Strikes that broke the back of the socialist system

The USSR kept the social camp under tight control for decades, but in the 1980s the system began to show signs of fatigue. Poland was able to take advantage of this, but the struggle lasted for decades.

How Poland was hardening by the early 1980s

Creation of "Solidarity"

The introduction of martial law

Interlude

"Solidarity is legalized again

"Solidarity" unexpectedly comes to power

Conclusions.

How Poland was hardened by the early 1980s

Poles obviously could not forget how the USSR and Germany divided their country's territory at the beginning of World War II. So, compared to some other socialist countries, relations with the USSR remained tense throughout the Cold War.

The anti-Communist movement in Poland began in 1944 in the form of underground organizations that waged armed struggle until the late 1950s. In 1956, mass labor protests took place in Poznan. In 1967-68 there were student riots. In 1970-71, strikes and riots took place in the industrial center of Trujmisto due to price increases. Polish special forces and army units used weapons, killing dozens of people. In 1976, another wave of strikes and protests began in response to another price increase. The government began suppressing strikes, arresting and dismissing workers with "wolf tickets."

The anti-communist underground in the 1940s. Photo: Wikipedia

The government of Edward Gerek, who took over Poland in 1970, began to actively seek loans from the West and the USSR. Initially, this contributed to economic growth, but gradually the public debt turned into a heavy yoke. Without controlling the situation, the government was forced to periodically raise prices, which regularly led to popular discontent.

An important factor that significantly influenced the consciousness of Poles was the Catholic faith. It should be emphasized that Catholicism in Poland was not nominal, but quite real, covering the vast majority of the population. Therefore, the communist ideology, which promoted militant atheism, was misunderstood by the general population. In 1978, the Pole Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. The new pope provided moral support to the Poles and engaged in a dialogue with representatives of the USSR, which limited the latter's ability to put pressure on Poland.

John Paul II in Poland. Photo: ipn.gov.pl

Thus, at the turn of the 70s and 80s, Poland was a country hardened in anti-government protests and with pronounced anti-communist tendencies.

Creation of "Solidarity"

On July 1, 1980, the Polish government decided to raise prices for meat products. In response, strikes began a week later at Lublin factories. In August, strikes broke out in other Polish cities. The Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk became the ideological center of anti-government protests. Workers occupied the territory of the enterprise and put forward a number of demands, including the abolition of price increases, guarantees of food supply for workers, lifting the ban on the activities of free trade unions, and the reinstatement of Lech W alesa and Anna Walentynowicz, who were fired for striking. Walesa himself arrived at the shipyard the day after the strike began. By the end of August, the number of strikers across Poland had reached 750,000. Given the scale of the strike movement, the government was forced to sign a number of agreements with the strikers.

Lech Walesa in Gdańsk in late August 1980. Photo: Institute of National Remembrance (Poland)

It should be noted that the anti-government protests were not centralized and homogeneous. The working masses were joined by intellectuals, but the attitude towards their representatives was cautious because of class misunderstandings. There were cases when intellectuals had their cars vandalized when they came to support the proletariat. Some sources indicate that even among the workers there was a property stratification that partially limited the enthusiasm of the wealthier class representatives.

We should also add that strike committees in different cities of Poland signed separate agreements. So it is not surprising that the protest was not so much political as economic. However, the foundations for further events were laid.

Prime Minister Mieczysław Jagielski and Lech Wałęsa signing the agreement. Photo: INP (Poland)

As the strikers won the opportunity to form unions free from government influence, on September 17, 1980, representatives of strike committees from all over Poland proclaimed the formation of the independent Solidarity trade union. By the time the union was officially registered in November, the number of its members had reached seven million, and a year later it numbered ten. At that time, the country's population was approximately 35 million.

The temporary governing body of the union was headed by Lech Wałęsa, Andrzej Gwiazda, and Ryszard Kalinowski. The name of the first of them will become a landmark in Polish history and will be inextricably linked to Solidarity.

Walesa was an ordinary worker who became actively involved in trade union activities and the protest movement in 1970. At 20, he became the president of Poland. In 2016, there was an information explosion in the country: documents were made public, according to which Walesa cooperated with Polish special services in 1970-76.

The documents proved that the former president provided information to the secret services and received fees for it. Walesa was forced to admit the fact of cooperation, but insisted that his collaboration with the Communists was not sincere.

How should we assess this fact in the context of Walesa's entire biography? Most likely, the Polish politician agreed to cooperate when he was first detained by the police in 1970. He probably just got scared under the pressure of the special services. It is also possible that Walesa, as he himself claims, did not intend to play on the side of the secret services.

The fact is, however, that for six years he provided information services and was paid for his work. Of course, the most important question is how harmful his cooperation was for his comrades in the protest movement. One way or another, this is a dark spot in Valensa's biography. At the same time, even Valensa's opponents have no evidence that his cooperation continued.

The fact that in 1976 he was fired from his job at the Lenin Shipyard may also indicate the end of his relationship with the secret services. It seems that he could have started the 1980s from scratch. In any case, with his active participation, the communist government was overthrown in Poland.

The introduction of martial law

By uniting the general population, Solidarity fulfilled its trade union function. By December 1981, 150 major strikes had been organized. Demands were made for higher wages and better working conditions, and representatives of the administration were dismissed. Moscow began to express concern, as the existence of a powerful independent trade union contradicted the essence of the communist system.

There were personnel changes in Poland's leadership. In particular, the country was led by General Wojciech Jaruzelski. It was he who introduced martial law on December 13, 1981. Immediately, the Polish secret services began mass arrests of Solidarity members.

About 5,000 people were sent to camps. Lech Walesa was among them. "Solidarity went illegal and responded by organizing strikes. In December alone, there were about 200 of them. The army and special forces used force to suppress acts of disobedience. In some places, there were battles and deaths.

Strikes continued in the following year, but in the fall, activity began to decline. Still, a significant number of Solidarity leaders were captured, and it was dangerous to strike during martial law. Moreover, the strike on November 10, the second anniversary of the union's registration, was failed for the first time. Coincidentally, Leonid Brezhnev died on that very day.

Four days later, a large group of imprisoned union members, including Valensa, were released. However, on December 9, the security services conducted an operation, detaining about ten thousand members of the organization, but this was the last major surge.

After the introduction of martial law, the United States immediately imposed sanctions on the USSR and Poland. Subsequently, Poland was deprived of its most favored nation status and its application to join the IMF was blocked. And then the USSR's general secretary died. Obviously, martial law had to be ended. However, the illegal status of Solidarity continued.

Interlude.

Jaruzelski's government tried to conduct liberal maneuvers: it removed conservative politicians from office and refused to prosecute the Solidarity leaders. At the same time, the fierce struggle against Solidarity did not stop.

Members of the union were detained, abducted and even killed. In particular, in 1984, Jerzy Popieluszko, the chaplain of Solidarity, was abducted and killed. His burial turned into a powerful demonstration. In general, the activity of the union and the number of its members significantly decreased during this period.

During Perestroika, which began in the USSR, Jaruzelski initially continued his line. In both 1985 and 1986, Solidarity leaders were arrested. However, the Polish authorities were forced to take into account the trends of freedom in the socialist camp. In September 1986, 225 activists of Solidarity and the Confederation of Independent Poland were released under an amnesty. "Solidarity began to resume its activities. Although the union was still not legalized, the authorities did not resist.

In mid-1987, the failure of the Polish government's socio-economic policy became apparent. The foreign debt exceeded $40 billion, industry was not growing, and inflation was breaking records. In the summer, mass demonstrations and clashes with security forces began in Poland. Another price hike in February of the following year led to a new jump in inflation.

"Solidarity was legalized again

In the spring of 1988, a wave of strikes swept across Poland. The main demands were to raise wages and legalize Solidarity. Obviously, the strikes were organized by representatives of the trade union, who had been hardened in confrontations with the authorities in the early 80s. After a summer break, the strikes continued in mid-August.

Given the power and scope of the events, the authorities agreed to negotiate. The first round of talks took place in Warsaw and the town of Magdalenka. It mainly discussed the agenda of the subsequent Round Table.

The second round lasted two months and resulted in reforms of the political system. In particular, the institution of the president was established. Wojciech Jaruzelski became president for the next six years. The upper house of parliament, the Senate, was established. During the elections to the lower house, the Sejm, the Communists and their supporters were guaranteed 65% of the seats. And, of course, Solidarity was re-legalized.

Both sides were positive about the results of the negotiations. The Communists were confident that under such arrangements they were guaranteed to retain full power. "Solidarity was satisfied with its legal status and the fact that, having received a certain number of seats in parliament, it would be able to influence decision-making.

"Solidarity unexpectedly comes to power

"Solidarnist launched its election campaign: it organized an election headquarters, launched a campaign, and began publishing the newspaper Vyborcheskaya Gazeta, the first issue of which sold 150,000 copies. The authorities did not interfere, as the situation seemed to be completely under control.

A campaign poster on the eve of the 1989 elections. Photo: EPA/JANUSZ UKLEJEWSKI/POLAND ARCHIVE

The election results were, without exaggeration, stunning. Of the 161 seats available in the Sejm, Solidarity took... all of them. Of the 100 available seats in the Senate, the union won 99. The last free seat was taken by a non-partisan farmer.

Now it became obvious to everyone that the pre-election agreements were not working, as society expressed total distrust of the Communists. A wave of anti-communist rallies swept across the country. The newspaper Wyborcza published an article titled "Your President, Our Prime Minister," which hinted that Solidarists should claim key positions in the Cabinet of Ministers.

The Communists still did not want to admit the obvious. After the resignation of Mieczysław Rakowski, General Czesław Kiszczak was offered the post of prime minister. However, he was unable to form a cabinet because the United Peasants' Party and the Democratic Party, which had always been on the side of the Communists, suddenly went into opposition.

"Solidarity proposed three candidates from its ranks - Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Jacek Kuroń, and Bronisław Geremek. As a result of a dialog with the Communists, the former was appointed prime minister.

Tadeusz Mazowiecki formed a new Cabinet, in which 12 of the 24 seats were held by representatives of Solidarity and only 4 by Communists. At the end of 1989, the Constitution was amended, which actually cemented the change in Poland's socio-political system. In particular, the provision on the leading role of the Communist Party was deleted. Poland officially became a democratic state.

Conclusions.

The birth of an independent trade union in Poland was not accidental. It was preceded by a number of factors: hatred of the USSR after the partition of Poland in 1939, the dominance of Catholicism, and regular protests against the communist government. Poland proved that its presence in the socialist camp was just an unpleasant episode in the country's history.

"Solidarity has played an outstanding role in the history of Poland. For ten years, the trade union gradually eroded the foundations of the communist system, which was forced to become a thing of the past. At the same time, it must be recognized that Solidarity went through different times during this decade. To a large extent, the trade union owes its victory to the fact that the Soviet system was living out its last days in the 1980s.

"At its peak in the 1980s, Solidarity had 10 million members. It is not surprising that it was quite diverse in terms of both class and politics. There were repeated fierce disputes between the members of the organization over the ways of struggle.

The radical wing proposed more decisive methods. At the same time, it is extremely important that Solidarity was able to defeat the Soviet system using democratic methods without the use of violence. Because of this, Poland calmly entered a new decade and immediately began to build democratic life.

Lech Walesa went down in European history as the flag of Polish resistance to the Soviet system. It should be emphasized, however, that Walesa is far from an ideal example of a national hero. It is difficult to forget that for six years he was not only listed as an agent of the secret services, but also regularly made reports and was paid for it.

On the other hand, while working for Solidarity, Walesa left his ties to the secret services in the past. Walesa is a typical demagogue politician, capable of leading the masses. At the same time, various statements of the Polish politician make it doubtful that he was the think tank of Solidarity.

Walesa was not among the candidates nominated by the union for the post of prime minister in 1989. He was in the right place at the right time, where his obvious strengths allowed him to take an honorable place in Polish history.

Олег Пархітько