What was martial law in poland

On the night of December 12 to 13, , the communist authorities imposed martial law in Poland, ending so-called carnival of Solidarity trade The shock The shock of the army being on the streets, phone lines dead, and thousands interned changed Poland radically.

Hundreds of thousands of communist party members quit the party in protest. Many of them were actually Solidarity members, as around a million communist party members had joined Solidarity.

Those Solidarity activists who escaped imprisonment organised strikes that were ruthlessly and violently put down. There were several casualties of the security forces actions against the strikers. The communist party became dependent on the military and the police for the maintenance of its power. Its political legitimacy inevitably declined as a result.

Solidarity could not resist military force, bu it did manage to get an effective underground up and running just a few weeks after the introduction of martial law. The communist authorities achieved their short - term goal of remaining in power but in the years that followed failed to deliver any significant economic reform. Rigid communist ideology backed by the Soviets for years prevented any serious attempts at reform. The Polish clandestine tradition, so prominent in the years of the Second World War and the early years of communist rule, returned.

Several prominent Solidarity activists managed to evade arrest for long periods of time and became heroes in popular culture as a result. Actors staged protests, with several refusing to appear in the state controlled media. Clandestine publications flourished and some illicit pirate broadcasting was set up, admittedly with very limited success.

The Church once again gained in importance. The period of martial law saw many Poles who were abroad on 13 December failing to return home and choosing to stay in the west.

Many of them became activists promoting the cause of Solidarity abroad. Back home, the Solidarity activists who had been imprisoned and did not cooperate with the communists became revered figures. When the semi-free elections were held in many of them stood and won landslide victories.

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JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it. Those who were not — were intimidated, forced to stop their activity or emigrate.

For those who were already abroad, closed borders meant that coming back to the country was not possible at all. Moreover, the streets were filled with tanks and armed soldiers. Telephone lines were controlled, airports closed and mail regulated by censorship. Another restriction of freedom was an imposition of curfew. Similarly, the mass media, public transportation and educational institutions were placed under strict control. It was clear that the new regime wanted to mercilessly crack down on the opposition.

The trade union was made illegal and most of its leaders were interned. The amount of social opposition was impressive. During the initial impositions of martial law, several dozen people were killed. In Katowice, on 16 December, happened the most dreadful incident, when six miners from the Wujek coal-mine were killed by members of the military police ZOMO.

Martial Law lasted till July being officially suspended on 18 December All that time was a trauma for the Poles and democratic opposition. The situation of already run-down Poland drastically deteriorated and the country was pushed toward bankruptcy. The prospects for the future were dark, but it was only a matter of time before the ultimate fall of communist regime. Bibliography: A.