TO understand why Solidarity, a mass independent organisation of the workers, was bureaucratic rulers we need to look at the nature of Poland's political system. by Western analysts 'totalitarian' along with the Soviet Union and other Eastern European Challenge would bureaucratically-ruled workers' state.
Poland: a postcapitalist society Poland was devastated by the war. More than twenty per cent of the population died during the war, per CelL ot the entire national wealth Was destroved. and ine whole country was moved AMIRARY Socialist Democracy ineses, ue rourun international's model of workers' Available Upper London for Polish INPRECOR produc by the Fourth Socialist Challenge the existence of vely intolerable to Poland's Described 'Communist and as Socialist states, characterise Poland as a physically hundred miles to the West.
i ne country was liberated by the Communist-led resistance and the Soviet Red Army. The ment quickly transformed the econolly. was left of the landowning after the war was Class obliterated by the breaking UD OI the old estates of more than acres arable land. All industries employing more than fifty workers per shift were nationalised, and by late 1946 over ninety per cent industry Slalca owned and controlled.
As a result of the Yalta agreement, Poland passed into the Russian 'sphere of influence' East European states The socialisation of the Polish economy went hand-in-hand WILS crushing the self-activity the Polish masses, and their isolation from the labour movement in the West. The division of Europe proStalinist and imperialist 'spheres of influence' has been used to this day LU disrupt the fighting unity the workers of the European continent, to sel worker respectively the capitalist and bureaucratic rulers.
then POISE SOCICLY followed the same basic model as the other Eastern European states. The nationalised economy works in a completely different manner capitalist system. Economic life is no longer governed by the capitalist, market 01]l by the principle of state plan7 January 1982* nage 6 ning. Production and investment resources are not allocated accores market profitability but through deas alle decisions of the bureaucratic elie that has political power.
Enormous funded projects such construction of the Nowa Huta steelworks Comics outside Krakow were undertaken, country's rapid dustrialisation made it the eleventh largest industrial power the Dy 1980.
But while capitalism may have been abolished in roland thic workers do have political power this bureauele cratically-ruled workers' That position has been usurped by a huge apparatus, organised by the Communist Party, numbering at least two hundred thousand people.
This layer has big material privileges: its own special shops, better access to consumer goods, decent housing and and above all, political privileges decisionAlthough the membership of the official party apparatus in Poland is only about 10,000, the party also controls tens thousands of positions of power and influence in the national, regional and local areas of adthe army hierarchy and the police the trade LICi union and youth organisa- chullully.
tions The bureaucracy uses the 'nomenklatura' system common to other Eastern European countries candidates for any of these positions have to be approved by the party hierarchy at the relevant evel The aspiring satisfy one key crat must criterion: his or her capacity to defend and serve the interests and polițical needs of the bureaucratic apparatus as a whole.
Solidarity The bureaucratic system in Poland, at least after 1956, tolerated limited freedoms to certain layers of the population. . In particular the Cathollc Church was allowed to run its own religious organisations and journals, and freedom of Wors was not drastically repressed. The bureaucrats tolerated the visit of the Polish Pope, , John Paul Il 1979 which brought millions of Poles onto the streets for the first time in organised event This allowed •CA" tremely moderate opposition force to exist which had sufficient power within the system to want to rock the boat too much. So while the Church often gave some shelter to dissidents facing repression also issued appeals for moderation at crucial times to defuse the workers' struggles.
But the bureaucratic system cannot tolerate in dependent activity by the working class, that threatens party's monopoly of political power. Under capitalism trade unions may be an irritant to the ruling class but they do not threaten its very existence Trade unions and their bureaucratic leaders can be 'integrated' into the capitalist system.
creallor.
Solidarity never questioned the state ownership of the means of production, nor called for a return capitalism, links with the Church and its dislike lead socialists in the West to be sceptical of its aims The dynamic of Solidarity has been clear It has increasingly challenged for workers' power. After years of repression ând injuštice the working class has moved to use its new-found strength in Solidarity challenge the whole opDressive system mass working class movement in a state supposedly run by and for the workers, it was natural for Solidarity to challenge the privileges of the bureaucracy and to champion an end to corruption. This in turn led to a series of challenges to the party's political domination.
Solidarity demanded an end to party tions for factory directors and for candidates in local When the governmen used the economic crisis to explain price rises Solidarity demanded full access economic information and the establishineil workers' self-management in the enterprises. Solidarity asked for its own journals and an end to censorship of the media 'Solidarity's campaigns for radical democracy within the context of a nationalised economy threatened to explode the power of the bureaucracy and to totally undermine the 'leading role COT the party.
necause the bureaucrats in Poland and in the Kremlin understood the dynamic of Solidarity towards comprehensive challenge for workers that they tried every possible method of weakening or destroying it.
The bureaucrats tried une Church's moderating influence whenever possible; they attempted to use repression against union militants o supporters OI KOR, dissident movement that played a key role in the creation of Solidarity; they tried to split Solidarity by co-opting sections of leadership into a government of national unity.
And all the time they were preparing to use their establishment In SUBO in Poland retained popular respect. General ski was made first prime minister and defence minister, and then party - the first time soleader meone had held all three periods were extended and special military patrols were sent into the countryside during the autumn supposedly to help food distribution. All the while the plans for military-led repression being laid. General wett Siwicki, deputy was sent Hulusica.
Moscow for a month Just prior to the crackdown, and Marshall Kulikov head of the Warsaw Pact armed forces, arrived Warsaw two days before Sunday 13 December to supervise events.
Workers' power is an alternative Socialist Challenge does not believe that there are only two alternatives for the workers of the world: Stalinism or capitalism We believe that a system of workers' socialist racy is both possible st necessary Polish workers began poll before the recent repres sion was unleashed There can be no medium short-term compromise with the ruling bureaucracy in Poland or the Eastern bloc. There can not be two powers ir such a system; the workers The and the bureaucrats workers' movement has to prepare sweeping away of the whole bureau cratic caste from its position of polluca!
tion if it is not to be crush.
ed by LO C bureaucracy's epressive apparatu Un fortunately he Solidarit activists have only now learned this lesson through the bitter experience of the military repression.
The bureaucracy is Which alone among anne Manpoly of trade i a : to unise ine state through serious resources workers' planning as the entails the creative Hallel involvement of the workers themselves in the productive and political system. Such an involvement threatens the istence of the bureaucracy.
Freed from its tyranny the workers would be able to organise a system of national, , regional and local workers' to thrash out the needs of society through the mass involvement of the popu Such an open debate would need the maximum freedom of expression of political views the right to form political par ties — the very opposite of the current practice in so called 'Communist' coununes. within the workers' coun All politica trends cils would be granted full democratic rights as long did not take up arms to overthrow system.
A system of workers' socialist democracy would bring more and more of the population into active participation into the al fairs of the state, allowing increasing decen tralisation of decision making and the beginnings of the end of any separate State bureaucracy.
Revolutionary socia lists would build a party to fight for their ideas within workers' but in an oDe.
and democratic debate not through any insistence on the 'leading role of the party'.
For us socialism means more freedom than under capitalism, less Medu extension democratic rights along side a socialised economy.
That will only be possible For the other Eastern European Coul tries through a politica revolution overtul bureaucratic rulers Such a system is possibl and it would be a fantasti inspiration WULAC throughout the world
The Polish events serve as a grim reminder of Stalinism's capabilities.
in Eastern Europe - Czechoslovakia in 1968 -and how it was crushed.
When it seized power and established political HoloDUly the Czechoslovak Communist Party (CPC) ) had a lot going for it. Czechoslovakia was already an advanced capitalist country, «usllke most of the rest of Eastern CuTODC.
The CPC was both the MARK JACKSON recalls that last attempt at political revolution The population began to take things into their Although cenowii hallus sorship had not yet been formally abolished, writers, journalists, and media workers stopped paying any attention to it.
The mass organisations of farmers, wolkers and students, which had For the Dubcekites the mass HIvC uCul mixed blessing On the one hand it ensured their position as party leaders. But it ( also pushed the other Warsaw Pact regimes into thoroughgoing opposition.
The reformists could not 'reassure' Moscow by Clacking COWIl ON 1 the mass movement, since that Was the guarantee of their leadership.
Politically the Dubcek leadership was deeply loyal Moscow and socially it did not aim at the destruction of bureaucratic power.
The Action Programme, adopted by the April Central Committee Por ecor omle ned ore and economic rerorm anc federalisation But it mained firmly wedded to the idea of the monopoly the backbone Dally. bureaucratic rule The Dubcek leadership
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challenge of The
of any trace of Marxist or socialist terms should
posts in an Eastern Euro- pean state since Stalin!
the day the tanks rolled in