Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"An electrician, Lech Walesa, soon emerged as the leader of the strikers. . . . The mere existence of Solidarity was, however, a challenge to communist rule. The Communist Party claimed to stand for the working class, but was now being repudiated by it. . . . Fearing an invasion, army leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski became premier in December and imposed martial law. . . . Jaruzelski's government enjoyed little popular support, and by 1989, unable to implement needed reforms, he began negotiations with Solidarity, unwittingly beginning the process of dismantling communist rule in Poland." [Furtado: 1001 Days]