THE POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE PROFESSIONAL CADRE OF POLISH NAVY DURING THE SYSTEM TRANSITION OF 1989–2004 YEARS SEEN FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE DICHOTOMY OF SOCIO-POLITICAL VALUES AND MILITARY ETHOS

Abstract

The political culture of the professional cadre of the Polish Navy during the period of the system transformation after 1989 evolved from authoritarian to democratic model. It should be noted that every army, even in democratic system, is an authoritarian institution, based on hierarchy and obedience from the lowest to the highest ranks. It is important in the times of transition and changes, when civilian supervision over army was introduced as a consequence of implementation of democracy. The professional cadre swore a new oath of the fidelity to Polish Republic and its authorities. The transition of the 1989 was accepted by Navy with relief because people realized that army would not be used to suppress its own nation. One of the factors that has determined it was the very high level of education of this professional group – almost 100% of officers had an academic degree. The article covers the specificity of the political culture of the army, characterizes the system of preferred values and specific attitude towards the traditional social and political values among the professional cadre of the Navy. All those factors fostered the calm course of the system transition for this professional group.