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Solidarność
Solidarity (, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" ( , abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”''), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Gdańsk Shipyard, Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Polish People's Republic, Poland. Subsequently, it was the first independent trade union in a Warsaw Pact country to be recognised by the state. The union's membership peaked at 10 million in September 1981, representing one-third of the country's working-age population. In 1983 Solidarity's leader Lech Wałęsa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and the union is widely recognized as having played a central role in the History of Poland (1945–1989)#Final decade of the Polish People's Republic (1980–1989), end of communist rule in Poland. This led to the appointment of the first noncommunist Prime Minister since the 1940s. In the 1980s, Solidarity was a broad anti-authoritarian social movement, using methods of civil resistance to advance the cause ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Walentynowicz
Anna Walentynowicz (; ; 15 August 1929 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish trade union, trade unionist and co-founder of Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity, the first recognised independent trade union in the Eastern Bloc. Her firing from her job at the Gdańsk Shipyard, Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk in August 1980 was the event that ignited the Strike action, strike at the shipyard, set off a wave of strikes across Polish People's Republic, Poland, and quickly paralyzed the Baltic coast. The Interfactory Strike Committee (MKS) based in the Gdańsk shipyard eventually transformed itself into Solidarity; by September, more than one million workers were on strike in support of the 21 demands of MKS, making it the largest strike ever. Walentynowicz's arrest became an organizing slogan (Bring Anna Walentynowicz Back to Work!) in the early days of the Gdańsk strike. She is referred to by some as the "mother of independent Poland." She was among the dignitaries killed in the 2010 Poli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Poland (1945–1989)
The history of Poland from 1945 to 1989 spans the period of Marxist–Leninist regime in Poland after the end of World War II. These years, while featuring general industrialization, urbanization and many improvements in the standard of living, were marred by early Stalinist repressions, social unrest, political strife and severe economic difficulties. Near the end of World War II, the advancing Soviet Red Army, along with the Polish Armed Forces in the East, pushed out the Nazi German forces from occupied Poland. In February 1945, the Yalta Conference sanctioned the formation of a provisional government of Poland from a compromise coalition, until postwar elections. Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, manipulated the implementation of that ruling. A practically communist-controlled Provisional Government of National Unity was formed in Warsaw by ignoring the Polish government-in-exile based in London since 1940. During the subsequent Potsdam Conference in July� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1989 Polish Legislative Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 4 June 1989 to elect members of the Sejm and the recreated Senate, with a second round on 18 June. They were the first elections in the country since the communist government abandoned its monopoly of power in April 1989 and the first elections in the Eastern Bloc that resulted in the communist government losing power. Not all seats in the Sejm were allowed to be contested, but the resounding victory of the Solidarity opposition in the freely contested races (the rest of the Sejm seats and all of the Senate) paved the way to the end of communist rule in Poland. Solidarity won all of the freely contested seats in the Sejm, and all but one seat in the Senate, which was scored by a government-aligned nonpartisan candidate.Paulina Codogni (2012). Wybory czerwcowe 1989 roku. Polish Institute of National Remembrance. p. 297. ISBN 978-83-7629-342-4. Most crucially, the election served as evidence of widespread dissatisfaction with the go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martial Law In Poland
Martial law in Poland () existed between 13 December 1981 and 22 July 1983. The Polish United Workers' Party, government of the Polish People's Republic drastically restricted everyday life by introducing martial law and a military junta in an attempt to counter political opposition, in particular the Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity movement. Since the late 1970s, Poland had been in a deep economic recession. Edward Gierek, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), had obtained a series of large loans from foreign creditors to achieve better economic output. This instead resulted in a domestic crisis. Essential goods were heavily rationing, rationed, which acted as a stimulus to establishing the first anticommunist trade union in the Eastern Bloc, known as Solidarity (), in 1980. Gierek, who permitted the trade union to appear per the Gdańsk Agreement, was dismissed from his post less than a month later and confined to house arrest. Following countl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polish People's Republic
The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million near the end of its existence, it was the second most-populous communist government, communist and Eastern Bloc country in Europe. It was also where the Warsaw Pact was founded. The largest city and capital was Warsaw, followed by the industrial city of Łódź and cultural city of Kraków. The country was bordered by the Baltic Sea to the north, the Soviet Union to the east, Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Czechoslovakia to the south, and East Germany to the west. The Polish People's Republic was a unitary state with a Marxist–Leninist government established in the country after the Red Army's takeover of Polish territory from Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), German occupation in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as the president of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 Polish presidential election, 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democratically elected president of Poland since 1922 Polish presidential elections, 1926 and the first-ever Polish president elected by Direct election, popular vote. An electrician by trade, Wałęsa became the leader of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity movement and led a successful pro-democratic effort, which in 1989 ended Communist rule in Poland and ushered in the end of the Cold War. While working at the Lenin Shipyard (now Gdańsk Shipyard), Wałęsa, an electrician, became a trade-union activist, for which he was persecuted by the Polish Council of State, government, placed under surveillance, fired in 1976, and arrested several times. In August 1980, he was instrumental in political negotiations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gdańsk Shipyard
The Gdańsk Shipyard (, formerly Lenin Shipyard) is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk, northern Poland. The yard gained international fame when Polish trade union Solidarity () was founded there in September 1980. It is situated on the western side of Martwa Wisła and on Ostrów Island. History Gdańsk Shipyard was founded in 1946 as a state-owned company, on sites of the former German shipyards, Schichau-Werft and Danziger Werft, both considerably damaged in the Second World War. On 1 July 1952 a state-owned enterprise called Baza Remontowa-Ostrow was established on Ostrów Island. The name changed to Gdańska Stocznia Remontowa later in the year. During the time of the People's Republic of Poland, the complex was known as the Gdańsk Shipyard and Vladimir Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk (1967–89). The Northern Shipyard (Stocznia Północna) was also formed in June 1945, when it was known as Shipyard No. 3. Its activities were mainly production and rep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gdańsk Agreement
The August Agreements () was a set of four accords reached between the government of the Polish People's Republic and the Strike action, striking shipyard workers in Poland. The accord, signed in late August 1980 by government representative Mieczysław Jagielski and strike leader Lech Wałęsa, led to the creation of the trade union Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity and was an important milestone towards the eventual History of Poland (1945–1989)#Final decade of the Polish People's Republic (1980–1989), end of Communist rule in Poland. In summer 1980, faced with a major economic crisis, the Polish government authorized a rise in food prices, which immediately led to a wave of strikes and factory occupations across the country. On 14 August workers at the Gdańsk Shipyard, Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk went on strike after the sacking of Anna Walentynowicz, five months before she was to retire. The Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee, headed by Wałęsa, issued a list of 21 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Trade Union Confederation
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC; ; ; ) is the world's largest trade union federation. History The federation was formed on 1 November 2006 out of the merger of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL). The Founding Congress of the ITUC was held in Vienna and was preceded by the dissolution congresses of both the ICFTU and the WCL. The ITUC has three main regional organizations: the ITUC-Asia Pacific, Asia-Pacific Regional Organization, the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, and the ITUC-Africa, African Regional Organisation. The Trade Union Development Cooperation Network (TUDCN) is an initiative of the ITUC whose main objective is to bring the trade union perspective into international development policy debates and improve the coordination and effectiveness of trade union development cooperation activities. The ITUC represents 207 million workers through its 331 affiliated organizatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Movement
A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of Group action (sociology), group action and may involve individuals, organizations, or both. Social movements have been described as "organizational structures and strategies that may empower oppressed populations to mount effective challenges and resist the more powerful and advantaged elites". They represent a method of social change from the bottom within nations. On the other hand, some social movements do not aim to make society more egalitarian, but to maintain or amplify existing power relationships. For example, scholars have described fascism as a social movement. Political science and sociology have developed a variety of theories and empirical research on social movements. For example, some resea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polish Round Table Agreement
The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, communist Poland, from 6 February to 5 April 1989. The government initiated talks with the banned trade union ''Solidarity'' and other opposition groups to defuse growing social unrest. History Following the factory strikes of the early 1980s and the subsequent formation of the (then still underground) ''Solidarity'' movement under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa, the political situation in Poland started relaxing somewhat. Despite an attempt by the government to crack down on trade unionism, the movement had gained too much momentum, and it became impossible to hold off change any more. In August 1988, the Polish People's Republic authorities started a dialogue with the opposition under the influence of multiple internal and external factors. The main reasons were the many social protests, lasting from May 1988 in different regions of Poland, the increasing crisis of the Polish economy, the pressure of the Polish Catholic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trade Union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages and Employee benefits, benefits, improving Work (human activity), working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees (rules governing promotions, just-cause conditions for termination) and protecting and increasing the bargaining power of workers. Trade unions typically fund their head office and legal team functions through regularly imposed fees called ''union dues''. The union representatives in the workforce are usually made up of workplace volunteers who are often appointed by members through internal democratic elections. The trade union, through an elected leadership and bargaining committee, bargains with the employer on behalf of its members, known as t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
