Interviews with Lech Walesa
Poland
Reagan, Mitterrand, and Thatcher
“And all these people were fed up with Communism.”
Transcript
In that period in a few places there were people who understood each other without any words spoken. And these people included Reagan [Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, 1981-1989], Mitterrand [Francois Mitterrand, President of France, 1981-1995], Mrs. Thatcher [Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1979-1990], the Holy Father [Pope John Paul II, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005]. And all these people were fed up with Communism. They knew Communism was on its last legs and each of them did their job right, which all contributed to a common fight against Communism.
This was just a situation which generated certain people who all, without mutual agreement, worked toward this end. Reagan pushed the arms race, which Communism could not keep up with. Mitterrand, for his part, was a socialist so he was kind of a friend of the communists, but he would tell them in his turn, “Listen, do not beat up on the labor unionists, you need to allow freedom of trade unions,” so he was on the other side in a way, but at the same time supported us.
Mrs. Thatcher then was saying, “Listen, what kind of an economy is this? Such a huge, beautiful expanse of land in the socialist countries, and you cannot feed your people, well, then this system is no good.” And so, all these people – you could add a few names, but anyway, all these people were doing their own thing, but it all comprised a common fight among us.
About Lech Walesa
Lech Walesa was born on September 29, 1943, in Popowo, Poland. After primary and vocational education, he pursued a career as an electrician and was employed at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, on the Baltic coast of Poland. As a shipyard worker, he became increasingly active in labor matters and committed himself to promoting workers’ rights. In the 1970s, he became a leader of the effort to establish independent trade unions, which were forbidden in communist Poland. Walesa organized shipyard workers, distributed underground leaflets, and educated workers on their rights.
Walesa was a principal organizer of the Lenin Shipyard Strike in August 1980 and as spokesman for the workers, he quickly became the public face of the independent labor movement. His tenacious negotiations with communist authorities and steadfast support of workers’ rights inspired Poles and resulted in the establishment of the Solidarity trade union, the first independent labor union in the communist world. Solidarity soon expanded its reach beyond labor issues and became the hub for the country’s dissident activity, uniting democratic forces across Poland.
The communist regime attempted to crush Solidarity’s influence and popularity by declaring martial law on December 13, 1981. As the movement’s leader, Walesa was among the first to be arrested and imprisoned. During this time, Poland’s communist government banned Solidarity, but Walesa wouldn’t surrender. He remained a symbol and spokesman for the ideals embodied by Solidarity as the movement continued its activities underground. Walesa’s struggle was recognized by the international community when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983.
As popular dissatisfaction grew against the regime in the late 1980s, Walesa led negotiations with the government to ease tensions. The negotiations resulted in elections on June 4, 1989, that saw the establishment of the first non-communist government within the Warsaw Pact. With the acquiescence of the Soviet Union and inspired by the moral leadership of the Polish Pope, John Paul II, Poland began its transformation to democracy and free markets.
On December 22, 1990, Lech Walesa became the first democratically elected president of Poland. While in office, Walesa was a driving force in Poland’s European integration, laying the groundwork for Poland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union. After leaving office in 1995, he founded The Lech Walesa Institute, an organization committed to supporting democracy throughout the world.