Rok 1968 w Polsce – kryzys władzy, kryzys społeczeństwa, początek przemian?

Abstract

The fundamental question articulated in the article addresses the issue of whether what happened in Poland in 1968 was a social crisis, and if it was, what its background was and what its specific features were? Can we, and should we, thus refer to a crisis of the then authorities? And what did it mean, in general, under the actual conditions of real socialism? And finally, can one say that 1968 marked the beginning of the systemic changes? Pointing out that, in Poland, this process was, by its nature, multi-faceted, the author is of the opinion that, a term inadequate as far as its logic is concerned, namely, ‘Marches ‘68’ (that is, plural rather than singular) should be applied, bearing in mind that this concept encompassed several diverse, not necessarily inter-related, and sometimes even mutually exclusive and contrary strands. An opinion is voiced that the ‘March events’ also contributed to the formation of something which may be symbolically referred to as ‘the ‘68 generation’, consisting of the 20-year old youths who were then students. The circumstances of the student protests in Poland, differing from those in the West, are emphasised. The author also maintains that the then events in Poland may be possibly compared to the Prague Spring and the Czech reform movement alone. Recapitulating, the author posits that what happened in 1968 in Poland was both a serious social crisis and a crisis of authority, or perhaps, more precisely, a crisis of leadership in the PUWP.