The struggle to turn Poland into a free market economy has been hard. Many have wanted it to happen, but the struggle has not been easy. Then came the winter of '92/93. The winter was long and hard. The government could not get the food and fuel to the people fast enough. Slowly, over time, people started to comment on how much "better" life was under the Communist. Always on the look out for an opportunity to make a come back, the Communist party started playing on the fears of the people.
"We made sure you had food."
"We got you the fuel to keep your houses warm."
In some areas the Communist were even able to get the local officials replaced with their own people. But with spring came relief from the cold. And with help from Western Europe, the government slow started to gain the upper hand of the crisis.
The Communist realized that their opportunity was slipping away. So they stepped up their campaign against the government. Play on the fact that the government had had to rely on Western support to keep things on track. All the old slogans reappeared.
Then the riots started. Small and isolated at first, but they spread. Some believe that the Party really was not responsible, but in the end that did not matter. The Government tried to keep things under control. Trying to not let the whole thing escalate, but it took on a life of its own. Most people realized that if it did not stop, it was only a matter of time before something went wrong.
It was a beautiful May day in Krakow. The kind that makes students and employees gaze out the windows and wish they were some place else. The protest started small and calm enough. But that did not last. Within an hour the crowd had grown very large. The police tried to keep their distance (no one had done anything illegal) and be as invisible as possible. But that did not stop the protestors from yelling at the police. But even that the police took in stride. When the crowd started throwing rocks and bottles everything changed. At first the police gave ground to the protestors as they called for help. Unfortunately, that only encouraged the protestors.
The police brought in water cannons and tried to disperse the crowd. That was when all hell broke loose. Afterwards, most people agree that the first shot was fired by someone in one of the nearby building, but at the time all the police knew was the someone was firing on them. For a moment the police retained their cool, but when a second officer went down many of them had had enough.
When the dust finally settled, three police officers and 21 protestors were dead, and more wounded. And, unfortunately, Krakow was not the last city to see bloodshed. But as their people were dying, the Government and the Party continued to take verbal potshots at each other. The Party knew a golden opportunity when it landed in its lap. As the situation grew worse, the Party became louder in its call for the resignation of the current government.
As with most things, things began to calm down. It seemed as if the Government had weathered the storm. But the Party had one more trick to play.
Poland, at least officially, was still part of the Warsaw Pact. And in the treaty there was a provision that called on the other members to help another member when the help was requested. On 11 June, the Party called on the other members of the Warsaw Pact to come to the aid of Poland. They stated that the current government had lost control of the situation and that aid was needed from the other Pact nations to regain control of the situation.
At first it seemed that no one had heard the Party. But that was not true. At first the Western intelligence agencies did not notice the change. Everyone knew that the Warsaw Pact was just a name from the past. However, what you think you know can get you killed. When the Ukrainian Tank and Motor Rifle Divisions crossed the border everyone was shocked. The fact that the Russians were right behind them did improve anyone day.
The Polish army put up a good fight, but had been caught off balance. Concerned about internal problems, they really had not expected trouble from the outside. Plus, with the cost reductions of the past couple years, they were in for a fight they could not win. The Government was not about to give up their hard won independence so easily. The first thing they did was turn to the West for help.
In normal Western fashion, the Western nations could not come to an agreement on what to do. The worst of all were the Americans. Visions of the World War that had for decades been avoided suddenly reared its ugly head. As the Ukrainians and Russians continued to make progress some in Western Europe started to worry about where this onslaught would end.
So on 22 June, the Germans, British and several other NATO country requested, and were granted, permission to enter Polish territory. There orders were simple. Support the Polish armed forces, and stop the Ukrainian and Russian army.
Copyright © 1997 Dallace Unger, Jr.
Last Updated: July 31, 1997