| dc.description.abstract | The twentieth century is associated with the dominance, in some parts of the world, of authoritarian and
totalitarian systems with strong anti-democratic attitudes. These transformations are often compared to social
engineering, understood as an attempt to change the existing reality on a larger or smaller scale. The paper
includes only references to the labor movement, created in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, including the
Polish movement, whose real creator was the intelligentsia. These circles have played an important role in
countries which lag behind in their economic and social development. In social stratification, the intelligentsia
of should be located between the lower and the middle classes. Extremely accurate characterization of these groups
in Russia in the early twentieth century may be found in the publication “Wiechi” (Signposts), whose authors
included N.A. Berdaev and S.N. Bulgakov. In Poland, the intelligentsia was critically analysed by Stanislaw
Brzozowski. It is the radical intelligentsia that was to be the main creator of the events in the years 1905–1907.
The strongly ideological intelligentsia was to be the main spokesman of the revolutionary slogans and thus of
seizing power in countries struggling with the economic and social crisis, preferably in the center of the state,
and using its resources and power apparatus, often created from scratch, to implement their plans. These were
political “minorities”; and therefore, the democratic system practices were rejected and authoritarian and
totalitarian solutions were introduced. These political circles were interested in maintaining power in their
hands; and the political, economic and social policy implemented was aimed at reinforcing this direction. The
following part of the paper deals with three applications of this political and social model: 1. the Bolshevik
revolution of 1917 and its consequences;
2. attempts to gain and maintain power in Poland by the leftist and radical intelligentsia circles in late 1918 and
early 1919 as well as after the “May Revolution” of 1926; 3. the revolution imposed in Poland since 1944, as a
result of which power passed into the hands of a small group of professional revolutionaries. | en |
