Cold War 1970-95 Flashcards
When did the Solidarity Movement take place?
1980-81
What was the Polish name for the Solidarity? What was the alternate name (the fancy one)
Solidarnosc
Independent Self-Governing Trade Union
When and where was the Solidarity movement founded?
31st August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard, Gdańsk
Who led solidarity?
Lech Walesa
Name three political perspectives that encouraged the rise of Solidarity
Anti-Soviet Leftism
Pro-American Liberalism
Polish Nationalism
Excluding political cause, name three contributing factors to the rise of solidarity
Economic crisis - the cost of oil and recession in the West - food prices up by 100%
The strikes of ship workers in Gdansk drawing national attention
The leadership of Lech Walesa
When, and to what organisation, was Walesa elected president
September 1981
First National Congress of Solidarity
Which international power supported Solidarity, and by whose administration? What action was taken?
The USA
Reagan
2 million dollars/a year transferred in secret
What were the aims of the solidarity movement?
To establish a self governing Polish republic
Greater political and economic freedom
Wage increases (granted)
Which Polish authority figure initiated martial law and when? (3) What rules were enforced? (5)
General Jaruzelski (First Sec of Polish Comm Party)
December 1981
—
Curfew/Regular patrols by Polish People’s Army and Citizen’s Militia/Forbade intercity travel/Censorship of all media/Wiretapping operations by Secret Service
Roughly how many opposition activists were imprisoned whilst martial law was in effect in Poland 1981-83. How many were executed?
Thousands
Around 91 executed
Many only released after the general amnesty was issued in 1986
Which religious leader openly supported Solidarity?
Pope John Paul II - supporter of human rights, freedom of expression and conscience
When did the Wujek coal mine strike occur? Describe the events that took place. (6)
23 Dec 1981
The Comm Polish gov rolled out special units and ZOMO tanks to pacify strikers
9 miners died
As a result the US imposed economic sanctions against the Polish gov and vetoed the Polish application to the International Monetary Fund
At subsequent strikes around Poland, violence, water cannons, tear gas, truncheons etc. were used to subdue protestors.
When was Solidarity formally banned in Poland, and what was the organisation’s response?
1982
They moved underground, supported by the US and the Church
When was martial law lifted in Poland?
1983 - many members were granted amnesty from imprisonment
Describe two incidents (one in ‘85, one in ‘86) that demonstrate the Soviet approach to Solidarity
85 - A pro-Solidarity priest was killed and three members arrested, despite the amnesty (harsh)
86 - Gorbachev released 225 Polish political prisoners (lenient)
How did Solidarity divide following its re-emergence?
Walesa’s side prioritised negotiation, the other was more radical, revolutionary and more strongly anti-communist
When did the Warsaw Roundtable talks take place and what did they legalise?
February and April of 1989
The Solidarity Citizen’s Committee, allowing the committee to participate in the 1989 elections
What percentage of seats was the Solidarity Citizen’s Committee permitted to occupy in the 1989 elections? How many seats did they win in the Sejm, and how many in the Senate?
35%
161
99
What was significant about Mazowiecki’s election in Aug 1989
He was the first non-communist president of Poland
Between 1980 and 1982, how many joined Solidarity? What effect did this have?
8 million - threatened Sov domination
Why did the Soviet gov not intervene hugely in the Solidarity movement in Poland?
- it feared armed revolution
- it did not wish to divert funds to maintain costly satellite states
- it feared economic sanctions from the West
- Soviet troops were already at war in Afghanistan - although Warsaw Pact troops surrounded Poland, the USSR did not wish to expend more men
What document did Jaruzelski emulate in his approach to Solidarity?
The Brezhnev Doctrine
What occurred during the strikes at Gdansk
Workers made a 20 point list of demands and refused to leave the shipyard until said demands were met
What was Poland’s foreign debt by the end of the 1970s?
$20.5 billion
When was a Polish Pope elected? Why was this significant
1978
Elicited sympathy and loyalty to the church rather than the government
What food product experienced rising prices in 1980
Meat
By what extent had Solidarity strikes spread through Poland by August 1980
Across the entire Baltic Coast
What was the Sov response to the signing of the Gdańsk Agreement?
The Politburo organised a special commission - head by Suslov and including the Troika (Ustinov Andropov and Gromyko). They urged retraction of the Agreement or crushing of the strikers by force.
When was the Gdańsk agreement signed, by whom and what did it demand?
31 Aug 1980
Walesa and PM Jagielski
Free trade union
Access to mass media
Release of political prisoners
Right to strike
How many Soviet troops were mobilised in response to Solidarity in case of invasion. Why did invasion not take place?
100,000
Polish party leader Kania, warned of the risk to the Socialist reputation
Why did Jaruzelski eventually decide to implement martial law?
It avoided a (more) violent crackdown by Polish, Soviet and KGB personnel, as Solidarity risked encouraging uprising via Trade Union formation in all Sov states
What secret decision did the Politburo make? What did this show about the situation of the USSR by the 1980s?
Not to invade, even if it meant losing Poland. The Brezhnev Doctrine had been secretly withdrawn prior to Solidarity. The cost of the campaign, considering Poland’s military and 35 million inhabitants, would be too great. The USSR could not encourage further aggression.
They were too fragile to withstand economic or political sanctions from the West - the USSR was weakening and could not maintain its iron curtain.
