United or divided party? Different trends in the Polish United Workers’ Party in the last decade of the People’s Republic of Poland

The article describes the fractions and trends that functioned in the Polish United Workers’ Party in the 1980s. Creation of Independent Self-governing Trade Union “Solidarity” in 1980 and the political crisis connected with the event led to the loosening of the party’s discipline. Groups with a different point of view on the then political and economic situation started to develop. The most recognized fractions included the members of the party that were associated with dogmatism and those associated with liberalism. The former, also known as “hard-headed”, pronounced for dealing with “Solidarity” in a quick and forceful manner, they criticised the followers of Stanisław Kania and gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski for their amicability and took advantage of the verbal and material support of the Soviet Union, German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia. Their aim was to seize the power in the party. The liberals who were concentrated in the horizontal structures, on the other hand, strived for a reform of the Polish United Workers’ Party that would involve democratisation of the decision-making process. They were also more willing to dialogue with the opposition than the “hard-headed” were. The imposition of the martial law pacified “Solidarity” and was the onset of clearing the ranks of the party. Fraction activity became forbidden and the most important members of the dogmatic movement were gradually losing their posts and influences