International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ed. Immanuel Ness, Blackwell Publishing, 2009, pp. 3072–3080 3072 Solidarno}T (Solidarity) Solidarno™¡ (Solidarity) Jan Kubik Polish Solidarity was arguably the biggest social movement in history. In 1981, at the peak of its influence, about ten million people belonged to the “Solidarity” Independent Self-Governing Trade Union (Niezaleòny Samorzdny Zwiazek Zawodowy “Solidarno]s”), the movement’s primary organizational vehicle. Many others participated in allied organizations and informal networks of sympathizers. In a country of about International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ed. Immanuel Ness, Blackwell Publishing, 2009, pp. 3072–3080 Solidarno}T (Solidarity) 3073 33 million almost every second adult was associated with Solidarity, including many members of the ruling Communist Party (Polish United Workers’ Party, PUWP). Solidarity emerged as the gravest organized popular challenge the Soviet-dominated system of state socialism ever faced and is often seen as a key factor in the downfall of communism. Short History On June 30, 1980, the communist authorities announced an increase in meat prices. The next day workers in several factories, including the Ursus plant near Warsaw, Autosan in Sanok, Ponar in Tarnów, and WSK in Mielec, went on strike. During July the strike wave engulfed several regions. On August 14, 1980, several dozen workers began an occupational strike in the Gda\sk Lenin shipyard. As during the early July strikes, their demands included pay rises or the rescinding of meat price hikes; but they also asked for the reinstatement of Anna Walentynowicz and Lech Walesa and for the erection of a monument commemorating the workers killed during the 1970 rebellion. Walentynowicz and Walesa had been sacked for their activities in independent, thus illegal, Free Trade Unions (WZZ). As the strike in the shipyard grew and the workers from other plants joined in, the authorities agreed to grant wage increases and met some of the other demands, but only for the Lenin employees. Walesa, who emerged as a leader, declared the strike to be over, but a group of workers argued that the Lenin workers should support their colleagues from other factories. Walesa changed his mind and a solidarity strike was announced. During the night of August 16 the Inter-factory Strike Committee (MKS) was formed and it immediately formulated a list of 21 demands, including a demand to create a trade union independent from the Communist Party. By the end of the month over 700,000 people were on strike in about 700 enterprises in all 49 regions of Poland. Many intellectuals and artists joined the workers in the shipyard, offering advice and moral support. Catholic priests came in to conduct daily masses, hear confessions, and offer communion. Actors from the Wybrzeòe (Coast) Theater, led by their artistic manager Maciej Prus, prepared a collage of poems and songs which included verses written in the shipyard together with famous lines of Polish Romantic poetry. The shipyard was decorated with many makeshift posters and banners, explaining the demands. But it was also adorned with religious pictures, among which Pope John Paul II’s portrait was prominent. From the beginning, the strike was much more than an industrial walkout; it was a community created by free people who defined themselves through their own culture and expressed many aspirations of the whole population, exhausted not only by the economic crisis but also by the oppressive policies of the communist state. The party-state sent high-ranking officials to negotiate with the striking workers both in Gda\sk and in Szczecin. On August 31, 1980, deputy prime minister Mieczys3aw Jagielski, the head of the government’s negotiating team in the Lenin shipyard, signed an unprecedented agreement with Walesa, representing the striking workers from the whole country. Yielding to well organized, massive popular mobilization, a communist government agreed to the unthinkable: it allowed the creation of independent, selfgoverning trade unions. It also conceded to the other 20 demands, among them the freeing of political prisoners. Two other agreements were signed in Szczecin (August 30) and Jastrzèbie (September 3). Carnival of Freedom, August 30, 1980– December 12, 1981 The Solidarity movement was de facto born during the Gda\sk strike, although the institutionalization of the union took several weeks. On September 17, over thirty Interfactory Founding Committees born of the Interfactory Strike Committees, formed the Independent Selfgoverning Trade Union “Solidarity,” with a National Coordinating Committee (KKP) led by Walesa, as its governing body. Even at that point the new union already had about three million members. The next several months have been described as a “carnival of freedom.” People spoke their minds freely, participated in uncensored rallies, meetings, and artistic events, and practiced democracy vigorously in their unions and other independent organizations (for example, the Coordinating Committee of Creative and Scientific Associations or the Independent Student Union). The state’s monopoly of the media was shattered, as largely uncensored union bulletins and the International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ed. Immanuel Ness, Blackwell Publishing, 2009, pp. 3072–3080 3074 Solidarno}T (Solidarity) newspaper Solidarity Weekly (with a circulation of about 500,000 copies) were read and discussed by millions. From the beginning the coexistence of the communist party-state and an independent trade union qua movement was rife with tensions, provoked mostly by the authorities, who often tried to derail or delay the realization of the agreements signed with the strikers. Even the Solidarity union’s legal registration process was not smooth. On October 24, the Warsaw regional court registered the union, but only after it altered its statute. After an appeal and a series of protests, on November 10, the Solidarity trade union was finally registered, its statute accepted without the amendments suggested by the communist authorities. This seems to have set the tone for the communist strategy for the next year. The party-state would provoke a crisis either by dragging its feet when it came to implementing the negotiated decisions or attacking the union activists (including physical assaults); the union would respond with strike alerts or strikes. An agreement would ultimately be reached and produce a moment of calm until another provocation would restart the whole cycle. Solidarity’s influence and popularity were evident on numerous occasions. Among the most spectacular examples of its impact were the December 16–18, 1980 unveiling of the Gda\sk monument commemorating the workers who had been shot and killed by the communist security forces during the strikes of 1970 (for a detailed description of these events see Laba 1991); the four-hour general strike that froze the whole country after the Bydgoszcz crisis on March 27, 1981; and the First National Congress of Solidarity delegates convened in two rounds on September 5–10 and September 26–October 7, 1981. The December unveiling of the soaring three crosses adorned with crucified anchors (symbols of hope and the sea-related professions) was the first public, ceremonial acknowledgment that the communist authorities’ hands had been stained with blood – paradoxically shed by the system’s putative beneficiaries, the workers. The March 1981 strike following a physical assault on three Solidarity activists, who had earlier been invited to participate in the Bydgoszcz regional council meeting, was arguably Solidarity’s finest moment. After days of frantic yet meticulous preparations, the fourhour general strike called by the union completely paralyzed the whole country, demonstrating the massive scale of the movement and the organizational prowess of its structures. The First Congress was a festival of democracy, as the delegates were learning how to frame problems, debate, and negotiate over divisive issues (Paczkowski 2003: 437). Walesa was elected the union’s chairman with 55 percent of the vote and the ambitious program of the “Self-Governing Republic” was adopted. During 1981, as the intensity of conflicts between the party-state and the independent union escalated, Poles were rapidly recovering their ability to self-organize in order to take public affairs into their own hands. Solidarity functioned as a huge umbrella over an ever-growing panoply of associated organizations. Farmers, artisans, students, journalists, artists, and other groups either set up their own, independent unions or associations or else forced the Party to relax its control over existing ones. The authorities, whose monopolistic control over public life was gradually loosening, often resorted to obstructionist games, such as delaying the registration of Rural Solidarity until May 12, 1981. At the same time, an orchestrated campaign of accusations and provocations against Solidarity intensified. The union’s leadership was trying to navigate a course between moderation dictated by the geopolitical situation and the escalating Soviet warnings, and the radicalization preferred by many rank-and-file, who were increasingly annoyed with the Party’s aggressive policies. In the fall of 1981, the situation in the country became very tense as confrontation between the independent union and the communists reached new heights. The union and party-state officials negotiated “virtually non-stop” and local strikes were erupting with increasing frequency (Paczkowski 2003: 441). In November the positions of both sides stiffened. The Politburo of the PUWP officially declared that “Further talks on the subject of national agreement have become pointless” (Paczkowski 2003: 442), while one of Solidarity’s top advisors noted, “People are determined not to reconcile themselves to the system and the government is not prepared to change it” (Paczkowski 2003: 444). The meeting of Solidarity’s top governing body, the National Commission, was thus convened in Gda\sk on December 11, 1981 with a sense of heightened urgency. Its goal was to International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ed. Immanuel Ness, Blackwell Publishing, 2009, pp. 3072–3080 Solidarno}T (Solidarity) 3075 propose major changes in the union’s political strategy, as the state and Solidarity were clearly entering a more confrontational period of their tenuous coexistence. After a heated debate, with many regional leaders taking a tough, uncompromising position against the communist regime, a decision was reached to hold a nationwide referendum on “fundamental issues” including “the ways in which national and regional organs of the state wield power” (Paczkowski 2003: 444). At exactly the same time the Congress of Polish Culture was convened in Warsaw (December 11) to discuss the dismal – the participants’ consensual diagnosis – state of Polish culture after 36 years of state socialism. The congress was organized by a committee representing 41 cultural and professional associations, ranging from the Polish Philosophical Association to the Polish Jazz Association, without any participation or control by the party-state organs. As the first such independent congress since the 1940s its objective was to take stock of Polish culture in 1981 and to chart a modest program of reforms for the future. Solidarity in the Underground, December 13, 1981–April 17, 1989 As the Solidarity leaders were strategizing in Gda\sk and the luminaries of culture and science deliberating in Warsaw, the party-state completed preparations for a decisive attack on the union. During the night of December 12, 1981 (Saturday) the communist authorities, using military and police forces, imposed a country-wide martial law regime designed to crush the Solidarity revolution. In the morning of December 13, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, the first secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party, thus the de facto ruler of the country, informed the nation that imposition of “the state of war” (as it was called in Polish) was necessary because “our homeland was on the edge of a precipice” and “the road toward confrontation declared by the leaders of Solidarity had to be blocked.” To block that road, tanks and military patrols appeared on the streets, thousands of Solidarity activists were detained, telephone communications were cut, a curfew was introduced (from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.), roadblocks were set up, and armed police and army patrols appeared on the streets. Traveling became difficult as people who wanted to leave their place of residence needed special permits; in some cases the special police forces used firearms to disperse crowds or break up strikes. In the Wujek mine, nine people were killed as the riot police attacked striking workers. The confrontation between the communist state and the now “suspended” (formally delegalized on October 8, 1982) Solidarity union entered a new phase. Despite the initial detention of Walesa and many other leaders, the union re-organized itself in the underground and began an 88-month-long struggle for official recognition, relegalization, further reforms, and, ultimately, systemic change in Poland. A multifaceted “underground society” emerged, whose activities ranged from clandestine publishing and private theater performances to spectacular rallies and marches, often dispersed by the special riot police units (ZOMO, motorized divisions of the civil militia) using tear gas and water cannon. Officially, the martial law regime lasted from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983 (although de facto some of its regulations remained in force longer). During its existence over 100 people lost their lives, over 3,000 activists were interned, and over 10,000 people were jailed. Thousands of people lost their jobs and/or were harassed. Arrests, harassments, and interrogations continued after the formal ending of martial law. Even murder still occurred occasionally, the most notorious case being the tragic death of Father Jerzy Popie3uszko in October 1984. The imposition of martial law immediately generated resistance. The first wave of strikes engulfed the country shortly after December 13, but it was quickly suppressed by the ZOMO. By December 1980 a clandestine media system had already emerged as people began producing home-made news bulletins, leaflets, and posters. Initially typed and re-typed on private typewriters, eventually many of them were professionally produced, mass-circulation publications. The estimates of the underground publishing industry’s size vary. In 1982 at least 800 illegal periodicals were published (Paczkowski 2003: 458), and between 1982 and 1985 the number had risen to 1,700 (Paczkowski 2003: 462). According to another assessment, from 1976 to 1990 about 5,000 periodicals and around 7,000 books and brochures were published in Poland, most of them during the 1982 to 1989 period. Perhaps the most influential was the Tygodnik Mazowsze (Mazowsze Weekly). In addition to intense clandestine publishing, the rich repertoire of resistance included strikes, walk-outs, boycotts, International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ed. Immanuel Ness, Blackwell Publishing, 2009, pp. 3072–3080 3076 Solidarno}T (Solidarity) rallies and marches that would often end in skirmishes with the riot police, commemorations of important anniversaries (including the August 1980 Gda\]sk Accords), underground seminars and lectures, think-tank work producing expert analyses, and spectacular artistic happenings staged by groups like the “Orange Alternative” in Wroc3aw (Kenney 2002). The central governing structures of the clandestine union were gradually restored. On April 22, 1982, Zbigniew Bujak, W3adyslaw Frasyniuk, W3adyslaw Hardek, and Bogdan Lis formed the Interim Coordinating Commission (TKK), which immediately emerged as the leadership center of the massive underground network. Walesa, released from internment on November 14, 1982, returned to his position as the movement’s leader. A power-sharing arrangement emerged: Walesa represented Solidarity in open dealings with the authorities (who often referred to him derogatorily as “private citizen Walesa”), while the TKK coordinated the union’s clandestine activities. On September 30, 1986 the formation of the Interim Solidarity Council was publicly announced. Several prominent activists emerged from underground to join Walesa in this structure whose formation showed that the movement was regaining its position in Polish public life. On October 25, 1987, the National Executive Council of Solidarity was formed, superseding earlier leadership structures. Its members were Walesa, Bujak, Frasyniuk, Lis, Pa3ubicki, D3uòniewski, Jurczak, Wèglarz, and Milczanowski. Some critical voices asserted that the new structure was handpicked by Walesa and his closest advisors. It was charged with being insufficiently democratic for not reflecting the increasing complexity and diversity of Solidarity which had spawned several splinter groups during the 1980s such as Solidarno]s Walczca (Fighting Solidarity) and Grupa Robocza (Working Group). These groups were more radical than the “moderate” Walesa camp, advocating confrontational methods (street clashes, even sabotage) and more daring goals such as full independence from the Soviet Union (Paczkowski 2003: 464). On May 31, 1988, Walesa convened the first meeting of an informal group, comprised primarily of prominent intellectuals, which evolved into what Jakub Karpinski (1989: 280) called a “parliament of moderate opposition.” Bronislaw Geremek emerged as the group’s leader. Final Confrontation and Victory On April 24, 1988, workers in the city transport department in Bydgoszcz went on strike, announcing a long list of economic demands. A day later, a strike began in the immense Lenin steelworks in Nowa Huta near Krakow. On May 2, the strike spread to the Lenin shipyard in Gda\sk. Most of the strikes in this wave, the largest since August 1980, were headed by young activists, many of whom were not associated with Solidarity. ZOMO units were employed to violently suppress the brewing revolt. The repression succeeded only temporarily; the strike wave resumed in July and August. Under this pressure General Kiszczak, Jaruzelski’s de facto deputy and the minister of internal affairs, suggested publicly that the authorities were open to a discussion with “representatives of a variety of social and occupational groups” (Paczkowski 2003: 491). The idea of a “round table” was floated for the first time. On August 31, Kiszczak and Walesa met and initiated the arduous process of negotiations between the “moderate” wing of Solidarity and the communist authorities. Solidarity’s leader promised to end the strikes, and did so a few days later. On December 18, 1988, 119 people invited by Walesa created the Citizens’ Committee associated with the Chairman of Solidarity (Paczkowski 2003: 495). Representatives of the more “radical” current within the Solidarity movement were not included. The committee formed 15 sections and began preparations for the negotiations with the authorities. The official part of the historic “round table” negotiations began on February 6, 1989 in Warsaw against a background of another wave of strikes and demonstrations. On April 5, 1989, an unprecedented agreement was reached: the communists would open the electoral process to the representatives of an organization totally independent of their control. Of 460 Sejm (lower house) seats, 35 percent (161) were to be openly contested; 100 percent of the Senate seats were open for contest. Solidarity had little time to prepare for the elections, yet it immediately mobilized its supporters by forming local Citizens’ Committees. With the indispensable assistance of the Catholic Church and in some cases such local organizations as ecological clubs, the committees ran the Solidarity electoral campaigns in practically all electoral precincts. International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ed. Immanuel Ness, Blackwell Publishing, 2009, pp. 3072–3080 Solidarno}T (Solidarity) 3077 On June 4, 1989 “communism ended in Poland,” as Joanna Szczepkowska, a popular actress, announced on national television. The party-state suffered an unanticipated (Dudek 2004) and thorough defeat in an election with a 62 percent turnout. The Solidarity candidates (“Walesa’s team”) won 161 Sejm and 99 Senate seats. After almost three months of intense political maneuvering, on August 24, 1989, the new parliament elected Tadeusz Mazowiecki, one of the most prominent oppositional figures and a Solidarity advisor, to the post of prime minister. A momentous chain of transformations that soon changed the political map of the world was set in motion. Solidarity in Independent Poland After the fall of state socialism, the Solidarity movement rapidly disintegrated, as most of its activists engaged first in Citizens’ Committees and later in state, regional, and local governments. The movement also fragmented politically. The Solidarity union continued to be an influential trade union which successfully fielded its own candidates in the parliamentary elections in 1991, 1993 (only Senate), and 1997. As of 2008, it also retained its position as the most active organizer of social protests in Poland. Roots Stalin is believed to have said that “communism fits Poland as a saddle fits a cow.” He may have had a point. In no other country controlled by the Soviet Union was there so much resistance and so many rebellions against the communist system of power. During the 1940s many Poles participated in organized military underground activities against Soviet domination and many others took part in industrial strikes. Major rebellions occurred in 1956 (workers in Pozna\), 1968 (students in Warsaw and other academic centers), 1970 (workers in Gda\sk), 1976 (workers in Ursus and Radom), and 1980. The memory of these events was preserved in unofficial – mostly family – lore, though it was taboo in the official discourse of the state. The communist state’s efforts to dominate the populace were resisted by the Roman Catholic Church and several institutions associated with it (chief among them the Clubs of Catholic Intelligentsia and the publishing houses of Znak and Wiè[), as well as the increasingly rebellious intellectuals and artists, networks of worker and peasant activists, and many individuals who refused to give up their civic rights or forsake their religion and national traditions. The exile community also played a major role. Uncensored programs were broadcast back to the country through Radio Free Europe and Voice of America, and independent publications were produced and smuggled across the border. The most influential publisher was a Paris publishing house, “Instytut Literacki,” led by Jerzy Giedroyc. It published Kultura, a high quality intellectual monthly, a series of historical studies, “Zeszyty Historyczne,” and many books critical for Polish cultural and intellectual life that were banned by the communist censorship. In 1976, after the workers’ strikes and demonstrations in Radom and Ursus, the communist authorities retaliated with severe repression, including beatings, summary court trials, and termination of employment. A group of intellectuals and activists, mostly from Warsaw, decided to provide material, legal, and moral support for the persecuted workers and their families. In September 1976, out of this initiative the Workers’ Defense Committee (Komitet Obrony Robotników, KOR) was born. The novelty of this initiative was that its participants made their names public, and when they transformed their organization into the Social Self-Defense Committee KOR (KSS-KOR), the era of “open” dissidence began. The formation of KOR galvanized the various oppositional circles. The Movement for the Defense of Human and Citizens’ Rights (Ruch Obrony Praw Cz3owieka i Obywatela, ROPCiO) was formed on March 26, 1977. It soon began splitting, spawning, most prominently, the Confederation for an Independent Poland (Konfederacja Polski Niepodleglej, KPN), led by Leszek Moczulski, and the Young Poland’s Movement (Ruch M3odej Polski, RMP). The former, regarding itself as a political party, unabashedly championed Poland’s independence. After the secret police murdered Stanis3aw Pyjas, a KOR associate, students began forming Student Solidarity Committees (Studenckie Komitety Solidarno]ci, SKS). Peasants were also beginning to organize and in July 1977 the Provisional Peasant Self-Defense Committee in the Lublin area was formed. Intellectuals created the Society for Academic Courses (Towarzystwo Kursów Naukowych, TKN), also known as the “flying university,” which was active from 1977 to 1981. International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ed. Immanuel Ness, Blackwell Publishing, 2009, pp. 3072–3080 3078 Solidarno}T (Solidarity) KSS-KOR, dominated by activists of more left-leaning persuasion, from its inception was interested in workers’ issues and in developing bridges between intellectuals and workers. It published the first issue of Robotnik (The Worker) in September 1977 (edited by J. Lity\ski). Workers began forming Free Trade Unions (Wolne Zwizzki Zawodowe, WZZ) in early 1978, and KOR and ROPCiO activists assisted. Free unions emerged in three regions: Upper Silesia (K. Êwito\, W. Sulecki), the Gda\sk area (B. Borusewicz, A. Gwiazda, B. Lis, A. Pie\kowska, A. Walentynowicz, L. Walesa), and the Szczecin area (Bernhard 1993). Independent publishing provided uncensored news and opinions as well as important works of fiction and philosophy prohibited by the regime’s censorship. An expert assessed that during the late 1970s, one in four Poles had contact with such publications and about 200,000 read them regularly (Bernhard 1993: 149). General Jaruzelski complained in September 1987 to Erich Honecker, the leader of communist East Germany, that the Catholic Church in Poland is, “to put it half-jokingly, like a hump that cannot be surgically removed, but becomes a part of life. From the medical point of view it is undoable, I believe. We tried several times to remove this hump, but it is impossible” (Dudek 2004: 83). The “hump” was indeed irremovable in a deeply religious society where communists never managed to suppress religious institutions (the Roman Catholic Church, in this case), as they had everywhere else in the Soviet bloc. The most severe blow to the communist efforts to achieve ideological hegemony came when a Pole, Cardinal Karol Wo3tyla, became Pope John Paul II, on October 16, 1978. He returned to Poland for a triumphant visit (June 2–10, 1979) which renewed the religious spirit of the populace, and strengthened its resolve to resist the unwanted system of power (Kubik 1994). John Paul II visited Poland twice during the 1980s, in 1983 and 1987, each time helping to revive that resolve as Solidarity was pushed underground by the martial law regime. The programs and political philosophies of the dissident organizations in Poland ranged from defense of civic and human rights to outright championing of the country’s independence from the Soviet Union. Economic programs were underdeveloped, usually proposing some version of worker self-governance. Organization Solidarity was a complex social entity that is not easy to conceptualize. It was called a “community” or “civil society.” Touraine and his collaborators (1983) wrote about it as a “social movement,” while others called it “emancipatory praxis” (Kennedy 1991), or a “cultural class” (Kubik 1994). This taxonomic difficulty arises because it was a trade union, a social movement, and a cultural phenomenon all at the same time. As a trade union, “Solidarity” was organized as a federation of both territorial and branch chapters. There were 38 regional chapters, among which the biggest were Silesia (1.4 million members), Mazovia (900,000), and Lower Silesia (900,000). The highest authority in the union was the Congress of Delegates and the National Commission (Komisja Krajowa, KK). Approximately 200 of the biggest industrial plants in the country were organized in a network called “Network” (Siec). Almost 80 percent of state employees, many of them Party members, belonged to the union. As a movement, Solidarity was a multilevel patchwork of organizations, informal networks, and associated individuals. In addition to “Solidarity” proper, the movement included, among others, Independent Self-Governing Trade Union of Farmers “Rural Solidarity” (Solidarno]s Wiejska), Independent Self-Governing Trade Union of Individual Farmers “Peasant Solidarity” (Solidarno]s Ch3opska) (from March 1981 “Solidarity” Independent Self-Governing Trade Union of Individual Farmers), and “Solidarity” Independent Self-Governing Trade Union of Individual Artisans. Almost all pre-1980 dissident organizations either became Solidarity’s partners or provided cadres of activists. Among the most prominent were the Social Self-Defense Committee KOR (which disbanded itself during Solidarity’s October 1981 congress), the Independent Student Union, the Young Poland’s Movement, and the founding committees of the Free Trade Unions. Other organizations that worked closely with Solidarity included: the Catholic Znak, the Clubs of Catholic Intelligentsia, the Polish Journalists’ Association, the Polish Writers’ Association, the Polish Pen Club, the Polish Filmmakers’ Association, and the Coordinating Committee of Creative and Scientific Associations. The Catholic Church often provided necessary organizational resources, such as spaces for meetings or logistical support. For International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ed. Immanuel Ness, Blackwell Publishing, 2009, pp. 3072–3080 Solidarno}T (Solidarity) 3079 example, during the tough electoral race against time and its resource-rich opponent before the critical election of June 4, 1989 Solidarity relied heavily on the church, particularly local parish priests (Dudek 2004: 284–6). Solidarity as a cultural phenomenon is discussed in the next section. Ideology/Philosophy From 1980 to 1989, Solidarity was a complex, multi-stranded movement kept together by the members’ loyalty to their leader, Walesa, and an attractive ideology (or philosophy) built around the universal values of human dignity, freedom, and solidarity. These ideals were easy to accept by all or most members and sympathizers, because they were also deeply rooted in the best traditions of Polish Catholicism (Krzemi\ski 1997), freshly revived by John Paul II (Kubik 1994). The pope formulated a social philosophy whose central tenet was the dignity of human work. This philosophy became the foundation of Solidarity’s identity, its “spirit” (Tischner 1984). Yet, below the surface of this general symbolic harmony, there were ideological and philosophical divisions. Touraine and his team (1983) saw Solidarity as composed of three major ideological currents: socialist (or trade unionist), nationalist, and democratic. Although these different strains certainly reinforced each other with great frequency, each of them carried seeds of powerful ideological disagreements. Such disagreements in the pre-Solidarity dissident movements complicated the anti-communist struggle during the 1981 to 1989 period, and certainly helped to demarcate the major political cleavages of post-1989 Polish politics. Impact Solidarity had a tremendous impact on its members, Poland, the Soviet bloc, and the world. For most participants, it was not merely an organization that allowed them to successfully challenge the communist monopoly of power, but also a powerful tool of civic and personal selfrealization. For many it was an immensely joyous experience of freedom and empowerment stemming from the recovered ability to practice “real” public life. For Poland, the movement was instrumental in bringing down state socialism, but it also functioned as a training ground that equipped many people with public expertise that facilitated the construction of post-communist political and economic life. For example, the ideas of self-governance proved to be critical for the formation of Citizens’ Committees, which were indispensable during the election campaign of 1989 and the rapid decentralization of political power after the fall of communism. Solidarity was also one of the first nails, and arguably the biggest nail, in the coffin of the Soviet bloc. It showed that a political system held in place against the will of most of its subjects is unstable and has a limited life span. For the world, Solidarity will perhaps be best remembered as the principal mechanism for ending the Cold War. For some observers it may also serve as a source of the inspiring, albeit demanding, ideals of social solidarity that could become the foundation of renewed social and political life (Cirtautas 1997). Legacy A movement that had such a powerful impact on the world’s history should have enjoyed a blissful afterlife as one of history’s most glorious and venerated episodes. And for many people around the world Solidarity has indeed achieved such a status. Inside and outside of Poland, scholars study Solidarity’s innovations in social philosophy (Cirtautas 1997), dissident strategy (self-limiting vis-à-vis superior power) (Staniszkis 1984), decentralization of resistance (Kenney 2002), and the mobilization potential of symbols (Laba 1991; Kubik 1994). Historians examine Solidarity’s contributions to the downfall of communism and the emancipation of workers. Trade unionists refer to it as a source of inspiration. Politicians invoke it as an example of the indomitable spirit of resistance against oppressive power. But for many Poles, as of 2008, the memory of Solidarity is unsettled. Academic discussions and political quarrels continue over several elements of Solidarity’s past that are deemed controversial: the elevation of “Walesa’s team” over other groups and leaders, particularly in the second half of the 1980s; the choice of negotiating strategies with the communists in 1987–1989; the early post-1989 treatment of the former communist officials (too lenient to some); and (recently) the alleged Walesa collaboration with the security apparatus of the communist state in the early 1970s, a potential International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ed. Immanuel Ness, Blackwell Publishing, 2009, pp. 3072–3080 3080 Solomon Islands, protest and uprisings threat to his status as a legendary leader of the movement. In 2008, such debates were heavily politicized, contributing to the sense of “postcommunist malaise,” and prevented the enshrining of Solidarity as a foundational myth of the new, post-communist Poland. SEE ALSO: Kuroń, Jacek (1934–2004); Michnik, Adam (b. 1946); Poland, 1956 Uprising; Poland, Student Movement, 1968; Poland, Trade Unions and Protest, 1988–1993; Walentynowicz, Anna (b. 1929); Walesa, Lech (b. 1943); Women in the Solidarity Movement, Polish Underground References and Suggested Readings Ash, T. G. (1983) The Polish Solidarity. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. Bernhard, M. H. (1993) The Origins of Democratization in Poland. New York: Columbia University Press. Cirtautas, A. M. (1997) The Polish Solidarity Movement: Revolution, Democracy and Natural Rights. London: Routledge. Dudek, A. (2004) Reglamentowana Rewolucja: Rozklad dyktatury komunistycznej w Polsce 1988–1990. Krakow: Arcana. Ekiert, G. (1996) The State Against Society: Political Crises and Their Aftermath in East Central Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Holzer, J. (1984) “Solidarno}S” 1980–1989. Paris: Instytut Literacki. Holzer, J. & Leski, K. (1990) Solidarno}S w podziemiu. 1ód[: Wydawnictwo 1ódzkie. Karpinski, J. (1989) Portrety Lat: Polska w odcinkach, 1944–1988. London: Polonia Book Fund. Kennedy, M. (1991) Professionals, Power and Solidarity in Poland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kenney, P. (2002) A Carnival of Revolution: Central Europe 1989. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Krzemi\ski, I. (1997) Solidarnosc: Projekt polskiej demokracji. Warszawa: Oficyna Naukowa. Kubik, J. (1994) The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. Laba, R. (1991) The Roots of Solidarity: A Political Sociology of Poland’s Working-Class Democratization. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Paczkowski, A. (2003) The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom. Trans. J. Cave. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. Staniszkis, J. (1984) Poland’s Self-Limiting Revolution. Ed. J. T. Gross. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Tischner, J. (1984) The Spirit of Solidarity. Trans. M. B. Zaleski & B. Fiore. San Francisco: Harper and Row. Touraine, A., Dubet, F., Wieviorka, M., & Strzelecki, J. (1983) Solidarity: The Analysis of a Social Movement: Poland 1980–1981. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.