1981 general strike in Bielsko-Biała 1981 general strike in Bielsko-Biała The 1981 general strike in Bielsko-Biała took place between January 27 and February 6, 1981, in the southern Polish city of Bielsko-Biała, It was the first strike action during the final decade of Communist Poland which was "purely political" in the sense of aiming directly at Communist Party officials without economic demands, such as calls higher wages. It resulted in the removal of several corrupt officials of the local administration. On January 27, 1981, a general strike began in Bielsko-Biała, and other locations in the area. All major enterprises, including mass transit, factories and most
Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981 once again, on 13 December 1981, Jaruzelski finally proclaimed martial law. To justify the emergency measures, Jaruzelski was still playing on the public fear of Soviet invasion. However, there was no significant resistance to the martial law and any foreign military backing proved unnecessary. Ever since, Jaruzelski himself has denied that he invited Soviet troops, insisting that, on the contrary, the martial law was aimed at prevention of a Soviet military intervention. In November 1997, a conference was held in Jachranka on the Soviet role in the Polish crisis of 1980–1981, where Solidarity, Polish communist, Soviet and American participants of