Stanisław Kania

Stanisław Kania


First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party
In office 6 September 1980 – 18 October 1981
Preceded by	Edward Gierek
Succeeded by	Wojciech Jaruzelski
Personal details
Born	(1927-03-08) 8 March 1927 Wrocanka, Poland
Nationality	Polish
Political party	Polish United Workers' Party

Stanisław Kania (Polish pronunciation: [staˈɲiswaf ˈkaɲa]; born 8 March 1927) is a former Polish communist politician.

Life and career

Kania was born in Wrocanka (now in Jasło County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship). He joined the anti-Nazi resistance at the age of 17 in 1944 and then the Polish Workers' Party in 1945 when German Nazis were driven out by the Red Army and Polish Communists began to take control of the country. He remained involved in communist youth activities and attended the Party school, graduating in 1952.

Kania rose through the ranks of the party, becoming a full member of the politburo in 1975. After Edward Gierek was forced to resign as General Secretary amidst much social and economic unrest, Kania was elected his successor on 6 September 1980. He admitted that the party had made many economic mistakes, and advocated working with Catholic and trade unionist opposition groups. He met with Solidarity Union leader Lech Wałęsa, and other critics of the party.

Though Kania agreed with his predecessors that the Communist Party must maintain control of Poland, he never assured the Soviets that Poland would take a tougher line against Solidarity. The final straw for Moscow came when a KGB bug caught Kania criticizing the Soviets for continuing to rely on an economic model that "failed the test," saying it could cost them any advantage they had over the United States. Within days, the Soviets forced Kania to resign as general secretary. He was replaced by Prime Minister Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski.^[1]

References

↑ Sebetsyen, Victor (2009). Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire. New York City: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-375-42532-2.

(Polish) Stanisław Kania in Encyklopedia WIEM

Party political offices
Preceded by Edward Gierek	General Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party 1980-1981	Succeeded by Wojciech Jaruzelski

First Secretaries of the Central Committee of the PZPR

Bolesław Bierut Edward Ochab Władysław Gomułka Edward Gierek Stanisław Kania Wojciech Jaruzelski Mieczysław Rakowski

Leaders of the ruling parties of the Eastern Bloc

Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Party of Labour of Albania	Enver Hoxha Ramiz Alia

Bulgarian Communist Party	Georgi Dimitrov Valko Chervenkov Todor Zhivkov Petar Mladenov

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia	Klement Gottwald Antonín Novotny Alexander Dubček Gustáv Husák Miloš Jakeš Karel Urbánek Ladislav Adamec

Socialist Unity Party of Germany	Walter Ulbricht Erich Honecker Egon Krenz

Hungarian Working People's Party Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party	Mátyás Rákosi Ernő Gerő János Kádár Károly Grósz Rezső Nyers

Polish United Workers' Party	Władysław Gomułka Bolesław Bierut Edward Ochab Władysław Gomułka Edward Gierek Stanisław Kania Wojciech Jaruzelski Mieczysław Rakowski

Romanian Communist Party	Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Nicolae Ceaușescu

League of Communists of Yugoslavia	Đuro Đaković Milan Gorkić Josip Broz Tito (1980–1990, rotating leadership)

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 14803058 LCCN: n84049897 ISNI: 0000 0001 0871 9368 GND: 119111748 SUDOC: 029616832 BNF: cb12120497b (data)

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