25 years ago on December 13, 1981 General Jaruzelski announced Martial Law in Poland. Hours later tanks rolled through the streets of major Polish cities. Activists of the Solidarnosc opposition movement were arrested. The nascent tide of political change in Eastern Europe was brought to a violent halt. Like in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968 the reform process of the socialist system in Poland proceeded too far to fit within the dogmatic confines dictated by Moscow. However, Martial Law, and the harsh clampdown on the democratic opposition did not mean a full stop for systemic reform in this part of Europe.
Since those memorable events of 1981 history took a then-unexpected turn. The spirit of freedom unleashed East of the Iron Curtain, fuelled by a change of political course in WashingtonMoscow brought about the velvet revolutions, fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In less than 25 years since the Martial Law, Poland advanced from being a violator of the Helsinki Accords to becoming a member of the European Union— an association of nation-states defined by political and economic freedom.
What is the significance of December 13th for Poland nowadays? A question one must ponder over just as often as one asks oneself, why should I read classics? What strikes the observer of political conduct in Poland nowadays is the extent to which the political modus vivendi is detached from what was termed the ‘spirit of solidarity.’ Partisan politics has conquered the scene in both its forward and backward looking guises. One doubts that Eastern European societies could once again become as internally cohesive as before 1989. Strains of the transformation process led to vested societal divisions and partisan politics. The ‘Spirit of Solidarity’ was by and large lost along the way.
What is the world like for Poland and its neighbours 25 years after? Despite geopolitical shifts after 1989-91 a glance at the allies of Poland nowadays bears striking similarities with the friends and foes of Solidarnosc 25 years ago. Still at odds with Russia yet subservient to America. With two differences however—the clash 
with Russia is of commercial rather than military or ideological nature and American attitudes towards Poland have significantly shifted. 1981 was probably the last time when Poland was mentioned in the President’s Christmas address…
The balance is however not entirely in the red. The experience of Solidarity and that of Marital Law has made Poland, a democratic and increasingly assertive state, particularly sensitive to democracy promotion, unsurprisingly, in the neo-conservative fashion. Democracy building and democracy promotion currently serve as a normative basis (if Poland has any at all) of our foreign policy i.e. Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia etc. Poland (both society and poltical elites) paternalisticly see themselves as champions of nascent democracies, 'opening societies'.
The biggest failure of the Solidarnosc generation is not conveyed by the state of the political scene in Poland nor by the fact that Jaruzelski is still a free man. The biggest failure has been revealed in today’s polls. How is it possible that despite unquestioned historical evidence from April 1981 more than half of the public opinion still believes that the introduction of the Martial Law was a lesser of two evils? If history is really written by the victors, who won in 1989?
with 
