Topic: The Polish People's Republic - PRL – revision lesson

Target group

8th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

XXXVII. Beginnings of communism in Poland. Pupil:

1. presents the circumstances of the takeover of power in Poland by communists (role of the Polish Committee of National Liberation, popular referendum, elections in 1947);

2. characterizes the attitudes of Poles towards the new authorities, with particular emphasis on armed resistance (unwavering soldiers [cursed]).

XXXVIII. Stalinism in Poland and its effects. Pupil:

1. presents political, economic and social and cultural changes during the Stalinist period;

2. discusses the Stalinist terror system in Poland and assesses its effects;

3. explains the causes and effects of Poznan's June 1956 (Poznań Uprising) and the significance of the events of October 1956.

XXXIX. Poland in the years 1957‑1981. Pupil:

1. describes the system of power in the 1960s and 1970s in the PRL and forms of dependence on the USSR;

2. characterizes the realities of social and cultural life, taking into account the specificities of Gomułka and Gierek times;

3. presents and situates in time the variety of causes of social crises in 1968, 1970, 1976 and their consequences;

4. explains the importance of the role of the Catholic Church in political and social relations;

5. describes the birth and operation of the political opposition in the years 1976‑1980;

6. presents the role of John Paul II and assesses his influence on social and political changes;

7. explains the causes and consequences of the August strikes in 1980;

8. characterizes the Solidarity social movement.

XL. Decade 1981‑1989. Pupil:

1. explains the reasons for the introduction of martial law, describes its course and consequences;

2. presents the attitudes of Poles towards martial law, the phenomenon of social resistance;

3. explains the reasons for concluding the Round Table Agreement, presents its main participants and describes the provisions.

XLI. The birth of the Third Polish Republic. Pupil:

1. describes the key political changes in 1989‑1997;

2. characterizes socio‑political, economic and cultural changes of the 90s

General aim of education

Students repeat the konwledge they have gained about the Polish People's Republic (1944‑1989).

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to characterize the most significant events of1944 - 1989;

• to recognize the most important figures in post‑war Poland;

• to characterize examples and versions of state propaganda;

• to describe how the PRL influenced the history of Poland.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

1. Students refer to the abstract content. They shall be able to summarize it in they own words and solve the exercices.

Introduction

1. The teacher states the subject of the lesson, explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

2. The teacher asks students about what they remember from the lesson about Poland in the years 1944‑1989. Then, he writes down the students' answer on the board. He asks that they choose seven of the most important suggestions, which they describe the best they can.

Realization

1. The teacher asks the students to perform ** Task 1 **. Next, he asks that on the basis of knowledge gained during the lesson, they should consider which of these objects could have been known and used by Polish residents in 1976, and which were completely inaccessible to them. Then, the students perform ** Exercise 1 **, describing the lives of the US residents during this period.

2. Asking students why they made such a division, the teacher begins the discussion about the differences between the countries of capitalist Western Europe and North America and the countries of the so‑called Eastern Block. Finally, he explains what these differences resulted from.

3. Then he divides the students into 5 groups and gives each of them a decade of Polish People's Republic, so that the first group had the 1940s, the second - the fifties, the third - sixties, fourth - seventies, fifth – eighties. Then he asks students to create and fill their own time capsule with typical objects and the most important information from their assigned period. Students can use various sources of information to acquire information – books, textbooks, the Internet, etc. The teacher takes care of providing feedback to the students during the exercise.

4. Students present their time capsules to the class, and the teacher notes down all the items / information that were a piece of propaganda or were its carrier. Then he explains to the students that in the period of1944‑1989 every aspect of people's lifes was subjected to control of the govrernment, and made to make it look positive and successful. Students get acquainted with the propaganda poster and the description of its elements (** Task 2 **).

Summary

1. To sum up the lesson, students perform ** Exercise 2 **.

2. The teacher assesses the students' work during the lesson, taking into account their input and commitment. For this purpose, he may prepare a self‑assessment questionnaire.

Homework

1. The teacher tasks willing students with homework: The media in the PRL were completely controlled by the communists, and the information they broadcasted was controlled as well. Nonetheless, real, unmanaged news about the events from the country and the world found their way to the Poles. Find out what the broadcasting station's name was, for listening to which you could even go to prison. Where and why was it created and how it was colloquially called?.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The Polish People's Republic - PRL – revision lesson

Poland was on the winning side in World War II. However, the Polish people themselves did not decide their fate, rather it was the leaders of the United States, the Soviet Union and Great Britain. At the conferences of the so‑called Big Three in Tehran (1943), Yalta and Potsdam (1945), it was determined that Poland would come under the Soviet sphere of influence. Territories lost to the USSR in 1939 were not returned ot Poland. In exchange – at the expense of Germany – they gained Lower Silesia, Western Pomerania, Warmia and Masuria.

At the end of World War II, power in Poland was in the hands of the Communists the Polish Workers' Party (later to become: Polish United Workers' Party PZPR). They enjoyed the full support of Stalin and the Soviet army. The organs of the Polish Underground ceased to exist, and Western governments ceased supporting the government in London and gave official recognition to the Communists in Poland. For several years, there was still armed opposition by a few groups of anti‑Communist underground (the so‑called „Cursed Soldiers”).

The name of the country changed in 1952 to the Polish People's Republic (PRL). The PRL appeared to be a fully democratic and sovereign state, but in fact full power was exercised by the Communists, who in turn were subordinate to rule from Moscow. Communists had no intention of relinquishing power once they had it, and used mass terror and repression against political opponents and the Catholic Church.

Socialist ideas were attempted in the economy. The reconstruction of the country took place slowly, following the destruction of the war, education was spread and industrialisation progressed. At the same time, there were problems with a lack of essential goods. Propaganda cleverly showed the successes of the regime and made no mention of failures.

Not everyone supported the Communists in Poland. Some of the people were intimidated and just tried to survive. However, every few years, following the buildup of economic and social problems there would be outbursts of social unrest that would turn into strikes and protests (1956, 1968, 1970, 1976). These were brutally suppressed by the authorities. In particular, workers in heavy industry plants rebelled. They were supported by intellectuals. In 1980 the wave of strikes led to the creation and official recognition of the Independent Self‑Governing Trade Union „Solidarity˝. The leader of Solidarity was the electrician Lech Wałęsa. This was a breakthrough in the country's political system, and that of the entire so‑called Eastern Block. Solidarity demanded improvements to living standards and respect for human and civil rights. On December 13th, 1981 the Communist powers, led by General Wojciech Jaruzelski, initiated military action and introduced Martial Law. Solidarity was made illegal and many of the leadership were imprisoned. The democratic opposition had gone underground again.

The deepening economic crisis and a further wave pf protests prompted the Communist powers to make concessions. During discussions in Magdalenka, and then at the Round Table, representatives of the leadership reached an agreement with some opposition leaders (no right‑wing activists were invited to the talks). As a resut, parliamentary elections held on June 4, 1989 were partially free. The opposition was resoundingly successful in these. A coalition government was formed (including ministers from the PZPR), and headed by Tadeusz Mazowiecki, a member of the opposition. Leszek Balcerowicz became minister of finance, with the task of transforming the economy from socialism to capitalism. The President of the PRL, elected by the National Assembly, was General Wojciech Jaruzelski.

In 1989, democratic and capitalist changes began in Poland. At the beginning of 1990 the name of the country was changed to the Republic of Poland. General Jaruzelski resigned his post, and the PZPR was dissolved. Lech Wałęsa was victorious in the first general Presidential election. In 1991, the first completely free parliamentary elections were held. The young Polish democracy gave birth to a number of parties that came from Solidarity and the former powers. The early years of the Third Polish Republic saw many political disputes, unstable governments and an economic crisis, as a result of the ruin of the country after 45 years of the Communist experiment.