Poland's Role in the Loosening of the Communist Bloc
| Author | Adam Bromke |
| Published date | 01 December 1965 |
| Date | 01 December 1965 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070206502000403 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Poland's
Role
in
the
Loosening
of
the
Communist
Bloc
Adam Bromke*
"The
nature
and
success
of
our
relations
with
Poland-like
a
wind,
good
or
ill,
that
blows
through
the
only
open
window
in a
vast
and
crowded
prison-will
vitally
affect
the future,
the
hope
or
despair,
of
every
satellite
country."
John
F.
Kennedy,
21
August
1957.
I
The
shift
in
the
Communist
orbit
from
monocracy
towards
poly-
centrism has
been
brought
about
by
several
overlapping
events.
Clearly
the
major
catalyst
of
change
has
been
the
Sino-Soviet
dispute.
1
However,
various
other developments-the
independent
course
followed
since
the
late
1940's
by Yugoslavia,
the
reforms
introduced
after
Stalin's
demise in
the
U.S.S.R.,
the
outbreaks
in
Poland
and
Hungary
in
1956,
Albania's dispute
with the
Soviet
Union
in
the
early
1960's,
the
second
destalinization
campaign
undertaken
by Khrushchev
in
1961,
and,
most
recently,
the
widening
of
Rumania's
autonomy from
Russia-also
played
an
important
part.
All
the
changes
in
the
Communist
world
tend
to reinforce
themselves.
The
reforms
in
one
Communist
country generate
pressures
for
similar
changes
in
the
others.
As
a
result
there
is
a tendency
on
the
part
of
all
states
eventually
to
catch up
with
the
more
advanced
ones. As
Professor
Robert
Havemann
put
it,
in
advocating
the
reforms
in
East
Germany:
"What
has
been
*
Department
of
Political
Science,
Carleton
University.
This
paper
was
presented
at
the
5th
International
Conference
on
World
Politics
at
Noorwijk,
Holland,
September
1965.
The
author
would
like
to
express
his
thanks
to
his
research
assistant,
Miss
Eva
Balogh,
for
her
able
help
in
collecting
the
materials
used
in
this
paper.
1
For
the
author's
views
on
the
impact
of
the
Sino-Soviet
dispute
on
the
Communist
orbit,
see
The
Communist
States
at
the
Crossroads
(New
York:
Praeger,
1965);
and
Eastern
Europe
in a
Depolarized
World
(Toronto:
Canadian
Institute
of
International
Affairs,
1965).
POLAND
AND
THE
COMMUNIST
BLoC 485
possible
for
a
long
time
in
other
socialist
countries
should
also
prevail
in
the
GDR."
2
The
more widespread
the
changes
in
the
Communist
orbit
are,
however,
the
more
complex
interdependence
among
the
different
states
becomes.
In experimenting with
reform
the
more
advanced
countries
tend
to
adopt
the
measures which
correspond
to
their
own
peculiar
needs.
Thus,
as
their
number
increases
they
diverge
along
national
lines.
At
the
same
time
the
less advanced
countries,
having
more
models of
reform
to
follow,
select
those
measures
which
best
fit
their
specific
cir-
cumstances.
In
doing
so
they
contribute
still
further
to
the
growth
of
polycentrism.
As
a
Hungarian
writer
inadvertently
admitted:
"[The
more
Communist
countries
there
are]
...
with
conditions
substantially
differing
from
those
of
the
first
dozen
countries,
the
less
possible
it
is simply
to
take
over
the
experiences
of
the
latter.
'
"3
To
single
out
from
the
criss-crossings
of
change
in
the
Com-
munist
world
the
role
of
one
country
is
an increasingly
difficult
task.
First
of
all,
since
the
starting
point
of
reform
in
all
the
Communist
states
is
essentially
the
same,
namely
the
Stalinist
system,
they
all
tend
to
pass
through
somewhat
similar
stages.
The
similarity,
then,
stems
from
the
same
initial
situation,
rather
than
from
conscious
imitation
of
other
countries;
With
the
growing
variety
of
national
models of
reform,
moreover,
the
example
of
a
single
state
is
rarely
taken
lock,
stock, and
barrel
by
another
one.
More
frequently,
before being
accepted,
it
is
blended
with
the
relevant
experiences
of
some
other
countries.
Last but
not least,
even
where
there
is
a
virtual
copying
of
the
reforms
in
one
state
by
another, this
is
usually
not
admitted
by
either
side.
For
the
ideological
rationalization
of
the
whole
pro-
cess
of
change-the
doctrine
of
different roads
to
socialism-
precludes
the
recognition
of
the
universal
validity
of
experiences
of
any
Communist
country
other
than
the
U.S.S.R.
The changes,
thus,
have
to
be
presented
as
merely
the
local
variations
of
the
Soviet
model.
To
evaluate
Poland's
contribution
to
the
changes in
the
Communist
orbit
is
particularly
difficult.
For
one
of
the
cardinal
2
Echo
am
Abend, March
11,
1964.
(Translation, "Professor
Havemann's
Views",
East
Europe,
April,
1964,
p.
21.)
3
I.
Harsanyi,
"The
Universality
of
Marxism-Leninism
and
the
Uniform
Strategy
of
the
International
Working
Class",
Tarsadalmi
Szemle,
February
1958.
(Translation,
Hungarian Press
Survey,
Research
Department
of
Radio
Free
Europe,
February
16, 1965,
p.
8.)
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