Editing Wojciech Jaruzelski (section)

== Leader of the Polish military government ==

On 11 February 1981, Jaruzelski was named Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister). On 18 October, Stanisław Kania was ousted as First Secretary of the Central Committee
<nowiki> </nowiki>of the Polish United Workers' Party after a listening device recorded him criticising the Soviet leadership. Jaruzelski was elected his 
successor, becoming the only professional soldier to become leader of a 
ruling European Communist party.<sup>[5][7]</sup>

A fortnight after taking power, Jaruzelski met with Solidarity head Lech Wałęsa and Catholic bishop Józef Glemp, and hinted that he wanted to bring the church and the union into a sort
<nowiki> </nowiki>of coalition government. However, his intention was to crush Solidarity.As early as September, while he was still merely prime minister, he met with his aides to find an excuse to impose martial law.

On 13 December, citing purported recordings of Solidarity leaders planning a coup, Jaruzelski organised his own coup by proclaiming martial law. A [[Military Council of National Salvation]] was formed, with Jaruzelski as chairman. A BBC News profile of 
Jaruzelski contends that the establishment of martial law was "an attempt to suppress the Solidarity movement."

According to Jaruzelski, martial law was necessary to avoid a Soviet invasion. In a May 1992 interview with ''Der Spiegel'',
<nowiki> </nowiki>Jaruzelski said: "Given the strategic logic of the time, I probably would have acted the same way if I had been a Soviet general. At that 
time, Soviet political and strategic interests were threatened." However, at a press conference in September 1997 Viktor Kulikov, former supreme commander of Warsaw Pact forces, denied that the Soviet Union had either threatened or intended to intervene.<sup>[15]</sup> According to Politburo minutes from 10 December 1981, Yuri Andropov stated "We do not intend to introduce troops into Poland. That is the proper position, and we must adhere to it until the end. I don't know how things will turn out in Poland, but even if Poland falls under the control of Solidarity, that's the way it will be."

Jaruzelski also claimed in 1997 that Washington had given him a "green light", stating that he had sent Eugeniusz Molczyk to confer with
<nowiki> </nowiki>Vice-President George H. W. Bush, who had agreed with Molczyk that martial law was the lesser of two evils. Whether this meeting with the American vice-president occurred is disputed. While it is erroneously cited,Harvard historian Mark Kramer has pointed out that no documents support Jaruzelski's claim.

Jaruzelski was chiefly responsible for the imposition of martial law in Poland on 13 December 1981 in an attempt to crush the pro-democracy movements, which included Solidarity, the first non-Communist trade union in Warsaw Pact
<nowiki> </nowiki>history and to prevent growing anarchy (robberies, rapes, muggings)  
especially in big cities at times when communist militia was often attacked by the citizens. Subsequent years saw his government and its 
internal security forces censor, persecute, and jail thousands of 
journalists and opposition activists without charge; few lost their lives in the first days of introduction of martial law. The socio-economic crisis deepened even more than in the late 1970s and 
rationing of basic foods such as sugar, milk, and meat, as well as 
materials such as gasoline and consumer products continued while the median income of the population fell by as much as 10 percent. During 
Jaruzelski's rule from 1981 to 1989, around 300,000 people left the country.

Historical evidence released under Russian President Boris Yeltsin
<nowiki> </nowiki>indicates that the Soviet Union did not plan to invade Poland. In fact,
<nowiki> </nowiki>Jaruzelski actually tried to persuade the Soviets to invade in order to
<nowiki> </nowiki>support martial law, only to be sternly turned down. This left the 
Solidarity "problem" to be sorted out by the Polish government (see also
<nowiki> </nowiki>Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981). However, the exact plans of the Soviet Union at that time have never 
been determined. Jaruzelski, however, justified cracking down by 
alleging that the threat of Soviet intervention was quite likely had he dealt with Solidarity internally. This question, as well as many other facts about Poland in the years 1945–1989, are presently under the investigation of government historians at the Instytut Pamięci Narodowej (IPN), whose publications reveal facts from the Communist-era archives.

<nowiki> </nowiki>Additionally, there are numerous confirmations from Czech army officers
<nowiki> </nowiki>of the time speaking of ''Operation Krkonoše'', plan of armed invasion of Poland, because of which many units of the Czechoslovak People's Army were stationed on highest alert, ready for deployment within hours.<sup>[19]</sup>

In 1982, Jaruzelski helped reorganise the Front of National Unity, the organisation the Communists used to manage their satellite parties, as the Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth.<sup>[</sup>

In 1985, Jaruzelski resigned as prime minister and defence minister and became the Chairman of the Polish Council of State —
<nowiki> </nowiki>a post equivalent to that of head of state of Poland. However, his centered on and firmly entrenched in his coterie of "LWP" generals
<nowiki> </nowiki>and lower ranks officers of the Polish Communist Army.