COMMUNIST TAKEOVER IN POLAND
Due to Russia’s (and later the Soviet Union’s) vulnerability to foreign invasions, among which the Russo-Polish War of 1919-21 and Hitler’s invasion in June 1941 were the most recent memories, Stalin longed to create a buffer zone in Easter Europe so as to secure Soviet western frontiers and protect socialism at home (Kramer, 2010). If preventing the reemergence of hostile regimes in the region was the initial goal, then, at a later stage, the imposition of Communist systems was felt necessary, as Stalin grew anxious about the political and ideological threat from the West (Kramer, 2010). Being in the heart of Eastern Europe and separating the USSR from what had been its enemy in both World Wars, Poland was no exception in the establishment of Soviet dominance as well as the subsequent Communist takeover in late 1940s.
Before 1944
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As a matter of fact, Sovietization policies, including the nationalization of property and the removal of Polish institutions, both governmental and social, were implemented and the Communist Party of Poland (KPP), which had been outlawed throughout the Second Republic, became the only legally accepted party (Keep, 1995). In addition, those who represented a danger for the newly established regime (e.g. members of the Polish intelligentsia, politicians and military officers) were subject to mass-killings and deportations (Kramer,