People's Poland

The Polish Eagle, without a crown, is used as a symbol by Polish loyalist forces

### Military Strength

3,000 soldiers, plus scattered militia units and partisans

### Allies

Soviet Army, Free City of Krakow

*Fitting communism onto Poland is like fitting a saddle onto a cow*
- Josef Stalin

Communism was brought to Poland by foreign troops, and after forty years, that is still the case. Unlike Czechoslovakia or Hungary, Poland never had any significant communist movement before the war, probably due to ingrained russophobia and the persecution of ethnic Poles in Soviet Ukraine. The experience of World War II only ingrained this experience, and the few Polish communists who were willing to work with the USSR had almost no indigenous support base. However, Soviet military power imposed a brutal reality on Poland, and although a few "cursed soldiers" held out in rural areas, by the 1960s Poland's status as a pro-Soviet dictatorship seemed unshakeable for the forseeable future. But even with the Soviet Army behind them, the politburo in Warsaw had to make some concessions to the nature of Polish society. The Catholic Church was allowed to operate as long as its priests did not actively undermine the party's rule, and collectivisation of agriculture was extremely tentative and voluntary, meaning that most Polish agriculture remained in the hands of independent farmers.

The late 1960s and early 1970s brought a general lifting of restrictions and economic growth, a large part of it funded by development loans from Western Europe. Foreign travel was possible, if not accessible to everybody, and political prisoners were few in number. Housing and transport infrastructure improved. The late 70s saw an economic downturn and the return of rationing, which was met with a rising tide of industrial discontent, culminating in violent strikes by shipyard workers in Gdansk and coal miners around Poznan. Alarmingly, anti-communist forces organised into a large trade union named Solidarnosc, The government struggled to react, eventually enacting martial law and outlawing all opposition groups. Solidarnosc went underground and began a long struggle for what they hoped would be the eventual democratisation of Poland. However, events overtook them.

When World War III broke out the Polish government was presented by the USSR with three fundamental tasks - to keep up production of war materials, to ensure Soviet supply lines to the Warsaw Pact forces in East Germany were not disrupted, and to provide auxiliary troops to free up elite Soviet forces for the frontline. The government failed at all three. NATO forces targeted Poland as a weak point in the Warsaw Pact war machine, and within months most major Polish industrial and transport sectors had been devastated by NATO air strikes or anti-Soviet partisan attacks. Polish troops were demoralised and desertion was high. As the war dragged on, anti-Soviet forces grew stronger and stronger, rumoured to be supplemented by British and American special forces units infiltrated into the country via the Baltic. The government, which had previously tried to use force sparingly, instituted harsher and harsher crackdowns, which resulted in even more anti-government sentiment as unarmed civilians were mowed down by army units and militarised police.

When Soviet forces began to fall back through East Germany, the end seemed to be within sight. It was rumoured that some regime members began to negotiate with the resistance. However, once again, events overtook Poles' attempts to determine their own destiny. The Soviet Politburo determined that NATO troops in Poland were an existential threat to the USSR, and unleashed nuclear attacks on NATO forces when they did not respect the ultimatum. The nuclear exchange that followed shattered what little control the Warsaw government had over its territory.

Surprisingly, the communist government has been able to regain some ground. This is chiefly because Soviet forces have realised that controlling territory through Polish proxies creates less resistance than direct military rule by Soviet martial law. There are still Polish units that remain loyal to the pre-war government, and some communities scattered throughout Poland are clinging to what is, they still believe, the legal government of Poland. The city of Lublin has been proclaimed the new capital, and soldiers bearing the Polish Eagle badge have sometimes stated that there is a politburo operating there, presumably under Soviet protection. It is unclear exactly how much autonomy the Soviets allow their Polish proxies, but it seems the Lublin government at least nominally commands the allegiance of a significant military force, including the remnants of at least two Polish divisions.