61 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
61 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
The **March Events in Poland** (or **March 1968**, **Students' March**
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or **Polish 1968 political crisis**) were a a series of student protests
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in [Socialist Poland](Socialist_Poland "wikilink") in
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[1968](Timeline_of_Libertarian_Socialism_in_Eastern_Asia "wikilink") as
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people demanded a socialist democracy, [workers'
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control](Workers'_Self-Management "wikilink") and an end to the
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governments [anti-semitic](Anti-Semitism "wikilink") policies. It was
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part of the many [global revolts and episodes of unrest in the world at
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the time](Revolutions_of_1967_-_1975 "wikilink") that also hit
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[USSR](USSR "wikilink")-aligned countries.
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## Background
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Poland had experienced the most unrest out of any USSR-aligned country,
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with major protests in 1956 and an underground intellectual movement
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arguing for less restrictions in education and on the media.
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In 1967, Israel fought a war with Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Jordan. The
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USSR and its allies supported the anti-Israeli countries, and Poland
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began an "Anti-Zionist" campaign involving purging Jews from the
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Communist Party, media and government and the government became
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increasingly nationalistic, advocating for a "Polish way to socialism".
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The government began to look for Jews in the country and made lists.
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Angered by this, a crash in meat production, wage cuts, increase in
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working hours, boredom and anger at a lack of liberalisation since 1956
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led to an angry population.
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Some have argued that the top of the Communist Party were simply trying
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to eliminate opposition.
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## Events
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### Warsaw Protests
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Following the cancellation of an old play (the government claimed was
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too religious and [Russophobic](Russophobia "wikilink")) a petition was
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submitted to parliament by a student protesters. Soon, the Polish
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Writers' Union condemned the ban and other restrictions of freedom of
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speech, as well as the governments anti-semitism. After the removal of
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dissidents from the university of warsaw, a protest at the university
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was attacked by police. But soon, universities across the country had
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protests. The protesters were socialists (often
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[Marxist-Leninist](Marxist-Leninism "wikilink")) but called for
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democratisation of the country.
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### Across the Country
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Protesters were beaten and tortured across the country, and universities
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attempted to form a coalition with eachother and get the workers to join
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them in a general strike. But this failed. On the 15th of March, a
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20,000-strong worker-student alliance in Gdańsk fought 3,700 police into
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the night. Despite the protests being centered in universities, it was
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mainly composed of young factory workers and high school students.
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### Repression
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The media heavily slandered the protesters and often claimed them to be
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Jewish or agents of imperialism. Thousands of protesters were arrested
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and leaders were targeted (although [May Day](May_Day "wikilink")
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parades were disrupted) 15,000 Jews left the country and sadly the
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government apologised in 1988. |