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, which
had 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 facts
of contemporary history are also facts about the success and the failure of
individual 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 the
next 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 city
of 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 right

to 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 government
something 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 their
lives -- 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 selfconcepts -- The solidarity revolution in Poland, pg. 11-11
Orwell found significant changes in social relations as a result of the social
upheaval -- 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 back
to public uses rather than being reserved for the privileged, and public
funds directed into hospitals, schools, libraries, recreational centers. When
these 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 of
organizations -- 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 held
membership 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. 1818
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, poems
and 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 officials
had been interested in the problem of how to run these factories, and now
ordinary 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