CONFRONTATION AND COOPERATION 1000 YEARS OF POLISH–GERMAN–RUSSIAN RELATIONS T h e J o u r n a l o f K o l e g i u m J a g i e l l o n s K i e T o r u n s K a s z K o l a W y z s z a V o l . i : 1 2 – 1 8 DOI: 10.2478/conc-2014-0002 Jan Parys Kolegium Jagiellońskie Toruńska Szkoła Wyższa The Soviet army in Poland Key words: Soviet Union, People’s Republic of Poland, NATO On 4th June 1989 the first free parliamentary elections During the WWII Poland experienced an immense were held in Poland. They were the first elections of loss, both in people as well as in property and territory. this kind in the communist block, which was formed as Alas, it was also followed by the loss of sovereignty, a result of WW II and the Yalta agreement. This way the associated with the imposed presence of the state in the process of the destruction of the communist system in Soviet zone, which had been agreed on by the American Europe, and in consequence the collapse of the Soviet and British allies. Union, which had been initiated by the establishment How come the country that was the longest fighting of the trade unions „Solidarność”, sped up rapidly. during the WWII and whose resistance initiated this In December 1991 the first Polish parliament (Sejm), war lost its independence? In 1991 when the government emerged in fully democratic elections1, appointed the of Jan Olszewski was being formed it wasn`t just government of Jan Olszewski2. In this way the process a historical question. Without the comprehension of of effective action aiming at the transformation of the the reasons why during the WWII the independence status of Poland from the Soviet satellite into a sovereign was lost, the system which had led to this state cannot state was initiated. It was also the beginning of the be changed. process of establishing the new geopolitical position of Throughout the WWII Stalin imposed on his Poland in Europe. western allies the Hitler`s point of view on the history of Europe in the 20th cent. According to this concept 1 One should remember that the previous Sejm emerged in free, yet only partly democratic elections. The elections, as the Second World War began as a result of signing the compromise with the communist regime were of curial the treaty of Versailles after the Great War. The treaty, character. Regardless the real will of the society they guaran- both in Hitler`s as well as in Stalin`s opinion, was the teed that the political parties of the regime would hold 65% source and the reason of the outbreak of the new war. of parliamentary seats. It was only the elections of 1991 that The conference in Versailles was based on explicitly renounced this privilege. 2 The author of this article, Jan Parys, was the first civil- anti-imperial ideas of an eminent creator of the new ian minister of defense of the Republic of Poland between international order, W.Wilson, the president of the USA. 1991 and 1992 in the government of Jan Olszewski. In his famous seventeen points he presented among the Jan Parys: The Soviet army in Poland 13 others the rule of self-determination of nations, and the Union was to be in charge of the safety in the countries right of nations to establish independent states, as the of middle Europe. condition of the fair international order. Then the idea that Europe consisting of a lot of For both Stalin and Hitler this approach was small and weak states is a vacuum that provokes unacceptable. Each of them aimed at extending their the aggression of stronger European countries had states in Europe, and transforming them into the prevailed. The stability and peace in Europe could only empires on the expense of smaller and weaker states. be guaranteed by the states from beyond Europe, i.e. This idea was presented as the way of introducing order USA and USSR. in messed up Europe, providing stability by creating In this way in Quebec the allies accepted as their the areas of influence, and dividing Europe between own the thesis of the critics of the treaty in Versailles. empires according to their interests. The decisions were confirmed at the meeting of the Big For the British government this idea was obvious, Three with Stalin in Teheran on 28th November 1943. since London had been building its empire for It was declared there what had previously been agreed centuries, dividing the world into its own and foreign on at the British-American conference. territories. Beside Churchill there was throughout In Teheran Stalin didn`t have to demand anything. the war an advisor, a diplomat, publicist and Marxist He had won Teheran before, thanks to his agents, at the historian, E.H. Carr. He was strongly supporting the conference in Quebec. When it came to Europe and idea of dividing Europe into the western and Soviet issues concerning communism Roosevelt had hardly parts. His pro-Soviet role was well described by one of any knowledge. He realized what his two advisors, Polish emigrant leaders, the Commander in Chief of Harry Hopkins and Alger Hiss, suggested he should the Polish Army Kazimierz Sosnkowski, in his works do. Today we know that both of them were working in published after the war. Stalin`s interest4. In case of the USA there is no doubt that ill and naive, These two politicians claimed that the Europe when it came to the understanding of the communism, of independent states meant something dangerous, F.D. Roosevelt was inspired and controlled in his so called vacum. These two Stalin`s men, steering contacts with Moscow by advisors who, as it has been America`s policy had influenced the fate of Poland more proved, were working for Moscow. than our government in London. They were of greater As the result of the attack of the 3rd Reich on importance than the struggle of the Poles during the USSR Stalin turned temporarily towards the western Second World War. countries. In the first phase of the war the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was then in such a military had been almost defeated. The western countries could situation that in Teheran Stalin couldn`t demand have imposed on Moscow practically any demands. Yet, much, and would have accepted any solution offered by there was a reversal also on the western side. After two the West. Stalin`s diplomats, however, masterly stoked years since the German attack on the Soviet Union the fears concerning the possibility of armistice between ideas included in Atlantic Charter from 14th August Hitler and the Soviets. Now we are aware that it was 1941 were negated, the concept of international law merely a skillful game, and not a real possibility. based on the ideas of Wilson`s as well as the vision of The representatives of the West decided that Europe founded on the treaty of Versailles were rejected. Stalin was to be paid for defending against Hitler, There is no better example illustrating the work of and promised him in Europe more than the German- agents than this very reversal in the western policy. Russian agreement from August 1939 ( the pact of Between 14th and 24th August 1943 a conference Ribbentrop and Molotov) had provided for. In fact under the name of „Quadrant”3 was held in Quebec. during the negotiations with the West it was Stalin It was during this conference that Churchill and who was a weaker party since his defensive capability Roosevelt decided that the Europe of free nations had against Wermacht depended on the military supplies no point, and the areas of influence on the continent from western countries. Therefore, Stalin couldn`t were necessary to fulfill the ambitions of great powers. demand anything. He was the pledging side and would Moreover, they decided that after the war the Soviet have accepted any political solution. 3 T. Modelski, Byłem szefem wywiadu Naczelnego Wo- 4 More information at: A. Codevill, Informing Statecraft, dza, Warszawa 2009, p. 115. New York 1992, chapter 11. 14 Confrontation and cooperation. 1000 Years of Polish-German-Russian relations For the Soviet diplomacy it came as a great surprise Poland. This situation wasn`t changed by the fact that that the work of Soviet agents amongst British and these agreements, e.g. the one from 17th December American elites was so efficient. Stalin got more than he 1956 on the legal status of the Soviet troops in Poland, had expected, than he had ever dared to dream. Basing or the one from 23rd October 1957 about the number on the will of the West he could keep the Middle Europe and location of Soviet units in Poland, were signed for himself, as England its colonies, and the USA its between the authorities of the empire and the local influence in the western Europe. During the conference government5. Therefore they cannot be accepted in any in Yalta the division of the influence zones had only way as making the presence of PGW in Poland legal. been confirmed. Stalin was than in the consumption They were always signed by Polish authorities who were stage of what had been promised to him in Teheran. By imposed by Moscow, and under the threat of using fait accompli he grabbed new territories and made the violence, since in the presence of many thousands of whole nations dependent by force with the approval of armed troops of the empire on the Polish territory.