Crackdown on Solidarity

The government uses force after new defiance by the union

Throughout Saturday evening there had been ominous signs of the trouble to come. Reports reaching the Warsaw headquarters of the trade-union movement Solidarity from regional offices warned of an unusual amount of troop activity throughout the country. Tanks were seen on provincial highways. In late evening, telephone and telex lines between Poland and the outside world were suddenly cut. And then, at midnight, eleven police vans appeared on Warsaw's Mokotowska Street, where the local headquarters is located, and blocked the thoroughfare. Moments later dozens...

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