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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Reglamentowana odwilż. Obóz „zamkowy” na emigracji wobec wydarzeń w Polsce i bloku komunistycznym w 1956 roku

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The article presents the position of “the Castle” on emigration (the President, government and the Council of the Republic of Poland) towards the events in Poland and the Eastern Bloc in 1956. The politicians and publicists of “the Castle”, observing some changes in the country, did not expect that they would lead to basic changes. The opinion prevailed that Poland was not an independent state and that the Soviet occupation still persisted. Propagating maximum demands (independence, restoration of the pre-war border in the east), they did not have much hope in an evolutionary course of changes. They opted for a deposition, and not a liberalisation of the communist system in Poland and the rest of Central-Eastern Europe. They considered themselves as the spokespeople of the interests of Poland, which had no sovereignty and no opportunity to express its own will. Despite generosity, commitment and devotion to these matters, they did not have a possibility to act effectively and they failed to put a direct effect on the events in Poland, let alone the international situation. It is rather the events over the Vistula River which became an indirect impulse for works of the Polish Government in Exile. No contacts with the country, political marginalisation on the international stage and internal disputes had resulted in the fact that the emigrants had prepared an actual liberation plan for Poland. As opposed to the other centres in exile (Radio Free Europe or “Kultura”), the politicians of “the Castle” were cut off from Poland and discouraged by the previous experience of their opponents from the Political Council (the Bergu case), and did not seek contact with the country, also having smaller financial and organisational possibilities in this respect. Keeping a stubborn attitude, they did not see the possibility for any compromise with the authorities of the People’s Republic of Poland. They instead waited for a change in the general international situation. They also tried to raise the interest (although without effect) of the western governments and international public opinion in the issue of Poland.