Paweł Machcewicz . Rebellious Satellite: Poland 1956 . Translated by Maya Latynski . (Cold War International History Project Series.) Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center. 2009. Pp. xx, 280. $55.00.

Abstract

In Eastern Europe the year 1956 has been most often associated with the Hungarian Revolution that was brutally suppressed by the Soviet Union. Paweł Machcewicz, one of the leading Polish historians of the younger generation, tells us a less‐well‐known story: that of a powerful mass movement against Stalinism in Poland in 1956. The author argues that the Polish revolt (or rather a series of revolts, including a bloody one in Poznań in June 1956) was no less dramatic and dynamic than the Hungarian one. The end of the movement, however, was strikingly different: instead of Soviet invasion, the upheaval culminated in bringing to power a Polish national communist, Władysław Gomułka, who had been purged from the party during the Stalinist era for his alleged “nationalist deviation.” Supported by the majority of Polish society in 1956, Gomułka initiated enduring changes within the Polish communist system. Machcewicz seeks to challenge the dominant historiography of 1956, which focuses on political elites, by writing a history “from the bottom” with an eye on “how social movements influence ‘high’ politics during a major national crisis” (p. 3). Relying on newly accessible documents of the Polish secret police, Machcewicz focuses on ordinary Poles—workers, peasants, professionals, and students—who united against repressive policies and argued for fundamental human freedoms, social justice, and national independence. In this impressively detailed narrative, supported by colorful examples of popular action, Machcewicz leads us through the main landmarks of the Polish rebellion: the beginning of popular turmoil and public debate following Nikita Khrushchev's Secret Speech in February; the widespread emotional reactions to the sudden death of Polish Stalinist leader Bolesław Bierut, while attending the Twentieth Party Congress in Moscow; the workers' uprising in the city of Poznań in June that was suppressed by the Polish army and militia; the mass demonstrations and rallies in support of Gomułka's “Polish road to socialism” in October; and, finally, the slightly more open elections of January 1957, which allowed Gomułka to consolidate power, crack down on liberties won during October, and establish a communist system that would be relatively stable for another decade.