„The Brighter Side of Europe” / Piotr Kaczyński

of its conviction brought an end to communism not only in Poland, but
in the entire Soviet bloc.
The movement was all about its people. They had no armies behind them,
just the power of staying in solidarity with one another. Their leader was
Lech Wałęsa, one of the most globally recognised Polish figures in the 20th
century. Born in 1943, Wałęsa was working in 1980 at the Gdansk Lenin
Shipyard, where the Solidarność movement was established with him
as a charismatic and unifying leader. Once communism collapsed, Wałęsa,
who won the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, became the first Polish president
elected in a popular vote, in 1990. During his term, which lasted until 1995,
he oversaw the process of reorienting Poland towards Western Europe.
He was the first former Warsaw Pact member to lay out an ambitious plan
to join NATO. Following his time as president, Wałęsa has tirelessly advocated
for human rights and democracy worldwide.
Wałęsa’s rise could not have been possible without the inspiration of the
Polish opposition by John Paul II (born Karol Wojtyła), the pope of the
Catholic Church and a spiritual leader for a quarter of a century to more than
a billion Catholics worldwide. Born in 1920 in Southern Poland, Wojtyła
was personally marked by the horrific events of the Second World War.
When elected pope in 1978, he became the first non-Italian to hold
the office in more than 450 years. Upon his first visit to Poland as head
of the Catholic Church in 1979, John Paul II inspired many Poles to stand
up in defence of their rights by saying: “Do not be afraid.”
If he was not Poland’s spiritual leader in 1979, it was only because of widely
respected Cardinal Wyszyński, a long-standing cardinal whose uncompromising
attitude ensured the Catholic Church independence in the
communist country. After 1989 the pope often became an ultimate reference
for many Poles and Polish public figures. A convinced European,
he urged the deepening and widening of European integration. In 2003, ahead
of the decisive referendum, he said: “This accession is a historical justice and
enriches Europe. Europe needs Poland. Poland needs Europe.” His passing
in 2005 was mourned by the nation; many felt that Poland was orphaned
the day he died.
If John Paul II inspired the creation of the Solidarność movement led
by Wałęsa, its success could not have been possible without the commitment
of millions of others. The structure was sustainable because of a variety
of other leaders, all members of the Solidarność generation, who rose
to meaningful positions after 1989. Tadeusz Mazowiecki (born in 1927) was
Eastern Europe’s first non-communist prime minister after the Cold War.
He was elected in 1989 and led a government that pursued many parallel
reforms aimed at establishing a market economy and reorienting the state’s
foreign affairs.
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Gdansk Shipyard
The Mazowiecki government included many Solidarność members, two
of whom marked the country for at least the following two decades. Leszek
Balcerowicz (born in 1947) was the co-author of the shock therapy that
reformed the Polish economy. He was Solidarność’s economic expert in the
1980s, served twice as finance minister in the 1990s (1989-91 and 1997-
2000) and then was chief of the national bank (2001-2007). He is credited
as the father of Poland’s economic success.
The second minister in Mazowiecki’s government with a lasting legacy was
Jacek Kuroń (1934-2004), the labour and social affairs minister. He created
from scratch the social support programmes for the unemployed that were
named after him as “kuroniówka”. Under communism, unemployment
could not have existed; hence there was no policy towards the unemployed.
Lech Kaczyński (1949-2010) was second in command in the Solidarność
trade union in the 1980s. After holding various public offices (including the
post of justice minister) in the 1990s he was elected the country’s president
in 2005. He died tragically in a plane accident in 2010.
A central figure in Poland’s transformation and EU accession was Bronisław
Geremek (1932-2008). Among the most important advisors to Wałęsa
in the 1980s, he later played a central role in the round-table negotiations
50 | The Solidarność Generation
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