I sindacati italiani e Solidarność. Un nuovo passo nella tradizione di libertà (1976-1989) .......... 187

ITALIAN TRADE UNIONS AND “SOLIDARNOŚĆ”: A NEW STEP IN THE TRADITION OF FREEDOM (1976-89)

Despite Poland’s formal independence between 1946 and 1989, this period was experienced as a time of limited personal freedoms and substantial subjugation to Soviet domination. “Solidarność,” which emerged in August 1980, would not have been possible without a historical and international background. The Soviets were terrified by the threat posed by the Polish self-governed trade union, a movement uncontrollable by the regime and incompatible with a single-party state structure. On December 13, 1981, martial law was declared, stifling the freedom of the trade union. Similarly to the Risorgimento period, survival in hiding was made possible thanks to a vast network of foreign support. In Italy, it relied primarily on Polish diaspora communities and on trade unions.