Polands Communist regime first showed signs of weakness twenty years ago, when authorities were forced to negotiate for power and sign a deal with the growing Solidarity labour union. The so-called Round Table agreements granted legal status to Solidarity, led by Lech Walesa, after years of protests and food shortages.
The agreements were signed after some two months of tough negotiations, and were a sure sign that Communism was losing its grip in the Soviet bloc. Among other things, the agreements guaranteed that 35 per cent of Parliament seats would be elected, as would all the seats in a newly created Senate. A new office of the president was also created.
Launched on February 6, 1989, the talks finished April 5th and secured Poland its first partly-democratic post-war elections. The talks were conducted at a table that was, indeed, round. The shape symbolised equality among all attendees at the negotiations.
The events still spark emotions among Poles, along with controversy, debate and a fair share of conspiracy theories. On the 20th anniversary of the talks conclusion, many speak of remembering the Round Table and teaching it to youth through concert events, debates and conferences. Most see the Round Table as the beginning of Communisms end and the point where Poland shed the past and began its journey to democracy.
The Round Table also ended the epoch of division and opened the epoch of globalisation, Walesa said at a recent conference on the topic. It was Polands "first successful bloodless uprising," said former president and Round Table participant Aleksander Kwasniewski. In a country with a long history of battles, occupations and invasions, the Round Table provided inspiration across the Soviet bloc, showing that peaceful change was possible.
The countrys first resistance movements launched soon after World War II. Protests by students, factory workers and shipyard employees continued through the 1980s. Solidarity was formed in 1980 as the countrys first free trade union. It was banned a year later when martial law was declared.
By 1989, many had lost hope after years under the Kremlin, and didnt trust communists to make deals - or keep their word - at the bargaining table. "Nobody then gave us a chance to end communism," Walesa said. "In those times the entire world counted the tanks, the interests." The odds were against Solidarity - a union made up of shipyard workers from the Baltic coast - as they faced the skilled and experienced politicians of the communist regime.
But Walesa says victory was possible because the union never expected miracles, and worked to fight a bigger foe with steady and gradual pressure. It was only in stages that communists could be defeated, Walesa has said, and only in faith that it could be done. "Nobody then gave us a chance," Walesa said, "but they forgot about the spirit."