Poland: Beginning of the disintegration of the Soviet Union (1 janv. 1970 – 15 janv. 1988)

Description:

In early 1970's, severe food shortages provoked riots in Gdansk. Lech Walesa, a young electrician, got involved in anti-communist union organizing and lost his job in 1976 due to leading a protest. After the shipyard workers at Gdansk launched a strike, Lech Walesa joined them and soon they were given rights to form a free and independent trade union. Union activity spread throughout Poland, forming an alliance called Solidarity. The Communist government launched a crackdown in 1981, banning Solidarity and jailing it leaders, including Walesa. But support for Solidarity remained alive. In 1983, Walesa, a plain-speaking man with little education, won the Nobel peace prize for his acts of courage. In 1988, further economic collapse in Poland sparked a new round of protests and strikes. The Communist-led government agreed to meet with Solidarity and together they scheduled free elections for June 1989. In Poland's first free election in half a century, voters chose as president the electrician from Gdansk, Lech Walesa.