Information 130

Propaganda played a critical role in Solidarity’s long-term success. CIA-funded equipment and support started arriving in 1982, which allowed for the mass publication of print media and broadcast signal intrusion. The overall purpose of the propaganda campaign was to “supply uncensored information on political, social, and economic issues, and to maintain a spirit of opposition among the populace.”370 _{Poland’s strong} history of underground press through the nineteenth and twentieth centuriesfrom Polish dissident literature during the revolt against Russia in 1863, to resistance publications during the Second World War, to the anticommunist press that flourished even under Stalin’s subjugation in the 1940s and 1950s—set the eventual conditions for the success of Solidarity in the 1980s.371

In the mid-1970s, Polish opposition was again on the rise, and the regime was reluctant to aggressively block the dissident press for fear of destabilizing the delicate sociopolitical structure. The Workers’ Defense Committee was very active during this period in distributing illegal publications including Communique (Lomunikat),

Information Bulletin (Biuletyn Informatcyjny), and The Worker (Rabotnik). Further illegal

ventures included NOWA, an independent publishing house targeting “laborers, students, farmers, and other social groups.” These organizations were the seeds of the Solidarity’s media network that emerged by mid-1980.372 _{Solidarity made significant early strides} after its inception, extracting free-media concessions from the Polish government that included legal recognition of unofficial publishing activities, respect for freedom of speech, and commitments not to suppress independent publications. The movement also ran its own press, Solidarity Weekly (Tygodnik Solidarnosci), with individual branches across the country contributing with a number of secondary journals and newsletters.373

370 _{Laurence J. Orzell, “Psychological Operations in Action: Poland’s Underground Media,” in}

Psychological Operations: Principles and Case Studies ed. Frank L. Goldstein , (Air University Press,

September 1996), 279.

371 _Ibid. 372 _{Ibid., 280.} 373 _{Ibid., 281.}

The base for Polish underground propaganda was very strong and, with Solidarity being driven underground after the declaration of martial law, became a solid foundation for U.S. covert action.

The martial law period lasted until July 1983. During this time, much of the existing Solidarity infrastructure operated on a limited basis from within the urban centers, but nonetheless kept up a significant level of publication consisting of short newsletters and limited runs on periodicals, largely restricted by the availability of equipment and the regime’s strict monitoring and attempted control of printing supplies. By the mid-1980s, however, the Polish underground press was reinvigorated with funding, equipment, and supplies. New dissident press organizations began to take prominence and made up for aggressive regime suppression of Solidarity print and broadcast media. These included the Committees for Social Defense (Komitety Oborony

Spolecznej) that published KOS, a journal directed at the Polish intellectual community; Fighting Solidarity (Solidarnosc Walczaca), advocating a more confrontational position

within Solidarity; and The Confederation for an Independent Poland (Konfederacja

Polski Niepodleglej), which propagated an aggressive antiregime stance through journals Independence (Niepodleglosc) and We Don’t Want Commies (Nie chcemy komuny).374

CIA funds were funneled directly into NOWA and supported weekly newspapers such as

Tygodnik Mazowsze, which was operated through an impressive clandestine network

consisting of 37 different printing locations prior to actual assembly and distribution.375 Émigré journals, namely the Paris-based Kultura and the opposition publication, Aneks, based in Sweden, also played an important role in the Polish resistance. Kultura was founded in 1946 and served as an intellectual outlet for the opposition in the 1980s, coordinating and framing the debate within Solidarity, while circulating appropriate tactics and strategy, especially during the martial law period.376 _{In the 1950s and ‘60s,}

374 _{Orzell, “Psychological Operations in Action: Poland’s Underground Media,” 280–282.} 375 _{Schweizer, Victory, 90.}

376 _{George Sanford, Military Rule in Poland: The Rebuilding of Communist Power, 1981-1983 (New}

Kultura was funded heavily by the Congress for Cultural Freedom, a CIA-backed front

organization designed to support anticommunist publications in Western Europe.377 By 1985, the Polish resistance was producing some 400 underground periodicals, with circulation in the tens of thousands. Thousands of books and pamphlets directly challenged Soviet authority and the Polish communist government. Anticommunist documentaries were widely distributed and viewed by millions of Poles.378 Videocassettes from the Paris-based Videoknotakt organization and Polish-produced interviews with Lech Wałęsa were in wide circulation. Audiocassettes with antiregime songs, news, interviews with various dissident leaders, and programs on Poland’s history added to the media onslaught.379 _{Radio Solidarity, set up during the martial law period by} Zbigniew Romaszewski, recovered from initial suppression and was effectively operating across Poland.380 _{Solidarity broke through Polish television and radio broadcasts with} slogans of Solidarność Żyje (Solidarity Lives), and “RESIST,” calling for mass demonstrations and strikes.381 _{More symbolic propaganda efforts included the printing of} stamps depicting dissident Polish leaders, commemorating “150 Years of Underground Press in Poland,” and even honoring George Orwell, as well as counterfeit currency depicting Lech Wałęsa in place of Polish communist leaders.382

RFE and VOA were also instrumental in the information campaign in Poland. During the Pope’s visit in 1979, both VOA383 _{and RFE}384 _{provided minute-by-minute}

377 _{Taras Kuzio, “U.S. support for Ukraine’s Liberation During the Cold War: A Study of Prolog}

Research and Publishing Corporation,” Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 2012.

378 _{Bernstein, “Cover Story.”}

379 _{Orzell,” Psychological Operations in Action,” 287.}

380 _{Zbigniew Romaszewski, Interview. The Freedom Collection. http://www.freedomcollection.org/}

interviews/zbigniew_and_zofia_romaszewski/.

381 _{Bernstein, “Cover Story.”}

382 _{Orzell,” Psychological Operations in Action,” 283.}

383 _{Ted Lipien, Tomlinson on Voice of America coverage of Pope John Paul II, May 12, 2014,}

http://tedlipien.com/blog/category/history-2/cold-war-blog/feed/.

384 _{Arch Puddington, Broadcasting Freedom: The Cold War Triumph of Radio Free Europe and Radio}

coverage of the events, largely negating Polish censorship attempts, while stressing the Pope’s calls for religious and social freedom. Just prior to and during the marital law period, RFE exercised a restrained approach. Having learned hard lessons from encouraging the Hungarian uprising in 1956 and watching it be crushed by Soviet tanks, RFE walked the fine line of supporting Solidarity and streaming much needed information to the opposition, while at the same time not encouraging open confrontation that could spark a Soviet intervention.385 _{As the movement was driven underground and} Radio Solidarity suffered significant setbacks, including the seizure of several transmitters in August 1982,386 _{RFE and VOA became the principal source of} information. RFE broadcast streamed programs critiquing communist policies, focused on the dismal state of the Polish economy, and presented a noncommunist vision of Poland in a program entitled The Poland that Could Be.387 _{Due to strong jamming, VoA} generally came in better than RFE in many areas, and provided a similar narrative, broadcasting interviews with Polish opposition leaders, reporting on U.S. and private efforts to help the dissident movement, calling for the release of political prisoners, stressing the need for national reconciliation, and even running religious services from a Polish-American church in the D.C. area.388