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• History of Christianization of Europe
• Soviet Union, Communist influence
• Map of European ethnic groups
• Map of Fascism in Europe (1922-75)
• History of Islamic conquest in Europe
• Religions & ethnic groups in Russia
• Detailed map of French colonization
• Detailed map of British colonization
• Napoleon's conquests & legacy
• Ethnic & religious map of pre-Nazi Poland

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Muhammad cartoon crisis in pictures
• Stalin's private summer home
• Ravenna: capital of Gothic empire
• Czar Nicholas II's Ukrainian palace
• European traditional costumes/dress
• Inside the Vatican, house of all wealth

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Islamic Mujahidin vs. Spain & El Cid
• Poland-Lithuania vs. Teutonic Order
• Nevskiy's Russia vs. German Crusaders
• Prussia vs. France (Nazi Propaganda)
• Qadafi: Europe will soon be Islamic
• Ivan the Terrible vs. Muslim Tatars
• Soviet Propaganda: Defeat of Germany 

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• The Gypsies in history and today, Europe's public enemy
• History of Jihad in Chechnya
& Caucasus vs. Russians
• History of the Muslim Tatars in Russia
• Ethnic & religious history of Serbs, Croats, & Bosnians
• Breakaway states and independence movements in Europe
• The ancient Germanic Runic alphabet and Runestones
• Inside Bulgaria, 1st Slavic nation,
land of Thracian masters of gold
• 510-year struggle for Albanian homeland, and 552 for Kosovo
• 4,000-year-old white mummies of China, bringers of Buddhism 

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

Polish defeat of Communist rule, a catalyst to the USSR's total collapse
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)

Print this Article    •    About the Author    •    Bibliography/Sources

This article is about the legacy of Polish resistance to Cold War Soviet domination of Warsaw Pact Poland in the Solidarity Movement. If an error has been made, or you would like to add to this article, please notify us.

Often dismissed as insignificant or backward like the rest of Eastern Europe, Poland is one of the most important nations in the history of the continent. It is one of the longest-living nations on earth, and, from the 16th century until the 18th, Poland (merged with Lithuania) ruled a rich empire stretching from Latvia to Ukraine. Although in the following century Poland was dismantled and divided between the Germans and Russians, and would not exist again until 1918 (a shell of its former self), the Polish people have consistently played a crucial role in the history of Eastern Europe in the 20th century as well as for the last 1000 years. The Soviet Union did not simply dissolve because of the space race, economic mismanagement, or the Afghan Jihad, but also by the heroic resistance of the Polish people.

The Polish-Lithuanian Empire at its height. The green refers to the Lithuanian holdings, whilst the pink refers to Polish domains. The yellow and light-pink were held by Poland after their seizure from the German aristocracy in the Livonian War of the 16th century. (thanks to livonsko.navajo.cz)

Historical background of Poland 1918-1945:

Poland-Lithuania, the empire that included modern Belarus, Latvia, northern Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania was split in the west between the Germans (Prussia and Austria) and in the east by the mighty Russian empire in the 18th century Partition of Poland. Frequent resistance to Russian rule, and the declaration of an independent Polish nation (Duchy of Warsaw) created by Napoleon fueled the Poles' desire for liberation. At the end of World War I, when the Austrian and Russian empires were effectively dissolved, Poland and Lithuania became two free nations. Poland quickly launched an unprovoked war against Lithuania, Ukraine, and the new Leninist Russia in the 1920s, and became a Fascist military state. The relative success of these operations empowered the Poles with a keen sense of independence and strength. This myth was of course disproved in the 1939 obliteration of Poland by Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union seized the eastern marches. Poland became the heart of World War II and the genocides with which we are today so familiar. By 1945, Poland was annexed by the Soviet Union that had defeated Axis Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Germany. Poland, as with all of Eastern Europe (except Greece and Finland), became part of the Warsaw Pact, a diplomatic union of Soviet satellite states largely under Russian command.

Poland was ruled by the Germans in the north (Prussia) and south (Austrian Galizien/Galicia), and the Russians (central Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Baltic states). Napoleon incited Polish hopes for independence upon his vassalization of a new Polish state that quickly dissolved after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo.

An EHL map of the Warsaw Pact satellite states and their revolutionary histories. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

The Polish experience during corrupt Communist rule:

Poland would be firmly entrenched in Soviet leadership under the harsh and socioeconomically-restrictive rule of the Communist party for the next nearly five decades. Although Poles had already known a long history of occupation and alien rule, it was apparent that the oppressive rule of the new Polish regime was the next phase of Russian domination. Nearly all private business operations, representative associations, and lobbies were annexed by the government. All political parties but the Communist Party and its affiliates were abolished. The press and public opinion were strictly censored, and the government enjoyed a direct hand in most publications. Most importantly in the Polish experience, trade union associations were disbanded; the economy and the rights of workers were entirely orchestrated by the government. The Americans, British, and French adopted the strategy of coaxing Soviet vassals from pro-Moscow sympathies by offering a constant flow of economic subsidies to Poland and Warsaw Pact states in the Marshall Plan. This paradoxically kept the Communist government upright, and allowed it to strengthen its control over Polish society. The government's transgressions on American expectations of basic human rights led to the frequent embargo of Polish goods and Marshall Plan subsidies. The government freely imposed price and salary regulations that choked an already-indebted Polish public, and the inability to form trade unions prevented workers from protecting their own interests. For this reason, the Polish resistance to the Soviet authorities centers around the workers' and trade unions' rights conflict. Nonetheless, the government granted free primary, secondary, and university education, as well as limited forms of free health care. This was appealing for a population rife with poverty, instability, and still grieving after the loss of more than 10 million people in Poland during the war (though mostly non-Poles). Although it may seem comfortable to demonize the post-war Polish government as evil and unjust, it must be remembered that strict consolidating efforts and illiberal governments were inevitable and necessary in a 20th-century Europe that was on the brink of fragmenting collapse.

Polish propaganda during the Communist period

Government mismanagement of the guided economy, coupled with social revolt and unrest, and the embargo of American donations resulted in rampant hyperinflation, instability, and a reactionary crackdown on Polish social and economic rights as the government scrambled to reassert its authority. The Muslim world's oil embargo on the Allies for their support of Israel led to a huge spike in oil prices across the world. In reaction, to alleviate the government's high costs of oil-driven factory and industrial operation, the Polish Communist Party government increased prices of basic goods, raised taxes, and bolstered their regulation of government-controlled labor organizations and associations. The resultant unrest led to frequent referenda intended to reinforce the legitimacy of the government, although it is typically asserted that such elections and public opinion polls were engineered. Many different quasi-parties existed and frequently exchanged power, such as the Polish Workers' Party and the Polish People's Party, but were subservient to Soviet and Russian authority in this People's Republic.

The Polish flag during the People's Republican period. Interestingly, this exact flag is used by many Poles as a symbol for Polish pride and nationalism. It was used by the Communists to rally the Poles behind a common cultural direction.

Polish resistance to Communist rule and the fall of the People's Republic:

The death of the iron dictator Stalin in 1953 led to the gradual and partial liberalization of the Soviet Union and, subsequently, its vassal states in the Warsaw Pact. However, the breaking of the previous alliance between the Americans, British, and Soviet Communists had plummeted into the tense Cold War that forced the Soviets to tighten its stranglehold on its Warsaw Pact vassals to prevent fractionalization. Soviet Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia saw the opportunity to seek partial administration of their own affairs in response to each state's very different social and economic issues. The Polish, Hungarian, Czech, and Slovak public hoped to exploit the Soviet Union's post-Stalin liberalization. As a result, the populist Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the “Prague Spring” Czech liberalization movement in 1968 were crushed by a brutal Russian crackdown even after Stalin's death. Muslim Albania under the strict atheist Enver Hoxha broke ties with the Soviets and created a firmly isolated autarky. The fact that Poles and other Eastern European populations were being forced to invade other subjugated SSRS, and by extension reinforce the Soviet dominance that they so bitterly opposed back home, heightened public resistance. Increasing intimations of Russia's economic decline, and the instability and mismanagement of the Warsaw Pact regimes led to mass social unrest in Poland and Eastern Europe. In reaction to their waning authority and the resultant economic decline, the Polish government strengthened its supremacy over Polish society and instated martial law throughout the 70s and 80s. The main vehicle for Polish resistance to government transgression was the labor force. The workers – empowered by Communist rhetoric of worker protection and security in this very agrarian People's Republic – rallied the public to demand reform. The fact that Polish anti-government movements were calling for workers' rights reforms instead of an end to Communism or sponsoring the establishment of a liberal democratic government was a practical attempt at change. The election of a Pope, Pope John Paul II, to the Pontificate in 1978 empowered this ancient fervently Catholic nation with a drive for social justice and political autonomy. Although the Polish government did not enforce atheist Communist policies, the resultant religious fervor furthered the divide between state and people.

The Hungarian Revolution showed the power of Russia over its "autonomous" Warsaw Pact states. The Hungarians, who were one of the Nazis' closest allies during the war, cut out the Communist emblem to call for a non-Marxist state.

The so-called "Prague Spring" or the Czech Revolution showed the autocracy of Russia in the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. The partial liberalization effort of Czechoslovakia was countered by brutal Russian invasion.

John Paul's election energized the Poles to seek a more autonomous government as well as a more religious (Catholic) society

Mass strikes and riots blazed throughout Poland, particularly in factories and dockyards. The largest revolt occurred at the port of Danzig (renamed Gdansk after its transfer from Germany after WWII), led by electrician and labor leader Lech Wałęsa (pronounced “Lek Va-way-sa”). The opportunity for change resulted in a national coalescence of workers and workers rights defense committees that became so ossifying that harsh government attempts at crackdown failed. For the first time in the Soviet world, the government was forced to negotiate with the revolting population. The negotiation signed in Danzig in 1980 between the government and the workers (represented by Wałęsa) granted reforms that significantly disabled the Russian-dominated government's stranglehold on public life. Censorship was liberalized, trade union formation was legalized, government domination of private industry and labor was lightened, and civic rights associations were now permitted. Wałęsa formed Solidarność (Solidarity, pronounced 'Soli-darno-sh-ch), a major labor union bloc that evolved into a political reform movement. Solidarity became a voice of reform behind which diverse political groups collectively marched to see the destruction of Soviet domination and the corrupt People's Republic, including liberals, reactionary conservatives, anarchists, and Catholic clerics. The concessions of the government were a domino effect: new unions and civic organizations appeared throughout the unsatisfied nation as the already-indebted government tumbled out of control. The increasing tumult borne of the public resistance to growing government resilience only amplified Solidarity's public support.

The logo of Solidarity (from BBC)

Solidarity-supporting Poles rally in favor of reform

Formal martial law was imposed in 1981, and the opposition was imprisoned, Solidarity was abolished, dissent was violently quelled and punished, and government powers were reinforced at the expense of liberal social rights. Predictably, this only agitated public sentiment. By 1987, Poland was in shambles, its government prostrate, its economy in ruins, and its public in chaos. The Soviet Union and Russia was also experiencing the same decline, and was forced to undergo the drastic reform of Glasnost and Perestroika under Gorbachev that only opened the floodgates for more unrest and dissent among constituent Warsaw Pact vassal states under Russian hegemony. The momentum of public resistance became so strong that in 1989, the Communist government agreed to meet with the underground Solidarity and its affiliated groups in the so-called Roundtable Talks. In an unprecedented event in Soviet-dominated Eastern European history, the monolithic Communist government allowed limited multiparty elections, lifted formal martial law, further liberalized social regulations, and legalized Solidarity as a political party in the opposition. It is this event that can be considered a major source of the Soviet Union's ultimate collapse in by 1991, as it created a tsunami of independence movements that would soon see the liberation of more than a dozen Soviet vassals because of the Polish defeat of the one-party Communist structure. In the subsequent Polish elections, the Communist party was bitterly defeated and the Solidarity party reigned triumphant. Government attempts at reasserting the Communist Party's position failed, and Lech Wałęsa became president of Poland under the Solidarity Party after the Communist leader Jaruzelski abdicated in 1990. The Communist Party was ultimately abolished and restructured, and the People's Republic of Poland was dissolved to form the Republic of Poland.

Polish Pope John Paul kisses Lech Walesa, an immortalized symbol of the significance of the Polish people and nation that are today often dismissed as a backward and insignificant Eastern Bloc country

The cohesive Polish resistance to Soviet domination and a corrupt “people's” government marked the death of Russian dominance over Europe. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia followed suit with the Singing Revolution which secured their independence. A revolution in Romania saw the destruction of the Communist regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu. The concession of the Polish Soviet government to populist demands of the Solidarity movement paved the way for the schism of the Warsaw Pact states from Russian hegemony. The Polish people's revolution therefore is a major catalyst to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 that cannot be ignored nor understated. Today, the Solidarity movement is still revered by Poles as a major factor in the Russian collapse, and still survives as a political party as well as a fantastic vodka.

________________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James Mayfield is the owner and Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I am working for a doctorate in history, with a specific emphasis on Islamic and European histories. I am well versed in all world cultures, ethnicities, religions, languages, politics, and historical evolution in relation to and against each other.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES USED:

-see the images for credit information if the original owner is known
-National Geographic "Visual History of the World"
-BBC news reports for images and information