It Takes a Nation of Shipbuilders to Hold Us Back

When you think of the very first fissures in the Iron Curtain, what city should come to mind? Berlin? The German capital was important but not first. Prague maybe? No, their Velvet Revolution came later. What about the Polish seaport city of Gdansk? As my homegirl Sarah P would say, "You betcha!"

Interestingly, the people who made those first cracks were not politicians or military men but rather shipyard union workers. It was a newfound trade union that launched the Solidarity Movement at the Lenin Shipyards in August 1980.

Solidarity, which essentially united Catholics with the anti-Communist left, had a lot to worry about in challenging the status quo. The Soviets sent the military to squash the 1956 Hungarian Uprising and the 1968 Prague Spring, and when Gdansk shipyard workers previously protested their poor living standards in 1970, the country's own Communist party put down the strike with machine gun fire that killed 45 and injured a 1,000 others.

A decade later, the firing of a female crane operator set off an already simmering shipyard, but it was a charismatic worker named Lech Walesa who took charge. He climbed the shipyard wall and called everyone together to say they needed to strike for more than just better working conditions. He wanted to form a union to fight for real reform. This time around, instead of taking it to the government, they simply locked themselves in the shipyard as seen in the photo above.

Tanks and soldiers lined up out front, but when asked what they wanted, the workers -- with input from over 150 different work plants -- presented the government with a list of 21 demands known as the August Accords. Remarkably, the government agreed.

In the years to come, 10 million Poles joined the Solidarity Movement as it pushed for broader reforms, like free elections. The Soviets were much less lenient in time. Tanks once again rolled through the streets, martial law was instituted and the union's 38 regional heads were arrested. An activist priest, Jerzy Popieluszko, was even murdered for his participation. The public's response to the killing? Over a million people showed up to his funeral.

Though it faced a tough few years, the Solidarity Movement had a major player in its corner -- Poland's own Pope John Paul II. He strongly lent his support and even visited Gdansk, where his sermon included rather overt code words to encourage the people to keep up the fight. Not even the Kremlin wanted to fight the Pope, and as the economy started to falter and strikes renewed, the government began negotiating with the Solidarity leaders. This would be the beginning of the end.

When somewhat free elections were finally achieved in 1989, a Solidarity-led collation took charge of the government. This in turn ignited the "Revolutions of 1989" that saw Central and Eastern European countries shed their Communist chains. The following year, Walesa became Poland's first post-Commie president. The Eastern Bloc was coming apart, the Iron Curtain was falling and the Soviet Union would soon be no more.

To a certain extent, this was history come full circle. You see, the first shots of World War II happened in Gdansk, which had long been the rope in a German-Polish tug-of-war. Communist rule followed for many countries, but it was the city where the War began that started the first successful revolution to get free from its aftermath.

History buffs visiting Gdansk have an endless array of World War II and Solidarity sights to visit, from the Westerplatte peninsula and Roads to Freedom exhibition to the Monument of the Fallen Shipyard Workers and the European Centre for Solidarity. Walsea, now a Nobel Peace Price recipient and international lecturer, is even rumored to hold court on occasion at the Green Gate.

Does all this history make you want to visit Gdansk? If so, mark your calendars for August 2010 because that will be the 40th anniversary of the original Solidarity strike. It's going to be a massive party so make sure to book your flights and hotel as early as possible.