Challenge: Turn Poland Into Europe’s North Korea

Incognito

Banned
A strange challenge idea that popped into my head:

Create a TL where Poland becomes a militaristic, totalitarian, “hermit kingdom” dictatorship. Average Polish citizen should have minimal contact with the outside world and propaganda should rally the population to defend their nation against the perceived threats of Poland’s twin eternal enemies – Germany and Russia. In a nutshell, Poland should mirror OTL North Korea as close as possible

I’m leaving the ideology of this TL’s Poland as well as the PODs that result in its rise up to you, but since this Poland is supposed to parallel OTL North Korea as close as possible, ideally the ideology should be Marxist-derived and the POD should be sometime in the Cold War.
 
You need a bunker mentality, perhaps have an anti-Communist revolt in the late 40's that makes the leadership more paranoid?
 
It's really hard though, there is just too much border to have to insulate against. There isn't just any way for all news to be suppressed to the point North Korea does.
 

MSZ

Banned
Soviet intervention in 1981 rather than OTL martial law. Solidarity turns from a workers union to a guerilla force, together with some anti-communist elements of the polish army giving the USSR a second Afghanistan/Chechenya. Russia is bled out, Poland destroyed, USSR collapses and Soviets withdraw. The victors of the war take power and introduce a rapid nationalist - anti-communist regime, making Russia its primary enemy. The west is looked down upon as traitors from Yalta who refused to support their struggle, spend billions on rebuilding Russia after USSR collapse rather than aiding Poland, democracy is seen as rotten and a means of selling bolsheviks the rope they will want to hang them on, etc. Poland refuses to pay communist debts, Germany closes off borders. Relation with Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine are terrible due to Polish demands on annuling Yalta and Ribbentrop-Molotov, as well as the persecution of Polish minorities there. Poland falls into complete isolation.
 
It's really hard though, there is just too much border to have to insulate against. There isn't just any way for all news to be suppressed to the point North Korea does.

Exactly so. Poland's simply too centrally located to pull a DPRK. Also, it's my experience with Poles that they aren't generally culturally prone to that sort of mentality. DDR's really the best candidate culturally.
 
Soviet intervention in 1981 rather than OTL martial law. Solidarity turns from a workers union to a guerilla force, together with some anti-communist elements of the polish army giving the USSR a second Afghanistan/Chechenya. Russia is bled out, Poland destroyed, USSR collapses and Soviets withdraw. The victors of the war take power and introduce a rapid nationalist - anti-communist regime, making Russia its primary enemy. The west is looked down upon as traitors from Yalta who refused to support their struggle, spend billions on rebuilding Russia after USSR collapse rather than aiding Poland, democracy is seen as rotten and a means of selling bolsheviks the rope they will want to hang them on, etc. Poland refuses to pay communist debts, Germany closes off borders. Relation with Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine are terrible due to Polish demands on annuling Yalta and Ribbentrop-Molotov, as well as the persecution of Polish minorities there. Poland falls into complete isolation.

Finally Poland develops nuclear weapons claiming it as deterrent against Russians and Germans. To ease off the tension, western countries pledge billions of aid to polish economy and USA promises polish citizens visa free travel.:D

OR

PiS returns to power.
 

MSZ

Banned
Finally Poland develops nuclear weapons claiming it as deterrent against Russians and Germans. To ease off the tension, western countries pledge billions of aid to polish economy and USA promises polish citizens visa free travel.:D

That actually might be possible. IIRC Poland does have functional nuclear reactors, and has had nuclear latency since the 70's. Not sure if it has uranium deposits, but Czechia certainly does, giving Poland at least the option of producing nuclear weapons relatively easy and fast. Not to mention that as the no.2 army in the Warsaw Pact, it also had vast amounts of chemical and biological weapons.

So Poland "blackmailing" the west into giving it money in return for not sharing nukes could be something the USA or Germany could fold to. Wonder if a "Operation Polish Freedom" by the US Army after discovering shale gas woud be an option...
 
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