OWTF 2012-2014.

1. Our Way to Freedom: from
totalitarian regime to
democracy
Topic 5:
The events leading to the
collapse of the communist
regime in Poland

2. The emergence of the Workers’
Defence Committee (1974)
The foundation of KOR (the Workers’ Defence
Committee), a Polish opposition formation, was preceded
by an unorganized assistance and help for the repressed
people. That unstructured support was quite
successful, but to increase the efficiency of their
actions, KOR founders decided to set up a formal
organization. In September 1976, Antoni Macierewicz and
Piotr Naimski with the support of the Polish intelligence
and Wojciech Onyszkiewicz compiled the draft version of
the founding document of KOR. On the 22nd of September
1976, 14 signatories announced the so called ‘Appeal to the
Nation’. It stated that in order to repulse the repressions in
Radom, Ursus and other cities, solidarity and mutual help
are necessary. KOR’s main objectivities were financial
help, legal assistance and medical help for the repressed
people. They also demanded amnesties for the unlawfully
arrested and giving jobs back to the repressed.

4. Karol Wojtyla’s election to the
papacy (1978) and his first pilgrimage
to Poland
On the 16th of October 1978, Karol Wojtyła, the Polish
Cardinal, was elected as the new Pope. John Paul II, the first
Polish Pope in the history, came to Warsaw, the capital of
Poland, on the 2nd of June 1979. It was one of the most
important events that caused the fall of Communism in
Eastern Europe. When John Paul II was celebrating a mass
on the Victory Square in Warsaw, he said these very
important words: ‘Don't be afraid’, ‘Let your Spirit descend!
Let your Spirit descend and renew the face of the earth, the
face of this land’. These words gave hope to the Polish
people to realise dreams about freedom and showed them
the way to fight Communism. After the pilgrimage the
Polish authorities began to fear that Poles felt united and
strong.

6. The foundation of the Solidarity Trade
Union (1980)
The Solidarity Trade Union was founded in 1980. In the summer of
1980 the whole Poland went on strike because workers were
dissatisfied with the communist regime. The main events took place
in the Lenin Shipyard in Gdaosk. The shipyard workers founded a
strike committee whose leader became Lech Wałęsa. This
committee developed a set of demands - economic and political.
After a few days of tempestuous conversation and consultation
with Moscow, the government capitulated. On the 31st of August
1980 under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa an agreement was
signed between the strike and governmental committees at the
Gdaosk Shipyard. After that the workers could form independent
trade unions. In September a decision about forming one
countrywide union was made. Over time this union became
the Independent Self-governing Trade Union (NSZZ) “Solidarity”. It
was registered on the 10th of November 1980 by the Provincial
Court in Warsaw.

8. Nobel Peace Prize for Lech Walesa
(1983)
Lech Wałęsa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign
for freedom of organization in Poland on the 5th of October 1983.
Wałęsa was employed as an electrician at the Lenin Shipyard in
Gdaosk. He was fired for having participated in the demands for
independent labour unions. During the strikes in 1980, Wałęsa
managed to enter the Lenin Shipyard, and he led the negotiations
with the authorities. These ended in a victory for the Solidarity
union and Lech Wałęsa became the symbol of the revolt against
the party's monopoly on power. In December 1981 martial law
was declared in Poland and Wałęsa, along with many other
members of the opposition movement, was arrested. The Polish
authorities banned Solidarity and used many forms of repression
against opposition activists even after martial law was lifted in
July 1983. Lech Wałęsa did not accept The Nobel Peace Prize
himself because he was afraid the Polish authorities would not let
him return to the country. On the 10th of December 1983 in Oslo
the Prize was accepted by his wife Danuta Wałęsa and his 13-
year-old son Bogdan.

10. The third pilgrimage of John Paul II to
Poland (1987) which arose the Polish
nation from apathy
The third pilgrimage of John Paul II to Poland took place in
June 1987. During that pilgrimage the Pope visited 9 Polish
cities, including places important for the nation’s fight for
freedom. Throughout the whole visit John Paul II gave many
speeches showing his solidarity with the Polish people. At
the meeting with young people in Westerplatte
(Gdaosk), the symbolic place of the Polish fight against
German invasion at the beginning of World War II, the Pope
expressed his great belief in the youth. Showing his
solidarity with the Polish nation, John Paul II paid tribute to
Jerzy Popiełuszko, the priest murdered by the agents of the
communist security service SB, and to the victims of World
War II. In Gdaosk the Pope met with Lech Wałęsa and his
family at a private meeting. During this pilgrimage, John
Paul II showed his compatriots a lot of support by
comforting, helping and giving advice.

12. Round Table Talks (1989)
The Round Table Talks is the term used to
describe the process of negotiations which took
place from the 6th of February to the 5th of April
1989 between “Solidarity”, which was led by Lech
Wałęsa, and KC PZPR – the communist party.
Although the negotiations took place at several
locations, the starting and finishing location was
the Presidential Palace in Warsaw (then Pałac
Namiestnikowski). It was the event that started
the fall of the Communist rule in Poland (and in
other countries) as well as the start of the truly
independent Poland. During the negotiations the
Senate and the function of the President of the
People’s Republic of Poland were created.

14. The first democratic elections to the
government (1989) after which
Tadeusz Mazowiecki forms the first
democratic cabinet
The first democratic election in Poland after the fall of the
communist rule took place on the 4th of June 1989. The
election was only partly free as not all of the parliamentary
seats were freely contested. Nevertheless, the election was
a great victory for the Solidarity movement and allowed
democratically chosen representatives to have an influence
on the country’s politics. Following the election, on the 24th
of August 1989 the parliament appointed Tadeusz
Mazowiecki from the Solidarity to the position of Prime
Minister. Mazowiecki’s cabinet was formed on the 12th of
September. Under the leadership of Tadeusz
Mazowiecki, the new government managed to introduce
several important reforms which caused significant political
and economic changes in the country.