 For the People's Republic of Poland, 1956 was a year of transition.The international situation significantly weakened the hard-line Stalinist faction in Poland; Polish communist leader Bolesław Bierut died in March; it had been three years since Stalin had died and his successor at the Soviet Union's helm, Nikita Khrushchev, denounced him in February.Protests by workers in June in Poznań had highlighted the people's dissatisfaction with their situation.