Dissent in Poland, 1968–78: the end of Revisionism and the rebirth of the Civil Society

Abstract

Over the last decade manifestations of dissent have been more widespread in Poland than in any other country in Eastern Europe. These involved three main forces: the intellectuals and students, the workers, and the powerful Roman Catholic Church. The common origin of their renewed independent activity goes back to 1956, but all three have followed separate itineraries until 1968. The period 1968–78 has been marked by the evolution of these three main components of the Polish opposition from isolation to a degree of convergence in their challenge of the party’s grip over the society. In 1968 students and creative intellectuals, who demanded greater freedom of expression, were suppressed and were in complete isolation from the workers. In 1970–1 workers went on strike for essentially economic demands and confronted police repression without gaining the support of the intellectuals. Both in 1968 and in 1970 the Catholic Church protested against the repression, but without actually endorsing the intellectuals’ or the workers’ demands. The most significant change in the development of the Polish opposition in the 1970s has been the broadening of its social base, fostered by the creation of new ties between the three main forces of the opposition. This mutual interaction and synchronisation of their respective activities without the loss of their specific interests, brought with it sometimes a convergence of goals and often unity of action.