Lech Walensa's role in Poland's transition from communism to democracy

Role of Lech Walensa in Transforming Poland From Communism System to Democratic System

Lech Walensa

The history of Lech Walensa and his opposition to the communist regime has often been represented as a triumph of democracy and the will of the people over communistic authoritarianism. The popular image of Walensa is one of indomitable defiance and resilience against a much stronger and opponent. The rise of the Solidarity movement has also been represented as a unified and popular resistance to communist domination. This representation of Walensa and Solidarity is true up to a point. However there are many additions and ancillary aspects that cannot be simplified into a linear picture of either the man or the events which he was involved in.

The Wikipedia Web site on this subject provides a brief but generally effective overview of the topic. The central events relating to the rise of Walensa are touched on in this online article. The article deals fairly well with issue of the rise of Walensa and mentions most of the pertinent dates and facts. However it deals only briefly with the complex events that was eventually to lead to Walensa's rise to power and tends to gloss over most of the complexities.

The author of the Wikipedia article is not made known, but the Wikipedia project is an open-source and public project that is open to contributions from any source. There is however a verification process associated with the site which is essentially based on peer reviews. If one visits the discussion section at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Lech_Wa%C5%82%C4%99sathis process of peer review becomes obvious and there are many changes that have been reacted on. One can also compare the various changes that have been made to the content of the article. In other words, the article is a continual work in progress with changes being made according to peer commentary.

In general the site presents the most common and central points and does not show any obvious bias. Although, as the discussion area states, there have been some ambiguous references to the issue of Walensa as a spy; however these have been remedied to large extent. In this regard the author does mention some of the more negative issues but tends to avoid the more intricate complexities.

The information on the Web site is pertinent yet it provides some extraneous data which, while interesting, does not provide for the in-depth political and social commentary that is necessary for a full overview of the subject. For example, the following exert tends to gloss over some of the most complex areas and events relating to the rise of Walensa's political ascendancy.

In 1983 he applied to come back to Gda-sk Shipyard to his former position as a simple electrician. While formally treated as a "simple worker," he was practically under house arrest until 1987. 1983 also saw Wa?

sa being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was unable to receive the prize himself, fearing that the government would not let him back in, so his wife Danuta Wa?

sowa received the prize in his place. Wa?

sa donated the prize money to the Solidarity movement's temporary headquarters in exile.

Lech Wa?

sa.)

The article also presents a number of cryptic references which would need further research and possible exploration of the sources to be fully understood. For example, "From 1987 to 1990 Wa?

sa organized and led the "half-illegal" Temporary Executive Committee of Solidarity Trade Union." (Lech Wa?

sa)

This same criticism can be applied to other areas of the article / site. A further example is the obscure reference to "half-free" elections. (Lech Wa?

sa)

The above points refer to a core criticism of the site. On the one hand the material presented on this Web page paints a general overview; on the other hand it is very short on detail and depth. This is possibly to be expected on a website where the Web usage trends and writings style tend to require short and brief descriptions. However this does not mean that Web writing should be inaccurate or preclude the use of references and source links. The site should and could have had more footnotes or inline links to more extensive and relevant sources, than is provided.

To be fair there are a number of hyperlinks to other sections of the Wikipedia site and following these links does add to the overall picture presented on this site. However this is still not as extensive as it could be. This also relates to another critique that the site can be seen to be somewhat misleading, especially to the student, in that it does not have much of the depth and complexity necessary. A central critique in terms of academic and learning quality is that the site can set poor learning precedent in that the relevance and depth that is required to fully understand the subject is missing.

On a more positive note, the article does at times manage to condense the material and provide a succinct overview of certain historical aspects and the political situation at the time. For example,

While technically just a Chairman of Solidarity Trade Union at the time Wa?

sa played a key role in Polish politics. At the end of 1989 he persuaded leaders from formally communist ally parties to form a non-communist coalition government, which was the first non-communist government in the Soviet Bloc....to the Communist Party, the parliament chose Tadeusz Mazowiecki for prime minister of Poland. Poland, while still a communist country in theory, started to change its economy to the free market system.

Lech Wa?

sa)

The site also succeeds a certain extent in providing a balance between the triumph and achievements Walensa's career, with the more negative aspects. For example, it refers to the alleged racial bias in his thinking - "In 1990, during a rally, Wa?

sa declared himself "clean," referring to himself as a pure Pole with no Jewish blood. "(Lech Wa?

sa) Reference is also made to his essential failure, after succeeding in opposing the communist regime, and his loss of public support. The article does succinctly note that "... during his presidency Poland was completely changed, from an oppressive communist country under strict Soviet control and with a weak economy to an independent and democratic country with a fast growing free-market economy." However this again is a rather simplistic generalization. One can for example jump to hyperlinked areas such as in-depth information on Tadeusz Mazowiecki. There are also some good external links, including valuable information at the Lech Walensa Institute Foundation. There are some media links as well audio files. However all of these positive aspects all fail to live up to the comprehensive academic standards.

In the light of the above critique of the Wikipedia site that more specific reference and source materials are needed to make the site more academically rigorous and correct, there are various resources that could be added to the site. For example, there is only a brief reference to Walensa's Catholic background and there are numerous resources which extend insight into this important aspect. For instance, Ost states in Solidarity and the Politics of Anti-Politics: Opposition and Reform in Poland since 1968. that "It is certainly fair to say, however, that Solidarity always felt far closer to the Church than the Church felt to Solidarity." (Ost 157) This relates to further research into the connections and the complex links between the Church, Walensa and Solidarity, than is implied in the Wikipedia text.

Ost also provides greater depth and understanding of the various political ambiguities that made up the history of Solidarity and Walensa's role in it. He notes that Solidarity was both "...simultaneously centralist and decentralist, a single union and many unions, depending on the needs of the situation, In fact, it was this very ambiguity that was at the heart of Solidarity's mass appeal." The nature of the union was ambiguously summed up in Lech Wa?

sa's words. " "Let everybody know that Gda-sk has become the headquarters for everybody -- no wait, that's wrong -- that... A central authority has emerged in Gda-sk, though it's not really a central authority, something like it, but not that exactly." (Ost 106) There is little reference in the source material to important complexities of this nature.

Neither does the article pay enough attention to the external events that surround and impact on the rise to power and influence of Welesa; nor does it provide links to the larger eternal events taking place in the Soviet world and the way in which they impacted on the events in Poland. This refers to the fact that "...Lech Walensa and the Solidarity forces came to power precisely at the time when the collapse of Soviet-type state socialism, in general, became apparent." (Walsh, Best, and Rai 132)

The article also does not provide sufficient information and background about the personal early life of Walensa - as well as the importance of his strong Catholic background." Respect for elders, a strong Roman Catholic influence, daily morning and evening prayers, and hard work was how he was brought up." (Walsh, Best, and Rai 133) Neither does the article pay sufficient attention to the motivational aspects that led Walensa to enter the Solidarity movement, and the reason for the rejection of communism.

For example, the important aspect that personally motivated Walensa was not so much any intellectual disagreement with communism - in fact he virtually ignored the student protests of 1968, which he felt was "... A problem for the intellectuals." (Walsh, Best, and Rai 133) However this attitude was to change when"...on December 12, 1970, the Communist regime decreed steep increases in the prices of basic foodstuffs. The suddenness of this action in the immediate pre-Christmas season shocked Polish workers, and many went into the streets in spontaneous protest. "(Walsh, Best, and Rai 133)