‘Icy silence …’ In 1980, as Poland is hit by workers’ strikes, the Swiss cartoonist Geisen illustrates the threat of a military intervention by Moscow to restore order.

‘I would never interfere in Poland’s domestic affairs!’ On 12 December 1980, as Poland is hit by workers’ strikes, Fritz Behrendt, a Dutch cartoonist originally from Berlin, illustrates the threat of a military intervention by Moscow to restore order. Although the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), Leonid Brezhnev, says he will not interfere in Poland’s domestic affairs, the reminder of other military interventions, as indicated on the tank, does not bode well. On the left, opposite the gun: Lech Wałęsa, the main leader of this strike and head of the Solidarność movement, a federation of independent Polish trade unions strongly opposed to the communist regime of General Wojciech Jaruzelski.

Lech Walesa, Chairman since 1981 of Solidarnosc, the Polish Workers' Trade Union opposed to the Communist regime.

On 16 December 1981, three days after the proclamation of the state of war in Poland by General Wojciech Jaruzelski (on the left on the gun turret), Fritz Behrendt, a Dutch cartoonist originally from Berlin, paints an ironic picture of the country’s future and illustrates the risk of a military intervention by Moscow to put an end to the strikes and restore order. The proclamation of the state of war in Poland results in a suspension of legal safeguards and sees the arrest of thousands of trade unionists, including Lech Wałęsa, and the dissolution of the free trade union Solidarność. On the right, Leonid Brezhnev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), is directly threatening Poland from the controls of his tank.

‘Whatever you do, don’t look at him!’ The cartoonist Behrendt illustrates the fears of the Soviet authorities that the anti-establishmentarianism triggered in Poland by Lech Walesa and the social movement Solidarnosc (Solidarity) will spread throughout the Eastern bloc.

Adam Michnik, born on 17 October 1946 in Warsaw, was one of the main leaders of the opposition to the totalitarian rule of the Polish United Workers’ Party and was co-founder, with Jacek Kuron, of the Workers’ Defence Committee (KOR) in 1976. He took part in the Round Table talks in 1989 before being elected MP in the Polish Sejm the same year.

‘In need of help?’ In 1985, the German cartoonist, Fritz Behrendt, depicts the importance of Lech Walesa’s Solidarnosc trade union in providing support to Polish society against the failures of Marxism and General Wojciech Jaruzelski’s Communist regime.

In October 1986, the British Ambassador in Warsaw analyses the impact of Solidarnosc, the Polish workers’ trade union, on Polish society and institutions.

In 1986, activists belonging to Solidarnosc, the Polish Workers’ Trade Union, demonstrate in favour of the release of political prisoners and organise strikes which defy the regime of General W. Jaruzelski and paralyse the country.

‘Eye test’. In 1988, German cartoonist Lang illustrates the policy of mistrust adopted by Lech Walesa and the Polish workers’ trade union Solidarnosc with regard to the Polish Communist regime led by General Wojciech Jaruzelski.

On the campaign trail for the first semi-democratic elections in Poland since the end of the Second World War, Bronislaw Geremek, Special Adviser to Lech Walesa during the Round Table talks, stands in June 1989 as the candidate for the social movement Solidarnosc.

On 19 September 1989, in Warsaw, the European Economic Community (EEC) and the Polish People’s Republic sign an agreement concerning trade and commercial and economic cooperation, anticipating the establishment of a free-trade area between the EEC and Poland.

On 28 October 1989, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung speculates on Poland’s gradual transition to a democratic regime and analyses the repercussions of this transformation on the neighbouring countries.

Le 2 février 1990, le quotidien belge La Libre Belgique revient sur les promesses d'aides accordées par la Communauté économique européenne (CEE) à la Pologne à l'issue de la première visite officielle en Belgique du Premier ministre polonais, Tadeusz Mazowiecki.

On 26 June 1990, during the Presidential campaign for the successor to General Jaruzelski in Poland, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité comments on the growing disagreement between Lech Walesa, First Secretary of Solidarnosc, and his former supporters.

On 10 December 1990, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro considers the victory of Lech Walesa, founder of the Polish trade union Solidarnosc, in the first presidential elections held in post-Communist Poland.

On 26 April 1990, in Warsaw, in response to the geopolitical upheavals taking place in Central and Eastern Europe, Krzysztof Skubiszewski, Polish Foreign Minister, outlines the main thrust of his country’s foreign policy.

On 22 April 1992, the French daily newspaper L’Humanité publishes a retrospective devoted to the political action taken by General Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish Prime Minister from 1981 to 1985 and Polish Head of State from 1989 to 1990. The newspaper particularly praises his management of the 1981 crisis, in which Soviet intervention was avoided, and his role in the peaceful transition to a democratic regime.