1981 warning strike in Poland

In the early spring of 1981, the quickly growing Solidarity movement faced one of the biggest challenges in its short history, when during the Bydgoszcz events, several members of Solidarity, including Jan Rulewski, Mariusz Łabentowicz and Roman Bartoszcze, were brutally beaten up by the security services, such as Milicja Obywatelska and ZOMO. The Bydgoszcz events soon became widely known across Poland, and on March 24, 1981, Solidarity decided to go on a nationwide strike in protest against the violence. The strike was planned for Tuesday, March 31, 1981. On March 25, Lech Wałęsa met Deputy Prime Minister Mieczysław Rakowski of the Polish United Workers' Party, but their talks were fruitless. Two days later, a four-hour national warning strike took place. It was the biggest strike in the history of the Soviet Bloc, it has also been called the largest strike in the history of Poland. According to several sources, between 12 million and 14 million Poles took part in it.

After the Bydgoszcz events, millions of Poles reacted angrily to the brutal beatings of the members of Solidarity. The atmosphere in the country got even more tense, when the government of the Polish People's Republic denied any wrongdoings, stating that the security services were simply doing their duty to restore order and the information on the beatings was described as "claims by Solidarity sources". The mass-media informed that Jan Rulewski, one of the beaten activists, had been hurt in a car accident, not as a result of the intervention of the police. Furthermore, in early spring of 1981, the Soviet Army was carrying out huge military exercises named Soyuz 81, which were taking place in Poland. The maneouvers were regarded by many Poles as the preparation of a Soviet invasion of their country and Marshall Viktor Kulikov, Commander-in-chief of the Warsaw Pact, told Polish general staff that despite political situation, the exercises would continue indefinitely. In Washington, the situation in Poland was described as "political tension at its highest level since last November". Soviet military exercises continued until April 7.

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