Lech Walesa

Today is August 14. On this day in history, in 1980, Lech Walesa, scaled the wall at the shipyards of Gdansk, Poland, to assume the leadership of the strike of the workers against the Communist Government. The result was increasing liberalization, then crack-downs, liberalization, etc. Many authorities feel that this was the clear beginning of the end of Communism under the USSR in Europe. Many things were poised fortunately at the time. John Paul II, from Poland, was Pope, and able to extert massive moral support. Ronald Reagan was the leader of the Free World and able to lend the muscle. Free elections in Poland occurred in 1989, and Walesa was elected President of Poland in 1990. He also won the Nobel Prize. Here is a case of little things leading to great results and the impact of a personalty upon history without a battle. Read the details of Walesa with many links to other related topics at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lech_Wa%C5%82%C4%99sa

Poland owes its freedom to him (among other great people of this time, of course).

One of the very few foreign leaders to accord Ronald Reagan the credit due him for bringing about the end of the Cold War. This man showed uncommon bravery, the track record for dissidents behind the Iron Curtain was not very rosy, yet he stood tall and was fortunate that he did so at a time when the Soviet Union had so many problems they had no attention to spare him. Sometimes 90% of leadership is showing up. He showed up at enormous risk to himself, his family and his country.

History is written by the victors, and he has been lionised through Cold War propaganda. Need I point out that unemployment in Poland currently stands at 20%? and that's no exagerration. As with most, if not all former East Bloc countries, the lives of the average person have not been helped much, and they have lost all the advantages of the previous system, and gained all the disadvantages of the new system.

A great and courageous man.

i was gonna give him a four but i decided on five since i think he is vastly underappreciated. i'm a senior in college and had never heard of him till i had to do a research paper on communism in poland last semester. in fact i learned hardly anything about the cold war in high school (probably because it's end was catalyzed by the conservatives - reagan, the pope, thatcher, etc.)... anyway maybe this man was a simpleton, but simplicity is also on the path of wisdom and honorability. for he was also very brave, organizing protests and such when everyone else was scared to death to take such initiation. i agree with ruby, that the power-hungry comment was indeed very bizarre. for walesa never cared much for power but for freedom, proving a poor politician as he no doubt predicted and going back to his life as a shipbuilder. needless to say he was always a hard and talented worker and a dedicated family man (to his wife and five kids)

Lech Walesa - A very courageous and inspirational Polish patriot who had a pivotal role in the fall of communism. A smashing bloke!

Played a huge role in history by helping Poland take the first steps toward rolling back the Soviet menace. Its bizarre to see another comment here label him "autocratic, power-mad demagogue". I think one of the most appealing things about his story is that fact that, when he retired from the presidency, he went back to his former profession (something very unglamorous, like a fisherman or something), the perfect model of the public service-minded citizen

It's not WHO he was, and what he did; but rather, WHAT he did and WHO he did it against. The mere size of his achievements are extraordinary... Creating a hole in the wrought-iron fisted, change resistant communists' stranglehold, his value goes beyond a simple man's efforts; and, of course, he wasn't alone. A remarkable breakthrough for his country and the world. His actions sent shockwaves forward worldwide... -----

Walesa is a simple man, with human flaws. But he is a giant in his effect on the world at large. By his vision and bravery, Walesa and the Solidarity movement he founded were among the first to chip away at the Soviet monolith and help end the Cold War.

right place right time, passionate, but a simpleton

A autocratic, power-mad demagogue.