Martial law in Poland

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Martial law in Poland (Polish: Stan wojenny w Polsce) was in effect between 13 December 1981 and 22 July 1983. The government of the Polish People's Republic drastically restricted everyday life by introducing martial law and a military junta in an attempt to counter political opposition, in particular the Solidarity movement. Since the late 1970s, Poland had been in a deep economic recession. Edward Gierek, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), had obtained a series of large loans from foreign creditors to achieve better economic output. This instead resulted in a domestic crisis. Essential goods were heavily rationed, which acted as a stimulus to establishing the first anticommunist trade union in the Eastern Bloc, known as Solidarity (Polish: Solidarność), in 1980. Gierek, who permitted the trade union to appear per the Gdańsk Agreement, was dismissed from his post less than a month later and confined to house arrest. Following countless strikes and demonstrations...

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