Catholic intellectual of Solidarity who became the Eastern Bloc's first non-communist prime minister
We split away the history of our recent past with a thick line. We will be responsible only for what we have done to help extract Poland from her current predicament, from now on.
A Polish Catholic lay intellectual, he founded and edited the independent monthly Więź in 1958 and served in parliament from 1961 to 1971 as part of the Znak Catholic deputies' circle, practicing conscientious opposition within the system. He led Solidarity's board of experts during the Gdańsk strike of 1980, became the first editor of Tygodnik Solidarność, was interned for a year under martial law, and emerged as a key architect of the 1989 Round Table negotiations. On 24 August 1989 he was appointed prime minister, the first non-communist head of government in the Eastern Bloc in over forty years, and launched radical market reforms through the Balcerowicz Plan while declaring a 'thick line' separating the new government from the past. After losing the 1990 presidential election to Lech Wałęsa, he founded the Democratic Union and led it through the post-communist transition.
Activities and affiliations
- 1989–1991 Government and administration · Poland
Career Timeline
- 1958–1981Founds and edits the Więź monthly
- 1961–1971Sejm deputy, Znak Catholic circle
- 1980Heads Solidarity board of experts, Gdańsk strike
- 1981First editor of Tygodnik Solidarność
- 1981–1982Interned under martial law
- 1989Key negotiator, Round Table talks
- 1989–1991Prime Minister of Poland
- 1992–1995UN Special Rapporteur on Yugoslavia
Related historical events
- 1980–1981Solidarity and Martial Law in PolandHead of Solidarity's board of expertsPart of the KOR intelligentsia delegation that left Warsaw on 22 August 1980, made it past roadblocks to Gdańsk, and provided negotiation advice to the striking MKS; later headed Solidarity's expert advisory board.
- 1989The Revolutions of 1989Key Round Table negotiatorHe was a key figure in the 1989 Round Table negotiations.
Premiership and economic transition
Appointed prime minister in August 1989, Mazowiecki led the end of communist rule and the establishment of a democratic government, then faced the task of moving Poland from a planned to a market economy. Under his government, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz advanced the Balcerowicz Plan, a set of radical measures aimed at curbing hyperinflation and balancing the budget. These included freeing most consumer prices and making the złoty convertible. The measures exposed state-owned companies to competition but also sharply increased consumer prices; the transition's costs and consequences cannot be reduced to a simple success story. Mazowiecki left office after losing the 1990 presidential election.