Stay ConnectedWDF examines how wars broke out, how they were concluded, and their consequences. Expect juicy diplomacy, sneaky intrigue, fascinating characters, and incredible drama. By Dr Zack Twamley, qualified history nerd.
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We continue our story from last time, as the Polish situation is connected to other fascinating questions.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of this chapter in Soviet-Polish relations was the notable involvement of China. The Chinese, it emerged, were very interested in seeing that other peoples travelled their own ‘road to socialism’ as they had done. A Polish road to socialism would validate the unique Chinese experience of struggle over the last few decades, and it would also confirm that Moscow didn’t have the authority to dictate how a communist satellite would feel.
Under the Chinese direction and approval, Poland’s limited revolution and Gomulka’s leadership would be safe, but only because, as we’ll see, Gomulka had zero intentions of truly changing any status quos. Unfortunately, Gomulka’s tenure in office was not destined to be a completely wholesome one. His behaviour over the 1960s would confirm that he was far more loyal and far less independently minded than his initial behaviour may have initially suggested, yet in 1956, Gomulka was the right man for the Polish leadership, and so long as the Polish people agreed, Poland was to be kept within the Soviet orbit, and Gomulka was to be the star pupil of the tumultuous year of 1956, especially in comparison to his Hungarian counterpart Imre Nagy, who we’ll meet in the next few episodes.
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1956 Episode 1.7 examines the continuing deterioration of the Polish situation, as Polish citizens dared to ask more and more questions, and to criticise the Soviet order, on their lips was one figure above all – Vladislav Gomulka (pictured).
Gomulka was one figure among many who had been disgraced and imprisoned during Stalin’s numerous purges. Gomulka, it was said, was too vocal a critic, and too independent or nationalistically inclined to rule Poland in Moscow’s name. Now though, the Polish people were calling for him, and they were demonstrating on the streets in increasing numbers to do so.
Here we detail how the Soviets dealt with this challenge in one of their most sensitive satellites, and what the major concerns of Polish citizens were in light of the revelations of the secret speech. The story involved a face-off between Gomulka and Khrushchev, as the latter made a stormy visit to Warsaw to see for himself in late October exactly what had gone down in Poland. Khrushchev left not with Gomulka’s head, but with a tacit acceptance of that man’s leadership. The question of why this occurred holds several fascinating answers, so make sure you join us here as we attempt to unpack this incredible episode in Soviet-Polish relations.
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1956 Episode 1.6 examines the tumultuous fallout of Khrushchev’s February speech in the context of Poland.
What was the Polish experience of living in the Soviet orbit? Here we set the scene and trace a bit of the background. It’s a tragic kind of story if you happen to be a Pole, or care about the sovereignty of independent states, but it also makes for fascinating listening. Here we look at a specific example of a revolutionary study, which tore the lid off of Soviet occupied Poland and which exposed its worst excesses to the world. The release of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬, adopted in 2010 as the film 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘺 𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬, proved to be an indication of things to come in 1956.
The Soviet-Polish relationship both before, during and after the Second World War was a difficult one, fraught with historical grievances, mutual distrust and grand ambitions. After all that had occurred in this portion of the world over the centuries, it was perhaps inevitable that the two peoples could never live peacefully side by side, yet the policies enacted by Stalin immediately following the victories of the Red Army in Poland from late 1944 nonetheless make for startling listening.
Stalin’s approach to Poland was to treat it as the troublesome if necessary little brother of Moscow – to be dominated by its larger neighbour, and always to be suspected and feared. Poles suffered terribly under Soviet rule from 1944-1989, and in the episode we’ll provide the background details for one of the most notable chapters in this 45 year history, as we explain how the Poles responded to news of Khrushchev’s speech.
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1956 Episode 1.5 examines the implications for the Soviet people, as Khrushchev’s speech is disseminated through the sprawling empire.
The questions which many citizens had were to be restricted and constrained by the specific parameters set down by the Soviet authorities. In short, as we’ll see in this episode, there was a fine line between debate and dissent. Pravda liked to distinguish between dissent and debate by presenting discussion of the secret speech in the spirit of party-mindedness, rather than a cynical or wholly critical perspective. As always, it was a matter for Khrushchev to determine the difference between debate and dissent, as he attempted to deal with the mess his speech had created.
We look at the example of the response given in Moscow’s Thermal Technical University, where three technicians gave their views and planned in grandly ambitious, optimistic ways, only to discover when they returned to work on Monday that their words and phrases had gone too far. Nobody could deny the central truths that they spoke, but everyone remained too afraid to actively challenge the post-Stalin order. This background of the social implications of the secret speech are important if we are to fully grasp what occurred in Poland – the first and most troubling dissenter in the Soviet camp...
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1956 Episode 1.4 examines the immediate storm caused by Khrushchev’s denunciations of Stalin in late February.
Above all, the greatest ingredient in this storm was that of confusion. Soviet officials didn’t know what to tell the assembled crowds, and schoolteachers didn’t know what to tell their pupils. How far exactly could they go in the condemnation of Stalin? This wasn’t made clear, nor was it made clear exactly what Khrushchev hoped to gain. He seemed to vacillate between wanting people to know about the speech and covering up its contents.
In Georgia, as we’ll see, the criticism of their favourite Soviet son caused demonstrations and rioting of an anti-Moscow nature, as the impression had been gained that these new Soviet bureaucrats were attempting to tarnish the name of Stalin for their own ends. Putting down these demonstrations were bloody and costly, and their eruption seemed to catch Khrushchev off guard. Indeed, the British and Americans were already learning of the secret speech by the middle of March, and began to ask their own questions about its contents – was this what Khrushchev wanted? We examine this question by looking at what other historians thought of Khrushchev’s move, and we prepare ourselves well for the most serious eruption of all in the Soviet bloc – in Poland...
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Episode 1.3 opens with the scene which greeted Khrushchev as he performed that incendiary speech over 24-25th of February 1956. It was a pivotal day in the history of the Soviet Union, and after we unwrap its major aspects, we then tackle the key questions – how had this speech come to be, and how had Khrushchev managed to convince his peers that it was necessary?
These questions require answers if we’re to understand and appreciate the world which housed the secret speech, so I hope you’ll tune in here and have a listen to an incredible period of history, when Josef Stalin – the father of peoples and the sun of the universe, was exposed as the monster that he was, by the very people who had followed his lead and helped him craft the system that dominated much of the continent.
What followed the secret speech then were other questions – how would Khrushchev et al manage to reconcile their involvement in Stalin’s crimes with this new course, and how would they manage to critique Stalin’s role in creating the Soviet system without also delegitimising it at the same time? Would the speech be seen as a welcome admission of wrongdoing, or an invitation to push for more freedom? From this speech in spring 1956 would spring even more troubles, which Khrushchev could never have imagined.
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Episode 1.2 follows on from where our first episode left off. Here, the power struggle between the Soviet Union’s top men is in full swing, and power plays, character assassination, genuine assassination and even more tactics besides distinguish this period of post-Stalin Soviet history. Nikita Khrushchev’s victorious succession and confirmation as First Secretary was far from certain once the struggle began, but as his rivals continued to underestimate him, and as he worked to build up his power base while the big fish sniped at one another, Khrushchev emerged as the best candidate to fill Stalin’s murderous shoes. Yet, it was far from clear at the same time exactly what Khrushchev had in mind.
For one, the so-called Thaw had been on-going since Stalin’s death, as prisoners were released, trumped up charges commuted, and some of the more unpopular policies relaxed. Would Khrushchev make efforts to expand upon this approach to Soviet rule, or would he contain its potential dangers as soon as he was able to do so? The different possibilities for life after Stalin remind us that what followed and what opened the year 1956 was by no means the only course, yet it was the most radical option at the time. The infamous secret speech thus occupies a great deal of our time here. Of most interest to us here though is the spectacle of Khrushchev’s elimination of his rivals, either through execution or political neutralisation. As far as Khrushchev was concerned, while a collective leadership on paper looked nice, in reality, there could be only one...
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What happened when the architect of the Cold War passed away? Would the Soviet Union Stalin built adapt to a new successor, or would a set of chain reactions doom the empire in its cradle?
If you want to learn more about what followed after the Korean War – as a story and as a year of significance, 1956 has few equals, and we open our narrative with the event which set up all subsequent events – the death of Josef Stalin on 5th March 1953. As far as deaths of prominent characters go, the death of Stalin from a succession of strokes at the age of 73 sticks out particularly – a man who allowed his paranoia get the better of him, out of fear of his own vulnerability and out of lust for power, died without being the victim of any underhanded scheme. As we’ll see, he also died without naming an official successor, throwing into chaos those men who had stuck around long enough to accumulate some power for themselves.
In this episode we’ll meet these figures – the so-called ‘collective leadership’ of the Soviet Union, which included such heavy hitters as Molotov, Malenkov, Lavrenti Beria, Anastas Mikoyan and a sometimes crude, always blunt figure by the name of Nikita Khrushchev. The story of what would come after Stalin is a gripping and fascinating snapshot of life at the top of the Soviet greasy pole. It prepares us for the eventful months which are to come, by investigating exactly what it was that compelled these men to undo some of what Stalin had made, while still holding onto the terrifying edifice which held half of the continent of Europe in rapture.
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Welcome to 1956, an era of schemes, revolution, propaganda, intrigue and a whole lot of diplomacy!
Originally brought exclusively to patrons, I've repurposed this series for all listeners, and within it you will learn exactly why I believe this eventful year is well worth your time. Our series begins with the death of Stalin, a megalomaniacal dictator who left no successor save the clique of people who had managed to survive his paranoid wrath for several years. Nikita Khrushchev, against all the odds, managed to surge above the rest. But before he could do this, and before he presented his vision for a post-Stalin world, we must set the scene.
This begins our new biweekly release schedule, so I hope you're excited. If you somehow need more of Dr Zack, make sure to sign up on Patreon for our PhD thesis series, and help make history thrive!
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Like what you hear? Consider signing up on Patreon to access the entire series. Thanksss!
For the last four+ years, this PhD thesis has been my obsession. Like pushing a boulder up a hill, the struggle was real. But, sometimes, struggle can produce great things, and I hope you'll agree that what I made is worthy of your time. This series comes exclusively to $5 patrons, but as is customary, listeners get the first episode for free. See if you like the sound of this nitty-gritty exploration of history we have planned, and if national honour really is as important as I claim. Maybe you're curious about the kind of kind of work expected for such a high standard of research? Perhaps you just want to know what I've been frantically working at during the last four+ years. Whatever brings you to this chunky series, we have a lot to get through. This is the first step towards unwrapping this 100k-word beast, so I hope you'll join me!
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