Editing History of Poland (section)

===The martial law, Jaruzelski's rule and the end of communism (1981–1989)===

[[File:T-55A Martial law Poland.jpg|thumb|right|[[Martial law in Poland|Martial law]] enforced in December 1981]]

On 12–13 December 1981, the regime declared [[martial law in Poland]], under which the army and the [[ZOMO]] special police forces were used to crush Solidarity. The [[Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981|Soviet leaders insisted]] that Jaruzelski pacifies the opposition with the forces at his disposal, without Soviet involvement. Almost all Solidarity leaders and many affiliated intellectuals were arrested or detained. Nine workers were killed in the [[Pacification of Wujek]]. The United States and other Western countries responded by imposing economic sanctions against Poland and the Soviet Union. Unrest in the country was subdued, but continued.<ref name="Poland under Communism 325-331">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=325–331}}.</ref>

During martial law, Poland was ruled by the so-called [[Military Council of National Salvation]]. The open or semi-open opposition communications, as recently practiced, were replaced by underground publishing (known in the eastern bloc as [[Samizdat]]), and Solidarity was reduced to a few thousand underground activists.<ref name="playground II xxiii">{{Harvnb|Davies|2005b|p=xxiii}}</ref><ref name="Poland under Communism 332-360">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=332–360}}.</ref>

Having achieved some semblance of stability, the Polish regime relaxed and then rescinded martial law over several stages. By December 1982 martial law was suspended and a small number of political prisoners, including Wałęsa, were released. Although martial law formally ended in July 1983 and a partial amnesty was enacted, several hundred political prisoners remained in jail.<ref name="Poland under Communism 325-331"/> [[Jerzy Popiełuszko]], a popular pro-Solidarity priest, was abducted and murdered by security functionaries in October 1984.<ref name="playground II xxiii"/><ref name="Poland under Communism 332-360"/>

[[File:Pope John Paul II 11 06 1987 01.jpg|thumb|left|220px|[[Pope John Paul II]] in Poland, 1987]]

Further developments in Poland occurred concurrently with and were influenced by the reformist leadership of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] in the Soviet Union (processes known as [[Glasnost]] and [[Perestroika]]).<ref name="playground II xxiii"/> In September 1986, a general amnesty was declared and the government released nearly all political prisoners. However, the country lacked basic stability, as the regime's efforts to organize society from the top down had failed, while the opposition's attempts at creating an "alternate society" were also unsuccessful.<ref name="Stelmachowski 57">{{Harvnb|Stelmachowski|2011|p=57}}.</ref> With the economic crisis unresolved and societal institutions dysfunctional, both the ruling establishment and the opposition began looking for ways out of the stalemate. Facilitated by the indispensable mediation of the Catholic Church, exploratory contacts were established.<ref name="Poland under Communism 332-360"/>

Student protests resumed in February 1988. Continuing economic decline led to [[1988 Polish strikes|strikes across the country]] in April, May and August. The Soviet Union, increasingly destabilized, was unwilling to apply military or other pressure to prop up allied regimes in trouble.<ref name="Poland under Communism 332-360"/><ref name="Poland under Communism 361-405">{{Harvnb|Kemp-Welch|2008|pp=361–405}}.</ref> The Polish government felt compelled to negotiate with the opposition and in September 1988 preliminary talks with Solidarity leaders ensued in [[Magdalenka, Masovian Voivodeship|Magdalenka]]. Numerous meetings that took place involved Wałęsa and General Kiszczak, among others. In November, the regime made a major public relations mistake by allowing a televised debate between Wałęsa and [[Alfred Miodowicz]], chief of the [[All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions]], the official trade union organization.<ref name="Stelmachowski 58-99">{{Harvnb|Stelmachowski|2011|pp=58–99}}.</ref> The fitful bargaining and intra-party squabbling led to the official [[Polish Round Table Agreement|Round Table Negotiations]] in 1989, followed by the [[1989 Polish legislative election|Polish legislative election]] in June of that year, a watershed event marking the [[Revolutions of 1989|fall of communism]] in Poland.<ref name="Poland under Communism 361-405"/><ref name="Stelmachowski 58-99"/>