Pope John Paul's Influence In Poland During The Cold War

During the Cold War, Poland was under Soviet influence. Poles had a difficult time practicing their religion. Due to his country's inability to practice Catholicism, Pope John Paul II grew troubled. This led to June 2nd-8th 1979, when the Pope visited Poland to awake the religious zeal and pride under the weight of the Soviets. Pope John Paul’s interactions brought hope and faith to Poland and influenced Gorbachev and Reagan.
Before his life as Pope, Karol Jozef Wojtyla, raised in Poland, learned the value of free speech after being subjected to Nazi and later Soviet abuse. The Soviets threatened Catholicism. This led to the Soviet Union’s attempt to bend Poland’s society into atheistic materialism. The Soviets did not like having a Polish
Pope and feared that Poles would revolt. “The Soviets would prefer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as Secretary-General of the United Nations than a Pole as Pope.” The Soviets were afraid of what a Polish Pope was capable of.
In June of 1979, Pope John Paul II returned to Poland. His goal was to restore hope and faith. He believed that by speaking to the people, it would give them courage to speak out. “The Pope’s first trip to Poland awoke a religious zeal and national pride that had lain largely dormant for years under the weight of the Soviet rule. This ‘Renaissance’ produced significant consequences within Polish Borders and beyond, serving as the glue of the 1980’s Solidarity Movement.” Throughout his trip he gave multiple speeches towards his goal. Although many praised him, others, like the Soviet leadership, did not. In his speech at Warsaw’s Victory Square, the Pope stated, “The exclusion of Christ from history of man in an act against man Without Christ, it is impossible to understand the history of Poland especially the history of a people who have passed or are passing through this land. (In reference to Poland’s struggle for freedom), There can be no Europe without the independence of Poland marked upon the map.” The Pope built a revolution with words. He knew about limited chances. Pope John Paul II had lived through the Nazis and was never granted the access to study to become a priest. Later, due to the soviets, Polish people were denied many things, one being denied access to practice their religion, Catholicism. Although many things were not fixed immediately, the Pope’s visit was groundbreaking for Poland. There had never been a more praised visitor in Polish history. “No hero in Polish History, not King Jan III, nint Tadeusz Kosciuszko, not Josef Pilsudski, had ever encountered Warsaw as John Paul did on June 2, 1979.” Pope John Paul II provided hope to the Poles.
Many contend that Pope John Paul was the main influence in the fall of communism in Poland, but others believed it was due to other leaders. Two historians, William Buckley and Peter Schweizer hold that the fall of Communism was not entirely due to the Pope, but because of Ronald Reagan. They both believed that Reagan had the prime role for the defeat of communism, leading to the end of the Cold War. Unlike historians William Buckley and Peter Schweizer, Charles Maier created a thesis that it was in fact due to the Soviets. Maier claims that the Soviets crumbled due to their inability to maintain economic pace with the West. Along with William F. Buckley, Stephan Kotin and Jan Gross believe that communist society failed due to its “rotten core”, but Kotin and Gross believed they had the incapability to sustain power. The theory was that the Soviets were the main cause for the failure of Communism. Another theory that Vladislav Zubok believed was that the Soviet collapse was due to Mikhail Gorbachev.
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as Soviet leader.
Gorbachev was different than past leaders, he recognized the economic issues that were going on in the USSR. At first, Gorbachev did not expect any support from Reagan which he thought as: “not simply a conservative, but a political ‘dinosaur.’” Eventually, Gorbachev’s main influence to roll out new rules was President Ronald Reagan. Pope John Paul II, was an influence on Gorbachev through the ideal of a better world and peace that was put upon through Reagan. Reagan and Gorbachev are known for the ending of the Cold War. Reagan, by having interactions with Pope John Paul II, was able to influence Gorbachev through private meetings. In 1985, both leaders met successfully in Geneva and then in 1986 in Reykjavik, Iceland. The conference in Reykjavik did not go as well due to disagreement on SDI. According to Formicola, the road to religious freedom was
difficult: “The pope's theological concern for religious freedom and his own experience with communist limitations on Catholic practice led him to seek ways to eradicate communism. In 1984, the Vatican and the United States entered into diplomatic relations, with Reagan and John Paul cooperating to defeat their mutual atheistic enemy, first in Poland, than in the rest of Eastern Europe. Thus, when Mikhail Gorbachev recognized the need for a state”.
Eventually, on December 1, 1989, Gorbachev joined hands with Pope John Paul II. This was the first meeting between and Catholic Pope and a Soviet leader. The meeting was evidence of the USSR stepping forward and attempting to improve relations. Throughout the meeting, Pope John Paul II pushed for freedom for Ukrainian Catholic practice once again. Gorbachev accepted in return that the Pope give blessings to the restructure of Soviets economic and political life. Both leaders finished the meeting at peace, a major step in the direction both were hoping for. The hopes were: that the USSR would grant freedom of religion to people and break communism in Europe.
Like Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan met with Pope John Paul II, three times. Both leaders kept in touch and established diplomatic relations and information was exchanged through U.S. General Walters and CIA Director Casey. “Arnaud de Borchgrave wrote for diplomatic reasons. President Reagan and CIA Director William Casey ‘played down the Soviet link’ to the assassination attempt on the pope. In result of objections on U.S.-Soviet relations, Reagan went out of his way to publicly raise the issue in a Feb. 18, 1983 Washington address. He spoke directly to claim the US was nervous about an investigation that might turn up as a Soviet connection.” Through this, the relationship between Reagan and Pope John Paul II is clear and firm. Both leaders were determined to work together to figure out the scandal from the intended assassination. As John Paul walked through his admiring crowd that greeted him as their savior, everyone apart from the ceremonial welcome had disappeared. Thousands of Catholics had volunteer to provide security and organization. During his visit, the Pope was effective in the Polish government. Allen and Reagan both saw this “as a first, massive crack in the impressive facade of Soviet power." Due to the praise for Pope John Paul II, Reagan as well believed he was right in his teachings as well as gave hope to the people. Pope John Paul II influenced Reagan with similar ideals. This resulted in Gorbachev being influenced by Reagan economically and politically through Pope John Paul II, leading to Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II meeting and coming to terms.
Pope John Paul II successfully influenced both Reagan and Gorbachev to come to an agreement, which led to the fall of European communism, among other things. Pope John Paul II, brought hope to people, which influenced many to fight for their rights and beliefs.
Section C: Reflection
In my investigation, I learned the various resources a historian must gather to have a deep understanding of his or her topic.
For my topic, I originally started with the research question of: To what extent did Pope John Paul II influence the Solidarity Movement, which evolved because of the information that I was finding. Before the investigation, I had a rough understanding on Pope John Paul II and his accomplishes. The investigation allowed me to learn about the Pope and connect his views with the Soviets. Originally, the investigation was going to be based on the perspective of the Pope being most influential. Eventually, with the research and investigation the ideal perspective changed to three: The Pope, Reagan, and Gorbachev along with the Soviets. This allowed me to build an argument to then allow the investigation to grow. The difficulty throughout the process and research was finding the support for needed perspectives. The historians I picked were great, because they contrasted one another perfectly. The bias in the investigation was that I had pre-made my opinion, forcing the investigation towards the Pope being the most influential. Thus, the investigation was mainly through one perspective but ended coming together to support my hypothesis and then allowing me to have an overall understanding of the relationships between Gorbachev, Reagan and Pope John Paul
II.