I'm trying to brush up on my Polish history, and after finding a great speech by Reagan given 28 years ago today it was the perfect time to start. The early 80's was a rough time to be in Poland. The Peoples Republic of Poland enacted Martial Law in an attempt to crush any opposition to the Communistic rule on December 13th, 1981. People were oppressed, media was monitored and controlled, private businesses were delegalized while other companies became under military management. The economy tanked driving up prices at least 20%. People lost thier lives.
On December 23rd, 1981 President Reagan gave an address to the nation and spoke about Poland. He announced that while private aid to it's citizens would continue, sanctions would also be in effect. "These actions are not directed against the Polish people. They are a warning to the Government of Poland that free men cannot and will not stand idly by in the face of brutal repression."
Martial Law was lifted in 1983, but many form of control continued through the 80's. In 1989 Poland elected the first non-communistic president in Eastern Europe; Lech Wałęsa."I urge the Polish Government and its allies to consider the consequences of their actions. How can they possibly justify using naked force to crush a people who ask for nothing more than the right to lead their own lives in freedom and dignity? Brute force may intimidate, but it cannot form the basis of an enduring society, and the ailing Polish economy cannot be rebuilt with terror tactics.
Poland needs cooperation between its government and its people, not military oppression. If the Polish Government will honor the commitments it has made to human rights in documents like the Gdansk agreement, we in America will gladly do our share to help the shattered Polish economy, just as we helped the countries of Europe after both World Wars.
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Yesterday, I met in this very room with Romuald Spasowski, the distinguished former Polish Ambassador who has sought asylum in our country in protest of the suppression of his native land. He told me that one of the ways the Polish people have demonstrated their solidarity in the face of martial law is by placing lighted candles in their windows to show that the light of liberty still glows in their hearts.
Ambassador Spasowski requested that on Christmas Eve a lighted candle will burn in the White House window as a small but certain beacon of our solidarity with the Polish people. I urge all of you to do the same tomorrow night, on Christmas Eve, as a personal statement of your commitment to the steps we're taking to support the brave people of Poland in their time of troubles.
Once, earlier in this century, an evil influence threatened that the lights were going out all over the world. Let the light of millions of candles in American homes give notice that the light of freedom is not going to be extinguished. We are blessed with a freedom and abundance denied to so many. Let those candles remind us that these blessings bring with them a solid obligation, an obligation to the God who guides us, an obligation to the heritage of liberty and dignity handed down to us by our forefathers and an obligation to the children of the world, whose future will be shaped by the way we live our lives today.
Christmas means so much because of one special child. But Christmas also reminds us that all children are special, that they are gifts from God, gifts beyond price that mean more than any presents money can buy. In their love and laughter, in our hopes for their future lies the true meaning of Christmas."
-President Ronald Reagan, Address to the Nation - December 23rd, 1981
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