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1980-81 Polish Crisis Polish Crisis, 1980-1981 Clear All

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September 1980 crisis in Poland

1980-81 Polish Crisis

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Eastern Europe

Poland

Leonid Brezhnev, 1974.

Brezhnev, Leonid Il'ich

1906- 1982

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Kania, Stanislaw

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Soviet Union. Communist Party. Central Committee (CPSU CC). Politburo

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Soviet Foreign Policy

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Andropov, Yuri Vladimirovich

1914- 1984

Andrei Gromyko at the UN, 1981

Gromyko, Andrei Andreevich

1909- 1989

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Jaruzelski, W. (Wojciech)

1923- 2014

Soviet soldier taking a photograph of another soldier in Red Square, Moscow, 1959

Eastern Europe

Soviet Union

Warsaw Pact

The Palace of the Republic (Palast der Republik) in Berlin

Eastern Europe

East Germany

Ryszard Kukliński Collection

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Leonid Brezhnev Collection

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Eastern Europe

Czechoslovakia

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Eastern Europe

Hungary

Warsaw Pact Military Planning

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Eastern Europe

Belarus

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Documents

September 13, 1981	Protocol No. 002/81 of the Meeting of the Committee for the Defense of the Homeland Meeting of the Committee for the Defense of the Homeland on the implementation of martial law in Poland. Committee members discuss where to increase militarization to be prepared for martial law, and how best to protect martial law through propaganda.
October 22, 1980	Proposals Regarding the Introduction of Martial Law for Reasons of State Security and the Underlying Consequences of Introducing Martial Law. A proposal for instituting martial law in Poland, in response to the protest movement there. The document breaks down the powers granted to the government through martial law, and notes that the powers of some government organs will need to be broadened.
April 7, 1981	Report, Discussion with Supreme Commander of the Combined Military Forces of the Warsaw Pact on 7 April 1981 in Legnica (PR Poland) German military commanders meet with Marshal Kulikov following the evaluation meeting by the joint operative-strategic Command Staff Exercise "SOYUZ-81." Kulikov states that the military exercise was called to support Polish leaders Jaruzelski and Kania and so "a certain pressure should also be exerted upon the leadership of 'Solidarity.'"
December 13, 1981	CPSU CC Politburo Protocol (extract), "On Information about the Polish question for the leaders of the fraternal countries" Soviet ambassadors are informed that martial law has been declared in Poland.
December 10, 1981	Session of the CPSU CC Politburo The Soviet Politburo discusses the Polish Solidarity movement and the possibility of imposing martial law in Poland to restore order and the communist party's authority.
November 21, 1981	CPSU CC Politburo Protocol (extract) and Text of Oral Message from Brezhnev to Jaruzelski
September 23, 1982	CPSU CC Report on Economic Aid to Poland (1980-81) Top Secret Dossier from the CPSU CC to Poland listing amount of economic aid in 1980-1981 that is classified for specific purchases such as grain and foodstuffs, as well as for the repayment of loans to other countries.
November 25, 1980	Activities of Opposition Elements at the Gdansk Shipyard - On the Conditions of the New Social-Political Situation Report on the situation in the Gdansk Shipyard. Also discusses the opposition's methods, and individual members of the opposition.
January 14, 1982	CPSU CC Politburo transcript, 14 January 1982 (excerpt) Brezhnev discusses Soviet talks with Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Czyrek. Brezhnev also informs the Politburo about the state of the PZPR, the Polish economy, the newly instituted Polish martial law, and the leadership of Jaruzelski.
July 22, 1981	Report to the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Politburo containing verbatim transcript of 21 July 1981 telephone conversation between Stanislaw Kania and Leonid Brezhnev Brezhnev and Kania discuss the new composition of the Politburo and the dangers of counterrevolution in Poland.