Sofia Blackwood
POLI 140B
12-17-2014
Non-Violent Revolutions: Are They Truly Effective?
Part I Limited markets, lack of consumer goods, price controls, food shortages, foreign technology dependency, debt; these were just a few problems that plagued citizens of communist Poland after the end of World War II. In 1945, the Soviet Union imposed its authority over Poland by means of the Warsaw Pact. Under the Soviet Union’s authority Poland enjoyed guarantees of full employment, social security, and stable prices, however, the economy spiraled downward creating a state of social unrest that ultimately led to the Polish revolution of 1989 (Fitzmaurice 90-1). Further to the south and more recently, government corruption, a brutal and oppressive police force, student unemployment, poverty, electoral fraud, and a lack of political freedom ran rampant during Hosni Mubarak’s presidency; Egyptians had no voice under the pseudo-democratic regime. Additionally, police and military forces not only turned a blind eye to the corrupted government, but also were often the source of such corruption and violence. In fact…show more content… Enter Lech Walesa, an electrician turned opposition leader. On August 14, 1980 a workers rally filled the Lenin shipyard in protest to the firing of elderly worker Anna Walentynowiez for distributing newspapers that supported workers rights. Walesa seized this moment and delivered a speech calling for a strike committee. The strike caught on like wildfire and spread quickly until August 31st 1980 when Walesa declared the strike to be over (Lecture 12/4/14). The strike led to the formation of Solidarity, the first Polish independent labor union, on September 17th 1980 and by the end of the year Solidarity had a member count of 9 million out of 12.5 million eligible workers in contrast to the Polish Communist party who had only 3 million members (Lecture