Problematyka wiejska w działalności Wojska Polskiego w wielkich kampaniach politycznych z lat 1946–1947

Abstract

The article describes the problems of the rural in activities of the Polish Army in political campaigns in 1946–1947. The first was connected with referendum campaign in June 1946, and the second concerned the election campaign for the Constituent parliament in January 1947. In both campaigns have involved a large-scale military units to combat armed underground and led propaganda in all communes in Poland. This activity was to convince the public to the slogans advocated by the communist authorities. The rural issues played an important role in the activities of the Polish Army for two reasons. On the one hand, nearly half of the soldiers of the Polish Army in 1946–1947 came from rural areas, which forced the military authorities to conduct intensive propaganda in military units. On the other hand, conviction the soldiers to the communist slogans was a necessary element before the planned use the army to the great political action in small towns and villages. After the elections to the parliament in January 1947, the military authorities have started a political campaign, which aims was to convince soldiers to the planned action of collectivization the Polish countryside. For this purpose, in military units carried out another political action among the soldiers, combined with the removal of the army troops hostile to the new reality postwar Poland.