AGAD Posiedzenie Wojskowej Rady Ocalenia Narodowego

The Military Council of National Salvation (, abbreviated to WRON) was a

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

administering the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...

during the period of martial law in Poland between 1981 and 1983. It was headed by General and First Secretary of the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...

Wojciech Jaruzelski Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military officer, politician and ''de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989. He was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party b ...

. The body was created on 13 December 1981, and was dissolved on 22 July 1983. It consisted of 21 members: fifteen

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

s, one

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

and five

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

s. Among the most notable members were generals Wojciech Jaruzelski, Florian Siwicki, Michał Janiszewski and

Czesław Kiszczak Czesław Jan Kiszczak (19 October 1925 – 5 November 2015) was a Polish general, communist-era interior minister (1981–1990) and prime minister (1989). In 1981 he played a key role in imposing martial law and suppression of the ''Solidarit ...

. One member, Lt. Col. Mirosław Hermaszewski, was included without his consent or knowledge. The lettering of the Polish acronym (WRON; meaning a

crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

in Polish) was immediately picked up by those that the regime sought to repress and widely used in a form of non-violent opposition through jokes. One saying was that "''orła wrona nie pokona''" ('the crow won't defeat the eagle', a white eagle being the national symbol of Poland). In 2012, the Polish Supreme Court ruled that WRON was an unlawful criminal armed enterprise in violation of the Polish constitution.

References

Sources

WRON at Portal Wiedzy onet.pl Encyclopedia

1981 establishments in Poland 1983 disestablishments in Poland Government of Poland

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Political history of Poland {{Poland-gov-stub