Incumbents On March 27, 1976, the government of Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz was created. It lasted until April 2, 1980. Jaroszewicz himself was removed from his post on February 18, 1980, and was replaced by Edward Babiuch. Babiuch was dismissed on April 2, 1980. His resignation was accepted by the Sejm on the same day, and the next day, April 3, a new government was created, with Babiuch again as Prime Minister. On September 5, 1980, Józef Pińkowski was named new Prime Minister, and held the post until February 11, 1981.
Edward Gierek, who had been the First Secretary of the Polish Communist Party since December 20, 1970, was dismissed on September 6, and was replaced by Stanislaw Kania.
Members of the government Prime Ministers of Poland - Piotr Jaroszewicz, Edward Babiuch, Jozef Pinkowski First Secretaries of the Communist Party - Edward Gierek, Stanislaw Kania Minister of National Defence - Wojciech Jaruzelski For members of the Polish Politburo, see Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party
Other personalities Roman Catholic Primate of Poland - Stefan Wyszyński President of Polish government-in-exile - Edward Raczynski Prime Minister of Polish government-in-exile - Kazimierz Sabbat
Events January January 1, Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine is opened, January 16. Premiere of Janusz Morgenstern's film Godzina W, January 19. Cricot 2 theatre company's branch is opened in Kraków on Kanonicza Street,
February February 9. Announcement of the Central Statistical Office. Average monthly salary in Poland is 5,087 zlotys, February 15. VIII Congress of the Polish United Workers' Party ends. Edward Gierek is re-elected First Secretary, February 18. Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz is replaced by Edward Babiuch, February 18. Premiere of Feliks Falk's film Szansa,
March March 14. Crash of LOT Flight 7. Among the dead is singer Anna Jantar, March 21. Retired bakery worker and Home Army soldier Walenty Badylak immoculates himself on Kraków's Main Market Square, protesting against propaganda lies about Katyn massacre, March 23. Local and general elections. According to official reports, 98,8% Poles vote. According to the estimates of the oppositional Workers' Defence Committee, the turnout is at 75-85%. More than 99% vote for the list of the Front of National Unity; no other list exists, March 24. Premiere of Andrzej Wajda's film The Orchestra Conductor, March 24. Premiere of Kazimierz Kutz's film Paciorki jednego różańca, March 25. Mirosław Chojecki of independent printing office NOWA is arrested,
April April 3. First meeting of the VIII Sejm takes place in Warsaw. Henryk Jabłoński is elected chairman of the Council of State, Edward Babiuch is Prime Minister, and Stanisław Gucwa is the speaker of the Sejm, April 6. Telewizja Polska presents first episode of The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma, a miniseries, based on a book by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz, April 21. Seven coal miners die in a catastrophe at Barbara Coal Mine in Chorzów,
May May 7. Polish Episcopal Conference warns about "Uncomfortable, negative phenomena in social, cultural, economic and political life of Poland", urging the government to introduce necessary reforms, May 20. Henryk Jaskuła returns to the port of Gdynia, after a 344-day single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe,
June June 6. Jarocin Festival begins June 12. Trial of opposition activists Mieczysław Chojecki and Stanisław Grzesiak begins. They are accused of stealing a duplicating machine and sentenced to 1,5 years behind bars, June 28. Roman - Catholic bishops, gathered at a Polish Episcopal Conference at Saint Anne Mountain near Opole, emphasize "growing difficulties in the social life of the nation",
July July 1. A wave of industrial actions sweeps across Poland. Altogether, on that day workers in some 200 enterprises lay down their tools, protesting against increase of the price of meat and meat products. Among protesting factories, there are such leading enterprises of the nation, as PZL Mielec, Ursus Factory in Warsaw, Autosan in Sanok, Factory of Specialized Machine Tools Ponar in Tarnów, truck drivers servicing construction of the Połaniec Power Station. Meeting of the Polish Politburo takes place in Warsaw, but the protests are not discussed, July 2. Industrial action spreads to other locations. Strikes begin, among others, at Automobile Spare Parts Factory Polmo in Tczew, Warsaw Steel Mill in Warsaw, Machine Factory Pomet in Poznań, Rzeszów Building Company in Dąbrowa Górnicza. At Jacek Kuroń's Warsaw apartment, a temporary news center is opened, which informs Western mass-media about protests. Workers demand pay rises and changes in norms, and Workers' Defense Committee urges workers to act in a responsible way, and to support each other, July 3. Further enterprises join the protests - Monochrome Tube Plant in Piaseczno, Machine Tools Repair Shop Ponar – Reso in Żyrardów, state liquor monopoly Polmos in Poznań, Leather Factory Syrena in Warsaw. At the Ursus plant, a Workers Committee is created, which demands guarantee of immunity for protesting workers, July 4. Strike at Tarnów Company of General Construction in Tarnów, July 8. First strikes in the area of Lublin - the beginning of the Lublin 1980 strikes. In the following days, protests spread to the whole province, including rail workers, city transit, Lublin Truck Factory, PZL-Świdnik (where the local industrial action began), and other enterprises. Strikes at FSO Warszawa, Meat Plant in Grudziądz, Instal in Kalisz. Official mass-media do not inform about the protests, the nation gets the information from Radio Free Europe, which for the first time informed about the situation in Lublin on July 9, July 9. Meeting of Party leaders and activists in Warsaw. Edward Gierek calms those present, telling that the difficulties are temporary. Strikes spread across the country. Among enterprises taking part in them, there are Rosa Luxemburg Lamp Factory in Warsaw, Światowit in Myszków, Apator in Toruń, Stella in Żyrardów, Polfa Pharmaceuticals in Warsaw, Dolmel Lower Silesia Electric Machines Manufacturing Corporation in Wrocław, H. Cegielski - Poznań, Port of Gdynia, Huta Stalowa Wola in Stalowa Wola, Polmo in Świdnica, RSW Prasa-Książka-Ruch in Warsaw, July 10. Meeting of the Politburo, industrial actions are discussed, July 18. Appeal to the Residents of Lublin is published in local mass-media, July 20. Protesting workers in Lublin come to agreement with government negotiators, headed by Mieczysław Jagielski. The government promises pay rises, July 22. For the first time in the history of the People's Republic of Poland, no major celebrations of the PKWN Manifesto are organized, July 24. Top members of Polish Politburo, including Edward Gierek, leave for vacation at Crimea. Ostrów Wielkopolski is paralysed by a strike, July 30. At 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Władysław Kozakiewicz makes an obscene gesture to the hostile Soviet crowd, July 31. In Crimea, Edward Gierek meets Leonid Brezhnev.
August August 14. A strike begins at the Gdańsk Shipyard. In the following days, shipyard workers are joined by other enterprises, including mass transit and the Port of Gdańsk, August 15. Interfactory Strike Committee (MKS), headed by Lech Wałęsa, is founded in Gdańsk. Stocznia Gdynia joins the protest, as well as local mass transit system, August 16. Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs crates staff for Operation Summer-80, August 17. Gdańsk workers draw a list of 21 demands (see 21 demands of MKS), August 18. Strike at Adolf Warski Szczecin Shipyard, where workers create their own Interfactory Strike Committee, headed by Marian Jurczyk, and create their list of 36 demands, August 19. Otłoczyn railway accident, 67 people die, August 21. A delegation of the government, with Mieczysław Jagielski, comes to the Gdańsk Shipyard, August 23. General strike action in the Tricity. First issue of Strike Information Bulletin "Solidarność" is published, August 24. Committee of Experts, headed by Tadeusz Mazowiecki, is created by the Gdańsk Interfactory Strike Committee. Changes in the Polish Politburo, Edward Babiuch is sidelined, and replaced by new Prime Minister, Józef Pińkowski, August 25. Soviet Politburo creates the so-called Suslov Commission, to follow the crisis in Poland, August 26. At the Jasna Góra Monastery, Primate Stefan Wyszyński urges workers to end their protests, but his calls are not obeyed. Wave of strikes sweeps across the nation, August 27. Polish government requests more U.S. grain credits. Soviet ambassador to Warsaw, Boris Aristov, meets Edward Gierek and suggests that the opposition movement should be crushed, August 28. Industrial action begins in Manifest Lipcowy Coal Mine in Jastrzębie-Zdrój. In the following days, most enterprises from the city, and other locations in Upper Silesia, join the protests (see Jastrzębie-Zdrój 1980 strikes), August 30. Signing of the Szczecin Agreement, August 31. Signing of the Gdańsk Agreement.
September September 1. Supreme Administrative Court of Poland officially begins its activity. Polish press publishes contents of the Gdańsk and Szczecin Agreements. Eight miners die in a disaster at Halemba Coal Mine. Most workers return to work, protests are continued in coal mines in Upper Silesia and Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, September 2. Warsaw Old Town is added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Negotiations with striking workers and miners begin in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, at Manifest Lipcowy Coal Mine. Local Interfactory Strike Committee represents 56 enterprises, including 28 coal mines. In Gdańsk, a Temporary Founding Committee of Independent Students' Union is created, September 3. Jastrzębie Agreement is signed at Manifest Lipcowy Coal Mine, at 5:45 in the morning. Most coal miners in Upper Silesia return to work, September 4. Protesting miners in Bytom create their own Interfactory Strike Committee. Mass strike actions begin in Tarnobrzeg, Mielec, Płock, Siedlce, Tarnów, Piotrków Trybunalski and Białystok. In Warsaw, leaders of trades unions create their own Temporary Council of Solidarity Mazovia. Edward Gierek is taken to hospital with suspected heart attack, September 6. Stanisław Kania becomes First Secretary of the Communist Party, replacing Edward Gierek. According to Polish secret services, in August 1980, 700,000 workers took part in industrial actions, September 7. Deputy Prime Minister Henryk Kisiel reveals that Polish foreign debt is 20 billion dollars. Industrial actions in several locations, September 10. Solidarity's Interfactory Founding Committee is created in Lublin, September 11. Interfactory Founding Committees are created in Poznań and Bielsko-Biała. According to the government, industrial actions are continued in 40 enterprises. An agreement between protesting workers and the government is signed in Katowice Steelworks in Dąbrowa Górnicza, September 12. Interfactory Founding Committee is created in Białystok, September 13. Polish Council of State announces that newly created trade unions must be registered at Warsaw's Provincial Court on condition that their statutes comply with Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland, September 15. According to Solidarity sources, the union, which was created only a few weeks earlier, already has 16 regional offices, and 3 million members in 3500 enterprises. Interfactory Founding Committee is created in Kraków, and in Vladimir Lenin Steelworks in Nowa Huta, 90% of the workforce are Solidarity members. Another Founding Committee is created in Zielona Góra, September 16. The government of Poland and Polish Episcopal Conference declare agreement on Polish Radio's broadcasts of Sunday services, which was one of demands of protesting workers. First service to be broadcast was scheduled for Sunday, September 21, from Holy Cross Church, Warsaw,