From Solidarity to Democracy
1944 – Communists take power in Poland
1980 – Workers movement “Solidarity” established, nationwide strikes begin
6 February – 4 April 1989 – The Polish Round Table, negotiations between communists and Solidarity.
4 June 1989 – Semi-democratic elections, which bring about the collapse of communist power.
The Communist Eastern Bloc began to crack in Poland.
After the end of World War II, the Polish people had reconciled themselves to communist rule primarily out of exhaustion: the death toll under Nazi occupation had been the highest in Europe, the onslaught of the Red Army brought many more victims. The symbol of hopelessness was the failure of the Warsaw uprising in 1944, which resulted in the utter destruction of the capital by the Nazis. Although the Soviet forces had reached within the vicinity of Warsaw, Stalin did not try to help the Polish insurgents: the liquidation of the strong Polish underground was also in his interest.
What was special about Poland was the strong influence of the Catholic Church, which came into the open in 1979, when John Paul II, the new pontiff, travelled to his home country. The papal visit suddenly turned into a silent demonstration against the communist government.
At that moment, 10 years still separated Poland from freedom. The force that proved decisive in the gradual erosion of communist power was the autonomous workers’ movement, which was unique in the Eastern Bloc. According to the teaching of Karl Marx, the working class was the vanguard of revolution, the pillar of communist power. The reality was different: workers were far from free and their organisations were controlled by the security apparatus. But then, something extraordinary happened in Poland: workers united themselves secretly into independent organisations and launched strikes that shocked the regime, threatening the state with bankruptcy. The first extensive strikes, which took place in 1976, were drenched in blood, but a new wave came in 1980, when the workers’ union Solidarity was established.
Solidarity was powerful but the government managed to suppress it. By 1988 it was so much weakened that the communists saw for the first time the chance for an advantageous agreement. The leaders of Solidarity had also understood that by themselves they lacked the power to rid the country of Communism. These were the preconditions for the Polish Round Table, the negotiations between the communists and the Solidarity.
In the background loomed the catastrophic state of the economy (rising foreign dept, inflation, chronic shortages, rationing of goods, a blossoming black market, etc.). The regime had no support among the people, which would have been necessary for successful reforms. In this situation the Party decided to share power with Solidarity, to move towards an extended dictatorship. But it all ended differently. When the Round Table finished in spring 1989, the result was an agreement that predicted an end to communist power. The comical aspect of this was that the communists had never had the intention to make such far-reaching concessions, but they overestimated their popularity in the country. Therefore, when semi-democratic elections took place on June 4, they won only 1 seat from the 100 seats that were contested. Although they still possessed the tools to shoot and kill, this referendum meant the end of Communism in Poland. The first bastion had fallen.