Civil-military relations in Poland after 1989: The outer limits of change

Problems of Post-Communism

Volumn 44, Issue 2, 1997, Pages 57-65

  Michta, Andrew A ^a   Buckman, Mertie W ^a  

^a RHODES COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0040061917     PISSN: 10758216     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10758216.1997.11655723     Document Type: Article

References (30)

1. For a detailed discussion of civil-military relations in Poland under communism, see Jerzy J. Wiatr, The Soldier and the Nation: The Role of the Military in Polish Politics, 1918-1985 (Boulder: Westview Press, 1988); and Andrew A. Michta, Red Eagle: The Army in Polish Politics 1944-1988 (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1990).
2. For a detailed discussion of civil-military relations in Poland under communism, see Jerzy J. Wiatr, The Soldier and the Nation: The Role of the Military in Polish Politics, 1918-1985 (Boulder: Westview Press, 1988); and Andrew A. Michta, Red Eagle: The Army in Polish Politics 1944-1988 (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1990).
3. These criteria have been used as a benchmark in Jeffrey Simon, Central European Civil-Military Relations and NATO Expansion (Washington: National Defense University, 1995).
4. In Samuel Huntington's classic distinction between subjective and objective civilian control, the former serves to enhance the power of one civilian group (for example, between 1944 and 1989 the Polish People's Republic enhanced the power of the communists) vis-à-vis another group or groups. In Huntington's interpretation, historically, subjective civilian control has been associated with the maximization of political power of a particular class or governmental institutions and is by definition antithetical to objective civilian control, which rests on the recognition of autonomous military professionalism (Samuel Huntington, The Soldier and the State [Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1957]).
5. In my conversations with Polish military personnel this argument was raised repeatedly by senior officers such as Chief of the General Staff General Wilecki. This might have been dismissed as institutional self-justification had the argument not been expressed by junior rank officers and several civilians within the Ministry of Defense as well. All interviews were conducted by the author between January 1995 and July 1995, in Warsaw, Poland.
6. These observations have been confirmed in my contacts with Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Russian, and Ukrainian officers, all of whom defined professionalism in terms that presupposed autonomy within society and subordination to one power center within government, without much room for additional institutional oversight arrangements.
7. Mata Konstytucja z komentarzem (The Little Constitution with Commentary) (Warsaw: Wydawnictwo AWA, 1993). For additional analysis, see Louisa Vinton, "Poland's 'Little Constitution' Clarifies Walȩsa's Powers," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Research Report 1, no. 35 (September 4, 1992), p. 19-26.
8. Mata Konstytucja z komentarzem (The Little Constitution with Commentary) (Warsaw: Wydawnictwo AWA, 1993). For additional analysis, see Louisa Vinton, "Poland's 'Little Constitution' Clarifies Walȩsa's Powers," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Research Report 1, no. 35 (September 4, 1992), p. 19-26.
9. Polityka (June 29, 1996).
10. Polityka (June 24, 1995).
11. Wojsko Polskie: Informator 95 (Polish Armed Forces: Yearbook 1995) (Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Bellona, 1995), pp. 12-32.
12. Briefing by General Edward Pietrzyk, Chief of Operations of the Polish Armed Forces General Staff at the General Staff Headquarters in Warsaw, June 8, 1995.
13. Wojsko Polskie: Informator 95, p. 14.
14. General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, April 1995.
15. Przegla̧d Prasy Krajowej (Domestic Press Review) (Warsaw: Biuro Prasowe URM, November 23, 1995).
16. Gazeta Wyborcza (February 6, 1995).
17. Polityka (September 9, 1995).
18. Author's interview with Admiral Piotr Kolodziejczyk, in Gdynia, Poland, March 28, 1995.
19. Interview with Danuta Waniek, March 10, 1995, Ministry of Defense, Warsaw. This assessment was confirmed in several informal conversations with Polish officers at the time.
20. Author's interview with Admiral Piotr Kolodziejczyk, in Gdynia, Poland, March 28, 1995.
21. Open Media Research Institute, Daily Digest (August 31, 1995).
22. Wprost (June 11, 1995): 26-28.
23. Warsaw Radio, Program 3, June 29, 1995.
24. "Poland: Minister Deprives Wilecki of Army Money," in Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report: Eastern Europe [hereafter FBIS: EEU] (January 31, 1996).
25. "Deputy Defense Minister on MON Restructuring," in FBIS: EEU (February 15, 1996): 51.
26. Ibid.
27. The Czech army rid itself both of the officers viewed as apologists for the old communist regime and those tainted by their collaboration with the Warsaw Pact forces during the 1968 invasion.
28. Wprost (June 11, 1995).
29. See, for example, "NATO Enlargement: Sustaining the Momentum," NATO Review (March 1996) and Washington Post (February 19, 1995).
30. See, for example, "NATO Enlargement: Sustaining the Momentum," NATO Review (March 1996) and Washington Post (February 19, 1995).