|
June 1976 is the name of a series of protests and demonstrations in People's Republic of Poland. The protests took place after Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz revealed the plan for a sudden increase in the price of many basic commodities,〔( Polish Radio, Poland remembers June 1976 workers' protests, 25.06.2009 ).〕 particularly foodstuffs (butter by 33%, meat by 70%, and sugar by 100%). Prices in Poland were at that time fixed, and controlled by the government, which was falling into increasing debt. The protests started on 24 June and lasted until 30 June, the largest violent demonstrations and looting taking place in Płock, the Warsaw suburb of Ursus, and particularly Radom.〔(Radom, Ursus 1976 by Jaroslaw Szarek. Article from Rzeczpospolita daily, published on 14 January 2008 ).〕 The protests were brutally quelled by the government, but the plan for the price increase was shelved; Polish leader Edward Gierek backed down and dismissed Prime Minister Jaroszewicz. This left the government looking both economically foolish and politically weak, a very dangerous combination. The 1976 disturbances and the subsequent arrests and dismissals of militant workers brought the workers and the intellectual opposition to the regime back into contact. In the aftermath, a group of intellectuals founded the opposition organization Workers' Defence Committee (''Komitet Obrony Robotników'', KOR), whose aim was to fight official repression of the protesting workers.〔(The origins of democratization in Poland By Michael H. Bernhard, page 45 )〕 == Background == During the VII meeting of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), in December 1975, secretary general Edward Gierek, realizing poor condition of Polish economy, stated: “…the problems of structure of prices of basic food products needs further analysis”. This utterance was an informal announcement of planned increase of food prices, which had artificially been kept on the 1971 level, and whose increase was necessary for economic reasons〔(Polish June 1976 ), Jerzy Eisler, 12 June 2009.〕 However, the Communist government of Poland wanted to prepare the citizens for the changes, therefore a massive propaganda campaign was started in the mass-media. It must be mentioned that the government of the Soviet Union opposed the plans of Warsaw. The purpose of the campaign was to show the nation that price increase was a necessary step, caused by similar trends in world markets. In early June 1976, Polish press, both national and local, began printing news about rising unemployment in Western Europe and North America, as well as rising food prices in the Capitalist world.〔 Sometimes, the news presented in Polish press was rather unusual, like when Trybuna Ludu announced that Iceland is handling food crisis by switching to fish diet. Also, Central Committee of the PZPR urged mass-media to avoid the phrase “price increase”. On 24 June 1976, prime minister Piotr Jaroszewicz gave a speech, which was broadcast live on TV. As advised by the party, he did not mention the increase directly. Instead, he talked about continuation of the post-December 1970 policies. On the next day, transcript of the speech was republished in newspapers, and on the same morning, strikes broke out. The propaganda announced following increases, which were to be introduced on 27 June: * meats, by 69%, with better meats by 110%, * butter and cheeses by 50%, * sugar by 100%, * rice by 150%, * vegetables by 30%. The price increases were the result of policies of the government, which promoted the so-called “building of socialism”, condoned by Edward Gierek. The increase in consumption, noted in the first half of the 1970s, was financed by credits from Western Europe,〔(Warsaw Voice, The Painful road to Freedom )〕 and party apparatchiks, who were not acquainted with economics, undertook several failed decisions. Furthermore, the Communist approach to economy resulted in over-employment and low productivity. Also, close economic ties with Soviet Union resulted in Poland financing the Soviet arms race with the United States. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「June 1976 protests」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|