page_title: Martial law in Poland
section_title: Law, rules and censorship
hierarchical_section_title: Martial law in Poland / Introduction, restrictions, patrols / Law, rules and censorship
context_page_description: Martial law in Poland refers to the period between 13 December 1981 and 22 July 1983, when the socialist government of the Polish People's Republic drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law and a military junta in an attempt to throttle political opposition, in particular the Solidarity Movement. Thousands of opposition activists were imprisoned without charge and as many as 91 killed. Although martial law was lifted in 1983, many of the political prisoners were not released until a general amnesty in 1986.
  Since the 1970s, socialist Poland was in an economic recession. The First Secretary Edward Gierek made large continuous loans from western creditors to achieve a better economic output that instead resulted in a domestic crisis. Basic goods were being heavily rationed which acted as a stimulus for the establishment of a first anti-communist trade union in the Eastern Bloc, known as Solidarity, in 1980. Gierek, who permitted the trade union to appear per the Gdańsk Agreement, was dismissed from his post less than a month later under pressure from the USSR and confined to house arrest.
context_section_description: From the very beginning in December 1981, a strict curfew was imposed from 19:00 (7:00 p.m.) until 6 in the morning. The time of curfew was later adjusted to 22:00 (10:00 p.m.)–06:00. Night walks or escapades were forbidden and street patrols were commonplace. The WRON Military Council sealed off the country's borders, closed all airports and road access to main cities was restricted. Special permission passes were issued for individuals in extraordinary cases. Telephone lines were disconnected, mail was subjected to renewed postal censorship, all independent political organizations were criminalized and lessons in schools and universities temporarily suspended.
  The government imposed a six-day workweek while the mass media, public services, healthcare services, power stations, coal mines, seaports, railway stations, and most key factories were placed under military management, with employees having to follow military orders or face a court martial. As part of the crackdown, media and educational institutions underwent "verification", a process that tested each employee's attitude towards the regime and to the Solidarity movement; as a result, thousands of journalists, teachers and professors were banned from their professions. Military courts were established to bypass the normal court system, to imprison those spreading "false information". In an attempt to crush resistance, civilian phone lines were routinely tapped and monitored by government agents.
caption: An intercity travel pass, 1981
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