and is often defined as the highest organ of state power. Unitary power means that the legislature has the power of the judiciary, legislature and executive but chooses to delegate these powers to other institutions. In communist states,
24790-483: The people should, can, or cannot do." These legal developments were echoed in later years in Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam. This has led to the development of the communist concept of socialist rule of law, which runs parallel to, and is distinct from, the liberal term of the same name. In the last years, this emphasis on the constitution as both a legal document and a paper which documents society's development has been noted by
24975-510: The performance of the economy—at one point resorting to placing military commissars to direct work in the factories — it grudgingly accepted pressures to liberalize the economy. The government introduced a series of small-scale reforms, such as allowing more small-scale private enterprises to function. However, the government also realized that it lacked the legitimacy to carry out any large-scale reforms, which would inevitably cause large-scale social dislocation and economic difficulties for most of
25160-596: The political system. In communist states, the social organisations are expected to promote social unity and cohesion, to serve as a link between the government and society and to provide a forum for the recruitment of new communist party members. Historically, the political organisation of many socialist states has been dominated by a one-party monopoly. Some communist governments such as those in China , Czechoslovakia , or East Germany have or had more than one political party, but all minor parties are or were required to follow
25345-577: The population almost doubled between 1947 and 1989. Poland also maintained a large standing army, known as the Polish People's Army . In addition, units of the Soviet Armed Forces were also stationed in Poland as in all other Warsaw Pact countries. In the summer of 1944, the Polish Committee of National Liberation was established by Soviet-backed Polish communists to control territory retaken from Nazi Germany . On 1 January 1945
25530-466: The population in areas such as ethnicity and language , "yet with occupations distributed in a manner skewed towards government officials." Unlike in liberal democracies, legislatures of communist states are not to act as a forum for conveying demands or interest articulation—they meet too infrequently for this to be the case. This might explain why communist states have not developed terms such as delegates and trustees to give legislature representatives
25715-520: The population, accustomed to the extensive social safety net that the socialist system had provided. For example, when the government proposed to close the Gdańsk Shipyard , a decision in some ways justifiable from an economic point of view but also largely political, there was a wave of public outrage and the government was forced to back down. The only way to carry out such changes without social upheaval would be to acquire at least some support from
25900-503: The power to vote according to their best judgement or in the interest of their constituency. Scholar Daniel Nelson has noted: "As with the British parliament before the seventeenth-century turmoil secured its supremacy, legislative bodies in communist states physically portray the 'realm' ruled by (to stretch an analogy) 'kings'. Members of the assemblies 'represent' the population to whom the rulers speak and over whom they govern, convening
26085-436: The premise that the communist party is a vanguard of the proletariat and represents the long-term interests of the people. The doctrine of democratic centralism , developed by Vladimir Lenin as a set of principles to be used in the internal affairs of the communist party, is extended to society at large. According to democratic centralism, the people must elect all leaders, and all proposals must be debated openly, but once
26270-656: The presence of two minor parties, the United People's Party and the Democratic Party , the country was a one-party state because these two parties were completely subservient to the Communists and had to accept the PZPR's "leading role" as a condition of their existence. It was politically influenced by the Soviet Union to the extent of being its satellite country , along with East Germany , Czechoslovakia and other Eastern Bloc members. From 1952,
26455-607: The pro-Soviet government taking over industries in the newly acquired territories along with the rest of the country. As nationalization was unpopular, the communists delayed the nationalization reform until 1946, when after the 3xTAK referendums they were fairly certain they had total control of the state and could deal a heavy blow to eventual public protests. Some semi-official nationalisation of various private enterprises had begun also in 1944. In 1946, all enterprises with over 50 employees were nationalised, with no compensation to Polish owners. The Allied punishment of Germany for
26640-496: The promise of social and economic reforms. None of these were delivered due to resistance from the hardline communist leadership as it would effectively require abandoning the Marxian economy with central planning , state-owned enterprises and state-controlled prices and trade. After the West refused to grant Poland further loans, the living standards began to fall sharply again as the supply of imported goods dried up, and as Poland
26825-609: The referendum and the January 1947 general elections , the opposition was subjected to persecution. Only the candidates of the pro-government "Democratic Bloc" (the PPR, Cyrankiewicz' faction of the PPS, and the Democratic Party ) were allowed to campaign completely unmolested. Meanwhile, several opposition candidates were prevented from campaigning at all. Mikołajczyk's Polish People's Party (PSL) in particular suffered persecution; it had opposed
27010-456: The reparations far ahead of schedule as a sign of 'friendship' between the two new communist neighbors and, therefore, now friends. Thus, without the reparations and without the massive Marshall Plan implemented in the West at that time, Poland's postwar recovery was much harder than it could have been. During the Gierek era , Poland borrowed large sums from Western creditors in exchange for
27195-416: The road to communism", "to build the material and technical basis of communism" and "to perfect socialist social relations and transform them into communist relations" in the preamble. The people's democratic state was implemented in Eastern Europe after World War II. It can be defined as a state and society in which feudal vestiges have been liquidated and where the system of private ownership exists, but
27380-400: The socialist state is the last repressive state since the next stage of development is that of pure communism , a classless and stateless society. Friedrich Engels commented on the state, writing: "State interference in social relations, becomes, in one domain after another, superfluous, and then dies out of itself; the government of persons is replaced by the administration of things, and by
27565-451: The socialist state was necessary "in order to defend, to secure, and to develop relationships and arrangements advantageous to the workers, and to annihilate completely capitalism and its remnants." Ideology permeates these states. According to scholar Peter Tang, "[t]he supreme test of whether a Communist Party-state remains revolutionarily dedicated or degenerates into a revisionist or counterrevolutionary system lies in its attitude toward
27750-403: The socialists should support the communists in carrying through a socialist program while opposing the imposition of one-party rule. Pre-war political hostilities continued to influence events, and Stanisław Mikołajczyk would not agree to form a united front with the socialists. The communists played on these divisions by dismissing Osóbka-Morawski and making Cyrankiewicz Prime Minister. Between
27935-408: The state to oppress other classes and form a class dictatorship. However, the goal of the communist state is to abolish that state. The Soviet Russia Constitution of 1918 stated: "The principal object of the Constitution of the R.S.F.S.R., which is adapted to the present transition period, consists in the establishment of a dictatorship of the urban and rural proletariat and the poorest peasantry, in
28120-407: The state-owned enterprises in the field of industry, transport, and credit eclipse it. In the words of Eugene Varga , "the state itself and its apparatus of violence serve the interests, not of the monopolistic bourgeoisie, but of the toilers of town and country." Soviet philosopher N. P. Farberov stated: "People's democracy in the people's republics is a democracy of the toiling classes, headed by
28305-426: The term socialist republic into its name during this period; it had become a people's republic in 1948, but the country had not used that term in its official name. Albania used both terms in its official name from 1976 to 1991. The concept of the national-democratic state tried to theorize how a state could develop socialism by bypassing the capitalist mode of production . While Vladimir Lenin first articulated
28490-541: The term also became synonymous with authoritarianism , propaganda, manipulation, lies, deception and disinformation. Under martial law in Poland , from December 1981 Dziennik was presented by officers of the Polish Armed Forces or newsreaders in military uniforms and broadcast 24-hours a day. The running time has also been extended to 60 minutes. The program returned to its original form in 1983. The audience viewed this move as an attempt to militarize
28675-408: The theory of non-capitalist development, the novelty of this concept was applying it to the progressive elements of the national liberation movements in the Third World . The term national-democratic state was introduced shortly after the death of Stalin , who believed colonies to be mere lackeys of Western imperialism and that the socialist movement had few prospects there. The countries where
28860-522: The time. With its format, the show shared many similarities with the East German Aktuelle Kamera . Throughout the 1970s, Dziennik Telewizyjny was regularly watched by over 11 million viewers, approximately in every third household in the Polish People's Republic. The long legacy of communist television continues to this day; the older generation in contemporary Poland refers to every televised news program as "Dziennik" and
29045-505: The title PRL . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PRL&oldid=1230810692 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Polish People%27s Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly
29230-529: The unitary legislatures often have a similar structure to the parliaments in liberal republics , with two significant differences. First, the deputies elected to these unitary legislatures are not expected to represent the interests of any particular constituency but rather the long-term interests of the people as a whole; and second, against Karl Marx 's advice, the unitary legislatures of communist states are not in permanent session. Instead, they convene once or several times yearly in sessions that usually last only
29415-521: The universal laws governing human history towards communism. In Foundations of Leninism (1924), Joseph Stalin wrote that "the proletariat [working class] needs the Party first of all as its General Staff, which it must have for the successful seizure of power. [...] But the proletariat needs the Party not only to achieve the [class] dictatorship; it needs it still more to maintain the [class] dictatorship." The current Constitution of Vietnam states in Article 4 that "[t]he Communist Party of Vietnam ,
29600-519: The universal truths of Marxism–Leninism and reject other notions of socialism such as African socialism . The socialist-oriented states had seven defining features, namely, they were revolutionary democracies, had a revolutionary-democratic party, class dictatorship, defense of the socialist-oriented states, had organs of socialisation, initiated socialist construction, and the type of socialist-oriented state (either national-democratic or people's democratic). The political goal of revolutionary democracy
29785-503: The vanguard of the Vietnamese working class, simultaneously the vanguard of the toiling people and of the Vietnamese nation, the faithful representative of the interests of the working class, the toiling people, and the whole nation, acting upon the Marxist–Leninist doctrine and Ho Chi Minh 's thought, is the leading force of the state and society." In a similar form, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) describes itself as "the vanguard of
29970-608: The war of destruction was intended to include large-scale reparations to Poland. However, those were truncated into insignificance by the break-up of Germany into East and West and the onset of the Cold War. Poland was then relegated to receive her share from the Soviet-controlled East Germany . However, even this was attenuated, as the Soviets pressured the Polish Government to cease receiving
30155-553: The wide-scale bribery of the Milicja. As Western currency came into the country from emigrant families and foreign workers, the government in turn attempted to gather it up by various means, most visibly by establishing a chain of state-run Pewex and Baltona stores in all Polish cities, where goods could only be bought with hard currency. It even introduced its own ersatz U.S. currency ( bony PeKaO in Polish). This paralleled
30340-478: The working class, a broad and full democracy for the overwhelming majority of the people, that is, a socialist democracy in its character and its trend. In this sense, we call it popular." The people's republican state is a socialist state with a republican constitution. Although the term initially became associated with populist movements in the 19th century, such as the German Völkisch movement and
30525-498: The world are in China , Cuba , Laos , Vietnam , and North Korea (DPRK) . These communist states often do not claim to have achieved socialism or communism in their countries but to be building and working toward the establishment of socialism in their countries. The preamble to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's Constitution states that Vietnam only entered a transition stage between capitalism and socialism after
30710-582: Was Warsaw , followed by the industrial city of Łódź and cultural city of Kraków . The country was bordered by the Baltic Sea to the north, the Soviet Union to the east, Czechoslovakia to the south, and East Germany to the west. The Polish People's Republic was a unitary state with a Marxist–Leninist government established in the country after the Red Army 's takeover of Polish territory from German occupation in World War II. Communist control
30895-534: Was Czechoslovakia, where it had a president and not a collective head of state. Another exception was in Bulgaria, where the State Council was empowered to instruct the Council of Ministers. In every communist state, the judicial and procuratorial bodies are organs of the legislature. For instance, China's Supreme People's Court is the "legislative organ of governance that manages the judicial system in
31080-410: Was also responsible for peacekeeping and suppression of protests, was renamed Milicja Obywatelska . The Milicja's elite ZOMO squads committed various serious crimes to maintain the communists in power, including the harsh treatment of protesters, arrest of opposition leaders and in some cases, murder. According to Rudolph J. Rummel, at least 22,000 people were killed by the regime during its rule. As
31265-414: Was appealing to ordinary people. These include Czterdziestolatek (1975–1978), Alternatywy 4 (1986–1987) and Zmiennicy (1987–1988). The wide range of topics covered featured petty disputes in the block of flats , work issues, human behaviour and interaction as well as comedy, sarcasm, drama and satire . Every televised show was censored if necessary and political content was erased. Ridiculing
31450-557: Was awarded 394 seats to only 28 for the PSL. Mikołajczyk immediately resigned to protest this so-called 'implausible result' and fled to the United Kingdom in April rather than face arrest. Later, some historians announced that the official results were only obtained through massive fraud. Government officials didn't even count the real votes in many areas and simply filled in the relevant documents in accordance with instructions from
31635-478: Was centered on massive borrowing, mainly from the United States and West Germany , to re-equip and modernize Polish industry, and to import consumer goods to give the workers some incentive to work. While it boosted the Polish economy, and is still remembered as the "Golden Age" of socialist Poland, it left the country vulnerable to global economic fluctuations and Western undermining, and the repercussions in
31820-538: Was constitutionally powerful, it lacked enforcement powers, it was often ignored, and it failed to defend the constitution during the coup against Mikhail Gorbachev . The Chinese leadership has argued against establishing any corresponding constitutional supervisory committee due to their association with the failed communist states of Europe. None of the surviving communist states (China, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam) have experimented with constitutional supervision committees or constitutional supervision of any kind outside
32005-547: Was established in June 1946 with the communists holding a majority of key posts, and with Soviet support they soon gained almost total control of the country. In June 1946, the " Three Times Yes " referendum was held on a number of issues—abolition of the Senate of Poland , land reform, and making the Oder–Neisse line Poland's western border. The communist-controlled Interior Ministry issued results showing that all three questions passed overwhelmingly. Years later, however, evidence
32190-445: Was forced to export everything it could, particularly food and coal, to service its massive debt, which would reach US$ 23 billion by 1980. In 1981, Poland notified Club de Paris (a group of Western-European central banks) of its insolvency, and a series of negotiations on the repayment of its foreign debt was completed between 1989 and 1991. The party was forced to raise prices, which led to further large-scale social unrest and
32375-510: Was in poor health, was finally removed from office and replaced as Party leader by Stanisław Kania . However, Kania was unable to find an answer for the fast-eroding support of communism in Poland. Labour turmoil led to the formation of the independent trade union Solidarity ( Solidarność ) in September 1980, originally led by Lech Wałęsa . In fact, Solidarity became a broad anti-communist social movement ranging from people associated with
32560-399: Was introduced in 1971. Most reliable sources of information in the 1950s were newspapers, most notably Trybuna Ludu (People's Tribune). The chief newscast under the Polish People's Republic for over 31 years was Dziennik Telewizyjny (Television Journal). Commonly known to the viewers as Dziennik , aired in the years 1958–1989 and was utilized by the Polish United Workers' Party as
32745-467: Was introduced in all communist states. The Supreme Soviet convened twice a year, usually for two or three days each, making it one of the world's first frequently-convened legislatures during its existence. The same meeting frequency was the norm in the Eastern Bloc countries and modern-day China. China's legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), is modelled on the Soviet one. As with
32930-446: Was reportedly out of fear of Soviet intervention (see Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981 ). The government then disallowed Solidarity on 8 October 1982. Martial law was formally lifted in July 1983, though many heightened controls on civil liberties and political life, as well as food rationing, remained in place through the mid-to-late-1980s. Jaruzelski stepped down as prime minister in 1985 and became president (chairman of
33115-586: Was responsible for formulating defence policies. The party leader was ex officio the Chairman of the Council of Defense. Below the Council of Defense, there was the Main Military Council which was responsible for the strategic direction and leadership of the Soviet armed forces. The working organ of the Council of Defense was the General Staff tasked with analysing military and political situations as they developed. The party controlled
33300-518: Was soon replaced as party leader by the more pliable Bierut. In 1948, the communists consolidated their power, merging with Cyrankiewicz' faction of the PPS to form the Polish United Workers' Party (known in Poland as 'the Party'), which would monopolise political power in Poland until 1989. In 1949, Polish-born Soviet Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky became the Minister of National Defence, with
33485-403: Was strengthened through electoral fraud in the 1946 Polish people's referendum and the 1947 Polish parliamentary election . The Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) became the dominant political faction in a one-party state but the country had more liberal policies than other socialist states due to its strategic location in the Cold War and internal opposition. The state's official name
33670-521: Was targeted at young children, is still broadcast today under a different format. Among the most well-known animations of the 1970s and 1980s in Poland were Reksio , Bolek and Lolek , Krtek (Polish: Krecik) and The Moomins . Countless shows were made relating to Second World War history such as Four Tank-Men and a Dog (1966–1970) and Stakes Larger Than Life with Kapitan Kloss (1967–1968), but were purely fictional and not based on real events. The horrors of war, Soviet invasion and
33855-412: Was the "Republic of Poland" ( Rzeczpospolita Polska ) between 1947 and 1952 in accordance with the temporary Small Constitution of 1947 . The name "People's Republic" was introduced and defined by the Constitution of 1952 . The Polish People's Republic was dissolved following the Revolutions of 1989 and the 1990 Polish presidential election , but the post-communist Third Polish Republic retained
34040-434: Was the first to experiment with constitutional supervision when it established a Constitutional Committee in 1965. It was elected by the legislature, and leading jurists sat on the committee, but it was only empowered to advise the legislature. Keith Hand has commented that "[i]t was not an effective institution in practice", being unable to prevent Nicolae Ceausescu 's emasculation of Romania's Great National Assembly after
34225-570: Was uncovered showing that the referendum had been tainted by large-scale fraud, and only the third question actually passed. Władysław Gomułka then took advantage of a split in the Polish Socialist Party . One faction, which included Prime Minister Edward Osóbka-Morawski , wanted to join forces with the Peasant Party and form a united front against the communists. Another faction, led by Józef Cyrankiewicz , argued that
#883116