Poland: "The Solidarity Program," 1981
The first Polish Catholic pope, John Paul II, also had an influence on the Cold War dynamic by helping to foster dissent in his homeland. But it was workers who formed the trade union Solidarity, an organization that fomented increasing activism throughout the 1980s. Its burgeoning success inspired Poles and others living under oppressive regimes to assert their rights.
Questions to consider:
1. On what principles does the statement rest its justification for action?
2. What can you discern about Solidarity's view of the international order? What role should Poland have?
Who We Are and What We Want
The independent, self-governing union Solidarity, which was born out of the 1980 strike, is the most powerful mass movement in the history of Poland. . .
Our union sprang from the people's needs: from their suffering, and disappointment, their hopes and desires. It is the product of a revolt by Polish society after three decades of political discrimination, economic exploitation, and the violation of human and civil rights. It is a protest against the existing form of power.
For none of us was it just a question of material conditions although we did live badly, working hard, often for no purpose. History has taught us that there can be no bread without freedom. We also wanted justice, democracy, truth, freedom of opinion, a reconstructed republic-not just bread, butter and sausage. . .
Our organization combines the features of a trade union and a broad social movement; it is this which gives us our strength and determines the importance of our role. Thanks to the existence of a powerful union organization, Polish society is no longer fragmented, disorganized and lost, but has recovered strength and hope. There is now the possibility of a real national renewal.
Our union, representing the majority of workers in Poland, seeks to be and will become the driving force of this renewal.
Solidarity embraces many social currents, bringing together people of different political and religious views and different nationalities. . .
Our aim is to rebuild a just Poland.
Respect for the person must be the basis of action: the state must serve people instead of dominating them. The state organization must be at the service of society and not be monopolized by a single political party. . .
In determining its activity, Solidarity turns to the values of Christian ethics, our national working-class tradition, and the democratic tradition of the labor world. John Paul II's encyclical on human labor is a fresh source of encouragement. As a mass organization of the working people, Solidarity is also a movement for the moral rebirth of the people.
We believe that people's power is a principle that we do not have the right to abandon. But it does not mean the power of a group which places itself above society, arrogating to itself the right to define and represent the interests of society. Society must have the right to speak aloud to express the range of social and political views. Society must be able to organize itself in such a way as to ensure a just distribution of the nation’s material and spiritual wealth and a blossoming of all creative forces. We seek a true socialization of our government and state administration. For this reason our objective is a self-governing Poland. . .
The Union in the Country's Present Situation
We are fully aware that Polish society expects actions from us that will allow people to live in peace. The nation will not forgive a betrayal of the ideal for which Solidarity was created. Nor will it forgive actions, even the best intentioned, which lead to the spilling of blood and the material and spiritual destruction of the country. This awareness compels us to carry out our objectives m a gradual manner, so that each consecutive action obtains the support of society.
Our sense of responsibility compels us to look with clear eyes at the relationship of forces in Europe which resulted from the Second World War. Our aim is to perform our great labor of renewal without damaging international alliances; indeed, we seek to provide more solid guarantees for those alliances. The Polish nation, animated by a sense of its dignity, patriotism and traditions, will become a valuable partner from the moment when it consciously assumes its own commitments. . .
Excerpted and introduced in Padraig Kenney, 1989: Democratic Revolutions at Cold War's End. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. Kenney credits this volume: From "The Solidarity Program," in The Solidarity Sourcebook, ed. Stan Persky and Henry Flam (Vancouver: New Star Books, 1982), 205-7, 225.
Questions to consider:
1. On what principles does the statement rest its justification for action?
2. What can you discern about Solidarity's view of the international order? What role should Poland have?
Who We Are and What We Want
The independent, self-governing union Solidarity, which was born out of the 1980 strike, is the most powerful mass movement in the history of Poland. . .
Our union sprang from the people's needs: from their suffering, and disappointment, their hopes and desires. It is the product of a revolt by Polish society after three decades of political discrimination, economic exploitation, and the violation of human and civil rights. It is a protest against the existing form of power.
For none of us was it just a question of material conditions although we did live badly, working hard, often for no purpose. History has taught us that there can be no bread without freedom. We also wanted justice, democracy, truth, freedom of opinion, a reconstructed republic-not just bread, butter and sausage. . .
Our organization combines the features of a trade union and a broad social movement; it is this which gives us our strength and determines the importance of our role. Thanks to the existence of a powerful union organization, Polish society is no longer fragmented, disorganized and lost, but has recovered strength and hope. There is now the possibility of a real national renewal.
Our union, representing the majority of workers in Poland, seeks to be and will become the driving force of this renewal.
Solidarity embraces many social currents, bringing together people of different political and religious views and different nationalities. . .
Our aim is to rebuild a just Poland.
Respect for the person must be the basis of action: the state must serve people instead of dominating them. The state organization must be at the service of society and not be monopolized by a single political party. . .
In determining its activity, Solidarity turns to the values of Christian ethics, our national working-class tradition, and the democratic tradition of the labor world. John Paul II's encyclical on human labor is a fresh source of encouragement. As a mass organization of the working people, Solidarity is also a movement for the moral rebirth of the people.
We believe that people's power is a principle that we do not have the right to abandon. But it does not mean the power of a group which places itself above society, arrogating to itself the right to define and represent the interests of society. Society must have the right to speak aloud to express the range of social and political views. Society must be able to organize itself in such a way as to ensure a just distribution of the nation’s material and spiritual wealth and a blossoming of all creative forces. We seek a true socialization of our government and state administration. For this reason our objective is a self-governing Poland. . .
The Union in the Country's Present Situation
We are fully aware that Polish society expects actions from us that will allow people to live in peace. The nation will not forgive a betrayal of the ideal for which Solidarity was created. Nor will it forgive actions, even the best intentioned, which lead to the spilling of blood and the material and spiritual destruction of the country. This awareness compels us to carry out our objectives m a gradual manner, so that each consecutive action obtains the support of society.
Our sense of responsibility compels us to look with clear eyes at the relationship of forces in Europe which resulted from the Second World War. Our aim is to perform our great labor of renewal without damaging international alliances; indeed, we seek to provide more solid guarantees for those alliances. The Polish nation, animated by a sense of its dignity, patriotism and traditions, will become a valuable partner from the moment when it consciously assumes its own commitments. . .
Excerpted and introduced in Padraig Kenney, 1989: Democratic Revolutions at Cold War's End. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. Kenney credits this volume: From "The Solidarity Program," in The Solidarity Sourcebook, ed. Stan Persky and Henry Flam (Vancouver: New Star Books, 1982), 205-7, 225.
A 2010 poster celebrating Solidarity and depicting activist priest Jerzy Popieluczko. Attribution: By Krugerr (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.