Polish Resistance Movement Analysis

The tumultuous nature of Poland 's economy and government during this period of communist rule caused significant deterioration in the lives of the Poles, which created a unified Polish resistance movement early on. As the Soviet Union tried to hasten its gaining of control in Poland, it was met with much resistance (Curtis 42). Regardless, the state collectivized Polish agriculture, and claimed state control of most Polish businesses, leaving only family-run shops to the private section (and even those were constantly harassed by bureaucratic demands). Many Poles witnessed Poland around this time, and wrote about their experiences. An immigrant to the United States from Poland, Alex Storozynski wrote about what he saw on a visit to Poland …show more content…
In the month following the strikes in the shipyard, delegates of numerous trade unions met in Gdansk to merge their independent organizations into an all-encompassing Polish union named Solidarity ("Solidarity"). Another branch of the union known as Rural Solidarity was also formed to represent Polish farmers ("Solidarity"). At its height, more than 10 million Poles were members of Solidarity, which was more than half of all Polish workers ("Solidarity"). In a radio message transmitted in 1981, the message of Solidarity was discussed: "Our goal is to struggle to improve the lives of all working people. We support those of you who have decided to embark on the difficult path of struggle for a free union movement" ("Solidarity 's Message). Lech Walesa worked tirelessly along with legions of other like-minded people to bring about the change. In one interview he discussed his efforts: "At that time, I was fighting from every angle there was. There was no place that I wasn 't fighting" (qtd. in Morris). He went on to say how the Soviets saw him as "politics-crazy" or "a lunatic", but that he was neither of those things. Additionally, Walesa remained peaceful in his efforts regardless of the tactics of the Soviets. When talking about the Soviet response to him he said: "They 'd say, 'What does he think he 's doing? We have 200,000 Soviet soldiers watching him. Over 1,000,000 all around Poland also watching him. We have silos full of nuclear weapons, and he wants to topple them with leaflets?" (qtd. in Morris). Although he was met with much skepticism, Walesa developed Solidarity into a formidable force that gave the Soviets no choice but to face the discontent in Poland