Topic: Between Propaganda and Reality. The Polish People’s Republic

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.

General aim of education

Students learn about the first years of Poland after World War II.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• how did the Communists take the power in Poland;

• what methods did the authorities use to break the resistance and control the Polish society;

• how does a non‑democratic state work;

• about the most important events that took place in post‑war Poland.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• exposing

  • film.

• 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 should know what were the consequences of World War II for Poland and why did the country land in the zone of Soviet influence.

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. Beginning the lesson, the teacher asks students what a totalitarian state / totalitarianism is and what its features are. Then he asks students to give examples of such countries – the Third Reich and the USSR.

Realization

1. The teacher asks the students, referring to the homework, how it happened that after the II World War Poland ended up in the eastern bloc controlled by the USSR.

2. Next, the teacher explains that the first years after the II World War were a very difficult period for Poland and Poles. The country suffered greatly as a result of hostilities, and Poland lost the largest percentage of its inhabitants. Under such conditions, the Provisional Government of National Unity (TRJN) was established, which was supposed to prepare the country for free and democratic elections. Unfortunately, the realities turned out to be quite different based on the decisions of the great conferences, and the controll over the country was quickly taken by the communists aided by Moscow. Students get acquainted with the illustrations and perform ** Exercise 1 **.

3. The teacher discusses the methods used by the communists to take over the power in the country and control every aspect of a citizen's life. He explains to students what a universal terror, censorship, propaganda, electoral frauds, persecution of the opposition were, giving examples, eg terror – fighting the anti‑communist underground; falsifications – plebiscite, elections to the Sejm, etc. He talks about the Polish Stalinism. Students look at a propaganda poster from 1946 and place descriptions of individual elements in the right places (** Exercise 2 **).

4. The teacher presents the achievements of the communist authorities, explaining to the students that despite the dependence on the USSR, terror, persecution of the opposition and enemies of power, the Communists managed to achieve several positive things. Then he mentions the reconstruction of the country (focusing primarily on Warsaw) and the elimination of illiteracy. Students watch the film and perform the exercise (** Exercise 3 **).

5. The situation of the economy and its reconstruction was much worse. The teacher explains to students the principles of the centrally planned economy and explains why it was ineffective. Then he explains the reasons for the economic difficulties of the People's Poland. Students read a fragment of the text by Marek Hłasko and perform ** Exercise 4. ** Then in ** Exercise 5 ** they indicate the type of industry that was crucial for the communist authorities. The teacher takes privides feedback.

Summary

1. The teacher sums up the lesson and explains to students the breakthrough of 1956 for the period of Stalinism in Poland. He explains what events have influenced the change of situation in the Eastern Block and Poland.

2. The teacher emphasizes that over time, the society began to see and ridicule the differences between the world depicted in communist propaganda and the real one. One such example is the song „Ku przyszłości” from ** Exercise 6 ** The students mark the appropriate fragments, as instructed.

3. Finally, they get acquainted with the timeline and execute ** Task 1 **.

4. 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: Analyze the graphs in the e‑textbook fragment *Wzrost liczby ludności i długości życia*, then write down at what age was the number of Poles the highest in 1975, 1980 and 2013? What has caused this?.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Between Propaganda and Reality. The Polish People’s Republic

Near the end of World War II, the power in Poland was taken over by the Communists of the Polish Workers’ Party (since 1948 – the Polish United Workers’ Party, known in Poland as the “PZPR”). They enjoyed the support and protection of Stalin and the Soviet military. The structures of the Polish Underground State ceased to exist, and the Western powers stopped supporting the governent in London, acknowledging the Communists’ rule in Poland. For a few more years, small groups of partisans fighting for independence (the so‑called Cursed Soldiers) kept up their armed resistance.

In 1952, the state’s name was changed to the Polish People’s Republic (abbreviated in Poland as “PRL”) by the new constitution. The PRL was ostensibly a democratic and sovereign state. In reality, however, the power was in the hands of the Communists who were, in turn, following orders from Moscow. The Communists had no intention of relinquishing the power they obtained, employing mass terror and repression against their political enemies and the Catholic Church.

In the economic sphere, the authorities attempted to implement the ideas of socialism. The country was being slowly rebuilt after the war. Education started being more widespread, industrialization was progressing. At the same time, problems with supplies persisted, and the country suffered shortages of the most necessary goods. The propaganda skilfully presented the achievements of the authorities while remaining silent on their shortcomings. For the whole duration of the PRL’s existence, the information flow was controlled by the censorship; the institution took care to ensure that messages with anti‑Communist contents, as well as those unfavorable to the authorities, would not appear in the media.

The Polish People’s Republic existed until 1989.