Wojciech Jaruzelski

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name=Wojciech Jaruzelski

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Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (pronounce: ) (born July 6, 1923) was a communist Polish political and military leader, Prime Minister from 1981 to 1985, head of the Polish Council of State from 1985 to 1989 and President from 1989 to 1990.

Related Topics:
July 6 - 1923 - Communist - Polish - Polish Council of State

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Jaruzelski was born into a family of Polish gentry. He was raised on the family estate near Wysokie (Bialystok region) and later in the Warsaw catholic boarding school of Bielany. Following the

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Nazi-Soviet pact when he was a teenager, his family fled to Lithuania. Later they were deported to the Asian part of the Soviet Union, where his father died at Bijsk from lack of medical treatment.

Related Topics:
Nazi-Soviet pact - Asia - Soviet Union

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When the Soviets began building up Polish army units, Jaruzelski was among the first to join. At the end of World War II he participated at the conquest of Berlin. An officer of the Polish Army, he was trained at the Polish Higher Infantry School and the General Staff Academy, and joined the Polish United Workers' Party (the former Polish Communist Party). In the first post-war years, he was among the military repressing anti-communist guerilla insurgents, e.g. in the Swietokrzyskie region. He quickly rose in military and party, becoming a member of the Central Committee in 1964. In 1968, he was named the minister of defense.

Related Topics:
Army - Infantry - Polish United Workers' Party - Communist Party - 1964

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In the same year, he was heavily involved in the "cleansing" of the Polish army as part of Moczar's antisemitic campaign. In fact, he had close links to Moczar (the fact that e.g. he was best man at Moczar's second marriage does not appear in Jeruzelski's autobiographical works).

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In 1968, during the Prague Spring, he led the Polish military participation in the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Then in 1970, he was involved in the plot against W?adys?aw Gomu?ka, which led to the appointment of Gierek as communist party secretary. He is suspected of taking part in the organization of the execution of striking workers, which led to a massacre in the coastal cities of Gda?sk, Gdynia, Elbl?g and Szczecin.

Related Topics:
Prague Spring - Czechoslovakia - W?adys?aw Gomu?ka - Gierek - Gda?sk - Gdynia - Elbl?g - Szczecin

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Jaruzelski became the party's national secretary and prime minister in 1981, when Lech Wa??sa's Solidarity movement was starting to gain popularity, both within Poland and abroad. On 13th December 1981 Jaruzelski imposed martial law, actually called in Polish stan wojenny literally translated as 'state of war'. This led many to say that General Jaruzelski had declared war on the nation. According to his explanation, this action was intended to prevent a Soviet invasion. Lawyers hold that the circumstances of the martial law were even in violation of the communist constitution. Most former opposition members argue that it was merely an action by the Polish communist regime organized in order to retain power and strangle the newly-born and developing civil society. Moreover, historical evidence, released under Pres Yelstin has been brought to light indicating that the Soviet Union did not plan to invade Poland; in fact, the Soviets strictly rejected Jaruzelski's request for military help in 1981, leaving the Solidarity problem to be sorted out by Polish comrades. This question, as well as many other facts about Poland 1945-1989, are presently under the investigation of independent historians grouped in National Memory Institute (Instytut Pami?ci Narodowej, IPN), whose publications reveal facts from communist archives.

Related Topics:
1981 - Lech Wa??sa - Solidarity - Martial law - Yelstin - Instytut Pami?ci Narodowej

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The policies of Mikhail Gorbachev also stipulated political reform in Poland. By the close of the tenth plenary session in December 1988, the Communist Party had decided to approach leaders of Solidarity for talks. From February 6 to April 15, talks of 13 working groups in 94 sessions, which became known as the "roundtable talks," radically altered the shape of the Polish government and society. The talks resulted in an agreement to vest political power in a newly created bicameral legislature and in a president who would be the chief executive. Solidarity was legalized. After the elections, the Communists, who were guaranteed 65 percent of the seats in the Sejm (the parliament), did not win a majority, and Solidarity-backed candidates won 99 out of 100 freely contested seats in the Senate. Jaruzelski, whose name was the only one the Communist Party allowed on the ballot for the presidency, won by just one vote in the National Assembly.

Related Topics:
Mikhail Gorbachev - National Assembly

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Although Jaruzelski tried to persuade Solidarity to join the Communists in a "grand coalition," Wa??sa refused. Jaruzelski resigned as general secretary of the Communist Party but found he was forced to come to terms with a government formed by Solidarity. In 1990 Jaruzelski resigned as Poland's leader and was succeeded by Wa??sa in December. Subsequently, Jaruzelski has faced charges for a number of actions he committed while he was defense minister during the communist period.

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In May 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded a commemorative medal to Jaruzelski in Moscow.

Related Topics:
May - 2005 - Russian President - Vladimir Putin - Medal - Moscow

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Czech Republic President Václav Klaus criticized this step, claiming that Jaruzelski is the symbol of the Warsaw Pact troops? invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Jaruzelski said that he had apologised and that the decision on the August 1968 invasion had been a great ?political and moral mistake.? See http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/08/22/jaruzelski.shtml.

Related Topics:
Czech Republic - President - Václav Klaus - Warsaw Pact - August

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