Wojciech Jaruzelski

Wojciech Jaruzelski , 1923-, Polish military and political leader. He fought in World War II, became a general in 1956, and began his rise in the Communist party in 1960. During the 1981 crisis involving the trade union Solidarity , Jaruzelski became premier and party leader. Known as a moderate, he sought a compromise but finally ordered a military crackdown, placed Poland under martial law (Dec., 1981), outlawed Solidarity, and ordered the arrest of Solidarity leaders, including Lech Wałęsa . By the end of 1982, Solidarity had been suppressed; martial law was lifted, and Wałęsa was released. In 1987, Jaruzelski found his attempts at economic reform thwarted by Solidarity. Then, a series of crippling nationwide strikes forced him to open a dialogue with Solidarity. In Apr., 1989, Solidarity was legalized and granted the right to campaign for the upcoming elections. In June, Solidarity members won almost every seat in the upper house of the parliament, but the party was restricted to competing for only 35% of the seats in the lower house, all of which they won. The restriction allowed Jaruzelski to be elected president by a one-vote margin in the national assembly. Unable to maintain a Communist-led government, however, he was forced in September to agree to a Solidarity prime minister. Jaruzelski was succeeded as president by Wałęsa in Dec., 1990. In 1993, Jaruzelski was charged with criminal conduct in a 1970 incident in which demonstrating workers were killed after he allegedly ordered soldiers to fire on them, but court proceedings, which began in 1996, have progressed slowly because of delays and disputes. Additional criminal charges against him, relating to the imposition of martial law and internment of Solidarity leaders and others, were filed in 2006; trial on those charges began in 2008.

Jaruzelski, Wojciech Witold (b. 6 July 1923). Prime Minister of Poland 1981–5; First Secretary of the Polish Communist Party 1981–9; President 1989–90 Born in Kurów, he fought in World War II and thereafter stayed in the Polish army. He joined the Communist Party in 1947, and by 1956 had advanced to become Poland's youngest general. He became Chief of Staff in 1965, and was Minister of Defence, 1968–83. He was appointed to assume the political leadership as a hardliner who could deal with the growing Solidarność movement. He suppressed the latter by force and imprisoned many of its leaders. When it became evident that popular discontent was too strong to be ignored forever, he entered into talks with Solidarność and thus ensured a peaceful transition to democracy. It is still not clear whether he declared martial law in December 1981 out of a genuine desire to suppress the movement, or to forestall an imminent invasion by the Soviet army whose repression would have been worse. After years of deliberation, on 13 February 1996 a parliamentary committee recommended that he should not face prosecution for declaring martial law. However, in 2001 he was charged for his role in the violent suppression of workers' unrests in 1970, in which forty-four workers were killed.