1.
Solidarity (Polish trade union)
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Solidarity is a Polish labour union that was founded on 17 September 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa. It was the first trade union in a Warsaw Pact country that was not controlled by a communist party and its membership reached 9.5 million members before its September 1981 Congress, which constituted one third of the total working-age population of Poland. In the 1980s, Solidarity was a broad social movement, using the methods of civil resistance to advance the causes of workers rights. In the unions clandestine years, the Pope and the United States provided significant financial support, the round table talks between the government and the Solidarity-led opposition led to semi-free elections in 1989. By the end of August, a Solidarity-led coalition government was formed, in December 1990, Wałęsa was elected President of Poland. Since then Solidarity has become a traditional, liberal trade union. Its membership had dropped to 680,000 by 2010 and 400,000 by 2011, in the 1970s Polands government raised food prices while wage stagnated. This led to the June 1976 protests and subsequent government crackdown on dissent, groups like the KOR and ROPCIO began to form underground networks to monitor and oppose the governments abusive behavior. Labour unions formed an important part of this network, in 1979, the Polish economy shrank for the first time since World War II by 2 percent. The foreign debt reached around $18 billion by 1980, for participation in the illegal trade union, Anna Walentynowicz was fired from work at the Gdańsk Shipyard on 7 August 1980,5 months before she was due to retire. This management decision enraged the workers of the Shipyard, who staged a strike action on 14 August defending Anna Walentynowicz, Anna Waletynowicz and Alina Pienkowska transformed a strike over bread and butter issues into a solidarity strike in sympathy with other striking establishments. Solidarity emerged on 31 August 1980 in Gdańsk at the Lenin Shipyards when the communist government of Poland signed the agreement allowing for its existence, on 17 September 1980, over 20 Inter-factory Founding Committees of free trade unions merged at the congress into one national organization NSZZ Solidarity. It officially registered on 10 November 1980, Wałęsa and others formed a broad anti-Soviet social movement ranging from people associated with the Catholic Church to members of the anti-Soviet left. Solidarity advocated non-violence in its members activities, in September 1981 Solidaritys first national congress elected Wałęsa as a president and adopted a republican program, the Self-governing Republic. The government attempted to destroy the union with the law of 1981 and several years of repression. In Poland, the Roundtable Talks between the government and Solidarity-led opposition led to elections in 1989. By the end of August a Solidarity-led coalition government was formed, since 1989 Solidarity has become a more traditional trade union, and had relatively little impact on the political scene of Poland in the early 1990s. A political arm founded in 1996 as Solidarity Electoral Action won the election in 1997
2.
Polish language
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Polish is a West Slavic language spoken primarily in Poland and is the native language of the Poles. It belongs to the Lechitic subgroup of the West Slavic languages, Polish is the official language of Poland, but it is also used throughout the world by Polish minorities in other countries. It is one of the languages of the European Union. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet, which has 9 additions to the letters of the basic Latin script, Polish is closely related to Kashubian, Silesian, Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian, Czech and Slovak. It is also the second most widely spoken Slavic language, after Russian, in history, Polish is known to be an important language, both diplomatically and academically in Central and Eastern Europe. Today, Polish is spoken by over 38.5 million people as their first language in Poland. It is also spoken as a language in western parts of Belarus and Ukraine, west and central Lithuania, as well as the northern parts of the Czech Republic. There are 55 million Polish language speakers around the world, Polish began to emerge as a distinct language around the 10th century, the process largely triggered by the establishment and development of the Polish state. With Christianity, Poland also adopted the Latin alphabet, which made it possible to write down Polish, the precursor to modern Polish is the Old Polish language. Ultimately, Polish is thought to descend from the unattested Proto-Slavic language, Poland is the most linguistically homogeneous European country, nearly 97% of Polands citizens declare Polish as their first language. Elsewhere, Poles constitute large minorities in Lithuania, Belarus, Polish is the most widely used minority language in Lithuanias Vilnius County and is found elsewhere in southeastern Lithuania. There are significant numbers of Polish speakers among Polish emigrants and their descendants in many other countries, in the United States, Polish Americans number more than 11 million but most of them cannot speak Polish fluently. The largest concentrations of Polish speakers reported in the census were found in three states, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey. Enough people in these areas speak Polish that PNC Financial Services offer services available in Polish at all of their machines in addition to English and Spanish. According to the 2011 census there are now over 500,000 people in England, in Canada, there is a significant Polish Canadian population, There are 242,885 speakers of Polish according to the 2006 census, with a particular concentration in Toronto and Montreal. The geographical distribution of the Polish language was affected by the territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II. Poles settled in the Recovered Territories in the west and north and this tendency toward a homogeneity also stems from the vertically integrated nature of the authoritarian Polish Peoples Republic. The inhabitants of different regions of Poland still speak standard Polish somewhat differently, first-language speakers of Polish have no trouble understanding each other, and non-native speakers may have difficulty distinguishing regional variations
3.
Eastern Bloc
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The Eastern Bloc was the group of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact. The terms Communist Bloc and Soviet Bloc were also used to denote groupings of states aligned with the Soviet Union, although these terms might include states outside Central and Eastern Europe. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who viewed the Soviet Union as a socialist island, Eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Bessarabia in northern Romania were recognized as parts of the Soviet sphere of influence. Lithuania was added in a secret protocol in September 1939. During the Occupation of East Poland by the Soviet Union, the Soviets liquidated the Polish state, Soviet authorities immediately started a campaign of sovietization of the newly Soviet-annexed areas. Soviet authorities collectivized agriculture, and nationalized and redistributed private and state-owned Polish property, the international community condemned this initial annexation of the Baltic states and deemed it illegal. In June 1941, Germany broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact by invading the Soviet Union, from the time of this invasion to 1944, the areas annexed by the Soviet Union were part of Germanys Ostland. Thereafter, the Soviet Union began to push German forces westward through a series of battles on the Eastern Front, from 1943 to 1945, several conferences regarding Post-War Europe occurred that, in part, addressed the potential Soviet annexation and control of countries in Central Europe. I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he wont try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace. While meeting with Stalin and Roosevelt in Tehran in 1943, Churchill stated that Britain was vitally interested in restoring Poland as an independent country, Britain did not press the matter for fear that it would become a source of inter-allied friction. In February 1945, at the conference at Yalta, Stalin demanded a Soviet sphere of influence in Central Europe. Stalin eventually was convinced by Churchill and Roosevelt not to dismember Germany, after resistance by Churchill and Roosevelt, Stalin promised a re-organization of the current pro-Soviet government on a broader democratic basis in Poland. He stated that the new primary task would be to prepare elections. In addition to reparations, Stalin pushed for war booty, which would permit the Soviet Union to directly seize property from conquered nations without quantitative or qualitative limitation, a clause was added permitting this to occur with some limitations. At first, the Soviets concealed their role in other Eastern Bloc politics, as a young communist was told in East Germany, its got to look democratic, but we must have everything in our control. Moscow-trained cadres were put into crucial power positions to fulfill orders regarding sociopolitical transformation, elimination of the bourgeoisies social and financial power by expropriation of landed and industrial property was accorded absolute priority. These measures were publicly billed as reforms rather than socioeconomic transformations, the bloc system permitted the Soviet Union to exercise domestic control indirectly. Crucial departments such as responsible for personnel, general police, secret police
4.
Anti-communism
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Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. It reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States, anti-communism has been an element of movements of many different positions, including capitalist, liberal, socialist, anarchist, and fascist viewpoints. They accuse communists of causing several famines, such as the Russian Famine of 1921, some anti-communists see both communism and fascism as totalitarianism, seeing similarity between the actions of communist and fascist governments. Opponents argue that communist parties that have come to power have tended to be intolerant of political opposition. Communist states have also accused of creating a new ruling class, with powers. Examples of left-wing critics of Communist states and parties are Boris Souveraine, Bayard Rustin, Irving Howe, the American Federation of Labor has always been strongly anti-Communist. The more leftist CIO purged its Communists in 1947 and has been staunchly anti-Communist ever since, in Britain, the Labour Party strenuously resisted Communist efforts to infiltrate its ranks and take control of locals in the 1930s. Although some anarchists describe themselves as communists, all anarchists criticize authoritarian Communist parties and states and they argue that Marxist concepts such as dictatorship of the proletariat and state ownership of the means of production are anathema to anarchism. Some anarchists criticize communism from an individualist point of view, the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin debated with Karl Marx in the First International, arguing that the Marxist state is another form of oppression. He loathed the idea of a vanguard party ruling the masses from above, anarchists initially participated in, and rejoiced over, the 1917 revolution as an example of workers taking power for themselves. However, after the October revolution, it became evident that the Bolsheviks, what is needed is local construction by local forces … Russia has already become a Soviet Republic only in name. Many anarchists fought against Russian, Spanish and Greek Communists, many were killed by them, such as Lev Chernyi, Camillo Berneri, neither Marxs 10-point plan nor the rest of the manifesto say anything about who has the right to carry out the plan. Milton Friedman argued that the absence of economic activity makes it too easy for repressive political leaders to grant themselves coercive powers. Friedmans view was shared by Friedrich Hayek and John Maynard Keynes. Objectivists who follow Ayn Rand are strongly anti-Communist and this is demonstrated, they believe, by the comparative prosperity of free market and socialist economies. Objectivist Ayn Rand writes that communist leaders typically claim to work for the common good, many ex-communists have turned into anti-communists. Mikhail Gorbachev turned from a Communist into a social democrat, milovan Đilas, was a former Yugoslav Communist official, who became a prominent dissident and critic of Communism. Leszek Kołakowski was a Polish Communist who became a famous anti-communist, the God That Failed is a 1949 book which collects together six essays with the testimonies of a number of famous ex-Communists, who were writers and journalists
5.
Revolutions of 1989
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The Revolutions of 1989 were part of a revolutionary wave in the late 1980s and early 1990s that resulted in the end of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. The period is called the Autumn of Nations, a play on the term Spring of Nations sometimes used to describe the Revolutions of 1848. Socialism had been gaining momentum among working class citizens of the world since the 19th century and these culminated in the early 20th century, when several states and colonies formed their own communist parties. Many of the countries involved had hierarchical structures with monarchic governments, Socialism was undesirable within the circles of the ruling classes in the late 19th/early 20th century states, as such, communism was repressed. Its champions suffered persecution while people were discouraged from adopting it and this had been the practice even in states which identified as exercising a multi-party system. The Russian Revolution of 1917 saw the first communist state in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, during the period between the world wars, communism had been on the rise in many parts of the world, especially in towns and cities. This led to a series of purges in many countries to stifle the movement, violent resistance to this repression led to a decrease in support for communism in Central and Eastern Europe. In the early stages of World War II, both Nazi Germany and the USSR invaded and occupied the countries of Eastern Europe after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Germany then turned against and invaded the USSR, the battles of this Eastern Front were the largest in history. The USSR joined with the Allies and in conferences at Tehran and Yalta, the USSR fought the Germans to a standstill and finally began driving them back, reaching Berlin before the end of the war. Nazi ideology was violently anti-communist, and the Nazis brutally suppressed communist movements in the countries it occupied, Communists played a large part in the resistance to the Nazis in these countries. As the Soviets forced the Germans back, they assumed control of these devastated areas. After World War II, the Soviets ensured that communists loyal to Moscow took power in the countries it occupied, the Soviets retained troops throughout these territories. The Cold War saw these states, bound together by the Warsaw Pact, have continuing tensions with the capitalist west, the Chinese Revolution established communism in China in 1949. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, a spontaneous nationwide anti-authoritarian revolt, similarly in 1968, the USSR repressed the Prague Spring by organizing the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. Labour turmoil in Poland during 1980 had led to the formation of the independent trade union, Solidarity, led by Lech Wałęsa, during the mid-1980s, a younger generation of Soviet apparatchiks, led by Gorbachev, began advocating fundamental reform in order to reverse years of Brezhnev stagnation. After decades of growth, the Soviet Union was now facing a period of economic decline and needed Western technology. The costs of maintaining its military, the KGB, subsidies to client states etc. further strained the moribund Soviet economy. The first signs of major reform came in 1986 when Gorbachev launched a policy of glasnost in the Soviet Union, and emphasized the need for perestroika
6.
Polish People's Republic
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The Polish Peoples Republic covers the history of Poland under Communist control between 1952 and 1990. The name was defined by the Constitution of 1952 which was based on the 1936 Soviet Constitution, between 1947 and 1952, the name of the Polish state was the Republic of Poland, in accordance with the temporary Constitution of 1947. The Soviet Union had much influence over internal and external affairs, and Red Army forces were stationed in Poland. In 1945, Soviet generals and advisors formed 80% of the cadre of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish United Workers Party became the dominant political party, officially making the country a Communist state, at the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Stalin was able to present his western allies, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, with a fait accompli in Poland. His armed forces were in occupation of the country, and his agents, the USSR was in the process of incorporating the lands in eastern Poland which it had occupied between 1939 and 1941. In compensation, the USSR awarded Poland German territories in Pomerania, Silesia and these awards were confirmed at the Tripartite Conference of Berlin, otherwise known as the Potsdam Conference in August 1945 after the end of the war in Europe. Stalin was determined that Polands new government would become his tool towards making Poland a Soviet puppet state controlled by the communists. He had severed relations with the Polish government-in-exile in London in 1943, the communists held a majority of key posts in this new government, and with Soviet support they soon gained almost total control of the country, rigging all elections. This important victory would be their last, however, as the communists, tightening their grip on power, many of their opponents decided to leave the country, and others were put on staged trials and sentenced to many years of imprisonment or execution. In June 1946 the Three Times Yes referendum was held on a number of issues—abolition of the Senate of Poland, land reform, the communist-controlled Interior Ministry issued results showing that all three questions passed overwhelmingly. Years later, however, evidence was uncovered showing that the referendum had been tainted by massive fraud, Gomułka then took advantage of a split in the Polish Socialist Party. One faction, which included Prime Minister Edward Osóbka-Morawski, wanted to join forces with the Peasant Party, another faction, led by Józef Cyrankiewicz, argued that the Socialists should support the Communists in carrying through a socialist program, while opposing the imposition of one-party rule. Pre-war political hostilities continued to influence events, and Mikołajczyk would not agree to form a front with the Socialists. The Communists played on these divisions by dismissing Osóbka-Morawski and making Cyrankiewicz Prime Minister, between the referendum and the January 1947 general elections, the opposition was subjected to persecution. Only the candidates of the pro-government Democratic Bloc were allowed to campaign completely unmolested, meanwhile, several opposition candidates were prevented from campaigning at all. Mikołajczyks Polish Peoples Party in particular suffered persecution, it had opposed the abolition of the Senate as a test of strength against the government, although it supported the other two questions, the Communist-dominated government branded the PSL traitors. This massive oppression was overseen by Gomułka and the provisional president, the official results of the election showed the Democratic Bloc with 80.1 percent of the vote
7.
Martial law in Poland
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Thousands of opposition activists were jailed without charge and as many as 91 killed. Although martial law was lifted in 1983, many of the prisoners were not released until a general amnesty in 1986. Led by General of the Army Wojciech Jaruzelski and the Military Council of National Salvation usurped for itself powers reserved for wartime, the plan was presented to the government of the Soviet Union before the declaration in March 1981. Appearing on Polish television at 6,00 AM on December 13,1981, General Jaruzelski said, Today I address myself to you as a soldier, I address you concerning extraordinarily important questions. Our homeland is at the edge of an abyss, the achievements of many generations and the Polish home that has been built up from the dust are about to turn into ruins. State structures are ceasing to function, each day delivers new blows to the waning economy. /. / The atmosphere of conflicts, misunderstanding, hatred causes moral degradation, surpasses the limits of toleration. Strikes, the readiness to strike, actions of protest have become a norm of life, even school youth are being drawn into this. Yesterday evening, many buildings remained seized. The cries are voiced to physical reprisals with the reds, with people who have different opinions, the cases of terror, threats and moral vendetta, of even direct violence are on the rise. A wave of impudent crimes, robberies and burglaries is running across the country, the underground business sharks fortunes, already reaching millions, are growing. Chaos and demoralization have reached the magnitude of a catastrophe, people have reached the limit of psychological toleration. Many people are struck by despair, not only days, but hours as well are bringing forth the all-national disaster. /. / Citizens. The load of responsibility that falls on me on this moment in the Polish history is huge. It is my duty to take this responsibility - concerning the future of Poland, I declare, that today the Military Council of National Salvation has been formed. In accordance with the Constitution, the State Council has imposed martial law all over the country, I wish that everyone understood the motives of our actions. A military coup, military dictatorship is not our goal. /. / In longer perspective, the Military Council of National Salvation does not replace constitutional organs of power. Its only purpose is to keep the balance of the country, to create guarantees that give a chance to restore order. This is the way to bring the country out of the crisis
8.
Polish Round Table Agreement
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The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, Poland from February 6, to April 5,1989. The government initiated the discussion with the trade union Solidarność. Despite an attempt by the government to crack down on trade unionism, in addition there was fear of a social explosion due to economic malaise and runaway inflation that had depressed Polish living standards and deepened public anger and frustration. By 1988 the authorities began serious talks with the opposition, in September 1988, when a wave of strikes was coming to an end, a secret meeting was held which included Lech Wałęsa and Minister of Internal Affairs Czesław Kiszczak. They agreed on holding the so-called Round Table talks in the future to plan out the course of action to be undertaken in the country. The Round Table talks began on February 6,1989 at 2,23 pm CET and they included the solidarity opposition faction and the coalition government faction. The talks were held in the Council of Ministers Office, the meetings were co-chaired by Wałęsa and Kiszczak. The Polish communists, led by General Jaruzelski, hoped to co-opt prominent opposition leaders into the group without making major changes in the political power structure. In reality, the talks radically altered the shape of the Polish government, the events in Poland precipitated and gave momentum to the fall of the entire European communist bloc, the Yalta arrangement collapsed soon after the events in Poland. This was caused by a mutual distrust of the factions and an unwillingness of the government faction to relinquish power. Despite their fears a number of important documents were signed on April 5 and these documents became known as the Round Table Agreement. An agreement was signed on April 4,1989, Solidarność became a legitimate and legal political party. Free election to 35% of the seats in Sejm and a free election to the Senate was assured. The election of June 4,1989 brought a victory to Solidarność, 99% of all the seats in the Senate. Jaruzelski, whose name was the one the Communist Party allowed on the ballot for the presidency. The 65–35 division was abolished as well, after the first truly free Sejm elections. The Round Table sessions were of importance to the future political developments in Poland. They paved the way to a free and democratic Poland as well as the abolition of communism in Poland
9.
Polish legislative election, 1989
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The Polish legislative election of 1989 was the tenth election to the Sejm, the parliament of the Polish Peoples Republic, and the first election to the recreated Senate of Poland. The first round took place on 4 June, right after the 1989 June 4th Beijing Tiananmen Square massacre in China, with a second round on 18 June. It was the closest thing to an election in the country since 1928. Not all parliamentary seats were contested, but the victory of the Solidarity opposition in the freely contested races paved the way to the fall of Communism in Poland. Solidarity swept all of the contested seats in the Sejm. In the elections aftermath, Poland became the first country of the Eastern Bloc in which democratically elected representatives gained real power, in May and August 1988 massive waves of workers strikes broke out in the Polish Peoples Republic. The strikes, as well as demonstrations, continued throughout spring and summer. These strikes were organized by local activists, who had no idea that their leaders from Warsaw had already started secret negotiations with the communists. An agreement was reached by the communist Polish United Workers Party, the final agreement was signed on 4 April 1989, ending communist rule in Poland. As a result, real power was to be vested in a newly created bicameral legislature. Soon after the agreement was signed, Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa travelled to Rome, perhaps the most important decision reached during the Round Table talks was to allow for partially free elections to be held in Poland. All seats to the newly recreated Senate of Poland were to be elected democratically, the remaining 65% of the seats were reserved for the PZPR and its satellite parties. In addition, all 35 seats elected via the country-wide list were reserved for the PZPRs candidates provided they gained a certain quota of support and this was to ensure that the most notable leaders of the Party were elected. The outcome of the election was largely unpredictable, pre-electoral opinion polls were inconclusive, after all, Poland had not had a truly fair election since the 1920s, so there was little precedent to go by. The last contested elections were those of 1947, in the midst of communist-orchestrated violent oppression and this time, there would be open and relatively fair competition for many seats, both between communist and Solidarity candidates, and in some cases, between various communist candidates. While censorship was still in force, the opposition was allowed to campaign much more freely than before, with a new newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, Solidarity was also given access to televised media, being allocated 23% of electoral time on Polish Television. There were also no restrictions on financial support and it was clear that the Communists were unpopular, but there were no hard numbers as to how low support for them would actually fall. A rather flawed survey carried in April, days after the Round Table Agreement was signed, suggested that over 60% of the surveyed wanted Solidarity to cooperate with the government
10.
Polish presidential election, 1990
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Presidential elections were held in Poland on 25 November 1990, with a second round on 9 December. They were the first direct elections in the history of Poland. Before World War II, presidents were elected by the Sejm, the leader of the Solidarity movement, Lech Wałęsa, won the first round. However, he did not earn over 50% of the vote, Wałęsa faced Polish-Canadian businessman Stanisław Tymiński in the second round, defeating him easily. Wałęsa was an electrician and union leader with the image of an emotional, the first non-communist prime minister, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, was very popular and widely considered a front-runner. He appeared as a respectable and intellectual leader than Wałęsa. But also as more of a compromiser, however, in the first round, Mazowiecki finished in a distant third, with only 18.7 percent of the vote, well behind Tymiński. The reasons for Tymińskis unexpected success remain unclear, another factor was that Tymińskis use of political-marketing methods unknown in Poland at the time. A key element of his campaign was an omnipresent black briefcase, Although the elections passed without the briefcase being opened, its presence attracted constant attention. Tymińskis adversaries adopted a strategy, the daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported that Tymiński had had contact with the secret police. Despite Tymińskis defeat, he had not only humiliated Mazowiecki, after the election Tymiński tried to establish a new political party, but quickly disappeared from the political scene in Poland. A Although an independent, Cimoszewicz was supported by Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland, Obwieszczenie PKW z dn.26 XI1990 r. Nr 83, poz.483 Obwieszczenie PKW z dn.10 XII1990 r
11.
President of Poland
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The President of the Republic of Poland is the Polish head of state. His or her rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Poland, the president heads the executive branch. In addition the president has a right to dissolve the parliament in certain cases, the first president of Poland, Gabriel Narutowicz, was sworn in as president of the Second Republic on 11 December 1922. He was elected by the National Assembly under the terms of the 1921 Constitution of Poland, previously Józef Piłsudski had been Chief of State under the provisional 1919 Constitution. Who was fed up with regional bickering, staged a coup deposed the president and had the National Assembly elect a new one, Ignacy Mościcki, under the thumb of Sanacja. Just before Piłsudski died, parliament passed the 1935 April Constitution of Poland which incorporated Piłsudskis ideals, Mościcki continued as president until he resigned following the German invasion of Poland in 1939. The transfer from Mościcki to Raczkiewicz was in accordance with Article 24 of the 1935 April Constitution and he served until the 1952 Constitution eliminated the office of the president. Following the 1989 amendments to the constitution restored the presidency, Wojciech Jaruzelski. In Polands first direct election, Lech Wałęsa won and was sworn in on 22 December 1990. The office of the president was continued in the Constitution of 1997, which now provides the requirements for, the duties of, the President of Poland is elected directly by the people to serve for five years and can be reelected only once. Pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution, the President is elected by an absolute majority, if no candidate succeeds in passing this threshold, a second round of voting is held with the participation of the two candidates with the largest and second largest number of votes respectively. The President has the right to initiate the legislative process, the President also makes decisions on award of highest academic titles, as well as state distinctions and orders. In addition, he has the right of clemency, viz. he can dismiss final court verdicts. The President performs his duties with the help of the offices, the Chancellery of the President, the Office of National Security. Several properties are owned by the Office of the President and are used by the Head of State as his or her official residence, the Presidential Palace in Warsaw is largest palace in Warsaw and the official seat of the President of the Republic of Poland since 1993. The first presidential tenant was Lech Wałęsa when he moved to the Palace from Belweder in 1994, the palace also serves as an official residence for heads of state on official visits to Poland and other important guests. Presidential Castle in Wisła in a built for the Habsburgs as their hunting cottage. Since 2002 it is again a property of the President, restored and opened in 2005 by the President Aleksander Kwaśniewski and it is today a recreational and conference centre for the President and a hotel
12.
Communism
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Communism includes a variety of schools of thought, which broadly include Marxism, anarchism, and the political ideologies grouped around both. The primary element which will enable this transformation, according to analysis, is the social ownership of the means of production. Likewise, some communists defend both theory and practice, while others argue that historical practice diverged from communist principles to a greater or lesser degree, according to Richard Pipes, the idea of a classless, egalitarian society first emerged in Ancient Greece. At one time or another, various small communist communities existed, in the medieval Christian church, for example, some monastic communities and religious orders shared their land and their other property. Communist thought has also traced back to the works of the 16th-century English writer Thomas More. In his treatise Utopia, More portrayed a society based on ownership of property. In the 17th century, communist thought surfaced again in England, criticism of the idea of private property continued into the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, through such thinkers as Jean Jacques Rousseau in France. Later, following the upheaval of the French Revolution, communism emerged as a political doctrine, in the early 19th century, Various social reformers founded communities based on common ownership. But unlike many previous communist communities, they replaced the emphasis with a rational. Notable among them were Robert Owen, who founded New Harmony in Indiana, in its modern form, communism grew out of the socialist movement in 19th-century Europe. As the Industrial Revolution advanced, socialist critics blamed capitalism for the misery of the new class of urban factory workers who labored under often-hazardous conditions. Foremost among these critics were Marx and his associate Friedrich Engels, in 1848, Marx and Engels offered a new definition of communism and popularized the term in their famous pamphlet The Communist Manifesto. The 1917 October Revolution in Russia set the conditions for the rise to power of Lenins Bolsheviks. The revolution transferred power to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, in which the Bolsheviks had a majority, the event generated a great deal of practical and theoretical debate within the Marxist movement. Marx predicted that socialism and communism would be built upon foundations laid by the most advanced capitalist development, Russia, however, was one of the poorest countries in Europe with an enormous, largely illiterate peasantry and a minority of industrial workers. Marx had explicitly stated that Russia might be able to skip the stage of bourgeois rule, the moderate Mensheviks opposed Lenins Bolshevik plan for socialist revolution before capitalism was more fully developed. The Great Purge of 1937–1938 was Stalins attempt to destroy any possible opposition within the Communist Party and its leading role in the Second World War saw the emergence of the Soviet Union as a superpower, with strong influence over Eastern Europe and parts of Asia. The European and Japanese empires were shattered and Communist parties played a role in many independence movements
13.
Polish United Workers' Party
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The Polish United Workers Party was the Communist party which governed the Polish Peoples Republic from 1948 to 1989. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism, until 1989, the PUWP held dictatorial powers, and controlled an unwieldy bureaucracy, the military, the secret police, and the economy. Its main goal was to create a Communist society and help to propagate Communism all over the world, on paper, the party was organised on the basis of democratic centralism, which assumed a democratic appointment of authorities, making decisions, and managing its activity. Yet in fact, the key roles were played by the Central Committee, its Politburo and Secretariat, between sessions, party conferences of the regional, county, district and work committees were taking place. The smallest organizational unit of the PUWP was the Fundamental Party Organization, in the crowning time of the PUWPs development it consisted of over 3.5 million members. It was called the system of the state and economy management. In certain areas of the economy, e. g. in agriculture, the system was controlled with an approval of the PUWP and by its allied parties, the United Peoples Party. After martial law began, the Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth was founded to organize these, the Polish United Workers Party was established at the unification congress of the Communist Polish Workers Party and Polish Socialist Party during meetings held from 15 to 21 December 1948. The unification was possible because the PPS activists who opposed unification had been forced out of the party, similarly, the members of the PPR who were accused of rightist – nationalistic deviation were expelled. Thus, for all intents and purposes, the PUWP was the PPR under a new name and it is believed that it was Joseph Stalin who put pressure on Bolesław Bierut and Jakub Berman to remove Gomułka and Spychalski as well as their followers from power in 1948. It is estimated that over 25% of socialists were removed from power or expelled from political life and he had served as President since 1944. After a new constitution abolished the presidency, Bierut took over as Prime Minister and he remained party leader until his death in 1956. Bierut oversaw the trials of many Polish wartime military leaders, such as General Stanisław Tatar, Bierut signed many of those death sentences. Bieruts death in Moscow in 1956 gave rise to speculation about poisoning or a suicide. In 1956, shortly after the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the most well known members included Franciszek Jóźwiak, Wiktor Kłosiewicz, Zenon Nowak, Aleksander Zawadzki, Władysław Dworakowski, Hilary Chełchowski. The Puławian faction - the name comes from the Puławska Street in Warsaw, after the events of Poznań June, they successfully backed the candidature of Władysław Gomułka for First Secretary of party, thus imposing a major setback upon Natolinians. Among the most prominent members were Roman Zambrowski and Leon Kasman, both factions disappeared towards the end of the 1950s. Initially very popular for his reforms and seeking a Polish way to socialism, in the 1960s he supported persecution of the Roman Catholic Church and intellectuals
14.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
15.
One-party state
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All other parties are either outlawed or allowed to take only a limited and controlled participation in elections. One-party states explain themselves through various methods, most often, proponents of a one-party state argue that the existence of separate parties runs counter to national unity. Others argue that the one party is the vanguard of the people, the Soviet government argued that multiple parties represented the class struggle, which was absent in Soviet society, and so the Soviet Union only had one party, the Communist Party. Some one-party states only outlaw opposition parties, while allowing allied parties to exist as part of a permanent coalition such as a popular front. However, these parties are largely or completely subservient to the ruling party, examples of this are the Peoples Republic of China under the United Front, or the National Front in former East Germany. Others may allow non-party members to run for seats, as was the case with Taiwans Tangwai movement in the 1970s and 1980s. Within their own countries, dominant parties ruling over one-party states are referred to simply as the Party. One-party systems often arise from decolonization because one party has had a dominant role in liberation or in independence struggles. One-party states are often, but not always, considered to be authoritarian or totalitarian, however, not all authoritarian or totalitarian states operate based on one-party rule. Some, especially absolute monarchies and certain military dictatorships, have all political parties illegal. The term communist state is used in the West to apply to states in which the ruling party subscribes to a form of Marxism–Leninism. While the role of the Communist Party is enshrined in the constitution, no party is permitted to campaign or run candidates for election, the party was conceived by the original Black American settlers and their descendants who referred to themselves as Americo-Liberians. Initially, its ideology was influenced by that of the Whig Party in the United States. Over time it developed into a powerful Masonic Order that ruled every aspect of Liberian society for well over a century until it was overthrown in 1980, while the True Whig Party still exists today, its influence has substantially declined
16.
Communist state
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A communist state is a state that is usually administered and governed by a single party representing the proletariat, guided by Marxist–Leninist philosophy, with the aim of achieving communism. The term Communist state is used by Western historians, political scientists, Communist states can be administered by a single, centralised party apparatus, although countries such as the DPRK have several parties. These parties usually are Marxist–Leninist or some variation thereof, with the aim of achieving socialism. Marx saw that in his time, the new nation states were characterized by increasingly intensified class contradiction between the capitalist class and the working class it ruled over. The state ruled by the class during the transition into classless society is called the dictatorship of the proletariat. Vladimir Lenin created revolutionary vanguard theory in an attempt to expand on the concept, during the 20th century, the worlds first constitutionally socialist state was in Russia in 1917. In 1922, it joined other territories of the empire to become the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. After World War II, the Soviet Army occupied much of Eastern Europe, most Communist states in Eastern Europe were allied with the USSR, except for Yugoslavia which declared itself non-aligned. In 1949, after a war against Japanese occupation and a war resulting in a Communist victory. Communist states were established in Cuba, Vietnam, Laos. A Communist state was established in North Korea, although it withdrew from the Communist movement. In 1989, the Communist states in Eastern Europe collapsed under pressure during a wave of non-violent movements which led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Today, the existing Communist states in the world are in China, Cuba, Laos, Communist states share similar institutions, which are organized on the premise that the Communist party is a vanguard of the proletariat and represents the long-term interests of the people. The doctrine of democratic centralism, which was developed by Vladimir Lenin as a set of principles to be used in the affairs of the communist party, is extended to society at large. When used within a party, democratic centralism is meant to prevent factionalism. When applied to a state, democratic centralism creates a one-party system. The constitutions of most socialist states describe their system as a form of democracy. Thus, they recognize the sovereignty of the people as embodied in a series of parliamentary institutions
17.
Politics of Poland
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Politics of Poland takes place in the framework of a democracy, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government of a multi-party system and the President is the head of state. Executive power is exercised by the President and the Government, which consists of a council of ministers led by the Prime Minister and its members are typically chosen from a majority coalition in the lower house of parliament, although exceptions to this rule are not uncommon. The government is formally announced by the president, and must pass a motion of confidence in the Sejm within two weeks, legislative power is vested in the two chambers of parliament, Sejm and Senate. Members of Sejm are elected by proportional representation, with the proviso that non-ethnic-minority parties must gain at least 5% of the vote to enter the lower house. Parliamentary elections occur at least every four years, the political system is defined in the Polish Constitution, which also guarantees a wide range of individual freedoms. The judicial branch plays a role in politics, apart from the Constitutional Tribunal. The prime minister proposes, the president appoints, and the Sejm approves the Council of Ministers, the president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term, the prime minister and deputy prime ministers are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm. The Council of Ministers is responsible to the minister and the Sejm. The President is elected by terms, as head of state, supreme commander of the Armed Forces, the President has the right to veto legislation, although veto may be overridden by the assembly by a three-fifths majority vote. As Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the President shall appoint the Chief of the General Staff, the President may, regarding particular matters, convene the Cabinet Council, although it does not possess the competence of the Council of Ministers. The Senate has 100 members elected for a term under the single member. When sitting in joint session, members of the Sejm and Senate form the National Assembly, only the first kind has occurred to date. Since 1991 elections are supervised by the National Electoral Commission, whose division is called the National Electoral Office. Polands top national security goal is to integrate with NATO and other west European defense, economic. Polish military doctrine reflects the same nature as its NATO partners. The combined consists of 100,300 active duty personnel and in addition 234,000 reserves, in 2009 the Armed Forces transformed into a fully professional organization and compulsory military service was abolished. The Polish Defense Ministry General Staff and the Land Forces staff have recently reorganized the latter into a NATO-compatible J/G-1 through J/G-6 structure, budget constraints hamper such priority defense acquisitions as a multi-role fighter, improved communications systems, and an attack helicopter. Poland is an ally of the US in Europe and leads the Multinational Division Central-South in Iraq
18.
Polish parliamentary election, 1997
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Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 21 September 1997. In the Sejm elections,47. 93% of citizens cast their votes,96. 12% of which were counted as valid, in the Senate elections,46. 92% of citizens cast their votes,97. 82% of which were valid. The election was won by the conservative party Solidarity Electoral Action. It formed a coalition with the Freedom Union, a liberal party, the election was a major setback for the Democratic Left Alliance and the Polish Peoples Party who were forced out of government. Nr 64, poz.620 Obwieszczenie PKW z dn.25 IX1997 r
19.
Polish parliamentary election, 2001
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The 2001 Polish parliamentary election was held on 23 September 2001 to elect deputies to both houses of the National Assembly. Voter turnout for the 2001 election was 46. 29% For this election only, at the end of its four-year term, the ruling AWS government of Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek faced bleak prospects for the September parliamentary election. In the previous election in 2000, the SLDs Aleksander Kwaśniewski achieved a landslide reelection over AWS candidate Marian Krzaklewski. Economically, Polish consumer confidence dropped to its lowest since the mid-1990s, politically, the Buzek government faced a series of crises undermining its credibility. In light of Buzeks besieged administration, opposition parties took advantage of AWS organisational, on the centre right, Solidaritys traditional spectrum of support increasingly became divided by the emergence of new political groups. Civic Platform, composed of former AWS and UW members, repeated calls for a low income tax. Further down the right, the Law and Justice party, composed of AWS more conservative and anti-communist adherents, campaigned on promises of tough anti-corruption and organised crime legislation. The campaign leading up to the September election was marred by voter antipathy due to the summer holidays, the SLD triumphed in the final tally, receiving 41% percent of the vote, though shy of an outright parliamentary majority in the Sejm. The party increased its representation by 52 seats, earning it 216 representatives, partly due to the fractious nature of its opponents, the SLD secured pluralities in all of Polands voivodeships as well as in an overwhelming majority of the nations powiats. On the centre right, Civic Platform entered parliament for the first time, the party stood relatively strong in Pomeranian Voivodeship. Surprisingly, ultra-nationalist parties performed well in the final results. The left-wing nationalist Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland increased its vote 100-fold from the 1997 election, securing 53 seats and 10% of the vote, headed by populist Andrzej Lepper, the party campaigned against Warsaw excess and Polands ongoing negotiations to enter the European Union. On the far right, the League of Polish Families which campaigned on a staunchly Catholic and anti-EU platform also entered the Sejm for the first time, gaining 38 seats, the Polish Peoples Party won 42 seats, slightly reversing the partys devastating losses from 1997. The PSL would later enter into coalition with the SLD to achieve a parliamentary majority, the election proved catastrophic for Solidarity Electoral Action and its former Freedom Union coalition partner. Both parties failed to secure the 8% for coalitions and 5% for standalone parties threshold to enter the Sejm, with AWS and UW falling to 5. 6% and 3. 1%, in the elections aftermath, Prime Minister Buzek tendered his resignation. Both the AWS and UW faced political extinction following the elections aftermath, the AWS dissolved itself by the end of 2001, the UW lingered until its own dissolution in 2005. Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dn.26 IX1997 r, nr 109, poz.1186 Obwieszczenie PKW z dn.26 IX2001 r
20.
Pope John Paul II
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Pope Saint John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyła, was Pope from 1978 to 2005. He is called by some Catholics Saint John Paul the Great and he was elected by the second Papal conclave of 1978, which was called after Pope John Paul I, who had been elected in August after the death of Pope Paul VI, died after thirty-three days. Cardinal Wojtyła was elected on the day of the conclave. John Paul II is recognised as helping to end Communist rule in his native Poland, John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Churchs relations with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. He upheld the Churchs teachings on such matters as artificial contraception and the ordination of women and he was one of the most travelled world leaders in history, visiting 129 countries during his pontificate. By the time of his death, he had named most of the College of Cardinals, consecrated or co-consecrated a large number of the worlds bishops, a key goal of his papacy was to transform and reposition the Catholic Church. His wish was to place his Church at the heart of a new alliance that would bring together Jews, Muslims. He was the second longest-serving pope in history after Pope Pius IX. Born in Poland, John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI, John Paul IIs cause for canonisation commenced in 2005 one month after his death with the traditional five-year waiting period waived. A second miracle attributed to John Paul IIs intercession was approved on 2 July 2013, John Paul II was canonised on 27 April 2014, together with Pope John XXIII. On 11 September 2014, Pope Francis added John Paul IIs optional memorial feast day to the worldwide General Roman Calendar of saints, in response to worldwide requests. It is traditional to celebrate saints feast days on the anniversary of their deaths, Karol Józef Wojtyła was born in the Polish town of Wadowice. He was the youngest of three born to Karol Wojtyła, an ethnic Pole, and Emilia Kaczorowska, whose mothers maiden surname was Scholz. Emilia, who was a schoolteacher, died in childbirth in 1929 when Wojtyła was eight years old and his elder sister Olga had died before his birth, but he was close to his brother Edmund, nicknamed Mundek, who was 13 years his senior. Edmunds work as a physician led to his death from scarlet fever. As a boy, Wojtyła was athletic, often playing football as goalkeeper, during his childhood, Wojtyła had contact with Wadowices large Jewish community. School football games were organised between teams of Jews and Catholics, and Wojtyła often played on the Jewish side. I remember that at least a third of my classmates at school in Wadowice were Jews
21.
Shortage economy
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Shortage economy is a term coined by the Hungarian economist, János Kornai. He used this term to criticize the old centrally-planned economies of the communist states of the Eastern Bloc. A shortage of an item does not necessarily mean that the item is not being produced, rather. This may be caused by a government enforced low price which encourages consumers to demand a higher amount than is supplied, Kornai, however, concentrated on the role of reduced supply, and argued that this was the underlying cause of Eastern European shortages during the 1980s. According to Kornai, shortage economies share several common characteristics and they all experience frequent, intensive and chronic shortages. These are general in nature, that is, they occur in all spheres of the economy, the shortages are both horizontal and vertical which means that they affect both the supply of intermediate goods as well as related complementary goods. Furthermore, the shortages are occasionally replaced by situations of surplus slack when too much of a good is supplied. Kornai distinguishes between several different possible actions and individual outcomes that can occur in a shortage economy and it could happen that the item sought by the consumer is available in the shop. But there may be an amount of a sought-after good available. Queueing involves a considerable cost in terms of time spent in the queue for consumers, in the economies which Kornai studied, this could have involved several hours a day spent in queues just to obtain basic products like food. Other consumer goods had explicit waiting lists for which potential buyers had to sign up months or even years in advance, an example is the wait in the 1980s Soviet Union for the right to purchase an apartment which could take as long as ten or fifteen years. Another possible situation is that the item is not available. In that case the buyer can either abandon the intent of purchase completely, spend time in further search for the good. According to Kornai the purchase of a substitute is compulsory and this has the effect of increasing demand for other goods, simply because they are there, and can lead to the spread of shortages throughout the economy. Gomulka, Stanislaw, Kornais Soft Budget Constraint and the Shortage Phenomenon, A Criticism and Restatement, in, Economics of Planning, essays in Honor of Janos Kornai, Cambridge, Mass. Transition Economies, Political Economy in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia
22.
Cold War
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The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. The term cold is used there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviet Union. The USSR was a Marxist–Leninist state ruled by its Communist Party and secret police, the Party controlled the press, the military, the economy and all organizations. In opposition stood the West, dominantly democratic and capitalist with a free press, a small neutral bloc arose with the Non-Aligned Movement, it sought good relations with both sides. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With the victory of the communist side in the Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War, the USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets, the expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The USSR crushed the 1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in Czechoslovakia, détente collapsed at the end of the decade with the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. The early 1980s were another period of elevated tension, with the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the United States increased diplomatic, military, and economic pressures on the Soviet Union, at a time when the communist state was already suffering from economic stagnation. In the mid-1980s, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reforms of perestroika and glasnost. Pressures for national independence grew stronger in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Gorbachev meanwhile refused to use Soviet troops to bolster the faltering Warsaw Pact regimes as had occurred in the past. The result in 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control and was banned following an abortive coup attempt in August 1991. This in turn led to the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. The United States remained as the only superpower. The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy and it is often referred to in popular culture, especially in media featuring themes of espionage and the threat of nuclear warfare
23.
Edward Gierek
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Edward Gierek was a Polish communist politician. Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as First Secretary of the ruling Polish United Workers Party in the Polish Peoples Republic, Gierek is known for opening communist Poland to Western influence and for his economic reform, based on foreign loans, which ultimately failed. He was removed from power after labor strikes led to the Gdańsk Agreement between the communist state and workers of the emerging Solidarity free trade union movement, Edward Gierek was born in Porąbka near Sosnowiec, into a coal mining family. He lost his father to an accident in a pit at the age of four. His mother remarried and emigrated to northern France, where he lived from the age of 10, Gierek joined the French Communist Party in 1931 and in 1934 was deported to Poland for organizing a strike. After completing compulsory military service in Stryi in southeastern Poland, Gierek married Stanisława Jędrusik, the Giereks went to Belgium, where Edward worked in the coal mines of Waterschei, acquiring pneumoconiosis. In 1939 Gierek joined the Communist Party of Belgium, during the German occupation, he participated in communist anti-Nazi Belgian resistance activities. After the war Gierek was politically active, primarily among Polish immigrants and he was a co-founder of the Belgian branch of the Polish Workers Party and a chairman of the National Council of Poles in Belgium. Gierek, who in 1948 was 35 and had spent 22 years abroad, was directed by the PPR authorities to return to Poland, which he did with his wife and their two sons. In 1949, he was designated for and attended a 2-year higher party course in Warsaw, in 1951 Roman Zambrowski sent Gierek to a striking coal mine, charging him with restoring order. Gierek was able to resolve the situation using persuasion and a use of force was avoided and he was a member of the Sejm, Polish parliament, from 1952. During the II Congress of the PZPR, he was elected a member of the partys Central Committee, as chief of the Central Committees Heavy Industry Division, he worked directly under First Secretary Bolesław Bierut in Warsaw. In March 1956, when Edward Ochab became the partys first secretary, Gierek became a secretary of the Central Committee, on 28 June 1956 he was sent to Poznań, where a worker revolt was taking place. Afterwards, delegated by the Politburo, he headed the commission charged with investigating the causes and they presented their report on 7 July, blaming a hostile anti-socialist foreign inspired conspiracy that took advantage of worker discontent in Poznań enterprises. In July Gierek became a member of the PZPR Politburo, but lasted in that position only until October, nikita Khrushchev criticized Gomułka for not retaining in the Politburo Gierek, who remained a Central Committee secretary responsible for economic affairs, however. He would return to the Politburo in March 1959, at the III Congress of the PZPR, in March 1957, in addition to his Central Committee duties, Gierek became first secretary of the Katowice Voivodeship PZPR organization, and he kept this job until 1970. He created a power base in the Katowice region and became the nationally recognized leader of the young technocrat faction of the party. Both the industrial supremacy of Giereks well-run Upper Silesia territory and the relationship with the Soviets he cultivated made many believe that Gierek was a likely successor to Gomułka
24.
External debt
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External debt is the total debt a country owes to foreign creditors, complemented by internal debt owed to domestic lenders. The debtors can be the government, corporations or citizens of that country, the debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, other governments, or international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Note that the use of gross liability figures greatly distorts the ratio for countries which contain major money centers such as the United Kingdom due to Londons role as a financial capital, contrast with net international investment position. In this definition, the IMF defines the key elements as follows, Outstanding, principal and interest When the cost of borrowing is paid periodically, as commonly occurs, it is known as an interest payment. All other payments of economic value by the debtor to the creditor that reduce the amount outstanding are known as principal payments. However, the definition of external debt does not distinguish between principal payments or interest payments, or payments for both, also, the definition does not specify that the timing of the future payments of principal and/or interest need be known for a liability to be classified as debt. Residence To qualify as external debt, the debt liabilities must be owed by a resident to a nonresident, residence is determined by where the debtor and creditor have their centers of economic interest—typically, where they are ordinarily located—and not by their nationality. Current and not contingent Contingent liabilities are not included in the definition of external debt and these are defined as arrangements under which one or more conditions must be fulfilled before a financial transaction takes place. Generally, external debt is classified into four heads, public and publicly guaranteed debt, private non-guaranteed credits, central bank deposits, however, the exact treatment varies from country to country. External-debt-sustainability analysis is conducted in the context of medium-term scenarios. In these analysis, macroeconomic uncertainties, such as the outlook for the current account, high external debt is believed to be harmful for the economy. There are various indicators for determining a sustainable level of external debt, while each has its own advantage and peculiarity to deal with particular situations, there is no unanimous opinion amongst economists as to a sole indicator. These indicators are primarily in the nature of ratios—i. e, comparison between two heads and the relation thereon and thus facilitate the policy makers in their external debt management exercise. Examples of debt burden indicators include the Debt-to-GDP ratio, foreign debt to exports ratio and this set of indicators also covers the structure of the outstanding debt, including, Share of foreign debt, Short-term debt, and Concessional debt in the total debt stock. A second set of indicators focuses on the short-term liquidity requirements of the country with respect to its service obligations. These indicators are not only useful early-warning signs of service problems. The dynamic ratios show how the debt-burden ratios would change in the absence of repayments or new disbursements, an example of a dynamic ratio is the ratio of the average interest rate on outstanding debt to the growth rate of nominal GDP
25.
June 1976 protests
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June 1976 is the name of a series of protests and demonstrations in Peoples Republic of Poland. The protests took place after Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz revealed the plan for an increase in the price of many basic commodities. Prices in Poland were at that time fixed, and controlled by the government, the protests started on 24 June and lasted until 30 June, the largest violent demonstrations and looting taking place in Płock, the Warsaw suburb of Ursus, and particularly Radom. The protests were quelled by the government, but the plan for the price increase was shelved, Polish leader Edward Gierek backed down. This left the government looking both economically foolish and politically weak, a dangerous combination. The 1976 disturbances and the subsequent arrests and dismissals of militant workers brought the workers, in the aftermath, a group of intellectuals founded the opposition organization Workers Defence Committee, whose aim was to fight official repression of the protesting workers. It is claimed that the government of the Soviet Union opposed the plans, the purpose of the campaign was to show the nation that price increase was a necessary step, caused by similar trends in world markets. In early June 1976, Polish press, both national and local, began printing news about rising unemployment in Western Europe and North America, as well as rising food prices in the Capitalist world. Sometimes, the news presented in Polish press was rather unusual, also, Central Committee of the PZPR urged mass-media to avoid the phrase “price increase”. On 24 June 1976, prime minister Piotr Jaroszewicz gave a speech, as advised by the party, he did not mention the increase directly. Instead, he talked about continuation of the post-December 1970 policies, on the next day, transcript of the speech was republished in newspapers, and on the same morning, strikes broke out. The price increases were the result of policies of the government, furthermore, the Communist approach to economy resulted in over-employment and low productivity. Also, close ties with Soviet Union resulted in Poland financing the Soviet arms race with the United States. The government predicted that the increases would be answered by protests, so it secretly announced Operation Summer 76, headed by director of Security Services, in several cities, special investigative groups were created whose task was to find and incarcerate most active demonstrators. Also, additional space was created in jails, on 23 June, a day before Jaroszewicz’s speech, all police units participating in the operation were ordered to stay alert. Also, in mid-June, oppositional activists, potential leaders of protests, were called to the army for military exercises, of all street demonstrations of Polish June 1976, by far the biggest ones took place in central city of Radom. Altogether, some 20,000 people protested in the streets, even though the government had predicted demonstrations, nobody considered Radom to be the center of them. Therefore, only 75 additional paramilitary police officers were dispatched to Radom, with forces concentrated Warsaw, Kraków, Szczecin, Gdańsk
26.
Radom
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Radom is a city in east-central Poland with 219,703 inhabitants. It is located 100 kilometres south of Polands capital, Warsaw, on the Mleczna River, in the Masovian Voivodeship, despite being part of the Masovian Voivodeship, the city historically belongs to Lesser Poland. For centuries, Radom was part of the Sandomierz Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland and it was an important center of administration, having served as seat of the Crown Council. The Pact of Vilnius and Radom was signed there in 1401, in 1976, it was a center of anti Communist street protests. The city is home to the biennial Radom Air Show, the largest and best-attended air show in Poland, held during the last weekend of August. Radom is also the unofficial name for a semiautomatic 9 mm Para pistol of Polish design which was produced from 1935 to 1944 at the national arsenal located in the city. The Łucznik Arms Factory continues to modern military firearms. The international Radom Jazz Festival and the International Gombrowicz Theater Festival are held in the city, Radoms original settlement dates back to the 8th–9th century. It was a mediaeval town in the valley of the Mleczna River. In the second half of the 10th century, it became a gord, called Piotrówka, which was protected by a rampart, Piotrówka was probably named after St. Peter church, which in 1222 was placed under the authority of a Benedictine Abbey in nearby Sieciechów. The church no longer exists, the oldest still-extant church in Radom is St. Wacław, the first documented mention of Radom comes from the year 1155, in a bull of Pope Adrian IV. By 1233, Radom was the seat of a castellan, the name of the city comes from the ancient Slavic given name Radomir, and Radom means a gord, which belongs to Radomir. In the second half of the 13th century, Radom was granted a Środa Śląska town charter by Prince Bolesław V the Chaste, although no documents exist to confirm the exact date of this event. The town prospered in the 14th century, when in 1350 King Kazimierz Wielki established the so-called New Town, with a castle, a defensive wall. There was also a square and a grid plan of the streets. The area of New Town was 9 hectares, and the length of the wall was 1,100 meters. Radom had three gates, named after main merchant roads, Iłża Gate, Piotrków Trybunalski Gate, the defensive wall was further protected by 25 fortified towers. New Town had the Church of John the Baptist, and the Royal Castle was built between the church and the moat, in 1364, Radom’s obsolete Środa Śląska rights were replaced with more modern Magdeburg rights, and residents gained several privileges as a result
27.
Ursus, Warsaw
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Ursus is a district of Warsaw, one of the 18 such units into which the city is divided. Between 1952 and 1977 it a was separate city, until 1954 it was known as Czechowice. In the area that is today Ursus, there were three villages in the 14th century, Czechowice, Skorosze and Szamoty, industrialisation in the 20th century contributed to developing these villages. Skorosze became the seat of the municipality, and in the early 1920s the Szamoty areas Zakłady Mechaniczne Ursus were built, Czechowice became a housing estate due to it being in the vicinity of factories. In the 1939, before World War II, it had 7000 inhabitants, Skorosze had a school, police station and train station in its area. In 1952 Czechowice, Skorosze and Szamoty were combined into one city, called Czechowice, from June 25 to June 30,1976, the city of Ursus witnessed strikes after the communists raised food prices. Many people got injured and arrested, on August 1,1977, Ursus became part of Warsaw within the Ochota district as punishment for the strikes in June 1976. Ursus lost its independence as a separate city, since January 1,1993 Ursus has been a separate district. Ursus is one of the smallest Warsaw districts and it also has the lowest crime rate
28.
Intelligentsia
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The intelligentsia is a status class of educated people engaged in the complex mental labours that critique, guide, and lead in shaping the culture and politics of their society. As a status class, the intelligentsia includes artists, teachers, and academics, writers, journalists, historically, the political role of the intelligentsia varies between being either a progressive influence or a regressive influence upon the development of their societies. The intelligentsia status-class arose in the late 18th century, in Russian-controlled Poland, in practice, the status and social function of the intelligentsia varied by society. Whereas in Western Europe, especially in Germany and Great Britain, the Bildungsbürgertum, in Europe, the Intelligentsia existed as a status class before the coinage of the term intelligentsia in the 19th century. As people whose professions placed them outside the places and functions of the town-and-country monarchic social-classes of the time. In 1860s Russia, the writer Pyotr Boborykin made the term intelligentsiya popular, 20th century After the Invasion of Poland, by Nazi Germany and the Soviet union, in occupied Poland each side proceeded to eliminate any possible resistance leader. The concept of intelligentsia must not be confused with the notion of intellectuals. ”Moreover, in 1860 there were 20,000 professionals in Russia and 85,000 by 1900. Originally composed of educated nobles, the intelligentsia became dominated by raznochintsy after 1861, in 183378.9 per cent of secondary-school students were children of nobles and bureaucrats, by 1885 they were 49.1 per cent of such students. The proportion of commoners increased from 19.0 to 43.8 per cent, in fear of an educated proletariat, Tsar Nicholas I limited the number of university students to 3,000 per year, yet there were 25,000 students, by 1894. Similarly the number of periodicals increased from 15 in 1855 to 140 periodical publications in 1885, the third element were professionals hired by zemstva. By 1900 there were 47,000 of them, most were liberal radicals, in Russia, the Bolsheviks did not consider the status class of the intelligentsiya to be a true social class, as defined in Marxist philosophy. As a status-class, the intelligentsia grow by recruiting members of the working class, hence, the intelligentsia merely are an ideological illusion, a class of lackeys of the bourgeoisie and the landowners. Despite being a de facto oppressed status-class, the intelligentsia lack revolutionary drive, in the creation of post-monarchic Russia, Lenin dismissed the intellectuals and managers, because the “intelligentsia is not the ‘brain of the nation’, it is the ‘faeces of the nation. ”. The Russian Revolution of 1917 divided the intelligentsia and the classes of Tsarist Russia. The members of the Tsarist-era intelligentsia who remained in Bolshevik Russia were tentatively integrated to Soviet society, although the Bolsheviks recognised the managerial importance of the intelligentsia to the future of soviet Russia, they distrusted their ideological commitment to Marxist philosophy. The Soviet intelligentsiya arose from the commitment of the Communist government for the education of Russia. In the late Soviet Union the term acquired a formal definition of mental and cultural workers. There were subcategories of scientific-technical intelligentsia and creative intelligentsia, between 1917 and 1941 there was a massive increase in the number of engineering graduates, from 15,000 to over 250,000
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Religion
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Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred scriptures, and symbols and holy places, that aim mostly to give a meaning to life. Religions may contain symbolic stories, which are said by followers to be true, that have the side purpose of explaining the origin of life. Traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has considered a source of religious beliefs. There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, about 84% of the worlds population is affiliated with one of the five largest religions, namely Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or forms of folk religion. With the onset of the modernisation of and the revolution in the western world. The religiously unaffiliated demographic include those who do not identify with any religion, atheists. While the religiously unaffiliated have grown globally, many of the religiously unaffiliated still have various religious beliefs, about 16% of the worlds population is religiously unaffiliated. The study of religion encompasses a variety of academic disciplines, including theology, comparative religion. Theories of religion offer various explanations for the origins and workings of religion, Religion is derived from the Latin religiō, the ultimate origins of which are obscure. One possible interpretation traced to Cicero, connects lego read, i. e. re with lego in the sense of choose, go over again or consider carefully. The medieval usage alternates with order in designating bonded communities like those of monastic orders, we hear of the religion of the Golden Fleece, of a knight of the religion of Avys. In the ancient and medieval world, the etymological Latin root religio was understood as a virtue of worship, never as doctrine, practice. In the Quran, the Arabic word din is often translated as religion in modern translations and it was in the 19th century that the terms Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism first emerged. Max Müller characterized many other cultures around the world, including Egypt, Persia, what is called ancient religion today, they would have only called law. Some languages have words that can be translated as religion, but they may use them in a different way. For example, the Sanskrit word dharma, sometimes translated as religion, throughout classical South Asia, the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance through piety and ceremonial as well as practical traditions. Medieval Japan at first had a union between imperial law and universal or Buddha law, but these later became independent sources of power. There is no equivalent of religion in Hebrew, and Judaism does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities
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Bellwether
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A bellwether is one that leads or indicates trends, a trendsetter. The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram leading his flock of sheep, the movements of the flock could be noted by hearing the bell before the flock was in sight. In a Westminster-style election, for example, a constituency, the control of which tends frequently to change, following this, the Division of Robertson in NSW became the nations new longest-running bellwether seat, continually won by party that also won government since the 1983 election. The Division of Lindsay in NSW, has elected its Member of Parliament from the party won government in every Federal election since its creation in 1984. Both Lindsay and Eden-Monaro lost their status in the 2016 election. Also, in terms of two party preferred vote, Eden-Monaro, Lindsay, Robertson and Makin have bucked the bellwether trend in the past by voting Liberal at the 1998 federal election. Unlike many bellwethers, these are cited by analysts solely for their record and are not usually attributed to factors that reflect the median of Australia. In Brazilian direct presidential elections, the states of Bahia and Rio Grande do Norte is where the winning candidate took the lead in the election from 1945 to 2014. Tocantins, since its creation in 1988, always had the presidential candidate winning the state lead in votes. In the Canadian province of Ontario, Sarnia-Lambton voted for the party in every federal election from 1963 until 2011. This streak was broken in 2015, st. Pauls has only elected three opposition MPs since it was created in 1935. Also in Ontario, Peterborough has been won by the party who has won the most seats overall in provincial elections since 1977, in Alberta, Peace River has elected only three opposition MLAs since the province was founded in 1905. Both states lie in the North of the country, neither containing many large cities, nor large rural catholic populations. Ireland has a proportional electoral system, in which politicians are elected by the single transferable vote. Bellwethers here can only be measured by the number of candidates from each side elected to Irelands multiple-seat constituencies that elect an odd number of members. In New Zealand, there are three generally accepted bellwether electorates, Hamilton East and Hamilton West, both based around the city of Hamilton, and Northcote on Aucklands North Shore. Hamilton West and Northcote have only missed one election each since they were first contested in 1969 and 1996 respectively — the 1993 election for Hamilton West, Hamilton East, first contested in 1972, has missed three elections —1993,1999, and 2005. In the Philippines, the winner of Philippine presidential election has won in Negros Oriental in all instances since 1935 except for 1961 and 2016, after Negros Oriental voted for the runner-up in 2016, Basilans streak that started in 1978 is currently the nations longest
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Lublin
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Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland and the second largest city of Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 349,103, Lublin is the largest Polish city east of the Vistula River, and is located approximately 170 kilometres to the southeast of Warsaw by road. One of the events that contributed to the citys development was the Polish-Lithuanian Union of Krewo in 1385. In 1474, Lublin, which was part of the Sandomierz region. Lublin also witnessed the early stages of Reformation in the 16th century, a Calvinist congregation was founded and certain groups of radical Arians also appeared in the city, making it an important national centre of Arianism. Until the partitions at the end of the 18th century, Lublin was a city of the Crown Kingdom of Poland. Its delegates and nobles had the right to participate in the Royal Election, although Lublin was not spared from severe destruction during World War II, its picturesque and historical Old Town has been preserved. The district is one of Polands official national Historic Monuments, as designated May 16,2007, the city is viewed as an attractive location for foreign investment and the analytical Financial Times Group has found Lublin to be one of the best cities for business in Poland. The Foreign direct investment ranking placed Lublin second among larger Polish cities in the Cost-effectiveness category, Lublin is also noted for its green spaces and a high standard of living. Archaeological finds indicate a presence of cultures in the area. A complex of settlements started to develop on the site of Lublin and in its environs in the 6th-7th centuries. Remains of settlements dating back to the 6th century were discovered in the center of todays Lublin on Czwartek Hill, the next period of the early Middle Ages was marked by intensification of habitation, particularly in the areas along river valleys. The settlements at the time were centered around the stronghold on Old Town Hill, when the tribal stronghold was destroyed in the 10th century, the center shifted to the north-east, to a new stronghold above Czechówka valley, and after the mid-12th century to Castle Hill. At least two churches are presumed to have existed in Lublin in the medieval period. One of them was most probably erected on Czwartek Hill during the rule of Casimir the Restorer in the 11th century. The castle became the seat of a Castellan, first mentioned in sources from 1224. The oldest historical document mentioning Lublin dates from 1198, so the name must have come into use some time earlier. The location of Lublin at the borders of the Polish lands gave it military significance
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PZL
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PZL was the main Polish aerospace manufacturer of the interwar period, based in Warsaw, functioning in 1928-1939. After the fall of communism in Poland in 1989, these manufacturers became separate plants, in the case of PZL Mielec, the abbreviation was later developed as Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze - Polish Aviation Works. The PZL - Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze was founded in Warsaw in 1928 as a state-owned company, first to be produced was a licensed version of a French fighter, the Wibault 70, but from then on the company produced exclusively its own designs. In the next decade Zygmunt Puławski designed a series of high-wing, all-metal modern fighters, the last two types were used as basic fighters in the Polish Air Force from 1933 onwards. The last variant, PZL P.24, developed after Puławskis death in an air crash, was exported to four countries, in the late 1930s the company also developed several prototypes of more modern fighters and bombers — and a passenger airliner, the PZL.44 Wicher. However, World War II prevented these aircraft from entering production, PZL was the largest Polish pre-war aircraft manufacturer. In 1934, the factory in Warsaw was named PZL WP-1 in the Okęcie district of Warsaw. A new division PZL WP-2 was built in Mielec in 1938-1939, an engine factory division, PZL WS-1 in Warsaw-Okęcie, produced mostly licensed versions of British Bristol engines, such as the Bristol Pegasus and the Bristol Mercury. The WS-1 factory was formerly Polskie Zakłady Skody, the Polish division of Skoda Works, in 1937-1939 a new engine division, PZL WS-2, was built in Rzeszów. During World War II, the Polish aviation industry was completely destroyed, the post-war communist government of Poland wanted to break all connections with pre-war Poland, from the late 1940s the name PZL ceased to be used, and new aerospace factories were named WSK. It consisted of 19 factories, an institute, and the Pezetel Foreign Trade Center - CHZ Pezetel. Consequently, in the 1970s some WSK factories also introduced the PZL abbreviation to their names, after the fall of communism in Poland in 1989, all manufacturers became separate plants, still sharing the PZL name. The main factory PZL WP-1 in Warsaw was destroyed during World War II, in 1946, the CSS construction bureau was set up there. As the factory was rebuilt, it was renamed in 1950 as the WSK Nr.4 and it first produced licensed versions of Soviet types and aircraft developed by other Polish companies. From 1958 onwards it started to produce its own designs under the PZL brand, starting with the PZL-101 Gawron, the factory developed mainly light sports, trainer and utility aircraft. The best known designs are the PZL-104 Wilga utility aircraft, which was produced in numbers than any other Polish designed aircraft. During the 1970s the factory adopted the name WSK PZL Warszawa-Okęcie, in 2001 the factory was bought by the Spanish company EADS CASA and since then has been known as EADS PZL Warszawa-Okęcie SA. The PZL WP2 factory in Mielec became a part of Heinkel during the German occupation of Poland, after the war the factory, named first PZL No.1 works, then from 1949 WSK-Mielec, and later WSK PZL-Mielec, became the biggest post-war Polish aircraft producer
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Anna Walentynowicz
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Anna Walentynowicz was a Polish free trade union activist. Her firing in August 1980 was the event which ignited the strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, set off a wave of strikes in Poland, and quickly paralyzed the Baltic coast. The Interfactory Strike Committee based in the Gdańsk shipyard eventually transformed itself into Solidarity trade union, by September, more than one million workers were on strike in support of the 21 demands of MKS, making it the largest strike ever. Walentynowiczs arrest became a slogan in the early days of the Gdansk strike. She is referred to by some as the mother of independent Poland, born in 1929 in Rivne as Anna Lubczyk, was orphaned during the Second World War and repatriated into Poland. She began working in the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland in 1950, while she was an activist and a member of a socialist youth organization, she was never formally a member of the communist party. One of the last letters which John Paul II wrote was to Anna Walentynowicz wishing her recovery from a back injury. Anna began her quest for justice by speaking out publicly when one of her supervisors stole money from the bonus fund to win a lottery. Instead of reprimanding the corrupt supervisor, the turned on her—she was harassed by secret police. The exemplary worker and Hero of Socialist Labor had become a vocal dissident, for participation in the illegal trade union she was fired from work on 7 August 1980,5 months prior to her plan to retire. This management decision enraged the workers, who staged a strike action on 14 August, defending Anna Walentynowicz, in early coverage of the Gdańsk strike by Western press, Anna Walentynowicz is mentioned earlier than Lech Wałęsa. She also headed the list of the committee of the Gdańsk shipyard typed by Lech Wałęsa. On the third day of the strike,16 August 1980, management granted Lenin Shipyard workers their working, Lech Wałęsa and others announced the end of the strike. Walentynowicz and Pienkowska managed to close the gates of the shipyard and keep some workers inside, Wałęsa was stopped near the Gate no°1 as he was leaving, and was persuaded to change his plans and return to the shipyard. The Gdańsk Agreement was signed on 31 August 1980, recognizing the right to free trade unions independent of the Party for the first time in the Communist bloc. When the Solidarity trade union was registered shortly after the Gdańsk Agreement, it had ten million members. Walentynowicz said, Our aim should not be to secure a somewhat thicker slice of bread today, even if this would make us happy and our main duty is to consider the needs of others. If we become alive to this duty, there will be no unjustly treated people in our midst and our day-to-day motto should be, Your problems are also my problems
listen)), a Polish non-governmental trade union, began on 14 August 1980, at the Lenin Shipyards (now Gdańsk Shipyards) at its founding by Lech Wałęsa and others. In the early 1980s, it became the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. Solidarity gave rise to a broad, non-violent, anti-communist social movement that, at its height, claimed some 9.4 million members. It is considered to have contributed greatly to the fall of communism.
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