What is it about?
This paper considers responses to the Poznan Riots of June 1956 on the part of ordinary communists in the West. In so doing, it looks at such factors as the portrayal of events in the communist and mainstream press, the comrades' perception of 'concrete' versus 'abstract' issues, and their trust in the party system.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
Why did these events and their immediate and short-term ramifications fail to achieve the prominence in world politics they should have? Surely French and Italian communists were acutely aware at the time of this major development in the Cold War dynamic? This paper answers these and other questions by giving voice to those with first-hand experience of the issues.
Perspectives
I very much enjoyed writing this paper as it gave me the opportunity to delve deeply into the empirical data in order to answer the title question, and ultimately to link the findings to much wider issues. I hope that this micro-historical study will be useful to all those interested in the Cold War.
Dr Fiona Haig
University of Portsmouth
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Poznań Uprising of 1956 as Viewed by French and Italian Communists, Journal of Cold War Studies, April 2016, The MIT Press,
DOI: 10.1162/jcws_a_00641.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
