Polish communism

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Polish communists can trace their origins to early 1900s and the works of the first Polish Marxist, Stanisław Brzozowski (1878-1911).

During the interwar period in the Second Polish Republic, Polish communists formed a political party (Communist Party of Poland - Komunistyczna Partia Polski, KPP). Among their thinkers were Adam Schaff and Leszek Kołakowski. Most of KPP members and leaders perished during Stalin's Great Purge.

In 1943, Stalin decided to rebuild Polish communists with the creation of Union of Polish Patriots. This led to the creation of People's Republic of Poland and Polish United Workers' Party. Majority of Polish communists were dependent on support of the Soviet Union.

There were also repeated attempts by some Polish academics and philosophers, like Leszek Kołakowski, Tadeusz Kotarbiński, Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz and Stanisław Ossowski to develop, as a slowly eroding opposition, a specific form of Polish Marxism. While their attempts to create a bridge between Poland's history and Soviet Marxism ideology were midly successful, especially in comparison to similar efforts in most other countries of the Eastern Bloc, they have been to much extent stifled by the regime's unwillingness to step too far and risk the wrath of Soviets for going to far from the Soviet party line.

In modern Poland, post-1989, communists have a minimal impact on political and economical life of the country.