Solidarity

Solidarity, independent trade union federation founded in Poland in September 1980 (Polish, Solidarność). Under the leadership of an electrician, Lech Wałęsa, and with the full support of the Polish Catholic Church, Solidarity quickly became a political force sufficiently powerful to menace the Polish Communist government with its backing for protests and strikes. By the summer of 1981, Solidarity and its farmers' union branch, Rural Solidarity, had 9 million members; but despite its ability to impede and harass the administration, it had no way of achieving power for itself. This impasse was broken on December 13, 1981, when the Communist party leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland, suspended Solidarity, and imprisoned nearly all its leaders, including Wałęsa.

This Moscow-supported crackdown effectively quelled the Solidarity movement for the time being; Wałęsa was released from prison in late 1982 and martial law was lifted. Thereafter, Solidarity persisted as an underground opposition movement, growing steadily in power until the end of the decade. The union was able to short-circuit all of Jaruzelski's attempts to bring about reform, and in 1988 the government was forced to negotiate with Solidarity.

On April 5, 1989, the two sides signed an agreement legalizing Solidarity and permitting it to join in a general election. By the end of August 1989 a coalition government had been formed under the leadership of Solidarity. In December 1990, Lech Wałęsa was elected President of Poland. In the 1993 elections Solidarity was ousted by the Democratic Left Alliance of former Communists. In the elections of September 1997, however, the Solidarity Electoral Alliance (AWS) emerged victorious, taking 34 per cent of the vote, and capturing 201 of the 460 seats in the Sejm. Economic stagnation and ideological differences within AWS while in government caused the political coalition to shatter and it failed to win a single seat in the 2001 elections.