solidarity

„Polské dějiny posledních dvou set let jsou neustálým bojem za svobodu a nezávislost, za právo na sebeurčení, tedy přesně za to, za co dnes bojují Ukrajinci,“ píše Michał KŁOSOWSKI.

For the Poles, those eight years started by the fake coup of 13 December, the darkest hours in the lives of the previous generation. Not only was it time of violence, full prisons, and assassinations, but also time of degraded quality of life and economic ruin.

Forty years ago, FC Liverpool won the European Cup, Metallica was formed, and Robert de Niro collected an Oscar Award for his outstanding performance in the role of Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. In Poland, 1981 was marked by another event: the communist regime declared a war against its own nation.

We know it from anecdotes, family keepsakes, and politicised stories. Wondering what it used to be, why our parents joined the cause, what it was that they criticised and why.

The creation of “Solidarity” is one of the most important events in the history of Poland and the world at the end of the 20th century.

Communists put their knowledge of political craftsmanship to great use, while political amateurs prevailed on the side of the former anti-communist opposition. Already in 1994, post-communists returned to power in Hungary. In Poland, however, it was different.

In the country of Pope John Paul II, “Solidarity” launched a mechanism in which power – at least in symbolic terms – was returned to the sovereign, that is, the people.

The changes initiated by “Solidarity” gave Poland 28 years of continuous economic growth and a significant, measurable increase in average prosperity.

When the year 2020 began those six months ago, we were aware that the beginning of a new decade of the 21st century would be a time of both change and breakthrough. Renewed friction between global powers, a trade war between the two largest economies in the world, a debate on the new long-term budget of the European Union, activities aimed at the permanent presence of allied troops on NATO’s eastern flank – the Polish diplomacy was and still is…