A report on Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish People's Republic and History of Poland (1945–1989)

Map showing the different borders and territories of Poland and Germany during the 20th century, with the current areas of Germany and Poland in dark gray

Jaruzelski (right) with Fidel Castro (left) in Poland, May 1972

Poland's fate was heavily discussed at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Joseph Stalin, whose Red Army occupied the entire country, presented several alternatives which granted Poland industrialized territories in the west whilst the Red Army simultaneously permanently annexed Polish territories in the east, resulting in Poland losing over 20% of its pre-war borders - areas primarily inhabited by ethnic Belarusians or Ukrainians. Soviet-backed Polish communists came to power and oversaw the country's entry into the Warsaw Pact in 1955.

Jaruzelski in a television studio, preparing to announce the imposition of martial law, 1981

Border changes of Poland after World War II. The eastern territories (Kresy) were annexed by the Soviets. The western territories, referred to as the "Recovered Territories", were granted as war reparations. Despite the western lands being more industrialized, Poland lost 77,035 km2 (29,743 sq mi) and major cities like Lviv and Vilnius.

The PKWN Manifesto, officially issued on 22 July 1944. In reality it was not finished until mid-August, after the Polish communist Moscow group was joined by the late-arriving Warsaw group, led by Gomułka and Bierut.

Jaruzelski meeting with Yuri Andropov in Moscow, 1982

The 1970 Polish protests were put down by the Communist authorities and Citizens' Militia. The riots resulted in the deaths of 42 people and over 1,000 injured.

Postwar Polish communist propaganda poster depicting "The giant and the putrid reactionary midget", meaning the communist People's Army soldier and the pro-Western Home Army soldier, respectively

Jaruzelski (second from right) with other communist leaders and members of the Warsaw Pact, Berlin, 1987

Queues waiting to enter grocery stores in Warsaw and other Polish cities and towns were typical in the late 1980s. The availability of food and goods varied at times, and the most sought after basic item was toilet paper.

ORMO paramilitary police unit during street parade at the Victory Square, 9 June 1946, Warsaw

The new Warszawa Centralna railway station in Warsaw had automatic doors and escalators. It was a flagship project during the 1970s economic boom and was dubbed the most modern station in Europe at the time of its completion in 1975.

Lech Wałęsa co-founded and headed the Solidarity movement which toppled Communism. He later became the President of Poland.

The show trial of Captain Witold Pilecki, sentenced to death and executed May 1948

Jaruzelski's grave at Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw

The 1980 Gdańsk Shipyard Strike and subsequent Summer 1981 Hunger Demonstrations were instrumental in strengthening the Solidarity movement's influence.

The Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, initially called the Stalin's Palace, was a controversial gift from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin

Władysław Gomułka and Leonid Brezhnev in East Berlin, 1967

1951 East German stamp commemorative of the Treaty of Zgorzelec establishing the Oder–Neisse line as a "border of peace", featuring the presidents Wilhelm Pieck (GDR) and Bolesław Bierut (Poland)

An abandoned State Agricultural Farm in south-eastern Poland. State farms were a form of collective farming created in 1949.

Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, Primate of Poland

Łódź was Poland's largest city after the destruction of Warsaw during World War II. It was also a major industrial centre in Europe and served as the temporary capital due to its economic significance in the 1940s.

Female textile workers in a state-run factory, Łódź, 1950s

The Fourth Congress of the Polish United Workers' Party, held in 1963

Supersam Warsaw, the first self-serve shopping centre in Poland, 1969

The Polski Fiat 125p, produced in Poland from the late 1960s, was based on technology purchased from Fiat

Pewex, a chain of hard currency stores which sold unobtainable Western goods and items

Standard-bearers of the 27 Tank Regiment, mid-1960s

Dziady, a theatrical event that spawned nationwide protests

Bar mleczny, a former milk bar in Gdynia. These canteens offered value meals to citizens throughout Communist Poland.

Demonstrators in Gdynia carry the body of Zbigniew Godlewski, who was shot and killed during the protests of 1970

Trybuna Ludu (People's Tribune) was a government-sponsored newspaper and propaganda outlet

Andrzej Wajda was a key figure in Polish cinematography during and after the fall of communism

Queue line, a frequent scene at times of shortages of consumer goods in the 1970s and 1980s

Allegory of communist censorship, Poland, 1989. Newspapers visible are from all Eastern Bloc countries including East Germany, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia

Millions cheer Pope John Paul II in his first visit to Poland as pontiff in 1979

The 237-meter Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, constructed in 1955. At the time of its completion it was one of the tallest buildings in Europe

Lech Wałęsa speaks during the strike at the Gdańsk Shipyard, August 1980

25th anniversary of Solidarity, summer 2005 in Gdańsk

Polish university students during lecture, 1964

General Wojciech Jaruzelski led the People's Republic during its final decade and became one of the key players in the systemic transition of 1989–90

One of many schools constructed in central Warsaw in the 1960s

Apartment block residences built in People's Poland loom over the urban landscape of the entire country. In the past administratively distributed for permanent use, after 1989 most were sold to residents at discounted prices.

Jerzy Popiełuszko was a Roman Catholic priest who supported the anti-communist opposition. He was murdered by the Security Services "SB" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Adam Michnik, an influential leader in the transformation of Poland

A demographics graph illustrating population growth between 1900 and 2010. The highest birth rate was during the Second Polish Republic and consequently under the Polish People's Republic.

A typical socialist apartment building in Warsaw representing the style of functionalism, built due to the ever-growing population and high birth rate at the time

Konstantin Rokossovsky, pictured in a Polish uniform, was Marshal of the Soviet Union and Marshal of Poland until being deposed during the Polish October in 1956.

Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military officer, politician and de facto leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989.

- Wojciech Jaruzelski

The history of Poland from 1945 to 1989 spans the period of communist rule imposed over Poland after the end of World War II.

- History of Poland (1945–1989)

The growing strength and activity of the opposition caused the government of Wojciech Jaruzelski to declare martial law in December 1981.

- History of Poland (1945–1989)

This question, as well as many other facts about Poland in the years 1945–1989, are presently under the investigation of government historians at the Instytut Pamięci Narodowej (IPN), whose publications reveal facts from the Communist-era archives.

- Wojciech Jaruzelski

Kania resigned under Soviet pressure in October and was succeeded by Wojciech Jaruzelski, who had been Defence minister since 1968 and Premier since February.

- Polish People's Republic

During the Gierek era, Poland borrowed large sums from Western creditors in exchange for promise of social and economic reforms.

- Polish People's Republic

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Polish T-55 tanks enter the town of Zbąszyń while moving east towards Poznań, 13 December 1981

Martial law in Poland

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Martial law in Poland (Stan wojenny w Polsce) existed between 13 December 1981 and 22 July 1983.

Gierek in the White House with President Gerald Ford, 1974

Edward Gierek (right) with President Jimmy Carter (left) during his state visit to Warsaw, 1977. The loans and Solidarity were among the chief topics discussed

General Jaruzelski was determined to suppress any opposition along with the Solidarity Movement

A censored regional newspaper that reported about the Bydgoszcz events, in which the militia abused Solidarity members. The censorship was to prevent the slander of state services

The Military Council of National Salvation (WRON), which was founded on 13 December and presided over the military junta. Its Polish abbreviation "WRONa" means a crow bird, and members of the council were known to the opposition as evil "Crows"

ZOMO squads with police batons preparing to disperse and beat protesters. The sarcastic caption reads "outstretched hands of understanding" or "outstretched hands for agreement", with batons ironically symbolizing hands

The former PZPR headquarters in Gdańsk (right). ZOMO machine-gunned demonstrators from the rooftop

Food, alcohol, and cigarettes rationing card

Students in Edinburgh, Scotland collecting signatures for a petition in support of Solidarity in 1981

Jaruzelski in a TV studio announcing the introduction of martial law

Units of the Citizens' Militia and ZOMO race to disperse crowds of protesters

The 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 movement.

The new First Secretary, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, was determined to put an end to the demonstrations by force if necessary.

After the fall of Communism in Poland in 1989, members of a parliamentary commission determined that martial law had been imposed in clear violation of the country's constitution, which had authorized the executive to declare martial law only between parliamentary sessions (at other times the decision was to be taken by the Sejm).

Solidarity (Polish trade union)

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Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland.

30th anniversary mural depicting the murdered priest Jerzy Popiełuszko who publicly supported Solidarity during the 1980s

Students in Scotland collect signatures for a petition in support of Solidarity in 1981

Solidarity, ETUC Demonstration—Budapest 2011

Solidarity's leader Lech Wałęsa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and the union is widely recognised as having played a central role in the Historyend of Communist rule in Poland.

The survival of Solidarity was an unprecedented event not only in Poland, a satellite state of the USSR ruled in practice by a one-party Communist state, but the whole of the Eastern bloc.

During the Communist era, the 38 regional delegates were arrested and jailed when martial law came into effect on 13 December 1981 under General Wojciech Jaruzelski.

Edward Gierek

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Polish Communist politician and de facto leader of Poland between 1970 and 1980.

Gierek and wife contribute on Party Volunteer Labor Day

First Secretary Edward Gierek (second from left)

Gierek participated in hundreds of field trips and visitations, meeting ordinary people and seeking their feedback

Katowice Steelworks, Gierek's major industrial project

1973 Polish Fiat 126p, nicknamed maluch (tiny)

Edward Gierek personally made the official opening of the new Warszawa Centralna railway station on 5 December 1975.

Gierek with East German leader Erich Honecker

Grave of Edward and Stanisława Gierek in Sosnowiec

Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as First Secretary of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) in the Polish People's Republic in 1970.

One faction, led by Edward Babiuch and Piotr Jaroszewicz, wanted him to remain at the helm, while another, led by Stanisław Kania and Wojciech Jaruzelski, was less interested in preserving his leadership.

According to sociologist and left-wing politician Maciej Gdula, the social and cultural transformation that took place in Poland in the 1970s was even more fundamental than the one which occurred in the 1990s, following the Hpolitical transition.

Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981

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The Polish crisis of 1980–1981, associated with the emergence of the Solidarity mass movement in the Polish People's Republic, challenged the rule of the Polish United Workers' Party and Poland's alignment with the Soviet Union.

For the first time however, the Kremlin abstained from military intervention, unlike on previous occasions such as the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and thus left the Polish leadership under General Wojciech Jaruzelski to impose martial law to deal with the opposition on their own.