Writing Władysław Gomułka’s Life: Historiography of Władysław Gomułka’s Biographies

2021 ◽  
pp. 088832542110187
Author(s):  
Anna Müller
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
The Past ◽  
Deputy Prime Minister ◽  
Historical Figure ◽  
The Future ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Council Of State ◽  
Contemporary Approach

This article looks at a select number of biographies of Władysław Gomułka—an important postwar Polish politician, who because of his long presence in politics is often perceived as the de facto Polish postwar leader. He served in multiple roles: parliamentary deputy, deputy prime minister, minister, member of the Council of State, and the First Secretary of the communist party. I argue that for historians who take up the task of writing his biography, Gomułka is more than a historical figure, and that writing about him allows them to ponder the question of agency and historical contingencies, as well as the meaning of the past for the present. Not surprisingly, Gomułka’s biography serves as a form of a meta-commentary on contemporary approach to the Communist history and its place in Polish history. The existing biographies contain reflections, even if indirectly, on the nature of Communism in Poland, not as elements of the past but as aspects of the present that loom over the future. By the same token, the lack of interest in Gomułka at certain important historical junctures, or a rather selective interest, indicates not as much a lack of interest in an important politician, but rather a certain skewed interest in Communism—not just its shortcomings, but also its potential benefits. The silence gives a certain perception of Communism as something pushed to the margins.

The Crisis in the Polish Communist Party

1950 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam B. Ulam
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Socialist Party ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Deputy Prime Minister

Just as the Russo-Yugoslav dispute was reaching its climax, and before the meeting of the Cominform, which issued a detailed condemnation of the Yugoslav Party, a plenum of the Central Committee of the Polish Workers' Party took place. What happened at this plenum of June 3, 1948 is known to us, not directly but from many accounts given at the August 31—September 3 plenum. At the June meeting Secretary General of the Party and Deputy Prime Minister of Poland Gomulka-Wieslaw, (Wieslaw was the party name of Gomulka during the war and it is used throughout the debate), delivered the main report, ostensibly an “historical analysis” of the character of the Polish working class movement. In his speech Gomulka took as the basis of Polish Socialism the tradition of the fervently nationalistic Polish Socialist Party, and condemned the internationalist and Pro-Russian Social Democratic Party of Poland, and by implication as well the pre-1938 Polish Communist Party of which the Workers' Party was supposed to be a continuation in everything but name.

To Utopia and Back: A Cycle in the History of the Chinese Communist Party

1981 ◽  
Vol 87 ◽  
pp. 407-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart R. Schram
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Chinese Communist Party ◽  
The Past ◽  
Look Back ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Chinese Communist Party ◽  
Sixtieth Anniversary

On 1 July 1981 the Chinese Communist Party celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of its foundation. To mark this occasion, the Party itself issued a statement summing up the experience of recent decades. It seems an appropriate time for outsiders as well to look back over the history of the past 60 years, in the hope of grasping long-term tendencies which may continue to influence events in the future.

A Maoist Line for India

1968 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 3-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhabani Sen Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Indian People ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Weekly Journal ◽  
General Secretary

For a key to the Chinese stance on India, one might begin by quoting the first message Mao Tse-tung sent to that country after taking over as Chairman of the People's Republic. Ironically, it went to B. T. Ranadive, who was then the anti-Maoist General Secretary of the Indian Communist Party (CPI), and who is now the doubtfully Maoist editor of the weekly journal of the supposedly pro-Chinese or Marxist Communists (CPI[M]). “The Indian people is one of the great Asian peoples with a long history and a vast population,” said Mao, in reply to a message of greetings from Ranadive; “her fate in the past and her path to the future are similar to those of China in many points.” When India became free, like China after liberation, Mao went on to add, “that day will end the imperialist reactionary era in the history of mankind.”

The present theory of power of the French Communist Party

1967 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-268
Author(s):  
Annie Kriegel
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Third Republic ◽  
Present Theory ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Society ◽  
French Communist Party ◽  
Modern Form ◽  
The Revolution

From 1920 to 1939, under the Third Republic, and again from 1943 to 1947, under the Fourth, the French communists were able to present themselves as the harbingers of the future society. But this did not prevent them from improvising, according to circumstances and to the response they received, bold variations on the theme of their relations with the established power and society. The question which so many people are now asking: ‘Have the communists really changed ?’ can be reduced to asking whether, in the fifties although possibly in a confused way, it was not their doctrinal basis which changed; and therefore whether, after a long and victorious battle and with the revolution definitely a thing of the past, we cannot now speak of communist integration, Just as it took sixty years for the modern form of Catholicism to triumph, so perhaps a certain kind of socialist revisionism could now also triumph in similar conditions. To discover whether this is so is the object of the present enquiry.

The Empire Strikes Back: How Learning Organization Scholars Can Learn From The Critiques

2019 ◽  
pp. 416-428
Author(s):  
Jacky F. L. Hong ◽  
Carry K. Y. Mak
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Learning Organization ◽  
Stakeholder Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
Community Of Learning ◽  
Robust Model ◽  
The Future ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Multi Stakeholder

The concept of the learning organization (LO) has been subjected to strong criticisms over the past decade. However, excessive emphasis on the negativities will itself undermine the potential benefits that the LO concept promises to offer. By conducting a systematic review of the extant critiques of LO, this chapter aims to offer some suggestions for moving the idea forward. The authors argue that the community of learning organization scholars can reflect and learn from their past errors, thus returning with a more theoretically robust model in the next millennium. It is suggested to adopt a liminal and multi-stakeholder approach for developing a contextualized model of LO in the future.

Small States and a New League—From the Viewpoint of Norway

1943 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edvard Hambro
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Small States ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Post War ◽  
Great Scope

It is right that post-war planning should be made the subject of popular discussion. It is, on the whole, a healthy sign that so many books and articles are devoted to the winning of the peace, although some of them indubitably create a smoke screen of confusion. The same applies to committees and other organizations for the same purpose. These committees and their statements have two things in common: innumerable and inconclusive quotations from democratic leaders and illustrations drawn from the “success” of, or “failure” of, the League of Nations.The “Four Freedoms,” the “Atlantic Charter,” the “Declaration of the United Nations,” as well as other speeches, articles, and statements of all sorts are vague and all-comprising. They give ample scope for divergent interpretations. It should also be remembered that President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, important though their utterances are, speak for themselves. They cannot bind Congress or Parliament, although it is true that the British Parliament feels a strong loyalty to the leader of the nation.These two characteristics of the declarations of program give great scope to the professors, diplomats, politicians, journalists, and other prophets who dream of the future. Those of the soberer cast of mind try not to indulge in the luxury of day dreams. They realize that the future must be built on the experience of the past. They ask searching questions about the League.

In Conclusion: Revisiting the Past, Looking to the Future

New India ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 242-258
Author(s):  
Arvind Panagariya
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Economic Reforms ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Export Markets ◽  
Prime Ministers ◽  
Indian Economy ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Policy Stability

This chapter looks back at post-independence economic history to understand the stranglehold that socialism acquired on the Indian economy in the early years, the launch of reforms in 1991 under Prime Ministers Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, partial reversals under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and a return to reforms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It particularly emphasizes the role that a socialistically inclined bureaucracy plays in continuing to hold back reforms. The chapter concludes by making the case that despite a slowdown in growth at the present time, India’s future is bright—but only if the leadership stays the course on economic reforms. The chapter concludes with a number of cautionary notes relating to policy. These relate to policy stability, the necessity of migrating half or more of the agricultural workforce to industry and services, creating an ecosystem that would help firms to grow larger, the centrality of success in export markets, and the need for investment in labor-intensive sectors of the economy.

Reform in Vietnam: Backwards Towards the Future

1992 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brantly Womack
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
International Openness

If There is any teaching of MARX from which the leadership of Vietnam might bitterly demur, it would be his claim that society raises only such problems as it is ready to solve. Although this magisterial myth provided solace to generations of revolutionaries (who could conclude from it, 'We are, therefore we will prevail'), the Communist Party of Vietnam has been buffeted since its victorious national reunification of 1975 – 76 by challenges from within and without for which it was not prepared. As a result, the politics of Vietnam for the past fifteen years has been more a response to crisis rather than the execution of a political vision. Reform and international openness have become essential parts of these efforts at coping with crisis, but they have been strongly tethered to the need to preserve order and to prevent larger crises.

The Dilemmas of Democracy in Greece

1990 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Clive
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Charismatic Leadership ◽  
Bank Account ◽  
The Past ◽  
Bank Deposits ◽  
Deputy Prime Minister ◽  
Electoral Campaign ◽  
Party Members ◽  
Of Greece

Pasok's Eight Year-Old Socialist Administration, The first in Greek history, which followed its successive victories in 1981 and 1985, was due to undergo its third electoral test in mid-1989. In fact, the electoral campaign had started in the late summer of 1988 and was well under way at the beginning of the new year. Andreas Papandreou's charismatic leadership of PASOK, which in the past had been the principal explanation of his firm control of events, was already starting to fade, as he struggled to put a brave face on the resignations of respected ministers and party members in the wake of revelations of several scandals at the top of the pyramid. Foremost among these was the celebrated case of George Koskotas, the young owner of the Bank of Crete, who was in gaol in America after his escape from Greece, to avoid charges of embezzling more than £130 million in bank deposits. In mid-March, Time magazine's cover story showing Koskotas behind bars was entitled: ‘The Looting of Greece: a fallen tycoon charges Papandreou with stealing millions’. This caused the resignation of Agamemnon Koutsoyorgas, Papandreou's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, when Koskotas claimed he had credited him with $2 million in a Swiss bank account. He also stated that Papandreou had authorized this payment and had himself been on the payroll.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document