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Poland Toward the Round-Table Talks
The first break in the Polish logjam occurred in 1985
when
Gorbachev assumed leadership of the Soviet Union. Although
Gorbachev in no way willed the demolition of the communist
order
in Poland and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, his policies of
glasnost' (see Glossary) and
perestroika
(see Glossary) inadvertently accelerated the indigenous
systemic rot in those countries. As the literal and figurative
bankruptcy of
East European communism became obvious, apologists
resorted more
frequently to the Brezhnev Doctrine--the understanding
that
Moscow would use force to prevent ceding any territory
once under
its control--as the ultimate justification of the status
quo. But
the sustained liberalism of the Gorbachev era undermined
the
credibility of this last-ditch argument. The inhibiting
fear of
Red Army retaliation, which had blocked reform in Poland
and
elsewhere in earlier years, gradually faded. Hastening to
identify itself with Gorbachev, the Jaruzelski team
welcomed the
spirit of reform wafting from the east and cautiously
followed
suit at home. By 1988 most political prisoners had been
released,
unofficial opposition groups were flourishing, and
Solidarity,
still nominally illegal, operated quite openly.
In the meantime, however, economic malaise and runaway
inflation had depressed Polish living standards and
deepened the
anger and frustration of society. In early 1988, strikes
again
were called in Gdansk and elsewhere, and a new generation
of
alienated workers called for representation by Solidarity
and
Walesa. Amid widespread predictions of a social explosion,
Jaruzelski took the momentous step of beginning round
table talks
with the banned trade union and other opposition groups.
This
measure was taken over the objections of the
still-formidable
hard-line faction of the PZPR.
Data as of October 1992
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