The solidarity revolution in Poland

unprecedented-in-the-Soviet-bloc independent union with the right to strike -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 1-1

In August, 1980, massive strikes enabled Polish workers to win an independent union, which they called "Solidarity -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 2-2

major center of opposition: Warsaw. Krakow, Wroclaw, and Gdansk -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 3-3

major city there, Katowice, and the coal! mining region of Jastrzbie, whichhad played a crucial role both in the August strikes that established Solidarity and in the response to the government's declaration of martial law^Upper Silesia was the only region that offered serious, sustained resistance through prolonged strikes -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 3-3

I felt that the key to my study was C.Wright Mills's insight that great historical events are reflected in peoples' lives in specific ways. The particularities are unique, but individually they reflectand collectively they constitutethe broad course of history. Mills put it this way: The factsof contemporary history are also facts about the success and the failure ofindividual men and women. When a society is industrialized, a peasant becomes in a worker: a feudal lord is liquidated or becomes a businessman. When the rate of investment goes up or down, a man is employed or unemployed. Wlien wars happen, an insurance salesman becomes a rocket launcher; a store clerk. a radar man; a wife lives a;tone;a child grows up without a father. Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.' Therefore, what better way to understand historical events than to probe how they were manifested through people's lives and their understanding of those lives, and conversely, how those lives and those understandings affected and shaped the events? My hope was to come to know the oppositionists, to see the individual paths they followed as they became a significant collective opposition that culminated in the Solidarity movement. I approached these interviews by beginning with the broadest formulation of a question, which then served in a certain sense as a Rorschach test: my subjects could give the question ' C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination (New York: Oxford University Press, 1959), 3 -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 5-5

I felt that the key to my study was C.Wright Mills's insight that great historical events are reflected in peoples' lives in specific ways. The -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 5-5

I felt that the key to my study was C.Wright Mills's insight that great historical events are reflected in peoples' lives in specific ways. The particularities are unique, but individually they reflectand collectively they constitutethe broad course of history -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 5-5

Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 5-5

On August 14,1980 a strike began at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk. By thenext day, the strike had spread to shipyards -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 7-7

the adjoining city of Gdynia and after the weekend to the western port cityof Szczecin -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 8-8

in the adjoining city of Gdynia and after the weekend to the western port city of Szczecin -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 8-8

miners, steelworkers, and other workers joined the strikes -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 8-8

during similar strikes in 1970 the police and the army had fired on the strikers -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 8-8

The army and the police arc enough lo pacify some factories, but not the whole country -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 8-8

On August 31,1980, the strike ended with the government having accepted the legal existence of free, independent unions with the right to strike -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 8-8

the union could challenge the government policies and force its solutions to the nation's problems -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 8-8

They addressed church privileges, student influence on curricula, the rightto positions based on qualifications rather than loyalty to the ruling party, redirection of investments, and political issues, such as free speech and the right to organize -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 8-8

mid-December 1981 when, in the middle of the night, the government declared martial law -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 8-8

While intellectuals and the Church each played an important role, I maintain that it was workers who bested a Communist governmentsomething never before accomplished -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 9-9

was clear that people intended to make use of the independent union to influence a broad range of issues -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 10-10

This trend involved a titanic political battle between Solidarity and the Polish Communist Party -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 10-10

a revolution, power slips away from those who wield it not only in institutional ways, but also when ordinary people can grasp control of theirlives -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 10-10

He saw that it was through their struggles that people would grow, develop talents, and eventually alter their consciousness and self-concepts -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 11-11

Orwell found significant changes in social relations as a result of the socialupheaval -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 11-11

The very fact of the strikes caused people to feel their own value. They felt that they had the potential to change things, that they were not only objects of manipulation -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 12-12

Grzegorz Stawski, a miner Solidarity leader: "The very fact of the strikes caused people to feel their own value. They felt that they had the potential to change things, that they were not only objects of manipulation -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 12-12

Solidarity members occupied the local government headquarters in the town of Bielsko-Biala in southern Poland, demanding that all the top local officials be fired -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 13-13

Solidarity gave people courage tn oppose openly -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 14-14

People expanded their demands: they wanted public buildings turned backto public uses rather than being reserved for the privileged, and public funds directed into hospitals, schools, libraries, recreational centers. Whenthese things were not forthcoming, a wave of strikes followed.'' Students occupied the University of Lodz, demanding independence for "university level schools in issues concerning science, teaching and the internal life oforganizations -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 15-15

Solidarity enjoyed vast social support, which strengthened it as it sheltered its supporters -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 16-16

Within a few months after the August strikes, some ten million people heldmembership in the union -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 16-16

They felt not only that we had the power, but also that we had reason to put the noose on their necks -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 18-18

Solidarity leaders used their new power to press hard against officialdom -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 19-19

we said That we would not negotiate with any Party officials, only with government officials -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 19-19

For forty-five years there had been trade unions. You got hired; the first thing they did was put you in the union and take the dues from your salary. Fifty per cent of their money disappeared. No one knew where it went. When you needed help from them, there was no money for you -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 21-21

People began seeing each other as human beings. So you could hear, "Excuse me." in the lines and in the trams. In my opinion, this was the most important change that took place in society -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 23-23

In my workplace, the manager couldn't remember when there was so much self-discipline. For instance, drinking alcohol in the workplace entirely vanished, disappeared. It was not from increased control from above. There was pressure from one's workmates -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 23-23

change in the quality of the worker's mind -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 24-24

The workers organized theaters, cabarets. They wrote articles, poemsand read them in public -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 24-24

Before Solidarity, people didn't know their factory income, its organizational structure, its economic problems. Only government officialshad been interested in the problem of how to run these factories, and nowordinary people became concerned -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 25-25

Solidarity organized libraries for its members and established "worker universities" where people gave lectures and taught skills -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 26-26

this resistance made it evident to the authorities that there would be no peace unless the government came to terms with the opposition, and negotiations began that ended the domination of the Communist Party -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 28-28