Primary Sources
Friendly Working Visit with Poland
Description
In the summer of 1980, strikes erupted among workers in Poland, making Communist leaders throughout the Soviet bloc uneasy. The Central Committee of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union met in October 1980 to discuss and endorse a report compiled by some of its members about a forthcoming visit of two Polish officials, Stanislaw Kania and Josef Pinkowski. In their discussions, they agreed that the Polish leadership had not done nearly enough to quell the situation in their country, they needed guidance on how to counteract the opposition, and they were expected to explain their lack of inaction. Soviet leaders also brought up the prospect of introducing martial law in Poland as a measure to attack the antisocialist opposition and to strengthen the resolve of the Communist party and state; martial law was eventually ordered in Poland in December 1981. This document is an example of the secret discussions that took place among Soviet leaders as well as the pressure that the Soviet Union placed on Polish leadership during these critical years prior to the collapse of communism.
Source
"Materials for a Friendly Working Visit to the USSR by Polish Leaders," 29 October 1980, Cold War International History Project, Virtual Archive, CWIHP (accessed May 14, 2008).
Primary Source—Excerpt
I. ...BREZHNEV. Tomorrow the PZPR [Polish United Workers' Party, i.e., Communist Party] First Secretary, Cde. [Stanislaw] Kania, and the Chairman of the PPR [Polish People's Republic] Council of Ministers, Cde. [Josef] Pinkowski, are coming here. The commission ... has provided materials for our discussions with the Polish leaders.... I believe the comrades have covered all the major issues.... In Poland there is in fact now a raging counterrevolution under way, but the Polish press and the Polish comrades are not speaking out about this and not speaking out about the enemies of the people. And in the meantime these enemies of the people, the accomplices of the counterrevolution, and the counterrevolutionaries themselves are speaking out against the people. How can this be?
ANDROPOV. A direct way of putting the question is that in Poland the Polish leaders are saying nothing about the counterrevolution either in the press or on radio or television.... Instead of exposing the antisocialist elements, the Polish press is giving overwhelming emphasis to the shortcomings of the CC [Central Committee] leadership, etc. We must speak directly about the enemies of the Polish socialist order....
BREZHNEV. ... Perhaps it will indeed be necessary to introduce martial law....
GROMYKO. We must speak to the Polish comrades firmly and sharply.... As concerns the introduction of a state of emergency in Poland, this must be kept in reserve as a measure to protect socialist gains.... We simply cannot lose Poland....
TIKHONOV. ... We are inviting them to come here to express our alarm at the situation unfolding in Poland.... Let them say why they are permitting this, let them explain it....
KIRILENKO. It's been three months since the strikes started and the danger has failed to subside....
GORBACHEV. ... So far, they are taking no appropriate measures and are merely in some sort of defensive position....