The Solidarity Movement

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The Solidarity Movement

In the summer of 1980 Communist Poland was experiencing labor unrest at an unprecedented level. Living standards were still very low, the economy was stagnant, and food shortages and inflation were abundant. The Polish Communist Party was faced with nationwide strikes, and their tactics of buying off workers had failed because there were too many people striking. However, when the strikes spread to the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk on August 14th, everything was about to change. The strikers were backed by waves of support from other industrial centers, and the Communist Party was forced to negotiate with them. Under the leadership of Lech Walesa the strikers emerged victorious and the formation of an independent trade union called Solidarity was born.

To begin, one must look at why the Solidarity Movement in Poland succeeded where so many other revolutionary movements across the Eastern Bloc didn’t. World War II had devastated Europe physically, mentally, and economically. By 1980 “Poland was among the Eastern Bloc countries whose societies were still in the grips of the post-World War II system of totalitarian, communist rule” (Pearce 7). However, in contrast to many of the neighboring countries, Poland was able to maintain bits and pieces of free enterprise and civic associations under communist rule. Nevertheless, the Poles were frequently subjected to the brutal suppression of their rights, freedom of movement, and expression (Pearce 7). Despite these suppressions, the Polish working class had always been well organized to protest against the actions of the communist regime, and “frequent clashes between workers and the authorities began in the late 1940s and were repeated in 1956, 1970 a...

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...ews in order to achieve their common goals” (Beyer 15).

In conclusion, Solidarity was a movement that helped change the course of two continents. It was a movement by the people and for the people. The iron grip of communism was destroyed, and democracy was born throughout Eastern Europe. Solidarity will always be remembered as the revolution that succeeded where so many others had failed. Today in Polish politics Solidarity's role is somewhat limited, and it has reverted back more toward the role of a more traditional trade union than a political party. The summer of 2005 marked the 25th anniversary of the Solidarity movement, and was a time to remember the hardships of its humble beginnings and to celebrate the changes those hardships inspired across the continent” (Local Life 1). Many of those changes are still being felt today across Eastern Europe.

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