Four in ten Poles say martial law was justified: survey
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
07.12.2016 16:03
Forty-one percent of Poles think that the introduction of martial law by the country’s former communist regime in December 1981 was justified.
Poland’s communist-era leader Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski in a TV studio in December 1981, preparing to announce martial law.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Archiwum Dokumentacji Mechanicznej, Wojskowa Agencja Fotograficzna
A poll by the CBOS Institute found that 35 percent of respondents hold the opposite view while as many as one in four Poles do not have any opinion on the matter.
CBOS recalls that 20 years ago, 54 percent of Poles claimed that the communist regime’s decision to impose martial law was justified.
As to the motives behind the military crackdown on the Solidarity movement, 38 percent of Poles believe that the communist party’s fear of losing power was a key factor.
According to 34 percent of the respondents, martial law was declared to avert a foreign intervention.
The 35th anniversary of the imposition of martial law falls on Tuesday, 13 December.
The CBOS poll found that 44 percent of Poles remember the exact date of the imposition of martial law while 58 percent remember only the year.
The poll was conducted between 4 and 13 November on a representative group of 1,019 people over 18 years of age. (mk/pk)