Chronology
1970
14 -18 December
……..
Workers' revolt on the Baltic coast (Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin) following a rise in food prices. The repression was bloody, with hundreds of workers killed.
CHAPTER 1
1976
June 1976
Révolte ouvrière à Radom, Ursus et Varsovie suite à la hausse des prix des denrées alimentaires. Le lendemain la hausse est annulée. Répression contre les grévistes : licenciements, procès truqués, condamnations, emprisonnements
CHAPTER 1
1976
September 1976
Création d’un Comité de défense des ouvriers, le KOR, pour soutenir les ouvriers emprisonnés et leur famille. Le comité publie clandestinement Robotnik (l’Ouvrier). Le mouvement d’opposition se regroupe autour du KOR.
CHAPTER 1
1976
December
CHAPTER 1
1977
May
Hunger strike in Warsaw at Saint-Martin's Church, organised in solidarity with the imprisoned workers.
CHAPTER 1
1977
March
Creation in Geneva of the Socialist Committee for Solidarity with the Eastern Bloc Countries (CSSOPE) by left-wing and trade union circles.
CHAPTER 1
1979
2 - 10 June 1979
During John Paul II's pilgrimage to Poland, all of Polish society gathered around the Pope. Throughout the pontiff's journey, a million Poles followed him to Gniezno, Czestochowa, Krakow, Nowy Targ and Warsaw.The strength of his message resonates with various groups, including workers, intellectuals, and young people.
CHAPTER 1
07/80
July 1980
Seventeen thousand workers go on strike at the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk. Several demands were made: the reinstatement of Anna Walentynowicz and Lech Walesa, who had been dismissed, the erection of a monument in memory of the strikers massacred in December 1970, and the foundation/creation of free and independent trade unions. In the days that followed, the strike spread to neighbouring towns.
CHAPTER 1
09/80
September
Creation in Geneva of the International Association for the Defence of Artists (AIDA). THE AIDA supports artists who are victims of repression and works to ensure that the right to freedom of expression and opinion is respected.
CHAPTER 1
08/80
From August 14
Seventeen thousand workers go on strike at the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk. Several demands were made: the reinstatement of Anna Walentynowicz and Lech Walesa, who had been dismissed, the erection of a monument in memory of the strikers massacred in December 1970, and the foundation/creation of free and independent trade unions. In the days that followed, the strike spread to neighbouring towns.
Negotiations began on 23 August on the basis of 21 demands
August 31
Les Accords de Gdansk sont signés.
CHAPTER 3
1981
March
March19
Police action against trade unionists in Bydgoszcz (‘Bydgoszcz provocation’). Start of a serious political crisis, threat of a general strike.
Hunger march - one of the many demonstrations organised in a dozen Polish towns at the end of July and beginning of August 1981.
Lódź, 30.07.1981
Strikes, difficult negotiations, Soviet threats, new compromise between legal Solidarnosc and the government, which promised to speed up the implementation of the agreements; Walesa announced on television that he was suspending the strike (a decision that led to major conflicts within the union).
5 -10 September
Le premier congrès national de Solidarność s’ouvre à Gdansk
CHAPTER 1
1981
Avirl 1981
Swiss trade unionists visit Poland
November 29 – December 13
Visite de la Délégation officielle de Solidarność en Suisse, organisée par le Groupe syndical de coordination « Solidarnosc »
12 – 13 December
Introduction of martial law in Poland by General Jaruzelski, who had thousands of Solidarity activists arrested
Large international demonstration organised in Bern - demonstration organised in Geneva by the trade unions and the Solidarity coordination group - 10,000 people in the streets
CHAPTER 2
1982
January
Coordination nationale des comités « Solidarité avec Solidarność » est créé à Zurich. Elle un bulletin d’information en français et en allemand intitulé Solidarité vit et lutte / Solidarność Lebt und Kaempft
« Let Poland Be Poland », US International Communications Agency
Founding of the Association Pro Polonia – Neuchâtel
Association Polenhilfe is created in Brig
Demonstrations in numerous Polish towns
Demonstrations in numerous Polish towns
CHAPTER 2
1983
16-23 June
John Paul II's second trip to Poland
Solidarność leaders and KOR on trial
5 octobre
Lech Walesa receives the Nobel Peace Prize
CHAPTER 2
1984
EVELEST QUE SENDI OPTAS
Support campaigns for Polish political prisoners are run in Switzerland by the Comités Soldiarité avec Solidarność
OCTOBER 19
Le père Jerzy Popiełuszko, l’aumônier du syndicat Solidarność, est assassiné par les services de sécurité polonais
NOVEMBER 17
Rapport de l’OIT sur la Pologne – violations des conventions concernant les droits syndicaux (victoire symbolique de legal Solidarnosc)
Le gouvernement polonais annonce la rupture de ses relations avec l’OIT (suite au rapport de la commission d’enquête de cette dernière)
CHAPTER 2
1985
APRIL - JULY
USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev launches perestroika, a series of reforms liberalising the economy and society
Teacher and trade unionist Clive Loertscher imprisoned in Poland for collaborating with the Polish opposition. Released in July.
CHAPTER 3
1986
EVELEST QUE SENDI OPTAS
Amnesty for the last political prisoners; part of the opposition accepts the idea of dialogue. Walesa and a group of intellectuals write an open letter to Ronald Reagan calling for the sanctions against Poland to be lifted.
CHAPTER 2
1987
8-14 June
John Paul II's third pilgrimage to Poland
CHAPTER 2
1988
Strikes continued, demanding changes in economic policy and the legalisation of Solidarity; the authorities responded with brutality.
CHAPTER 2
1989
4 Juin
First semi-free elections in a Communist country. Solidarność won all the seats in the Senate. The ruling coalition retains 65% of the seats in the Sejm under the Round Table agreements.
CHAPTER 3