A Handbook of the Polish United Workers Party

Book description:

A Handbook of the Polish United Workers’ Party  (PZPR) is the first truly comprehensive and up-to-date study of one of the largest communist parties of the Cold War era. A number of leading historians specialising in the political, social, economic, as well as purely historical research of the Polish People’s Republic, have examined the dominant role of the PZPR and its influence on various aspects of civic life – from the manufacturing of appearances when it came to the “democratic” choice of political representatives, through the party’s oversight of the security apparatus, the military, foreign policy, the economy, and culture, to its interactions with the Catholic Church. Individual chapters focus on the period 1948–1989, but also touch upon the preceding years, when the communist system was being introduced in Poland, analysing a wide range of subjects, such as the organisational structure, internal power struggles, or the archival legacy of the PZPR.

This book is a compelling exploration of the workings of an Eastern bloc party that once, at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, had more than three million members. Presenting meticulously researched factual and statistical information, it will benefit scholars interested in the political history of the second half of the twentieth century and provide a detailed background for students and researchers of Eastern European and Soviet totalitarian regimes.