On 31 August 1980 the alleged "August Agreements" was signed between the authorities of the Polish People's Republic and representatives of the strike committee in Gdańsk headed by Lech Wałęsa.
On the day before, the state authorities had signed a akin agreement with the strike committee in Szczecin, and on 3 September 1980 – with the strike committee in Jastrzębie-Zdrój. 1 of the demands of the strikers (or possibly more of their many experts) was the creation of a "independent" trade union, which occurred in September 1980. The authoritative registration of NSZZ "Solidarity" took place on 10 November 1980.
The date of 31 August is now celebrated as "Solidarity and Freedom Day" and considered a state holiday. According to the current narrative, this vacation was established “to commemorate the historical revolt of Poles to freedom and independency from 1980” and is “a tribute to all who contributed to the triumph of Solidarity and Poland regaining independency after years of communism”. These loud and patos-full words come from the websites of the Chancellery of the president and the Sejm of Poland. In fact, the celebration of the anniversary of the signing of the August agreements and the establishment of the "Solidarity" is an expression of the triumphism and shoes of the political camp, which after 1989 took power in our country.
I am not saying that labour protests in August 1980 were not justified. They were, of course, an expression of dissatisfaction with the broad social groups and the aftermath of the economical crisis that occurred during the end of Edward Gierek's reign. No hostile action by abroad dispatch centres without deeper interior causes would have been able to lead to social protests on specified a scale. The point is that, to a large extent, legitimate economical and social demands have been rapidly transformed into political demands which have led to destabilisation of the situation in our country. Very quickly, the place of trade union activists was taken by "professional oppositionists" and various politicalists associated with Western centres, whose aim was to weaken the People's Poland. Suffice to say, shortly after the emergence of the NSZZ “Solidarity” an crucial place in its structures and advisory circles was occupied by specified activists as: Jacek Kuroń, Adam Michnik, Karol Modzelewski, Bronisław Geremek, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Antoni Macierewicz, or Lech Kaczyński. These individuals have long been protesting the political reality of the Polish People's Republic of Poland, and workers' protests have been an chance for them to grow their social base.
The activity of the NSZZ "Solidarity" between 1980 and 1981 is now presented as heroic gatherings of broad social masses, aimed at combating communism and striving to regain independency by Poland. In fact, they were actions inspired from outside, aimed at undermining the social and political order of that time in an interior and global dimension. How dangerous and irresponsible were these actions illustrated by examples of Hungary in 1956, or Czechoslovakia in 1968 – with the difference that in the geopolitical strategy of that time Poland had much greater strategical importance than the countries mentioned above. Were it not for the introduction of martial law, these actions could lead to the situation we are presently facing in Ukraine.
It should be stressed that the systemic changes after 1989 did not extend Poland's sovereignty in any way. The scale of dependence and subordination of our country to external decision-making centres is now much greater than in the times of the Polish People's Republic of Poland, and political elites ruling Poland mostly implement guidelines from Washington and Brussels (EU). After 1989, "reforms" led to social and economical disadvantages specified as mass unemployment, the sale of national assets, or the elimination of strategical industries. The political scene was permanently dominated by post-solidarity parties – on the 1 hand by neoliberals from the Civic Platform, and on the another hand neoconservatives from Law and Justice.
These formations mostly carry out the interests of their abroad powers, forgetting the Polish reason of the state. This is peculiarly evident after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, erstwhile the irresponsible policy of the forces ruling our country threatens to drag Poland into armed conflict. This is simply a direct mention to the 1981 "Solidarity" extreme, which provokes the russian intervention. And it is precisely this naive and non-reflective occidentism, detached from political realism that wishful reasoning and disregard for geopolitical conditions is the real plight of "Solidarity".
Michał Radzikowski
photo public domain
Think Poland, No. 37-38 (10-17.09.2023)
