#edwardgierek #gangstaparadise #edit #poland
**Edward Gierek, Communist Party organizer and leader in Poland, who served as first secretary from 1970 to 1980. When angered industrial workers began rioting to protest a substantial rise in food prices announced by party leader Władysław Gomułka just before the Christmas holidays in 1970, Gierek took over (December 20) as the first secretary of the party’s Central Committee with a promise to improve the “material situation” of families and reevaluate the government’s economic policies. Gierek introduced a number of reforms, including opening Polish markets to Western products, allowing Poles greater freedom to travel abroad, and reducing cronyism within the party. Although such changes proved popular, the economy continued to struggle. Loans from the West were ill spent, resulting in a foreign debt of some $40 billion, and inflation soared. In September 1980 Gierek, faced with another outburst of demonstrations by workers, lost his place as first secretary to Stanisław Kania; in 1981 Gierek was expelled from the party.**
