The Rise and Fall of Solidarity - The New York Times The New York Times The Opinion Pages |The Rise and Fall of Solidarity Search The Rise and Fall of Solidarity By MARK KRAMER Continue reading the main story Thirty years ago Tuesday, the whole of Poland came under martial law. The sudden introduction of military rule after an 18-month-long crisis was a turning point in the history of both Poland and the Cold War. The crisis stemmed from the formation of Solidarity, which started out as a free trade union but quickly became far more: a social movement, a symbol of hope and an embodiment of the struggle against communism and Soviet domination. Nothing analogous to Solidarity existed either before or after. Solidarity had its roots in the worker unrest of December 1970 in Poland’s northern cities, but the movement that emerged in the summer of 1980 was incomparably larger and drew from all segments of Polish society. Roughly 10 million people — nearly half of Poland’s adult population — eventually joined. The Polish Communist regime had tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent the formation of Solidarity.

Faced with crippling strikes at major shipyards and factories in August 1980, the Polish authorities considered resorting to a full-scale crackdown. But after deliberating they ultimately decided against the use of force and — with great reluctance — to sign three landmark accords that formally recognized the establishment of Solidarity, which soon rivaled the Polish Communist Party in political power. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The founding of Solidarity is now the stuff of legend, but in the summer of 1980 the outcome of the workers’ protests seemed uncertain at best. When mass strikes began in Gdansk in mid-August 1980, nearly all of the strike leaders feared that the protests would soon peter out or would not spread widely enough to compel the regime to negotiate. Many were worried that the authorities would instinctively rely on violent repression, as they had in December 1970. But the workers at the Gdansk shipyard pressed on, and the strikes spread rapidly to more than 750 sites around the country. The feared crackdown did not come until a year and a half later, after extensive planning and preparations by the Polish security forces and army, under close Soviet supervision.

The move to crush Solidarity proved remarkably swift and effective, a textbook case of how an authoritarian regime can bring a rebellious society to heel. Photo Credit Raquel Marín The long and elaborate planning resulted in a crackdown that killed surprisingly few. Many thousands were arrested, a curfew was enacted, and communications and transportation were severely restricted. Poles, long known for their defiance of communism, put up surprisingly little resistance. Part of the reason is that by December 1981, Solidarity’s popularity was waning. The strikes and economic upheavals in 1981 had eroded Poles’ living standards, causing many to hope that stability might be restored. As the anniversary of martial law has approached, some observers have been inclined to look back on the formation of Solidarity in 1980 as the death knell of communism or at least the first nail in communism’s coffin. That view is far too glib and teleological. Solidarity certainly highlighted the enormous public discontent with Communist rule — discontent that had surfaced many times before in Poland and elsewhere in Eastern Europe — but the organization was crushed in December 1981. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address.

Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy Solidarity, despite its achievements, was unable to overthrow communism on its own. When Mikhail Gorbachev took office in Moscow in March 1985, Solidarity was still outlawed and barely functioning as an underground movement. It never returned to what it had once been in 1980-1981. Moreover, the role that Solidarity played in 1989 was feasible only because of the fundamental changes in Soviet foreign policy under Gorbachev. Had there not been a drastic reorientation of Soviet policy, Solidarity might well have faded into oblivion. None of this detracts from the invaluable contribution that Solidarity made. The organization brought together millions of people in a genuinely popular movement against the strictures of communism. Unlike in Poznan in June 1956, when tens of thousands of Poles waged fierce battles against Polish military and security forces for two days, Solidarity pursued its goals entirely peacefully and was able to survive for a year and a half. Solidarity ultimately could not prevent martial law, but the union’s mere existence underscored for everyone how bankrupt the Communist system was.

And the introduction of military rule put an end to any lingering illusions in both East and West about the nature of communism. The nearly 40 million Poles who woke up to martial law 30 years ago could scarcely have imagined that their country would be a member of both NATO and the European Union barely two decades later. Perhaps that augurs well for the brave protesters in Syria, Iran, and China today who are being ruthlessly suppressed by autocratic regimes that do not hesitate to kill thousands of their own people. Mark Kramer is director of the Cold War Studies Program and senior fellow at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. A version of this op-ed appears in print on December 13, 2011, in The International Herald Tribune. Today's Paper | Subscribe Poland: Solidarity -- The Trade Union That Changed The World Poland: Solidarity -- The Trade Union That Changed The World August 24, 2005 Lech Walesa (left) with former Solidarity activist Bogdan Lis Share Print The strike that changed the world began around dawn on 14 August 1980.

Some 17,000 workers seized control of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk to protest, among other things, a recent rise in food prices. Their leader, Lech Walesa, had narrowly avoided arrest by secret police that morning, and had managed to scale the shipyard gate and join the workers inside. Soon, workers in 20 other area factories joined the strike in solidarity. Seventeen days later, after negotiations with Poland's Communist government, the burly, mustachioed Walesa appeared before the workers in the shipyard with an historic message: "We have an independent, self-governing trade union! [crowd cheers] We have the right to strike!" Walesa and Poland's first deputy prime minister, Mieczyslaw Jagielski, had signed a deal granting the workers their main demands: the right to organize freely and to strike. Those were rights accorded under conventions by the International Labor Organization, of which Poland was a signatory. But this was the first time that any Communist government had put them into practice. Solidarity's underground efforts were also greatly aided by financial help from American trade unions, as well as moral support from Pope John Paul II.

The workers had other demands, such as better wages and benefits, posted in a list of "21 postulates" on the shipyard door. But none was as crucial as the right to organize and strike. Radek Sikorski, a former deputy foreign and defense minister of postcommunist Poland, was a high school student at the time of the Gdansk accord. He recalled the famous day in an interview with RFE/RL. "[There was] tremendous hope and a kind of electricity between people. You know, it's said that we Poles become a nation once a generation, just like we did recently when the pope died, and that was one of those moments when, suddenly, millions of people felt that they wanted the same thing, which was free trade unions to represent them against the [Communist] Party. It gave people hope that perhaps communism could be reformed. We now know that it couldn't," Sikorski said. In September 1980, the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarity -- or NSZZ Solidarnosc -- was officially formed.

Over the next 15 months, the union's membership grew from 1 million to 9 million people -- a quarter of the country's population. But across the Russian border, Poland's Soviet masters were growing increasingly alarmed. And in early December 1981, the Warsaw Pact issued a statement at a summit in Moscow stating "fraternal solidarity and support" with Poland's communist leaders in overcoming what it called the country's "present difficulties." Days later, on 13 December, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, the Polish prime minister, declared martial law and outlawed Solidarity. The military, in a plan hatched over the previous months, arrested most of Solidarity's leaders, including Walesa. Walesa would spend nearly a year in jail. And for the next seven years, he would be under constant watch and harassment by secret police. When he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, he sent his wife to collect the award in Oslo, fearing he would not be let back into the communist country. In the long, dark period leading up to the radical changes of 1989, Solidarity worked in the underground.

But, as Sikorski recalls, it never wavered from one its key principles -- nonviolence. "It was a peaceful movement which actually realized all its objectives and more. So I think the path of nonviolence is certainly an important Solidarity legacy. And if you look at what happened in other countries -- in the Czech Republic, and more recently in Serbia or in Ukraine -- that message has been successfully imitated," Sikorski said. Solidarity's underground efforts were also greatly aided by financial help from American trade unions, as well as moral support from Pope John Paul II. The pope published a major text -- the encyclical "On Human Work" -- and met with Walesa in 1983 for talks that made international headlines. Both acts, as well as the strategic partnership between the Polish Catholic Church and Solidarity, lent powerful legitimacy to the movement. Bronislaw Geremek, now a member of the European Parliament, was one of the leading intellectuals of the Solidarity movement. In an interview with RFE/RL, Geremek noted that Solidarity's success was a result of a "new human relationship" in Polish society among church leaders, workers, farmers and intellectuals.

"One should see this phenomenon in the larger context. This context is first of all the lesson of the 1979 visit of Pope John Paul to Poland. Not only the message of John Paul -- ‘Don't be afraid,' which was a very powerful message -- but also the experience of the organization of the pope's visit. The organization was assured, in all cities in which the pope paid a visit, by civilians -- by a special guard formed by workers, people from the intelligentsia -- [who were] able to organize themselves," Geremek said. Further moral support came from Western governments, in particular the United States and Britain, which along with international agencies refused to grant debt-ridden Poland economic aid until it legalized Solidarity. The movement got a major morale boost in November 1988, when Jaruzelski hosted British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. A fierce anticommunist, Thatcher lashed out at Jaruzelski at a state banquet, saying Poland's depressed economy would improve only after freedom and liberty were restored.

She also visited outlawed Solidarity's leaders in Gdansk, telling 5,000 workers: "Nothing can stop you." And at a dinner with union leaders, Britain's "Iron Lady" urged them to forge a practical plan to freedom. "How do you see the process from where you are now to where you want to be? Because whatever you want to do, it's not only what you want to do, but how, in a practical way, you see it coming about," Thatcher said. But the reality was that Solidarity, and Polish society, had already found their way. Faced with intense social and economic pressure, Jaruzelski finally agreed to talks with Solidarity in early 1989. Two months later, after historic roundtable talks, the two sides signed a 400-page agreement on sweeping political and economic reforms that officially recognized Solidarity. In June 1989, in the first free elections ever in the communist bloc, Solidarity won the maximum number of seats allowed in both houses of parliament. And with two smaller parties, it formed the first non-Communist government in the Soviet bloc. Six months later, the Berlin Wall came crumbling down.

See also: The Solidarity and The Fall of the Iron Curtain - Google Arts & Culture The Solidarity and The Fall of the Iron Curtain Polish History Museum "The Polish revolution was first great contraction in the birth of this new Europe. If the European order that we called in shorthand „Yalta” began in Poland, there is a real sense in which the end of „Yalta” also began in Poland. " Timothy Garton Ash, The Polish Revolution: Solidarity , 1999 New European Order After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union established communist dictatorships in Central and Eastern Europe. The resulting homogeneity in the social, political and economic life of the countries of the Eastern bloc was based on the Soviet model. The process began with the building up of a political monopoly for the communist party, creating a secret police force, introducing censorship and taking control of the media, vital for propaganda purposes. Propaganda poster. The inscription reads: ‘Soviet Army, guardian of peace’ Edward Gierek, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party (the communist PZPR) from 1970 to 1980. Actual leader of the Party and State.

Under his leadership the country enjoyed an unprecedented economic boom which ended in the deepest crisis since the war. Workers’ Day parade under the ominous silhouette of the Palace of Culture and Science The annual May Day parade was supposed to be a demonstration of mass support for the ruling communist party. Delegations representing various companies and production plants, schools, universities, social organisations and the military, along with famous actors and musicians, marched and waved to the party dignitaries who looked down at them from the rostrum. The marches were broadcast on television. However, the festive atmosphere was disturbed by the fact that those who did not attend the parade faced harassment at their work place. The Soviet Song Festival in Zielona Góra was organised with panache. The main objective of the event was to strengthen the supposed Polish-Soviet friendship „Ręce do góry” (“Hands Up”).

The feature film made by Jerzy Skolimowski in 1967 was banned by the censors until 1981 Krystyna Janda in „Przesłuchanie” (“Interrogation”) directed by Ryszard Bugajski Culture and Censorship Artists who violated any of the numerous political or ideological taboos had to reckon with the fact that the only viewers of their works would be the censors. Many writers and filmmakers emigrated: Jerzy Skolimowski moved to the West when the censors banned his “Hands Up”, and Ryszard Bugajski went when the the authorities blocked the distribution of “Interrogation”. Czesław Miłosz receivs the Nobel Prize in Literature Ration coupons The economy The centrally planned economy introduced by the communist government did not tolerate private property in industry or in the service sector. The government’s policies led to losses in profitability and innovation in industry, a decline in the level of services, and food rationing. A queue in front of the grocery shop Strikes and riots For decades the Polish United Workers’ Party refused to accept any form of political competition or authentic workers’ activities.

In June 1956 worker strikes and riots in Poznań were brutally suppressed. 73 people were killed and hundreds injured. March 1968. Student protests erupted in March 1968 following the banning of the performance of a play by the 19th century poet Adam Mickiewicz, “Forefathers’ Eve”, for its “Russophobic” elements. Some 1500 people were arrested. An anti-semitic campaign was launched against student activists and their alleged supporters. Baltic Coast, 1970. Workers’ protests sparked by food price rises swept through the Polish port cities of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Szczecin. Protesters were dispersed by militia and army divisions (a total of 61,000 militia officers and troops were involved). 45 people were killed and 1165 were injured. June 1956 Poznań June 1976 in Radom Workers' Defence Comittee (KOR) As a result of the protests in Radom, Płock and Ursus, thousands of workers were dismissed.

With the aim of providing them with help the Workers’ Defence Committee (KOR) was formed. This was an organisation, acting without the permission of the authorities, which was created by representatives of the intelligentsia who opposed the system. Emissaries from KOR quickly reached the majority of those who required assistance, providing them with financial support as well as legal aid. KOR activists fell victim to repression from the authorities: their flats were searched, they were detained, and some were even beaten up by ‘unknown assailants’, in fact agents of the Security Services. Soon a few other opposition organisations were set up, such as the Movement for the Defence of Human and Civic Rights (ROPCiO) and Free Trade Unions (Wolne Związki Zawodowe). John Paul II in Cracow, 1979 John Paul II On 16 October 1978 the Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła, was elected Pope. The news of his election was received with great enthusiasm in Poland and was seen as a symbolic reward for decades of national humiliation and Church persecution. In June 1979 the Pope arrived on his first visit to Poland in his new role.

His visit gathered together millions of his fellow Poles, who participated in grand religious celebrations which were not only a manifestation of their faith but also an opportunity to demonstrate their wish to live in a free country. John Paul II in Częstochowa Lech Wałęsa speaks of his generation 14 August 1980: The strike at the V. Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk begins Solidarność Solidarność was born as a result of a nationwide strike in August 1980, started at the V. Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk. The shipyard workers went on strike in a gesture of solidarity with two of their colleagues who had been sacked: Anna Walentynowicz and Lech Wałęsa. Holy Mass celebrated at the striking shipyard. Anna Walentynowicz talks to the strikers’ families. Walentynowicz was an activist for workers’ rights and, in 1978, organised the illegal Free Trade Unions (WZZ). The 21 Demands Other productions plants joined in the strike. A committee of delegates from Gdańsk and neighbouring cities was formed. The strikers wanted to negotiate with the communist government the conditions for the termination of the protest.

The Committee drew up 21 demands which put across the conditions. The government eventually agreed to enter negotiations with the strikers. The 21 Demands 21 Demands of the Inter-factory Strike Committee of the Vladimir Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk (August 17, 1980) 1. Acceptance of free trade unions independent of the Communist Party and of enterprises, in accordance with convention No. 87 of the International Labour Organization concerning the right to form free trade unions. 2. A guarantee of the right to strike and of the security of strikers and those supporting them. 3. Compliance with the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech, the press and publication, including freedom for independent publishers, and the availability of the mass media to representatives of all faiths. 4. A return of former rights to: a) People dismissed from work after the 1970 and 1976 strikes; students expelled because of their views. (...) 5. Availability to the mass media of information about the formation of the Inter-factory Strike Committee and publication of its demands. (...) 9. Guaranteed automatic increases in pay on the basis of increases in prices and the decline in real income.

(...) 12. The selection of management personnel on the basis of qualifications, not party membership. Privileges of the secret police, regular police and party apparatus to be eliminated Delegates of striking production plants listening to the negotiators Recording the negotiations Signing of the August Agreements, signifying the government’s acceptance of the 21 Demands. 31 August 1980, the strike comes to an end Lech Wałęsa carried in triumph by his supporters after the registration of the Solidarity Trade Union Acknowledgment of the right of workers to set up a free and independent trade union was one of the 21 Demands. The Independent Self-governing Trade Union ‘Solidarność’ (Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy Solidarność) was formed on that basis. In fact, the organisation became more than just a trade union. It was in effect a national and civic rights movement whose members were people of different social groups and political orientations. By the end of 1981 around 10 million people had become members of this organisation.

Solidarity poster for May Day 1981 1981 Protesters demanding the legalisation of the Farmers’ Solidarity Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers 1970 – the first monument to the victims of the communist regime „Tygodnik Solidarność” (Solidarność Weekly), the first independent newspaper in Poland since 1947 presented by its chief editor Tadeusz Mazowiecki 1981, the First Congress of Solidarność in Gdańsk Message issued by the delegates of the First Congress of NSZZ ‘Solidarność’ to the working people of Eastern Europe Delegates gathered in Gdańsk at the first Congress of Delegates of the Independent Trade Union “Solidarity” extend greetings and words of support to workers of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovaka, the German Democratic Republic, Romania, Hungary and all the nations of the Soviet Union. As the first independent trade union in our post-war history we are deeply aware of our interlocking fates. We assure you that, contrary to the lies circulating in your countries, we are a genuine 10 million-strong working people’s organisation set up as a result of workers’ strikes. Our aim is to fight for improved living standards for all working people.

We support those of you who decide to embark on the difficult road of struggle for a free trade union movement. We believe that your representatives and ours will soon be able to meet with a view to exchanging union-related experiences. ‘Man of Iron’ by Andrzej Wajda was the first film made about Solidarność. It won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 13 December 1981: General Jaruzelski announces martial law in Poland Martial Law The ruling communist party (Polish United Workers’ Party) refused to reconcile itself to the gradual loss of power. The political situation in the country was becoming increasingly tense. In the spring of 1981, the defense minister, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, became the First Secretary of the communist party PZPR. On December 13, 1981, Jaruzelski imposed martial law on the country. The State Council suspended civic rights and freedoms, including the right to continue the activities of Solidarity. Overnight, the police, security services and the army seized all the headquarters of Solidarity and interned approximately 10,000 opposition activists, including Lech Wałęsa.

Brutal pacification of striking plants took place. Nine miners were killed by gunfire at the Wujek Mine in Silesia. Martial law formally lasted until 1983, but Solidarity was delegalised and repression of the opposition continued. Military armoured personnel carrier in front of the coal mine Victim of the Motorised Reserves of the Citizens’ Militia (ZOMO) attack on the opposition demonstration in Lubin Among the victims of dictatorship in the 1980s was the Solidarity chaplain, Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, who was murdered in the autumn of 1984 The demonstration against martial law on May Day, 1982 Interned opposition activists during a walk in the prison yard Solidarity with Poland Family of interned Lech Wałęsa with his portrait pinned to the wall The Peace Nobel Prize for Lech Wałęsa Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Lech Wałęsa in 1983 was understood as a strong signal of support for Solidarity from the democratic world. The communist government refused to issue a passport to Lech Wałęsa to prevent him from receiving the prize in person.

He was represented in Oslo by his wife and oldest son. "Drugi Obieg" The origins of the "drugi obieg" (the Polish equivalent of samizdat) date back to the late 1970s. However, it was not until the years of martial law (1981-1983) that the clandestine circulation of printed works became the driving force of the opposition. Solidarity leaders who had escaped detention set up a clandestine network of printing shops and distribution. A wide range of publications was printed to supersede the official and party controlled media. Books, periodicals, leaflets and posters, even postage stamps and postcards, were printed and widely distributed. Nineteen Eighty-Four The Evolution of the Polish Solidarity Movement « The View East The Evolution of the Polish Solidarity Movement THE EVOLUTION OF THE POLISH SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT – BY KIERAN INGLETON. The Solidarity movement in Poland is arguably one of the most unique and inspiring movements in modern European history.

Between 1980-1989, Solidarity led what has often been described as a “10 year revolution”, which ultimately resulted in the collapse of communism in Poland, a key turning point which triggered wider reform and revolution across the Eastern bloc. During this turbulent decade, Solidarity evolved from a legal trade union into an underground social network and protest movement, ultimately emerging as a revolutionary force, capable of toppling and replacing the communist system in Poland. (Bloom, 2013, pp374-375). Mark Kramer has argued that while Solidarity may have started out as a free trade union, it “quickly became far more: a social movement, a symbol of hope and an embodiment of the struggle against communism and Soviet domination” (Kramer, 2011). Solidarity Memorabilia, on display at the “Roads to Freedom” exhibition in Gdansk. THE BIRTH OF SOLIDARITY The Solidarity movement emerged out of a much longer history of worker discontent, strikes and protest that had characterised tensions between the state and society in communist Poland since the end of WWII.

Touraine has argued that “Solidarity first emerged because it was a response to Poland’s decline economically and socially. Nowhere else in Communist Central Europe was the failure of the governments industrial and agricultural policies so obvious” (Touraine, 1983, p32). From the mid-1970s, the Polish economy had slipped more deeply into an irreversible economic decline, as production levels plummeted, real wages stagnated, shortages increased and foreign debt mounted, reaching $18 billion by 1980 (Paczkowski & Byrne, 2007. p. xxix). In 1980, a Polish Communist Party (PUWP) announcement about increasing food prices triggered a fresh wave of strikes across Poland. At the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk, workers were further incited by the dismissal of crane driver and trade union activist Anna Walentynowicz , and in response, around 17,000 workers occupied the shipyard on 14 August.

On 17 August, the Gdansk strike committee, led by Lech Walesa , drew up a list of ‘ 21 demands ’, which were famously displayed on the gates of the shipyard. While several of the demands were pragmatic (such as improved economic conditions and the right of workers to strike) others were more politicised (including demands for reduced censorship and freedom for political prisoners). Notably, at the top of the list, the strikers demanded the establishment of free trade unions, independent from Communist Party control, to better represent workers’ rights. The 21 Demands drawn up by the strike committee, displayed on the gates of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk in August 1980. Source: When the Polish leader, Edward Gierek, turned to Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev for advice, Brezhnev encouraged him to seek a ‘political solution’ rather than forcibly subduing the strikes (having recently sent Soviet troops into Afghanistan, Brezhnev was keen to avoid the possibility of Gierek requesting ‘fraternal support’ from the Soviet military).

As a result, the Polish leadership opened negotiations with the striking workers, and on 21 August a Governmental Commission arrived in Gdansk to begin talks, which resulted in the ‘ Gdansk Agreement ’ of 31 August 1980. The Gdansk Agreement included authorisation for independent trade union representation of workers’ interests, and on 17 September 1980 the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarity (NSZZ – Solidarnosc) was officially formed. For the first time since the Communists had come to power the Polish people could join a trade union that was wholly independent from state control. However, Solidarity’s remit was clearly proscribed. The PUWP always intended their role to be limited to non-political representation, as the Gdansk Agreement stated that “these new unions are intended to defend the social and material interest of the workers and not to play the role of a political party”. THE RISE (AND FALL) OF SOLIDARITY As Jeffrey Bloom comments ‘‘The strikes of 1980 were the beginning of a social revolution.

The nation emerged transformed, they were all aware of what was achieved, strike victory and solidarity helped create a sense of hope and self-confidence for future conflicts” (Bloom, 2013, p115). From its formation in September 1980, Solidarity grew rapidly, peaking with almost 10 million members by June 1981 (a figure which is estimated to have comprised around 70% of all workers in the state economy in Poland and around a third of the total population). Biezenski argues that in the twelve months following their formation, “Solidarity’s dramatic increase in activism was a logical response to a deepening economic crisis within Poland” (Biezenski, 1996, p262). The continued failure of the Communist Party to adequately address deteriorating conditions meant that “the social and material interests of the workers” that Solidarity had been founded to represent remained under threat, and as the months passed, it became increasingly clear that significant improvements to socio-economic conditions in Poland would not be possible without some kind of accompanying political restructuring. Emboldened by their rising support, Solidarity adopted an increasingly politicised stance and began agitating for a general strike.

As Barker has argued: “Solidarity changed its members. The very act of participating in a founding meeting, often in defiance of local bosses, involved a breach with old habits of deference and submission. New bonds of solidarity and a new sense of strength were forged … [which] opened the door to a swelling flood of popular demands” (Barker, 2005). This shift was clearly reflected by October 1981, when Solidarity published their official programme , which encompassed a combination of socio-economic and political aims, couched in increasingly revolutionary rhetoric. The programme attacked the failures and shortcomings of the Communist Party, referred to Solidarity as “a movement for the moral rebirth of the people” and stated that “”History has taught us that there is no bread without freedom … what we had in mind was not only bread, butter and sausage but also justice, democracy and truth”. “Solidarity unites many social trends and associated people, adhering to various ideologies, with various political and religious convictions, irrespective of their nationality. We have united in protest against injustice, the abuse of power and against the monopolised right to determine and to express the aspirations of the entire nation.

The formation of Solidarity, a mass social movement, has radically changed the situation in the country”. – Solidarity’s Programme, 16th October 1981 As Pittaway points out, ‘The PUWP was thrown into disarray by the advance of Solidarity and its hold over public opinion’ (Pittaway, 2004, p175). Solidarity challenged the status quo, so that the normal mechanisms of communist control over the mass of the population began to break down (Barker, 2005). The Communists initially responded by launching a negative propaganda campaign, designed to damage Solidarity and discredit their leadership, including Walesa. The growing popularity and influence enjoyed by Solidarity also elicited concern from Moscow. On 18 October 1981, General Wojcech Jaruzelski was appointed as new leader of the PUWP. A known hardliner, Jaruzelski was given a clear mandate to suppress Solidarity. Until his death in 2014, Jaruzelski always maintained that he feared Soviet invasion if he had not moved swiftly to contain Solidarity, although the likelyhood of Soviet military intervention in Poland has been disputed.

On 13th December 1981, Jaruzelski declared Martial Law and as tanks rolled onto the streets he addressed the people of Poland in a live TV broadcast: “Our Country stands on the edge of an abyss … Distressing lines of division run through every workplace and through many homes. The atmosphere of interminable conflict, controversy and hatred is sowing mental devastation and mutilating the tradition of tolerance. Strikes, strike alerts and protest actions have become the rule … A national catastrophe is no longer hours away but only hours. In this situation inactivity would be a crime. We have to say: That is enough … The road to confrontation which has been openly forecast by Solidarity leaders, must be avoided and obstructed”. – From Jaruzelski’s Declaration of Martial Law, 13 December 1981. General Jaruzelski’s declaration of martial law in Poland, 13 December 1981.

Source: DEATH – AND REBIRTH Following Jaruzelski’s declaration of Martial Law, and the creation of a ruling ‘Military Council of National Salvation’ (Wojskowa Rada Ocalenia Narodowego, or WRON), Solidarity was outlawed, its leaders arrested and its supporters repressed. An estimated 5000 Solidarity members were arrested; over 1700 leading figures were imprisoned (including Walesa) and 800,000 others lost their jobs. (Bloom, 2013, p297). Martial Law remained in force in Poland until July 1983. However, although Solidarity were embattled, the movement survived. During the 1980s, Solidarity networks continued to function underground, focusing their efforts on illegally printing and distributing anti-communist literature, including books, journals, newspapers, leaflets, and posters. On April 12, 1982, ‘ Radio Solidarity ’ even began broadcasting. Throughout the mid-1980s, Solidarity persevered as an exclusively underground organization, promoting civil resistance, continuing their fight for workers’ rights and pushing for social and political change.

Former Solidarity member Eva Kulik described how: “”We needed to break the monopoly of the Communist propaganda. And what people really needed was information”. As Feffer points out, the Solidarity trade union actually spent more of its existence in the shadows than as an official movement (Feffer, 2015). However, these underground years were formative in explaining the evolution of the movement. As Touraine has argued, after Jaruzelski forced the movement underground, Solidarity ‘now sought to liberate society – under the cover of a new rhetoric replacing the tired trade union vocabulary with that of a revolutionary movement” (Touraine, 1983, p183). “High Noon” – famous Solidarity campaign poster, used during the Polish elections of June 1989. Source: In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev’s appointment as Soviet leader finally bought more of a reformist agenda to the table in Eastern Europe, and by 1988, the Communists were ready to negotiate with Solidarity.

Chenoweth believes that by that point the PUWP had little choice: continued economic deterioration in Poland (where rationing had been in place for most of the 1980s) meant that reforms were urgently needed and “the reality by 1988 was that Solidarity was too big and too broad to repress” (Chenoweth, 2014, pp61-62). While they had been driven underground in Poland, Solidarity enjoyed considerable support internationally, with Lech Walesa even being awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 . During the famous ‘Round Table talks’ in the spring of 1989, the PUWP agreed to reinstate Solidarity’s original remit as an independent trade union. When Solidarity was re-legalized on 17 April 1989, its membership quickly increased to 1.5 million. However, by now many members of the Solidarity leadership had their eyes firmly on the main political prize.

In June 1989, in the first semi-free elections in Poland since 1945, Solidarity represented the main opposition to the PUWP: campaigning as a legal political party, fielding Solidarity candidates against established Party members and sweeping to victory, winning all 161 contested seats in the Sejm [parliament], and 99/100 seats in the Polish Senate. By the end of August 1989, a Solidarity-led coalition government had been formed, and in December 1990, Lech Wałęsa was elected President. Solidarity had come a long way from their roots in 1980, and now faced a new challenge: dismantling communism and overseeing Poland’s transformation into a modern, democratic European state. ABOUT THE AUTHOR KIERAN INGLETON recently completed his BA (Hons) at Leeds Beckett University, graduating with Upper-Second Class honours in July 2015. During the final year of his degree Kieran specialised in the study of communist Eastern Europe, researching the evolution of Solidarity for one of his assessed essays.

Kieran is particularly interested in the interaction between politics and society in totalitarian regimes, and his history dissertation explored the application of Totalitarian theory to Stalinism between 1928 and 1939. Kieran now plans to take a gap year, before studying for an MA in Social History. SOURCES Colin Barker,(2005) “The Rise of Solidarnosc”, International Socialism, 17 October 2005, Robert Biezenski (1996), “The Struggle for Solidarity 1980-1981: Two Waves in Conflict”, Europe Asia Studies, 48/2 Jack Bloom (2013), Seeing Through the Eyes of the Polish Revolution: Solidarity and the Struggle against Communism in Poland. Haymarket Books.

Eric Chenoweth (2014) “Dancing with Dictators – General Jaruzelski’s Revisionists”, World Affairs, 10/3, John Feffer (2015) “Solidarity Underground”, The World Post (2015) Mark Kramer (2011) “The Rise and Fall of Solidarity”, The New York Times, Op Ed Andrzej Paczkowski and Malcolm Byrne. Eds. (2007) From Solidarity to Martial Law: The Polish Crisis of 1980-1981 : A Documentary History. Central European University Press, Budapest. Mark Pittaway (2004) Eastern Europe 1939-2000. Cambridge University Press. A Touraine (1983) Solidarity: Poland 1980-1981. Cambridge University Press. Like this: « Previous | Next » About the Author: Dr Kelly Hignett is a historian and a lecturer at Leeds Beckett University. Kelly’s interests primarily relate to communist and post-communist Eastern Europe.

Kelly’s research focuses on the historical analysis of crime and social deviance, particularly in the central and east European region and the former USSR; crime, deviance and underground movements/sub-cultures in communist regimes; the evolving relationship between state and society and experiences of ‘the everyday’ under communism. Her PhD research drew on a combination of archival research and oral testimony to explore the evolution of criminal networks in East Central Europe from the 1970s to the early post-communist period. Kelly has previously published articles in several peer-review journals and edited collections, contributed a series of shorter articles to publications including New Eastern Europe and Jane’s Intelligence Digest and presented numerous papers about her research internationally, in countries including the UK, USA, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Germany and Morocco. More recently Kelly has been researching drug abuse and the development of domestic drug markets in late socialist east central Europe. Her next major research project will focus on political repression in communist-era Czechoslovakia. In addition to continuing to develop her research into crime, deviance and dissent Kelly is also interested in the historical borderlands of Eastern Europe.

From initial research into the historical development of crime and attempts to control crime in border regions, she has become increasingly interested in some of the broader historical, political and socio-economic aspects of life among communities who have historically existed on the margins of state control. She plans to develop her initial research into a broader comparative study of this area. Contact Details: BBC NEWS | Europe | Analysis: Solidarity's legacy Analysis: Solidarity's legacy BBC Europe analyst Solidarity brought books and libraries to the Polish shipyards Sunday 14 August 1980 was a turning-point in Polish history: the day the Gdansk shipyard strike started, paving the way for Solidarity. It was the first independent mass political movement to emerge in the Soviet bloc. But the debate continues over Solidarity's significance for the ultimate collapse of East European communism. On 31 August 1980, Polish government representatives signed an agreement with striking shipyard workers, authorising the establishment of a new trade union free of communist control. Sixteen months later, the experiment in political co-existence came to an end, with tanks on the streets and mass arrests.

Re-legalised in 1989, Solidarity soon took over Poland's government from the communists - but then rapidly disintegrated amid acrimony and mutual recriminations. Papal visit Stalin once said that establishing Communism in Poland was like trying to saddle a cow. The largest of Moscow's post-World War II satellites, Poland had a long history of conflict with Russia, and a tradition of personal freedom, Roman law, and limited government, very different from Russia's. Throughout Poland's vital Baltic region, the strike movement is gaining momentum. This afternoon, the new strike committee in the Lenin shipyard has been expanding by the hour BBC reporter Tim Sebastian, 1980 For three decades, it rumbled away like an indigestible meal inside the Soviet stomach. Stalin's terror gave way to a more flexible form of dictatorship. By the 1970s, many young Poles were travelling to the West to see relatives and to moonlight, their awareness of living in an impoverished backwater becoming more acute. Then, in 1978, a Polish archbishop, Karol Wojtyla, was elected Pope - taking the name John Paul II.

His return visit to Poland the following year turned into a triumphal progress, with millions turning out to greet him. Gdansk shipyard worker and future Solidarity leader, Lech Walesa, summed up the effect: "The Holy Father, through his meetings, demonstrated how numerous we were. He told us not to be afraid". On 31 August 1980, the communist authorities conceded the strikers' main demand: their own trade union, independent of communist control. Soon Solidarity was claiming 10 million members. In Lech Walesa, it also found its "People's Tribune". With his rough and ready manners, mangled grammar, ostentatious Catholic piety and apparent lack of humbug, he was "Our Lech". Solidarity blatantly contradicted the Soviet principle that every aspect of public life had to be animated and controlled by the Communist Party. It soon evolved into a mass movement for civil and national rights - but of a peculiar kind. Its intellectual advisers coined the term "self-limiting revolution". Society, they said, would organise itself from below - but would not make a direct grab for power.

Moral revolution The communist regime - hollowed out from inside - would remain as a facade, protecting Poland from Soviet attack. Pope John Paul II played a major role, inspiring many Poles One of the first elements of the communist system to disintegrate was censorship - as a Solidarity activist later explained to the BBC. "We were setting up libraries of independent publishing inside the enterprises," he said. "I have the impression that many workers were only then starting to read books." But if Solidarity promoted personal and social freedom, the West was not necessarily seen as a model. Solidarity saw itself as driving a moral revolution: an end to the mutual suspicion, self-abasement, double-talk, influence-peddling and corruption of life under communism. Meanwhile, the Czech and East German authorities successfully exploited traditional anti-Polish prejudices. And as developments in 1981 would amply demonstrate, two of the Polish regime's institutions remained relatively untouched: the army and the secret police. Years later, Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski sought to justify martial law as the lesser of two evils: "This was our own sovereign decision - but one which took into account the realities of those times.

At that time the socialist system was the reality of that state - its backbone. And toppling that reality would have meant both civil war and foreign intervention." The Soviet invasion threat has never been proved. Former members of the Soviet leadership have said that armed intervention was discussed - but rejected. Martial law Mr Jaruzelski certainly did Moscow a favour, by sparing it the international opprobrium which would have followed an invasion. Wojciech Jaruzelski could not stem the tide of opposition But martial law did play into the hands of right-wing US President Ronald Reagan, who used the Polish crisis to step up Washington's ideological confrontation with the Soviet Union. Behind the trappings of a military junta, the Polish leadership tried to reassemble the familiar structures of a communist regime. But the old fear had gone. Confrontations between demonstrators and the Zomo riot police went on for months. Eventually, the regime, society and the Solidarity underground settled down to a sullen co-existence. A new reforming Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, paid a visit - but appeared badly out of touch. If Poles wanted their own reformer, he reportedly told a roomful of silent communist activists, they had one in Jaruzelski.

When in 1988 UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher arrived in Gdansk, she was greeted with chants of "Send the Reds to Siberia!" Maybe we are the witnesses of a revolution without blood, without barricades, without violence Solidarity activist Later that year, the Jaruzelski leadership authorised talks with what it dubbed the "responsible opposition". The result was Solidarity's re-legalisation and partly-free parliamentary elections in the summer of 1989. 'Evil' crackdown To its own surprise, Solidarity won all but one of the seats it had been allowed to contest. On 25 August, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, a veteran Catholic newspaper editor and Solidarity adviser, was sworn in as prime minister. But Solidarity's victory proved an anti-climax - being quickly overshadowed by events elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe. In November 1989 the Berlin Wall came down. That same month, Prague experienced its own "festival of freedom", when half a million people flocked to Wenceslas Square to hear the future Czech President, Vaclav Havel, denounce the communist regime. In December, Romania's dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was deposed and shot.

Suddenly, Poland's "negotiated transition" looked rather timid. Lech Walesa: 1980s hero still hoping for a comeback Prime Minister Mazowiecki announced he was "drawing a thick line" over the past: thus apparently precluding any serious investigation of communist crimes. But it was the younger Communist Party reformers who proved to be quicker on their feet. In 1990, the Polish Communist Party abandoned Marxism-Leninism, renamed itself the Democratic Left Alliance and redefined itself as a "social-democrat party of the West European type". In 1993, it won the parliamentary elections and in 1995, its leader Aleksander Kwasniewski defeated Lech Walesa in presidential elections. Mr Kwasniewski had been a junior minister in the last communist government of the 1980s. In retrospect, he is highly critical of Mr Jaruzelski's decision to impose martial law in 1981, not least because of its longer-term psychological effects: "We will never know whether - to use the colloquial expression - the 'Ruskis' would have come in and when. Martial law was an evil.

Evil, because it was directed against our reviving freedom. Evil, because it quenched revived hopes for a life lived in dignity, for civil liberties and democracy." Wealth creation Perhaps the summer of 1980 represented a unique moment: when economic crisis, working class discontent, intellectual ferment, a tired and clueless regime, and an upsurge of national pride in the new Pope, combined to produce a dynamic chemical reaction. However, sectional interests, class prejudices and personal ambitions quickly reasserted themselves. There have been huge changes in Poland since the fall of communism. Newsreel footage of the Gdansk strikers - moustaches, bad haircuts, polyester trousers and all - show a vanished era, as remote to many younger Poles as top hats and walking sticks. Lech Walesa still dreams of a political comeback. General Jaruzelski concentrates on his memoirs and on avoiding jail. Most significantly perhaps, Poles have discovered an unexpected talent for hard work and wealth creation. But the country's booming "enterprise culture" appears to have little obvious connection with Solidarity's old communitarian ethos - except as an expression of an underlying desire for freedom.

Question: Solidarity was the mass movement of the people in which country?
Answer: Poland