Jerzy J. Wiatr

In 1990 Poland became one of the very few European states without a Com-
munist party, not only in name but also in substance. While the self-
dissolution of the Polish United Workers Party, in January 1990, constituted
the final act of its decline in the 1980s, the roots of the process must be found
in the earlier stages of its history. The successor party (or parties) that
emerged on the Polish post-Communist Left are also rooted in the factional
struggle that had taken place within the PUWP in the past. Because of this
background it is essential to trace the process of gradual de-Communization
of the PUWP and to link it to the political change in postwar Poland.

The Polish United Workers Party was born on December 15, 1948, as the
result of a forced fusion of the two Marxist parties: the Polish Workers Party
and the Polish Socialist Party. The Polish Workers Party had been formed by
Polish Communists in 1942 in Nazi-occupied Poland and, supported by the
Soviet Union, became the hegemonic party in postwar Poland. The Polish
Socialist Party constituted the left wing of the prewar Socialist Party and
collaborated with the Communists in governing postwar Poland. Both parties
underwent political purges in 1948, following the Yugoslav-Soviet split and
the Soviet-led attack on East European "nationalists" within the governing
parties.

The new party ( PUWP), while officially not a Communist party, had all
the main characteristics of the Communist parties. Its official ideology was
defined as Marxism-Leninism and was interpreted faithfully in accordance
with Stalin's concepts. Its internal organization was highly centralistic, with

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