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Polish Round Table Agreement
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==History== {{Eastern Bloc sidebar}} Following the factory strikes of the early 1980s and the subsequent formation of the (then still underground) Solidarity movement under the leadership of [[Lech Wałęsa]], the political situation in Poland started relaxing somewhat. Despite an attempt by the government to crack down on [[trade unionism]], the movement had gained too much momentum, and it became impossible to hold off change any more. In August 1988, the Polish People's Republic authorities started a dialogue with the opposition under the influence of multiple internal and external factors. The main reasons were the many social protests, lasting from May 1988 in different regions of Poland, the increasing crisis of the Polish economy, the pressure of the Polish Catholic Church to begin negotiations with the opposition, support of the Western states for Solidarność, and simultaneous internal transformations of the USSR provoked by the politics of perestroika of Gorbaczev, ultimately decided about initiating the talks.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Andrzej |last1=Friszke |first2=Janusz |last2=Grzelak |first3=Mirosław |last3=Kofta |first4=Adam |last4=Leszczyński |first5=Wiktor |last5=Osiatyński |first6=Janusz |last6=Reykowski |title=Psychologia Okrągłego Stołu |location=Sopot |publisher=Smak Słowa |date=2019 |pages=218–221 |isbn=9788365731777 |language=pl}}.</ref> Also the changes in the attitude of both ruling party and the opposition were vital to the process; the contemporary authorities knew that they need social permission to conduct required economic reforms,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wnuk-Lipiński |first=Edmund |title=25 lat po przełomie |journal=Wolność I Solidarność |issue=7 |language=pl |date=2014 |pages=6–10 |url= https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/wolnosc-i-solidarnosc/artykul/25-lat-po-przelomie |access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref> and for that reason, they wanted to share the political responsibility with Solidarność,<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.intro.media/artykuly/30-lat-okraglego-stolu-czesc-ii-kontrowersje |title=30 lat Okrągłego Stołu, część II – kontrowersje |first=Michał |last=Mryczko |date=7 February 2019 |language=pl |website=intro.media |access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref> whereas the opposition prioritized the need to reorganize public life over continuation of resisting the [[Polish United Workers' Party|Polish United Workers Party (PZPR)]].<ref>Kofta et al., p. 221–222.</ref> In September 1988, when a [[1988 Polish strikes|wave of strikes]] was ending, a secret meeting was held, which included Lech Wałęsa and [[Minister of Internal Affairs]] [[Czesław Kiszczak]]. They agreed to hold the so-called "Round Table" talks in the near future to plan out the course of action to be undertaken in the country. The Round Table talks began on 6 February 1989 at 14:23 CET. They included the ''[[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|"Solidarity"]]'' ''opposition'' side and the government (also referred to as the ''ruling coalition'' side due to participation in the talks of PZPR's [[Bloc party|bloc parties]], like [[United People's Party (Poland)|United People's Party (ZSL)]], [[Alliance of Democrats (Poland)|Alliance of Democrats (SD)]], and other PZPR-dependent organizations). The talks were held in the Council of Ministers Office. Wałęsa and Kiszczak co-chaired the meetings. The Polish communists, led by [[Wojciech Jaruzelski|General Jaruzelski]], hoped to co-opt prominent opposition leaders into the ruling group without significantly changing the political power structure. In reality, the talks radically altered the shape of the Polish government and society. The events in Poland precipitated and gave momentum to the fall of the entire European [[communist bloc]]; the [[Yalta arrangement]] collapsed soon after the events in Poland.
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