The State of Emergency in Poland

Tanks, soldiers and armoured personnel carriers in the streets, dozens dead and thousands interned. Forty years ago, on 13 December 1981, a state of emergency was declared in Poland. At that time there were over nine million people in the Solidarity movement founded by Gdansk electrician Lech Walesa. With the declaration of a state of emergency, freedom of assembly and the right to strike were barred, while the plug was pulled on the country’s telephone and telegraph network. The borders were sealed, a night-time curfew was imposed and the public administration and large enterprises came under military control.