Effects of “class policy” in the countryside in the light of the note of Leon Rzendowski - the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry of the State Economic Planning Commission dated June 20, 1950
addressed to Hilary Minc
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Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie, Polska
Submission date: 2024-04-29
Final revision date: 2024-07-29
Acceptance date: 2024-09-09
Online publication date: 2024-09-16
Publication date: 2024-09-16
KMW 2024;325(2):285-304
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ABSTRACT
An important element of the Stalinist policy towards the countryside in Poland was the transfer of the so-called class struggle to the village environment. The destruction and disruption of the country, allowed the government to better control it. Richer peasants called “kulaks” were considered as the enemy part of the country. In the “class struggle” in the country, mainly economic devices were used. The fiscal oppression of the country was an element of broader economic assumptions, according to which the funds thus obtained should be used to finance industrial investments. This oppression was realized, among other things, through the system of burdens unevenly distributed to the country community. The affected group were the owners of larger farms. The effects of this policy were felt particularly strong by the peasants in Warmia and Mazury, where the surface structure was dominated by medium and larger farms. After joining collectivization and starting the six-year plan, the main assumptions of “class policy” in the country were formed and developed in the following years.