The Bydgoszcz events ( pl, wypadki bydgoskie)also referred to as the Bydgoszcz crisis (), or the Bydgoszcz provocation ()were a series of events in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
culminating in the beatings of delegates of the
Solidarity movement by the forces called upon by the authorities during the session of the ''
voivodship
A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieva ...
''
National Council on 19 March 1981, which was to discuss the running strike in
Bydgoszcz.
It was a turning point in the early history of Solidarity. Following the registration of Solidarity by the authorities of Poland in 1980, the farmers were also pushing for creation of a separate trade union, independent from the official system of power. The ''NSZZ RI Solidarność'' (Independent Self-Governing Trade Union of Individual Farmers ''Solidarity'', also called
Rural Solidarity Rural Solidarity (full name ''Independent Self-governing Trade Union of Individual Farmers "Solidarity"'') is a trade union of Polish farmers, established in late 1980 as part of the growing Solidarity movement. Its legalization became possible on ...
) was created, but not legalized by the authorities. Because of that, on 16 March 1981 in
Bydgoszcz a strike was proclaimed.
This forced the authorities to finally hold the meeting of the Voivodeship National Council, a governing body of the
Bydgoszcz Voivodeship
Bydgoszcz Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Capital city: Bydgoszcz
Area:
Statistics (1 January 1992):
Population ...
. The meeting was attended by several members of Solidarity, among them
Jan Rulewski,
Mariusz Łabentowicz and
Roman Bartoszcze, who were to explain the reasons for the strike. However, the Council decided not to discuss the issue of Rural Solidarity, which made the members of Solidarity protest and they refused to leave the session. The authorities responded by calling in the
Citizen's Militia and the
ZOMO
The Motorized Reserves of the Citizens' Militia ( pl, Zmotoryzowane Odwody Milicji Obywatelskiej), commonly known as ZOMO, were paramilitary-police formations during the communist era in Poland. These elite units of Citizens' Militia (MO) were ...
, who entered the seat of the Council and brutally beat and arrested the delegates of Solidarity, leaving in their wake torn banners, thrown papers, chairs and furniture.
Even though the authorities had a monopoly on media, the underground press reported the Bydgoszcz events, and the matter became widely publicised in a matter of days. On 24 March, Solidarity decided to go on a
nationwide strike to protest the violence against the delegates. The authorities conceded and on 25 March the deputy prime minister
Mieczysław F. Rakowski started a conference with the leaders of the Solidarity. This led to the signing of the so-called "Warsaw accord" () on 30 March 1981. According to the agreement, Solidarity was allowed to report the Bydgoszcz events on public television (the first such independent news behind the
Iron Curtain since the 1940s) and the government pledged to continue the talks on registration of a trade union of farmers.
The events were extensively covered by the publication project "Kryzys Bydgoski 1981", a three-volume edition: a monograph with a DVD with film "14 dni. Prowokacja bydgoska", a collection of documents, and a collection of witness testimonies.
"Promocja projektu wydawniczego „Kryzys Bydgoski 1981” – Bydgoszcz, 12 marca 2013"
/ref>["Powstała trzytomowa publikacja o kryzysie bydgoskim w 1981 r."]
See also
*1981 warning strike in Poland
In the early spring of 1981 in Poland, during the Bydgoszcz events, several members of the Solidarity movement, including Jan Rulewski, Mariusz Łabentowicz and Roman Bartoszcze, were brutally beaten by the security services, such as Milicja ...
References
External links
* Lech Dymarski,
Porozumienie Warszawskie
', ''Aneks'' 44, 1986
{{dead link, date=September 2017
Documental movie (promotional material, sound and subtitles in Polish)
1981 labor disputes and strikes
1981 in Poland
History of Bydgoszcz
Solidarity (Polish trade union)