DISINFO: The Polish economy was revived thanks to the Soviet Union
SUMMARY
The USSR provided huge economic assistance to ruined Poland, and the Polish economy was revived thanks to the Soviet Union. The recent statements of the Polish authorities is another attempt to rewrite history according to the current anti-Russian sentiments prevailing among the Polish elite. The USSR not only liberated Poland but also helped to rebuild this country.
RESPONSE
This message is part of Russian historical revisionism and part of a disinformation campaign portraying the USSR as a peacemaker and liberator.
The Sovietisation of Poland and other countries of the so-called Eastern Bloc after WWII was accompanied by terror, massive repressions, nationalisation of industry, expropriation of privately owned land, destruction of market economy and restrictions of civil and political freedoms. The Warsaw Treaty Organisation (the Warsaw Pact) was the Soviet Union’s “external empire”, where people faced daily strife, including shortages of food and housing. Read more about life in Poland under the Communist rule. As a result of the post-war Soviet “economic assistance”, the Polish economy was turned into an inefficient Communist-type economy, unable to provide its citizens with a decent level of life.
According to mainstream Polish historians and views of the predominant part of Polish society, in 1944-1945, the USSR occupied Poland, establishing the undemocratic and repressive Communist Poland. De facto, Poland appeared under the Soviet military occupation until 1989.
See similar cases connected to this issue such as The Red Army liberated Poland and preserved the country’s economic power and It is thanks to Russia that Poland today exists as a country.