The Institute Of World Politics

This event is part of the Intermarium Lecture Series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics. About the lecture: On December 13, 1981, the Communist regime imposed martial law in Poland. The objective was to crush “Solidarity,” a Polish national liberation movement which was masking as the Soviet Bloc’s first independent, self-governed trade union. Thousands were imprisoned, and hundreds died when the red riot police and military assaulted industrial plants, mines, offices, and universities. Inspired by John Paul II and assisted by the Catholic Church, the Poles resisted underground. Afterwards the Communists claimed that they saved Poland from a Soviet invasion. They had no choice but destroy “Solidarity” because the Soviets were going to attack otherwise. However, Moscow preferred for Warsaw to restore order itself. In fact, Poland’s Communist dictator General Wojciech Jaruzelski himself begged the Kremlin to intervene. Ultimately, Jaruzelski himself carried out the Soviet Union’s orders and destro