Title:

Inconvenient Anniversary: October Revolution Day in the Polish People’s Republic, 1957–67

Subtitle:

Acta Poloniae Historica T. 120 (2019), Studies

Creator:

Gajos, Bartłomiej

Contributor:

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Publisher:

Instytut Historii PAN

Place of publishing:

Warszawa

Date issued/created:

2019

Description:

p. 137-161

Type of object:

Journal/Article

Subject and Keywords:

politics of memory ; Polish People’s Republic ; October Revolution ; memory studies ; Soviet Union ; Gomułka, Władyslaw (1905-1982) ; Poland - politics and government - 1945-1970 ; collective memory - Poland- 1945- ; collectvie memory - Soviet Union ; Russia - 1917 (Revolution) - anniversaries

Abstract:

This article shows how the leaders of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR) tried to incorporate the October Revolution into the Polish culture of remembrance. The author concentrates his attention on two round anniversaries (in 1957 and 1967) and describes the limits, zig-zags, and paradoxes of the official politics of memory conducted by the PZPR. He argues that although the Soviet leaders conceived the anniversaries of the October Revolution as a means of strengthening the friendship between the nations, in the case of Poland, they created an opportunity to advance arguments for easing Soviet domination. The author also points out that both the Soviet and Polish cultures of remembrances shared one feature in common: by the late 1960s, the theme of the Second World War started to overshadow all other events from the past, including first and foremost the October Revolution.

References:

Olick Jeffrey K., The Politics of Regret: On Collective Memory and Historical Responsibility (New York, 2007)
Osęka Piotr, Rytuały stalinizmu: Oficjalne święta i uroczystości rocznicowe w Polsce 1944–1956 (Warszawa, 2007)
Wolfrum Edgar, ‘Erinnerungskultur und Geschichtspolitik als Forschungsfelder‘, in Jan Scheunemann (ed.), Reformation und Bauernkrieg. Erinnerungskultur und Geschichtspolitik im geteilten Deutschland (Leipzig, 2010)
Babiracki Patryk, Soviet Soft Power in Poland: Culture and the Making of Stalin’s New Empire, 1943–1957 (Chapel Hill, NC, 2015)
Paczkowski Andrzej, The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles From Occupation to Freedom (University Park, PA, 2003)
Zaremba Marcin, Komunizm, legitymizacja, nacjonalizm. Nacjonalistyczna legitymizacja władzy komunistycznej w Polsce (Warszawa, 2001)
Kochanowski Jerzy, Rewolucja międzypaździernikowa. Polska 1956–1957 (Warszawa, 2017).
Jones Polly, Myth, Memory, Trauma: Rethinking the Stalinist Past in the Soviet Union, 1953–70 (Yale, 2013)
Behrends Jan C., ‘Nation and Empire: Dilemmas of Legitimacy during Stalinism in Poland (1941–1956)’, Nationalities Papers, 4 (2009), 443–66
De Cesari Chiara and Rigney Ann (eds.), Transnational Memory: Circulation, Articulation, Scales (Berlin, 2016)

Relation:

Acta Poloniae Historica

Volume:

120

Start page:

137

End page:

161

Resource type:

Text

Detailed Resource Type:

Article : original article

Format:

application/octet-stream

Resource Identifier:

0001-6829 ; 2450-8462 ; 10.12775/APH.2019.120.06

Source:

IH PAN, sygn. A.295/120 Podr. ; IH PAN, sygn. A.296/120 ; click here to follow the link

Language:

eng

Rights:

Creative Commons Attribution BY-ND 4.0 license

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. [CC BY-ND 4.0] May be used within the scope specified in Creative Commons Attribution BY-ND 4.0 license, full text available at: ; -

Digitizing institution:

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Original in:

Library of the Institute of History PAS

Projects co-financed by:

Ministry of Science and Higher Education ; National Programme for the Development of the Humanities

Access:

Open