Thousands of civilians were put into prison for no reason. Jaruzelski declared a state of war and so tanks and storm troopers were patrolling the streets. Communications were cut too.
Although the Poles were quite happy and optimistic about the state that communism evolved to in Poland in the 1970’s, in the middle of that decade the Polish economy was hit by a crisis 1976 was a bad year, but 1979 was the worst year since the introduction of communism. That resulted in a large propaganda from the government, it was saying the situation was good while everybody knew it wasn’t.
c) Events July 1980 – December 1981
July 1980 Government announces increase in the price of meat. Strikes follow.
August 1980 Workers at the Gdańsk shipyard, le by Lech Wałęsa, put forward 21 demands to the government including free trade unions and the right to strike. They also start a free trade union called Solidarity.
August (30th) 1980 The government agrees to all 21 of Solidarity’s demands.
September 1980 Solidarity’s membership is 7 million. Solidarity is officially recognised by the government.
January 1981 Membership of Solidarity reaches its peak at 9.4 million – more than a third of all workers in Poland. If you exclude the farmers, 60% are members.
February 1981 General Jaruzelski, leader of the army, is made head of the Communist Party and Prime Minister in Poland.
March 1981 After negotiations with Jaruzelski, Wałęsa calls of the strike at Bydgoszcz. Many Solidarity members are unhappy about this. They see it as giving in to the government.
May 1981 ‘’Rural Solidarity’’ is set up as a farmers union.
September 1981 Lech Wałęsa elected chairman of Solidarity. The Solidarity Congress produces an ‘’open letter’’ to workers of Eastern Europe.
November 1981 Negotiations between Wałęsa and Jaruzelski to form a government of ‘’National Understanding’’ break down.
December 1981 Worried about the increasing chaos in Poland Brezhnev orders the Red Army to carry out ‘’training manoeuvres’’ on the Polish border. Jaruzelski introduces martial law (rule by the army). He puts Wałęsa and 10,000 other Solidarity leaders in prison. He suspends Solidarity.
- ‘’Preventive and cautionary talks’’ – I think this means to talk with someone in order to prevent something (maybe negotiate), and being cautious during these negotiations.
4. Profile of Lech Wałęsa
- Like many of his fellow pupils at school he went to work in the shipyards in Gdańsk. He became an electrician.
- In 1970 he led shipyard workers who joined the strike against price rises.
- In 1976 he was sacked from the shipyard for making malicious statements about the organisation and working climate.
- In 1978 he helped organise a union at another works. Dismissed officially because of the recession, unofficially because of pressure from above.
- In 1979 he worked for Eltromontage. He said to be the best automotive electrician in the business. He was sacked.
- Led strikes in Gdańsk shipyard in summer of 1980.
- With others he set up Solidarity in August 1980 and became its leader soon after.
- He was committed catholic and earned massive support among the polish people and overseas.
- He was imprisoned by the Polish government in 1982.
- In prison he became a symbol of Eastern Europe’s struggle against Communist repression. He won the Noble Peace Prize in 1983.
- In 1989 he became the leader of Poland’s first non-Communist government since the Second World War.
5. Why did the Polish government agree to solidarity’s demands in 1980?
6. Why did the Polish government clamp down on Solidarity in December 1981?
- There were a number of factors which caused the government to change policy towards Solidarity.
- There were increasing signs that solidarity was acting as a political party. The government had been sent secret tapes of a Solidarity meeting at which leaders talked of Solidarity setting up a new provisional government – without the communist Party. This formed a direct challenge to the Soviet plan for eastern Europe. Brezhnev was not prepared to have a Communist Party within the Soviet bloc dictated by an independent union.
- Poland was sinking in chaos. Meat and fish supply was down by 25%. Almost all Poles felt the impact of food shortages. Rationing was introduced in April 1981. National income had fallen by 13% in a year, industrial production by 11% and foreign trade by 20%. Wages have increased by less than inflation. Unemployment was rising. Strikes were continuing long after the Solidarity leadership had ordered them to stop.
- Solidarity itself was also tumbling in chaos. There were different factions. Some felt that the only way to make progress was to push the Communists harder until they cracked under the pressure. Against the advice and better judgement of Wałęsa, they passed a motion at their October 1981 Congress to ‘’issue a statement of sympathy and support for all the downtrodden peoples of the Soviet bloc and to all the nations of the Soviet Union’’. It proclaimed that the Poles were fighting ‘’For Your Freedom and for Ours’’. Wałęsa was well aware how dangerous a course this was, but by then the different factions in Solidarity were threatening to pull the organisation apart and Wałęsa was no longer able or willing to dictate them.
b)
7. The Significance of Solidarity
8. The Aftermath – What happened to The Solidarity movement in the 1980’s?
In the beginning of 1983 Jaruzelski started the liberation of jailed Solidarity leaders. However, Solidarity’s friends in the other countries were not impressed as the released leaders were hounded from their jobs, some harassed, and some even murdered.
Although being outlawed, Solidarity started operating openly and gaining influence once again. In 1986 it threatened to call a nationwide strike against price rises and the government backed down. Lech Wałęsa was treated like Poland’s leader.
9. How did Gorbachev change Eastern Europe?
10. Profile Mikhail Gorbachev
- Born 1931. One Grandfather was a kulak - a land owning peasant – who had been sent to a prison camp by Stalin because he resisted Stalin’s policy of collectivisation. The other grandfather was a loyal Communist Party member.
- His elder brother was killed in the Second World War.
- Studied law at the Moscow University in the 1950’s. Became a persuasive speaker.
- Worked as local Communist Party official in his home area. By 1978 he was member of the Central Committee of the Party and in charge of agriculture
- In 1980 he joined the Politburo.
- He was a close friend to Andropov who became Soviet leader in 1983. He shared many of Andropov’s ideas about reforming the USSR. When Andropov was leader he was effectively second in command.
- In 1985 he became leader of the USSR.
- In October 1990 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
11. Why did Gorbachev try to change the Soviet Union?
a)
b)
- What reasons does Gorbachev give in Source 46 (p. 324) for the changes in the USSR?
Gorbachev says that it is time stop handling foreign policy from an imperial point of
view. He says that both, the USA and USSR can’t force each other to do something they don’t want to do. Although there are the options to suppress, compel, bribe, break or blast, it would be for a short period of time. It is clear that none will give in to the other one, and that is why one has to make the first step towards improving their relations.
12. Why did the Soviet control of Eastern Europe collapse?
a)
b)
c) The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe
-Timeline 1986/90
