Historical Figure
Lech Wałęsa
b. 1943
President of Poland from 1990 to 1995
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Biography
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish statesman, dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as the president of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democratically elected president of Poland since 1926 and the first-ever Polish president elected by popular vote. An electrician by trade, Wałęsa became the leader of the opposition Solidarity movement and led a successful pro-democratic effort, which in 1989 ended Communist rule in Poland and ushered in the end of the Cold War.
Timeline
The story of Lech Wałęsa, told in moments.
Climbed over the shipyard fence to lead a strike at Gdansk. 17,000 workers followed. The strike spread nationwide. Within weeks, the government signed the Gdansk Agreement. Solidarity was born.
Martial law was declared. Solidarity was banned. Walesa was arrested and held for eleven months near the Soviet border. He smuggled messages out through his wife Danuta.
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Didn't travel to Oslo to collect it. He feared the government wouldn't let him back into Poland. His wife accepted on his behalf.
Solidarity won Poland's first partially free elections in a landslide. It triggered the fall of communism across Eastern Europe. Walesa was elected president in December 1990.
In Their Own Words (10)
I am convinced that Germany has drawn conclusions [from World War II] and Europe has drawn conclusions as well. And I can say an unpopular thing. If once again Germany should risk destabilizing Europe, then there would be no division of Germany — it would simply be blown off the map of Europe. With the kind of technology that exists, with the kind of experiences we have had, there can be no other way — and the Germans know it.
Jarosław Kurski: Lech Wałęsa: democrat or dictator?, Westview Press, 1993, p. 59 and p. 166:, 1993
If once again Germany destabilizes Europe, then Germany will be not be divided again, but wiped off the map. East and West have the necessary technology in order to enforce this verdict. If Germany begins again, there is no other solution.
Wenn Deutschland noch einmal Europa destabilisiert dann wird Deutschland nicht mehr geteilt, sondern von der Landkarte gefegt werden. Ost und West haben die notwendige Technik, um dieses Verdikt auch vollstrecken zu können. Wenn Deutschland wieder anfängt, bleibt keine andere Lösung. - From the report of the German magazine DER SPIEGEL 15/1990 about an interview of Wałęsa by Dutch weekly Elsevier of 7 April 1990, which was partially reprinted, with an additional Pancho caricature, by French Le Monde, 1990
It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail.
Walesa, Lech. Speech. "Nobel Lecture". 1983 Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance (11 December 1983), 1983
Freedom must be gained step by step, slowly. Freedom is a food which must be carefully administered when people are too hungry for it.
Interview with Oriana Fallaci (22 & 23 February 1981), 1981
I was arrested many times. The first time, in December 1970, I signed 3 or 4 documents. Most probably I'd sign anything then, except consent for the betrayal of God and Fatherland, to get out and be able to fight. I have never been broken and I have never betrayed the ideals or my comrades.
A note to the Polish Press Agency issued on 4th June 1992 after the publication of a list of Communist collaborators compiled by Antoni Macierewicz., 1970
Artifacts (15)
classic cocktail of psychedelia, Britpop, and balladry.
tries, including Australia, the UK and the US. The record was influenced by 1970s soft rock and was described by Variety as a "classic cocktail of psychedelia, Britpop, and balladry." It received...
Harry is a really talented actor ... the real issue with Harry is, he's Harry St...
st. Styles auditioned for the role of Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's musical biopic Elvis (2022). Luhrmann stated that while "Harry is a really talented actor ... the real issue with Harry is, he's...
With his popping eyes, floppy shock of hair, and saturnine suaveness, he recalls...
e making his scenes opposite Pugh fall flat". Some critics were more positive; Owen Gleiberman from Variety wrote, "With his popping eyes, floppy shock of hair, and saturnine suaveness, he recalls the...
Harry Styles doesn't feel up to the material here, with leaden line delivery and...
lm Festival, the film, as well as his performance, received mixed reviews. Steph Green from the BBC wrote, "Harry Styles doesn't feel up to the material here, with leaden line delivery and a lack of...
Here, Styles' inexperience as a leading man in a weepy British queer period piec...
rmance. Critics were divided on the film and Styles's performance. Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com wrote, "Here, Styles' inexperience as a leading man in a weepy British queer period piece is...
this nostalgic sound [from his first record] and combined it with soaring pop se...
Mac, as well as the "honest" songwriting of Harry Nilsson. Fine Line was seen by NME to have taken "this nostalgic sound [from his first record] and combined it with soaring pop sensibilities." Styles...
, would be released on 7 April. The song peaked at number one on the UK Singles ...
ng retreat in the autumn. In March 2017, he announced that his first solo single, "Sign of the Times", would be released on 7 April. The song peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart and number...
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