Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Encyclopedia
Tadeusz Mazowiecki AUD (born April 18, 1927 in Płock) 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.
(class 1946), and then went on to read law at Warsaw University. However, he never graduated. From 1945 to 1955, Mazowiecki was a member of the Communist-controlled Catholic PAX Association
from which he was later expelled for being the leader of the so-called internal opposition. Between 1953 and 1955, he was the editor-in-chief of the Catholic Wrocław Weekly (WTK - ). Under Stalinism
in Poland he was involved in the defamation of the Bishop of Kielce
Czesław Kaczmarek, groundlessly accused by the Communists of being an American and Vatican
spy.
He was one of the founding members of the Catholic Intelligentsia Club, which was established in 1957. In 1958, Mazowiecki established Więź monthly and became its editor-in-chief. From 1961-72, he was a representative in the Sejm (the Polish Parliament), serving his third, fourth and fifth terms as a member of the Catholic party Znak. He raised the issue of the students' demonstrations which took place in March 1968, in the Sejm.
After the 1970 protests in Poland, Mazowiecki insisted on setting up a committee in order to find those who were responsible for the bloodshed. When in 1976 he was no longer allowed to run for parliamentary office, he joined the opposition.
In August 1980, he headed the Board of Experts, that supported the workers from Gdańsk who were negotiating with the authorities. From 1981, he was the editor-in-chief of the Tygodnik Solidarność
(Solidarity) weekly magazine. After martial law was declared in December 1981 he was arrested and imprisoned in Strzebielnik, then in Jaworz and finally in Darłówek.
He was one of the last prisoners to be released on 23 December 1982. In 1987, he spent a year abroad, during which he talked to politicians and trade union representatives. Starting in 1988, he held talks in Magdalenka. He firmly believed in the process of taking power from the ruling Polish United Workers' Party through negotiation and thus he played an active role in the Polish Round Table Talks
, becoming one of the most important architects of the agreement by which partially free elections were held on 4 June 1989 and won by Solidarity in a historic landslide.
At a meeting on 17 August 1989 the Polish President General Jaruzelski finally agreed to Lech Wałęsa
's demand that the next Prime Minster of Poland should be a member of Solidarity. Walesa chose Mazowiecki as Solidarity candidate to lead the coming administration. On 21 August 1989 General Jaruzelski designated Mazowiecki as candidate for Prime Minster. On 24 August 1989 the Sejm voted in favour and Mazowiecki became the historic first non-communist Prime Minister in Eastern Europe for decades.
to the Republic of Poland)
. On December 29, 1989, the fundamental changes in the Polish Constitution
were made. By virtue of these changes, the preamble was deleted, the chapters concerning political and economic forms of government were changed, the chapters concerning trade unions were rewritten and a uniform notion of possession was introduced. Thanks to these changes, the economic transformation was enabled. The set of reforms originating under Mazowiecki's government (named after its creator – Balcerowicz's plan) enabled the destruction of hyperinflation, changes in the economy and the introduction of free market mechanisms and privatization.
, Mazowiecki talked about a "thick line" (): "We draw a thick line on what has happened in the past. We will answer for only what we have done to help Poland to rescue her from this crisis from now on". Originally, it meant non-liability of his government for damages done to the national economy by previous governments.
Media later called this term as a "thick stroke" (). Nowadays, this citation is used by Mazowiecki's critics to describe alleged forbearance of the government of that time for former activists of the Polish People's Republic and security services subordinated to them. Allegedly, during Mazowiecki's government, the Department of Interior and the Department of Defense were still controlled by the regime's apparatchik, and the Secret Political Police, under surveillance of Minister Czesław Kiszczak, continually spied on that part of the democratic opposition which was against the agreements of the Round Table and was able to destroy parts of its own archives. Just few months after Mazowiecki took office of the Prime Minister, Secret Political Police was dissolved and Czesław Kiszczak resigned his post.
in 1992. He also issued a 1993 report on human rights violations in the Former Yugoslavia. Mazowiecki stepped down in 1995 to protest the world powers' lack of response to the atrocities committed during the Bosnian war, particularly the Srebrenica genocide committed by the Serb army that year.
resulted in disintegration of Citizens' Parliamentary Club that represented solidarity camp. The Citizens' Parliamentary Club was divided into Centre Agreement, which supported Walesa, and ROAD, which took sides with Mazowiecki. That conflict lead both politicians to compete in presidential election at the end of 1990. Mazowiecki, who during Solidarity times was an advisor to Lech Wałęsa and strike committee in Gdańsk's shipyard, stood against Walesa in election and lost to him. He did not even join the second round (he gained support of 18.08% of people - 2 973 364 votes) and was defeated by Stanisław Tymiński, an exotic candidate from Canada.
Since 1991, Mazowiecki became a chairman of Democratic Union (later Freedom Union), from 1995 – he was its honorary president. Together with Jan Maria Rokita, Aleksander Hall and Hanna Suchocka he represented Christian Democratic Wing of the party.
He was removed from his position because of the criticism from the left side of the Freedom Union (Wladyslaw Frasyniuk, Barbara Labuda), who accused Mazowiecki of indecisiveness, indolence in making decisions and excessive conservatism. Between 1989 and 2001 Mazowiecki was a representative to the Polish Parliament (first from Poznań, later from Cracow).
In 1992, he was elected the Special Emissary of United Nations Organization to Bosnia and Herzegovina
. In 1995, he resigned because of the idleness of great powers concerning war crimes in Bosnia, especially the assassination of few thousand men and boys in Srebrenica
done by Serbia
n soldiers. He announced in his report breaking of human rights by all participants of this conflict.
Mazowiecki was a Member of Parliament in first, second and third term (member of Democratic Union, later the Freedom Union.
During the National Assembly (1997) he introduced compromise preamble of Polish constitution (previously written by founders of Tygodnik Powszechny (Universal Weekly), which was accepted by the National Assembly. In November 2002, he left the Freedom Union, in the protest against abandoning Christian Democratic International and electoral and local coalition with Democratic Left Alliance and Self Defense party in Warmian-Masurian Region.
In 2005, he became one of the founders of the Democratic Party - democrats.pl - created through expanding the former Freedom Union by new members, especially young people and few left wing politicians. He was a leader on the parliamentary list in parliamentary elections in Warsaw constituency in 2005 with 30143 votes. The highest number of votes he gained in Żoliborz
district, and the lowest in Rembertów
. Until 2006, he was the leader of its Political Council. Currently he lives in Warsaw.
Mazowiecki received numerous awards. An honorary degree from the universities in: Leuven, Genoa, Giessen, Poitiers, Exeter, Warsaw University and University of Economics in Katowice
. He also received the Order of White Eagle (1995), Golden Order of Bosnia (1996), Légion d'honneur (1997), Srebrnica Award (2005), the Giant award (1995) awarded by (Election Gazette) in Poznań and Jan Nowak-Jezioranski Award (2004). In 2003, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Criminal Court
's Trust Fund for Victims.
Member of the Club of Madrid
.
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...
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 noble family, which uses the Dołęga coat of arms. He has a secondary education - he was a pupil at the Marshal Stanisław Małachowski LyceumLyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.-History:...
(class 1946), and then went on to read law at Warsaw University. However, he never graduated. From 1945 to 1955, Mazowiecki was a member of the Communist-controlled Catholic PAX Association
PAX Association
The PAX Association was a pro-communist secular Catholic organization created in 1947 in the People's Republic of Poland. In 1953, PAX gave its support to the Stalinist show trial of the Kraków Curia, and took over the publication of the Catholic weekly magazine Tygodnik Powszechny – until the...
from which he was later expelled for being the leader of the so-called internal opposition. Between 1953 and 1955, he was the editor-in-chief of the Catholic Wrocław Weekly (WTK - ). Under Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
in Poland he was involved in the defamation of the Bishop of Kielce
Kielce
Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...
Czesław Kaczmarek, groundlessly accused by the Communists of being an American and Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
spy.
He was one of the founding members of the Catholic Intelligentsia Club, which was established in 1957. In 1958, Mazowiecki established Więź monthly and became its editor-in-chief. From 1961-72, he was a representative in the Sejm (the Polish Parliament), serving his third, fourth and fifth terms as a member of the Catholic party Znak. He raised the issue of the students' demonstrations which took place in March 1968, in the Sejm.
After the 1970 protests in Poland, Mazowiecki insisted on setting up a committee in order to find those who were responsible for the bloodshed. When in 1976 he was no longer allowed to run for parliamentary office, he joined the opposition.
In August 1980, he headed the Board of Experts, that supported the workers from Gdańsk who were negotiating with the authorities. From 1981, he was the editor-in-chief of the Tygodnik Solidarność
Tygodnik Solidarnosc
Tygodnik Solidarność is Polish conservative newspaper. Started and published by the Solidarity movement on 3 April 1981, it was banned by the People's Republic of Poland following the martial law declaration from 13 December 1981 and the thaw of 1989...
(Solidarity) weekly magazine. After martial law was declared in December 1981 he was arrested and imprisoned in Strzebielnik, then in Jaworz and finally in Darłówek.
He was one of the last prisoners to be released on 23 December 1982. In 1987, he spent a year abroad, during which he talked to politicians and trade union representatives. Starting in 1988, he held talks in Magdalenka. He firmly believed in the process of taking power from the ruling Polish United Workers' Party through negotiation and thus he played an active role in the Polish Round Table Talks
Polish Round Table Agreement
The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, Poland from February 6 to April 4, 1989. The government initiated the discussion with the banned trade union Solidarność and other opposition groups in an attempt to defuse growing social unrest.-History:...
, becoming one of the most important architects of the agreement by which partially free elections were held on 4 June 1989 and won by Solidarity in a historic landslide.
At a meeting on 17 August 1989 the Polish President General Jaruzelski finally agreed to Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
's demand that the next Prime Minster of Poland should be a member of Solidarity. Walesa chose Mazowiecki as Solidarity candidate to lead the coming administration. On 21 August 1989 General Jaruzelski designated Mazowiecki as candidate for Prime Minster. On 24 August 1989 the Sejm voted in favour and Mazowiecki became the historic first non-communist Prime Minister in Eastern Europe for decades.
Government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki
On 13 September 1989 during his parliamentary speech introducing his new cabinet and government program for parliamentary approval, Mazowiecki had a dizzy spell which necessitated a one hour break in proceedings. However, it was not to be an omen of things to come, 402 legislators voted in favour, 13 abstained, and none voted against, the historic formation of this first non-communist government in Eastern Europe for decades. Mazowiecki's government managed to carry out many fundamental reforms in a short period. The political system was thoroughly changed; a full range of civil freedoms as well as a multi-party system were introduced and the country's emblem and name were changed (from the People's Republic of PolandPeople's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
to the Republic of Poland)
Rzeczpospolita
Rzeczpospolita is a traditional name of the Polish State, usually referred to as Rzeczpospolita Polska . It comes from the words: "rzecz" and "pospolita" , literally, a "common thing". It comes from latin word "respublica", meaning simply "republic"...
. On December 29, 1989, the fundamental changes in the Polish Constitution
Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland
The Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland was passed on 22 July 1952. Created by the Polish communists in the People's Republic of Poland, it was based on the 1936 Soviet Constitution , and it superseded the post-war provisional Small Constitution of 1947 which, at its turn, had declared...
were made. By virtue of these changes, the preamble was deleted, the chapters concerning political and economic forms of government were changed, the chapters concerning trade unions were rewritten and a uniform notion of possession was introduced. Thanks to these changes, the economic transformation was enabled. The set of reforms originating under Mazowiecki's government (named after its creator – Balcerowicz's plan) enabled the destruction of hyperinflation, changes in the economy and the introduction of free market mechanisms and privatization.
"Thick line"
In 1989, in his first parliamentary speech in SejmSejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
, Mazowiecki talked about a "thick line" (): "We draw a thick line on what has happened in the past. We will answer for only what we have done to help Poland to rescue her from this crisis from now on". Originally, it meant non-liability of his government for damages done to the national economy by previous governments.
Media later called this term as a "thick stroke" (). Nowadays, this citation is used by Mazowiecki's critics to describe alleged forbearance of the government of that time for former activists of the Polish People's Republic and security services subordinated to them. Allegedly, during Mazowiecki's government, the Department of Interior and the Department of Defense were still controlled by the regime's apparatchik, and the Secret Political Police, under surveillance of Minister Czesław Kiszczak, continually spied on that part of the democratic opposition which was against the agreements of the Round Table and was able to destroy parts of its own archives. Just few months after Mazowiecki took office of the Prime Minister, Secret Political Police was dissolved and Czesław Kiszczak resigned his post.
Srebrenica Genocide
Tadeusz Mazowiecki was a special U.N. emissary to Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
in 1992. He also issued a 1993 report on human rights violations in the Former Yugoslavia. Mazowiecki stepped down in 1995 to protest the world powers' lack of response to the atrocities committed during the Bosnian war, particularly the Srebrenica genocide committed by the Serb army that year.
The later years
A conflict with Lech WałęsaLech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
resulted in disintegration of Citizens' Parliamentary Club that represented solidarity camp. The Citizens' Parliamentary Club was divided into Centre Agreement, which supported Walesa, and ROAD, which took sides with Mazowiecki. That conflict lead both politicians to compete in presidential election at the end of 1990. Mazowiecki, who during Solidarity times was an advisor to Lech Wałęsa and strike committee in Gdańsk's shipyard, stood against Walesa in election and lost to him. He did not even join the second round (he gained support of 18.08% of people - 2 973 364 votes) and was defeated by Stanisław Tymiński, an exotic candidate from Canada.
Since 1991, Mazowiecki became a chairman of Democratic Union (later Freedom Union), from 1995 – he was its honorary president. Together with Jan Maria Rokita, Aleksander Hall and Hanna Suchocka he represented Christian Democratic Wing of the party.
He was removed from his position because of the criticism from the left side of the Freedom Union (Wladyslaw Frasyniuk, Barbara Labuda), who accused Mazowiecki of indecisiveness, indolence in making decisions and excessive conservatism. Between 1989 and 2001 Mazowiecki was a representative to the Polish Parliament (first from Poznań, later from Cracow).
In 1992, he was elected the Special Emissary of United Nations Organization to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. In 1995, he resigned because of the idleness of great powers concerning war crimes in Bosnia, especially the assassination of few thousand men and boys in Srebrenica
Srebrenica
Srebrenica is a town and municipality in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska. Srebrenica is a small mountain town, its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War, the town was the site of the July 1995 massacre,...
done by Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n soldiers. He announced in his report breaking of human rights by all participants of this conflict.
Mazowiecki was a Member of Parliament in first, second and third term (member of Democratic Union, later the Freedom Union.
During the National Assembly (1997) he introduced compromise preamble of Polish constitution (previously written by founders of Tygodnik Powszechny (Universal Weekly), which was accepted by the National Assembly. In November 2002, he left the Freedom Union, in the protest against abandoning Christian Democratic International and electoral and local coalition with Democratic Left Alliance and Self Defense party in Warmian-Masurian Region.
In 2005, he became one of the founders of the Democratic Party - democrats.pl - created through expanding the former Freedom Union by new members, especially young people and few left wing politicians. He was a leader on the parliamentary list in parliamentary elections in Warsaw constituency in 2005 with 30143 votes. The highest number of votes he gained in Żoliborz
Zoliborz
Żoliborz is one of the northern districts of the city of Warsaw. It is located directly to the north of the City Centre, on the left bank of the Vistula river. It has approximately 50,000 inhabitants and is one of the smallest boroughs of Warsaw....
district, and the lowest in Rembertów
Rembertów
Rembertów is a district of the city of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Between 1939 and 1957 Rembertów was a separate town, after which it was incorporated as part of the borough of Praga Południe. Between 1994 and 2002 it formed a separate commune of Warszawa-Rembertów...
. Until 2006, he was the leader of its Political Council. Currently he lives in Warsaw.
Mazowiecki received numerous awards. An honorary degree from the universities in: Leuven, Genoa, Giessen, Poitiers, Exeter, Warsaw University and University of Economics in Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
. He also received the Order of White Eagle (1995), Golden Order of Bosnia (1996), Légion d'honneur (1997), Srebrnica Award (2005), the Giant award (1995) awarded by (Election Gazette) in Poznań and Jan Nowak-Jezioranski Award (2004). In 2003, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
's Trust Fund for Victims.
Member of the Club of Madrid
Club of Madrid
The Club de Madrid is an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. Composed of 80 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 56 countries, the Club de Madrid is the world’s largest forum of former Heads of State and Government.Among...
.
Selected bibliography
- “Solidarity's Tasks”. Telos 47 (Spring 1981). New York: Telos Press.
See also
- History of PolandHistory of PolandThe History of Poland is rooted in the arrival of the Slavs, who gave rise to permanent settlement and historic development on Polish lands. During the Piast dynasty Christianity was adopted in 966 and medieval monarchy established...
- SejmSejmThe Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
- Unia Demokratyczna
- Unia WolnościFreedom 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...