Employment and Wage Policies 1956–65

The beginning of the period was rich in events; uprising in Hungary and riots in Poland, both directed against the USSR and against the local communist regime. Therefore for both there was a lesson to learn. For the USSR there was a clear indication that the domination of East European countries by the crude old methods could not continue. For the East European countries the 1956 events were a clear message that the vast majority of the population yearned for more freedom and was fed up with an economic policy that neglected its material interests. People particularly resented the permanent call for sacrifices for the sake of the future which they viewed as uncertain at best. They were demanding an implementation of the original promises pertaining to the standard of living. It became clear that in order to achieve both objectives: the ambitious economic goals and increases in the standard of living, improvements in economic efficiency must be achieved. And this could not be accomplished without reforming the system of economic management. Yet the communist governments were not willing to institute economic reforms which went beyond the framework of the traditional centralised system (Brus 1981 p. 11, 18). This was true even for Poland, where the expectations were high due to the change in leadership.