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What is Solidarity?

Solidarity began as a worker-led movement for political reform in Communist Poland during the 1980s. Shipyard electrician Lech Walesa (1948– ) became the leader of Solidarity, which was formed in 1980 when fifty labor unions banded together to protest the Communist government. (Under communism the government controls all aspects of economic and social life and permits limited individual freedom.) The unions staged strikes and demonstrations. By 1981 Solidarity had gained so many followers that it threatened the government. With the support of the Communist Soviet Union, the Polish government declared martial (military) law in December of that year. The military cracked down on the activities of the unions, abolishing Solidarity in 1982 and arresting its leaders, including Walesa. But the powerful people's movement, which had also swept up farmers who formed the Rural Solidarity, could not be suppressed. As a...

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