The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom

by Andrzej Paczkowski

One can think of countries that traversed the twentieth century free from war, revolution, or social upheaval. Such countries, however, are far outnumbered by those that struggled, often constantly, with severe internal conflicts, fought in bloody wars, or were attacked by their neighbors and deprived of their sovereignty. Poland is one of the more startling examples of a country subjected to a steady stream of trials and tribulations from Hitler's Nazi Germany through decades of Soviet repression. The Spring Will Be Ours, by one of Poland's leading historians, is the first book written after the collapse of state socialism in 1989 to tell this dramatic story based on research in newly declassified records.

The Spring Will Be Ours focuses on the turbulent half century from the outbreak of World War II in 1939, which started the chain of events that would lead to the communist takeover of Poland, to 1989, when futile attempts to reform the communist system gave way to its total transformation. Paczkowski shows how the communists captured and consolidated power, describes their use of terror and propaganda, and illuminates the changes that took place within the governing elite. He also documents the political opposition to the regime--both inside Poland and abroad--that resulted in upheavals in 1956, 1968, 1970, 1976, and 1980. His narrative makes evident the pressures that the elite felt from above, from Moscow, and from below, from the population and from within the party. The history of Poland and the Poles is of special interest because on numerous occasions in the twentieth century this relatively small country influenced developments on a global scale.

First published in Poland in 1995, The Spring Will Be Ours has been translated into several other languages. For this edition, translated by Jane Cave, Paczkowski has added an introductory chapter on Poland's twenty years of independence prior to 1939 and an extensive postscript exploring the changes that have taken place since the fall of communism in 1989. A bibliography of English-language works, prepared by Padraic Kenney, makes this book an indispensable starting point for anyone seeking to understand the remarkable course of events that brought an independent Poland into the twenty-first century.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Poland

600 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Andrzej Paczkowski (1 October 1938 – 3 January 2026) was a Polish historian. He was a professor at Collegium Civitas, director of Modern History Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences, and a member of the Collegium of the Institute of National Remembrance.

Reviews

[Andrew Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: Perhaps the best book on the history of the modern Poland I have read for quite some time now. It gives a very comprehensive review of Polish history in twentieth century. Starting with a discussion of Poland’s history between the two world wars, continues with description of its ruin by the German and Russian occupiers, and its rebuilding within the new borders and with the new, Soviet dominated government. A detailed relation of getting rid of all the opposition and falsification of the first election results leads to monopoly of the communist power. The people’s protests in 1956, 1968 and 1970 are detailed with the background of infightings between the various communist factions. The most fascinating era of Solidarity and following declaration of the martial law reveals a lot of details about the government and underground activities. Finally, the first free election reveals the size of antipathy in the society towards its communist rulers, and leads to their defeat, which combined with the support from the Polish pope and a policy of the non-intervention proclaimed by Gorbatchov, finally brings freedom to this heroic nation.
Notes:
Two main weaknesses of Poland between two world wars:
1. the state of economy – the country was devastated and poor, peasantry making up to 65% of the population and 30% of industrial assets destroyed
2. divisions between the various nationalities. Ethnic Poles accounted for 65% of the population, Ukrainians 15%, Jews 10%, Byelorussians 5% and Germans 4%. Jews made up about 33% of Warsaw’s population, whilst in Lodz and Vilnius – 40 – 50%.
By the spring of 1940, around 400,000 Polish people from Pomerania and Wielkopolska were stripped of all possessions and dispatched to the Government-General.
Regarding the evacuation of polish volunteers from Russia in 1942, the author says that the Kremlin leadership believed that, from the political point of view, the absence of Polish troops on the eastern front would be more advantageous to the Soviet Union in that it would solve the problem of the unwanted ally and thus free it of any obligations towards Poland. In March 1942 24,000 soldiers (without weapons) left Krasnodar. In August, the same year further 45,000 were evacuated. All told, about 110,000 of the roughly one million people deported or imprisoned found themselves outside the Soviet Union. According to the calculations of the Polish embassy, a further 680,000 Poles remained in the country.
The constitution adopted in 1952 was personally approved by Stalin who made several changes to its draft.
By 1954 the “register of criminal and suspicious elements” contained nearly six million names – one in three of the adult citizens of Poland.