• Captivity and struggle
• Two Polands
• The new reality
• Constructing the foundations
• Real socialism : the iron fist
• Real socialism : la belle époque
• The long march : prologue
• The long march : war and peace
• Poland after Communism.

One can think of countries that traversed the 20th century free from war, revolution or social upheaval. Such countries, however, are far outnumbered by those that struggled, often constantly, with severe internal conflicts, fought in bloody wars, or were attacked by their neighbours and deprived of their sovereignty. Poland is one of the more startling examples of a country subjected to a steady stream of trials and tribulations from Hitler's Nazi Germany through decades of Soviet repression. "The Spring Will Be Ours", by one of Poland's leading historians, is the first book written after the collapse of state socialism in 1989 to tell this dramatic story based on research in newly declassified records. "The Spring Will Be Ours" focuses on the turbulent half century from the outbreak of World War II in 1939, which started the chain of events that would lead to the communist takeover of Poland, to 1989, when futile attempts to reform the communist system gave way to its total transformation. Paczkowski shows how the communists captured and consolidated power, describes their use of terror and propaganda and illuminates the changes that took place within the governing elite. He also documents the political opposition to the regime - both inside Poland and abroad - that resulted in upheavals in 1956, 1968, 1970, 1976 and 1980. His narrative makes evident the pressures that the elite felt from above, from Moscow, and from below, from the population and from within the party. The history of Poland and the Poles is of special interest because on numerous occasions in the 20th century this relatively small country influenced developments on a global scale.
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• Foreword by Lech Walesa Preface and Acknowledgments Acronyms and Abbreviations Chronology of Events The Polish Crisis: Internal and International Dimensions by Andrzej Paczkowski and Malcolm Byrne PART ONE THE BIRTH OF SOLIDARITY PART TWO FRATERNAL ASSISTANCE PART THREE FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS PART FOUR SEARCH FOR A "POLISH SOLUTION" PART FIVE FINAL PREPARATIONS PART SIX CRACKDOWN Main Actors Bibliography Index.
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This work presents 95 documents on the events that represent a pivotal moment in modern Polish and world history: 16 months between August 1980 when the Solidarity trade union was founded and December 1981 when Polish authorities declared martial law and crushed the nationwide opposition movement that had grown up around the union. Transcripts of Soviet and Polish Politburo meetings give a detailed picture of the goals, motivations and deliberations of the leaders of these countries. Records of Warsaw Pact gatherings, notes of bilateral sessions of the communist camp provide additional pieces to the puzzle of what Moscow and its allies had in mind. Materials are included from Solidarity, too.
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• Part 1. The beginning
• Poland : the weakest link?
• The Solidarity revolution : act one, 1980-81
• "Defend socialism as if it were Poland's independence"
• Part 2. The attack
• The last days before
• "Night of the general" and day one
• Breakthrough
• Reprisals and the public mood
• The world looks on
• Battle over
• Part 3. Counterattack
• Operation "Renaissance" and Lech Wałęsa
• Underground
• Civic resistance
• "The anesthetic has worn off"
• The end of the campaign and Wałęsa's release
• Part 4. Toward positional warfare
• The Church between eternity and Solidarity
• Independent society
• The party returns to the ring
• The end of martial law
• Part 5. Endgame
• Solidarity's revolution : the finale, 1988-89
• Escape from the Soviet Bloc and the fall of the empire
• Conclusion: The decade of struggle and its legacy.

The 1980 general strike in Poland and the establishment of the independent Solidarity movement, which sought to create a state based on civic freedom, were symptoms of a crisis of the communist system. On December 13, 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski on behalf of the ruling Communist Party imposed martial law, effectively quashing Solidarity. Jaruzelski won the battle, but Solidarity continued its revolution in secret and Poland remained politically destabilized. Elections held in June 1989 ended with the defeat of the Communists and the establishment in September of a coalition government in which half of the parliamentary seats went to Solidarity, whose representative was also appointed prime minister. The revolution inaugurated in 1980 by the dockworkers of Gdansk had come to fruition. Revolution and Counterrevolution in Poland, 1980-1989: Solidarity, Martial Law, and the End of Communism in Europe recounts and analyzes the events of this formative decade in Polish history, with particular emphasis on the martial law period. Drawing on extensive archival research, Andrzej Paczkowski examines the origin and form of the Solidarity revolution, the course of the Communist counterrevolution, and the final victory won by Solidarity along with its international repercussions. Andrzej Paczkowski is professor of political studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. Christina Manetti, PhD, is a translator and independent researcher of Polish history.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)