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34
I.Poland’sForeignPolicyBefore1989
ButwhatwasactuallyhappeningwaswhatZbigniewBrzezińskiandSamuel
P.Huntingtonhadenvisagedintheearly1960s:thatopennessandattemptsatreform
wouldprovedeadlytothecommunistsystem.24ThisinfactbecameclearinPoland
beforeitbecameclearanywhereelse.Whilelimitedeconomicreformsundertaken
tosatisfypublicexpectationswerenotbeingaccompaniedbypoliticalreforms,
thenewopennesstocontactswiththeWestwasallowingforaflowofpeople,
ideasandinformation.ThusmadeincreasinglyawareofhowfarbehinditsWestern
counterpartsPolishsocietynowwas,peoplesimplydidnotwishtocontinueunder
theoldsystem.Meanwhile,loanfollowedloanincreatingacycleofindebtedness
–inwhatwastosomeextentacalculatedpolicyonthepartofWesterngovern-
mentstogainevergreaterinfluencewithWarsaw.Itwasinthiswaythatacertain
umbrellaofprotectionfordemocraticoppositiongroupsemerged–furtherloans
beinggrantedinresponsetosignsofliberalisminternally.However,thesystemic
barrierstoeconomicreformalsoledtothesquanderingofcreditandtechnologies.
Whilesociety,sexpectationsweregrowing,thecapacitytomeetthemwasdeclin-
ing.Thefirstsignofageneralworseningofthesituationcamewithpublicprotests
in1976.Withaviewtorepressedworkersgainingsomeprotection,afirstvisible–if
stillillegal–oppositiongroupingcalledtheWorkers,DefenceCommittee(Komitet
ObronyRobotnikóworKOR)cameintobeing.Notwithstandingthename,thiswas
primarilyagroupingofintellectuals,thoughtheaimwastoavoidthemistakesthat
hadcharacterisedtheactionsof1968and1970,whereinprotestsbyintellectuals
andstudentsontheonehandandworkersontheotherweresuccessfullykeptiso-
latedfromoneanotherbytheauthorities.FollowingonfromKORwerefurther,
moreradicalanti-communistgroups.
TheMetropolitanofKraków,oneCardinalKarolWojtyła,becamethenew
Popeon16October1978.Polesweretransformedbyhispapalvisittohishome
countryofJune1979,andhisnowimmortalwords"LetYourSpiritdescend…”
spokenatPlacZwycięstwa(VictorySquare)inWarsaw.Fearwasagainovercome
andtheAugust1980strikesledtotheemergenceofSolidarność,somethingfar
morethanjustafeetradeunioninacommuniststate.Rather,thiswasakindof
nationalconfederationdemandingsystemicchangeforwhichneitherMoscownor
Warsawhadpreparedthemselves.ThefirstSolidarityrallyinearlySeptember1981
addressedaLettertotheWorkingPeopleofEasternEuropemakingitabundantly
clearhowthePolishviruscouldinfecttheentirecommunistbloc.Themonopoly
onpowerofthecommunistpartywasnowinquestion,sotheneedtodefendthe
statusquosawthecommunists,resort–forthelasttime–totheuseofarmedforce
againsttheworkingclasstheypurportedlyrepresented.Astateofmartiallawwas
introducedon13December,buttheideologicallegitimacyofthecommunistsys-
temlayinruins.
24Z.Brzeziński,S.P.Huntington,PoliticalPower:USA/USSR,VikingPress,NewYork1964.