Poland and reform in Eastern Europe
- Counrties in EE repsonded to the secret speech by pushing for reform.
Unrest in Poland 1956
- Following the speech the people of Poland began to challenge communist rule.
- The first serious uprising took place at Poznan and focused on:
- Food shortages
- Lack of consumer goods
- Poor housing
- Khrushchev, alarmed at the situation and under pressure from hardliners, led a delegation to Warsaw to reassert control.
- It had to deal with Wladyslaw Gomulka - Poland's communist leader and a very shrewd politician.
- He made it clear to the Soviet delegation that the people of Poland were demanding reform however he emphasised that Poland's reform would not affect their relationship with the USSR.
- He had no intention of:
- abandoning communism
- leaving the Warsaw Pact
- Radio Free Europe broadcast what had been achieved in Poland and Gomulka became a hero to the student community in Budapest which began to demand reform in Hungary.
Events in Hungary 1956
- Since the end of WW2 Hungary had been ruled by a hard-line Stalinist - Rakosi.
- The new, moderate…
Similar History resources:
The post-Stalin thaw in superpower relations between 1953 and 1962 and Khrushchev’s policy of Peaceful Coexistence