“Society Gave Proof of Political Maturity”. December ‘70 in the Katowice Voivodeship

Abstract

The paper discusses the social and political situation in the Katowice Voivodeship in December 1970 after the announcement of the increase in food prices, prevention and order activities undertaken by the Citizens’ Militia (MO) and the security apparatus during the crisis and the reaction of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR) to the growing agitation of society. Despite mounting tension, reinforced by the news of workers’ revolt in the cities of the Coast, the police forces effectively paralysed weak attempts to stir up strikes and demonstrations in the Katowice Voivodeship. Political changes in the PZPR leadership prevented the crisis from escalating. The attitudes of the region’s inhabitants were also influenced by: the strong position of the PZPR, the preventive arrest of nearly a thousand potential leaders of protests and riots, relatively good living conditions in the Katowice Voivodeship, and the divergent interests of various groups of the province’s population.