Fighting Solidarity ( pl, Solidarność Walcząca) was a Polish

anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism, anti-Soviet sentiment, called by Soviet authorities ''antisovetchina'' (russian: антисоветчина), refers to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the ...

and

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

organization, founded in June 1982KENNEY, Padraic. A Carnival of Revolution: Central Europe 1989, p 30
by

Kornel Morawiecki Kornel Andrzej Morawiecki (3 May 1941 – 30 September 2019) was a Polish politician, the founder and leader of Fighting Solidarity (Polish: ''Solidarność Walcząca''), one of the splinters of the Solidarity movement in Poland during the 1980s ...

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

in response to the de-legalization of Solidarity and government repression of the opposition after

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

was declared in 1981. It was one of the most radical splinters of Solidarity.Andrzej Paczkowski, Jane Cave. ''The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom''
p. 464
Morawiecki and Fighting Solidarity activists saw their organization as the successor to the

Polish resistance in World War II The Polish resistance movement in World War II (''Polski ruch oporu w czasie II wojny światowej''), with the Polish Home Army at its forefront, was the largest underground resistance movement in all of occupied Europe, covering both German a ...

, KENNEY, Padraic. A Carnival of Revolution: Central Europe 1989, p 164
hence their symbol merged the

Solidarity logo The Solidarity logo designed by Jerzy Janiszewski in 1980 is considered as an important example of Polish Poster School creations. The logo was awarded the Grand Prix of the Biennale of Posters, Katowice 1981. By this time it was already well k ...

with the

Kotwica The ''Kotwica'' (; Polish for "Anchor") was a World War II emblem of the Polish Underground State and ''Armia Krajowa'' (Home Army, or ''AK''). It was created in 1942 by members of the ''AK'' Wawer Minor sabotage unit, as an easily usable embl ...

and crowned Polish eagle (in 1945, the new communist regime removed the crown from the eagle's head on the Polish coat of arms; many among the opposition saw the crown as a symbol of independent, non-communist Poland). One of the main activities of Fighting Solidarity was

information warfare Information warfare (IW) (as different from cyber warfare that attacks computers, software, and command control systems) is a concept involving the battlespace use and management of information and communication technology (ICT) in pursuit of a ...

: it printed and distributed many underground newspapers (''

bibuła Polish underground press, devoted to prohibited materials ( sl. pl, bibuła, lit. semitransparent blotting paper or, alternatively, pl, drugi obieg, lit. second circulation), has a long history of combatting censorship of oppressive regimes in ...

''). The most well-known of these included "Biuletyn Dolnośląski" (Wrocław), "Solidarność Walcząca" (

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

) and "Galicja" (

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ; la, Resovia; yi, ריישא ''Raisha'')) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów has been the capital of the Subcarpathian ...

). Fighting Solidarity's ''bibuła'' were the first printed during the period of martial law, being available the day after martial law was introduced. Solidarność Walcząca, czyli po niepodległość bez kompromisów
Magazyn Obywatel nr 5 / 2005 (25) Fighting Solidarity also tried to actively infiltrate the Polish

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of ...

(

Służba Bezpieczeństwa The Ministry of Public Security ( pl, Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego), commonly known as UB or later SB, was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it w ...

) and to support other anti-communist organizations, including ones in other countries of the

Soviet Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

, even the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

itself. Sabrina Petra Ramet. Social Currents in Eastern Europe: The Sources and Consequences of the Great Transformation, p 97
The Polish secret police found it extremely hard to infiltrate the organization, even though they employed various tactics, including

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

Morawiecki's children in an attempt to

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

him. Despite its reputation for militancy, Fighting Solidarity did not support violence or

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. Fighting Solidarity was one of two Polish organizations of that time whose primary goals, declared from the start, included the destruction of communism, the independence of Poland and other nations controlled by communist governments (including those comprising the Soviet Union itself), and the reunification of Germany. Fighting Solidarity power bases included Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk, Rzeszów and

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...

. Among its most prominent members were

Maciej Frankiewicz Maciej (Polish pronunciation: ) is a Polish given name, the etymological equivalent of Matthias. Its diminutive forms are Maciek, Maciuś. Namedays according to Polish calendar: 30 January, 24 February, 14 May Maciej may refer to: Arts and en ...

(Poznań),

Roman Zwiercan Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Andrzej Kołodziej Andrzej is the Polish form of the given name Andrew. Notable individuals with the given name Andrzej * Andrzej Bartkowiak (born 1950), Polish film director and cinematographer * Andrzej Bobola, S.J. (1591–1657), Polish saint, missionary and m ...

(

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...

Jadwiga Chmielowska Jadwiga (; diminutives: ''Jadzia'' , ''Iga'') is a Polish feminine given name. It originated from the old German feminine given name ''Hedwig'' (variants of which include ''Hedwiga''), which is compounded from ''hadu'', "battle", and ''wig'', "figh ...

( Sosnowiec),

Janusz Szkutnik Janusz () is a masculine Polish given name. It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius. People *Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter *Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician *Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic pries ...

(Rzeszów). In 1986 it claimed to have several hundred active members, not counting allies and supporters. In 1990 many members of Fighting Solidarity founded a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

, the Partia Wolności (''Freedom Party'').

References

External links

Fighting Solidarity, Institute of National Remembrance

Wolni i Solidarni
a portal dedicated to Fighting Solidarity

{{Authority control Anti-communism in Poland Anti-communist organizations Polish dissident organisations National liberation movements Solidarity (Polish trade union)

See also

References

External links