Polskie służby specjalne w latach 1983–1996. Wybrane aspekty

Abstract

Special services are an area of interest in different environments whose evaluation is not always objective. Obtaining knowledge of policies behind the tasks implemented by these services as well as their structures and operational and reconnaissance activities is extremely difficult in practice because that activity is protected by the state under penalty of applicable laws. The presented structural changes that took place between 1983 and 1996 show the evolution of both civilian and military intelligence and counterintelligence. In the years 1983–1990, civil servants, i.e. Department I (intelligence) and Department II (counterintelligence) were in the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, the military structures, such as the Board of the II General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces (intelligence) and the Internal Military Service (counterintelligence) were in the structure of the Ministry of National Defence. The system transition initiated by the so-called Round Table in 1989 also affected the reorganization of the special services. Following these actions, after the dissolution of these services, the Office for State Protection and the Military Information Services were established. These services carried out their tasks in a complex internal and external situation, which had a significant impact on the tasks, on the power concerning the ongoing operational and reconnaissance activities as well as on the organizational structures.