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Droga do wolności. Refleksje nad Okrągłym Stołem

100%

Jankowiak S.

Przegląd Zachodni

2014

issue 3(352)

91-114

Suppression of an independent movement, and Solidarity is beyond doubt acknowledged as such, did not resolve any of the crucial problems of the ruling power in Poland. A declining economy coupled with utter apathy of the society necessitated changes, but the authorities were not prepared to implement them. Additionally, the bankruptcy of the Soviet Union forced those in power to seek internal rather than external solutions to Poland’s problems, hence the idea to make some changes in the principles of the system’s functioning without impairing its essence. The pivotal element of the plan was to maintain in practice the monopoly of the Polish United Workers’ Party on power by introducing new elements (President, upper house of the parliament) with a concurrent enticing of moderate opposition which was predisposed to engage in talks with the authorities, into shared responsibility for the situation in the country. Although the agreement negotiated at the Round Table seemed to favor the authorities, who hoped to postpone further changes for another four years, reality turned out quite differently, as the society supported the opposition. A reconstructed ruling coalition created a new, non-communist government, thereby effecting a transformation of the political system.

Radykalizm czasu przełomu czyli spór o Okrągły Stół w latach 1988–1989

51%

Kaliski B.

Polska 1944/45-1989. Studia i Materiały

2016

issue 14

Przygotowania do Okrągłego Stołu i negocjacje między stroną społeczną (Solidarnością) a rządową (PZPR) w 1989 r. wywoływały różne krytyczne oceny w kręgach opozycji demokratycznej. Okrągły Stół przez wiele lat był punktem spornym debat historycznych i politycznych. Artykuł prezentuje sposoby argumentacji politycznych przeciwników Okrągłego Stołu – radykałów, którzy w latach 1988–1989 kontestowali linię działania Lecha Wałęsy i jego otoczenia.

The Round Table (February – April 1989) has been a thorny issue for many years, igniting debates among historians and politicians of the Third Polish Republic, and opinions about it – favourable or unfavourable – corresponded with the opinions of general achievements of the transformation of the Polish political system. Already during the negotiations, the Round Table talks caused controversies and deepened personal and ideological divisions within Solidarność and the opposition. The end of 1988 brought about the emergence of a tendency to contest the line of action of Wałęsa and his circle, and especially rejected the need of Round Table talks with the communist government. The tendency was shared by political groups originating from Solidarność and newly formed political parties, numerous but weak, existing on the margin. The article presents the most important arguments of political opponents of the Round Table talks – the radicals of the crucial time of changes in 1988 and 1989. The author answers the question whether it is right to use the term “radicalism” and attempts to determine the scope of a social base of radicals; he points out that many arguments put forward by the opponents of the negotiations were also presented by journalists and oppositionists supporting Lech Wałęsa. He thus advances a thesis that it was not political concepts that distinguished radicals from the rest of the opposition, but their specific psychological attitude; this, however, requires further study.

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1 Polska 1944/45-1989. Studia i Materiały

1 Przegląd Zachodni

1 Jankowiak S.

1 Kaliski B.

1 2016

1 2014

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Droga do wolności. Refleksje nad Okrągłym Stołem

Radykalizm czasu przełomu czyli spór o Okrągły Stół w latach 1988–1989