ORMO in the context of "Milicja Obywatelska"

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⭐ Core Definition: ORMO

The Volunteer Reserve of the Citizens' Militia (ORMO; Polish: Ochotnicza Rezerwa Milicji Obywatelskiej) was a paramilitary reserve organization of the Citizen's Militia (MO), the police force of the Polish People's Republic.

ORMO was created in 1946 to help establish communist rule in Poland in the aftermath of World War II. It had approximately 400,000–450,000 people in its reserves (at one time numbered as many as 600,000 civilian volunteers), recruited mostly from the ruling Polish United Workers' Party, a large share of members of the United People's Party and Democratic Party, farmers and workers with communist sympathies, and other non-party opportunists. ORMO was often involved in political repression in Poland, including the unlawful arrest and beatings of peaceful protesters, such as during the public demonstrations organized by Solidarity which opposed the communist government. ORMO was disbanded by the Sejm in 1989 during the collapse of the communism in Poland.

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ORMO in the context of 1947 Polish parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 19 January 1947, the first since World War II. According to the official results, the Democratic Bloc (Blok Demokratyczny), dominated by the Polish Workers' Party (PPR) and also including the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), People's Party (SL), Democratic Party (SD), and non-partisan candidates officially received 80% of the vote and 394 of the 444 seats in the Legislative Sejm. The largest opposition party, the Polish People's Party, was officially credited with 28 seats; however, the elections were characterized by violence; anti-Communist opposition candidates and activists were persecuted by the Volunteer Reserve Militia (ORMO).

The elections were heavily manipulated, and the opposition claimed that it would have won in a landslide had the election been conducted in a fair manner. The election gave the Soviets, as well as the Communist-dominated Polish satellite government, enough legitimacy to claim that Poland was "free and democratic", thus allowing Poland to sign the charter of the United Nations.

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