ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the most important findings from the studies, with a particular focus on two matters: the contemporary evaluation of Poland's military tradition, and the public assessment of the social position of military officers. In addition, lower educational requirements in the early 1950s may have influenced the public image of the military. The first empirical survey of the attitudes of Poles toward the military tradition was undertaken in June and July 1961 by the Public Opinion Research Center, in collaboration with the Department of Sociology, at the Military-Political College in Warsaw. According to the opinions regarding "just remuneration," the professional officer with the rank of captain occupied thirteenth place among the thirty occupations included in the survey. The Polish paradox consists of a contradiction between a high evaluation of military traditions and of the quality of the Polish army, and the relatively low social position of military officers.
