Solidarity was the first non-Communist-controlled trade union in a Warsaw Pact country. In the 1980s it constituted a broad anti-bureaucratic social movement. The government attempted to destroy the union during the period of martial law in the early 1980s and several years of repression, but in the end it had to start negotiating with the union. The Round Table Talks between the government and the Solidarity-led opposition led to semi-free elections in 1989. By the end of August a Solidarity-led coalition government was formed and in December 1990 Lech Wałęsa was elected President of Poland. Since then it has become a more traditional trade union.
Solidarity Movement in Poland 1970-80s
An overview by the BBC:
Amongst the collateral Consenquences of Solidarnosc’s movement victory was that it served as a model to other movements in Easters Europe encouraged by the Moral Support of Western Democracies.
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Losing Soviet Control Over Eastern Europe 1
Losing Soviet Control Over Eastern Europe 2
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