Cold War Poland: Impact of Martial Law (December 1981)

Figure 1.-- This snapshot was taken in the summer of 1982 at a village near Wroclaw. At the time, Poland was under the martial law imposed by General Jaruzelski on December 13, 1981. he was seeking to crush the Solidariit free union movement lading the anti-communist opposition. Jaruzelski lrgely suceeded in supressing Solidarity, but the iron laws of economics are so easily supressed. The Polish economy was near collapse, impacted by the same economic factors that were stagnating the Soviet economy and the economies of ither East Bloc countries. This is why there are no prosperous socialist countries, sonething that Bernie Sanders and the Marrxist professors in American universities keep from their students while promoting a witches brew of socialism, hate-American ideas, and anti-Semitism. These Polish children are enjoying a warm summer day. Their clothing reflects both the summer weather and the poverty imposed on Poland by socialism.

Gen. Jaruzelski tried to return the country to a semblance of normality. And run it with the public cowed and the Solidarity leaders locked up. The protest demonstrations were successfully shut down. He participated in a reorganization of the Front of National Unity. This was an East Bloc organization the Soviets used to manage their puppet parties. It was renamed the Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth. Jaruzelski invited a Hungarian delegation to Poland (December 1982). He was apparently especially interested in how the Hungarian Communists crushed the insurgents after the the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. 【Paczkowski, et. al.】 Of course in thus case a Soviet military intervention was required, something he desperately wanted to avoid. The United States Reagan Administration adopted a range of sanctions, but martial law for the most part shut down Solidarity and silenced open descent. Martial law was suspended on (December 31, 1892) and formally lifted (July 22, 1983). This meant outward appearances. Solidarity was still shut down and its leaders impriosned. The police were still very actively suppressing any descent. The government and its security forces censored, persecuted, and prednisone thousands of journalists and opposition activists. This done without charges even after lifting martial law. Jaruzelski resigned as prime minister and defense minister (1985). He became the Chairman of the Polish Council of State, essentially head of state and in firm control of the country. His power base was the LWP generals and other officers in the Communist Polish Army. But as in the Soviet Union, the iron laws of economics were not suspended by martial law. And the economy continued to spiral downward. The cost of living rose over 100 percent during 1982 alone. The socioeconomic crisis deepened, surpassing the severe situation experienced in the late-1970s that had brought Solidarity into existence. Severe rationing of basic foods (sugar, milk, and meat)in addition to gasoline, clothing, and other popular consumer products. And even the basic ration was not always available. The median income reportedly declined an estimated 10 percent from an already low level. During the Martial Law 1980s people attempted to leave Poland, something that was difficult to do give the country's geographic location and government polices. Estimates range around 0.1-0.3 million.

Sources

Paczkowski, Andrzej, Malcolm Byrne, Gregory F. Domber, and Magdalena Klotzbach. (1 January 2007). From Solidarity to Martial Law: The Polish Crisis of 1980-1981 : a Documentary History (Central European University Press 2007).

Created: 2:49 AM 6/3/2024
Last updated: 2:49 AM 6/3/2024