The Democratic Union was a Liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 Christian-democratic

Christian Democracy

Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...

 party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. The party was founded in 1990 by Prime Minister

Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland

The Prime Minister of Poland heads the Polish Council of Ministers and directs their work, supervises territorial self-government within the guidelines and in ways described in the Constitution and other legislation, and acts as the superior for all government administration workers...

, Christian democrat Tadeusz Mazowiecki

Tadeusz Mazowiecki

Tadeusz Mazowiecki is a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II.-Biography:Mazowiecki comes from a Polish...

 as a merger of the Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action (Ruch Obywatelski Akcja Demokratyczna) and the Forum of Right Democrats (Forum Prawicy Demokratycznej).

The party had a market-socialist profile with Christian-democratic influence. Important members were Bronisław Geremek, Jacek Kuroń

Jacek Kuron

Jacek Jan Kuroń was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. Kuroń was a prominent Polish social and political figure; educator and historian; an activist of the Polish Scouting Association; co-founder of the Workers' Defence Committee; twice a Minister of...

, Adam Michnik

Adam Michnik

Adam Michnik is the editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza, where he sometimes writes under the pen-names of Andrzej Zagozda or Andrzej Jagodziński. In 1966–1989 he was one of the leading organizers of the illegal, democratic opposition in Poland...

, Hanna Suchocka

Hanna Suchocka

Hanna Suchocka is a Polish political figure. She served as the prime minister of Poland between 11 July 1992 and 26 October 1993 under the presidency of Lech Wałęsa. She is the first woman to hold this post in Poland and 19th in the world.Suchocka is a specialist in Constitutional Law...

, Jan Rokita

Jan Rokita

Jan Rokita is a Polish conservative politician, a member of the Sejm, the lower chamber of the Polish parliament. He was chairman of the parliamentary club of Platforma Obywatelska from 2003 to 2005....

 and Aleksander Hall

Aleksander Hall

Aleksander Hall was a Polish conservative politician. Activist of Movement for Defense of Human and Civic Rights, later a politician and member of Solidarity Electoral Action. In 2001, he quit politics to focus on research. Author of many books and articles on history, patriotism, etc. He is...

.

In 1994 the party merged with the Liberal Democratic Congress

Liberal Democratic Congress

The Liberal Democratic Congress was a centrist-conservative, liberal-Catholic party in Poland. The party, led by Donald Tusk, had roots in the Solidarity movement...

 into the Freedom Union (Unia Wolności)

Freedom Union (Poland)

The Freedom Union was a liberal democratic party in Poland. It was founded on March 20, 1994 out of the merger of the Democratic Union and the Liberal Democratic Congress . Both of these parties had roots in the Solidarity trade union movement. It represented European democratic and liberal...

.