THE SOLIDARITY DECADE 505When he took his place at the Council of Warsaw Pact, the only non-
Communist participant since the founding of the organization, his presence
drew gasps of amazement. But few outsiders realized just how constrained he
was. Apart from that, he was an experienced politician and a dogged plodder.
He was not going to flex his muscles too dramatically. His political career went
back to the pseudo-pluralism of the late 1950s, and before that to a period of
employment in PAX, and his hopes had been dashed many times. So his ambi-
tions were not great. He aimed to consolidate Solidarity's gains but not to press
for more. Solidarity was winning the game. But final victory was still tantaliz-
ingly out of reach.
In the later months of 1989, therefore, when the Hungarian comrades threw
in the towel, the Berlin Wall collapsed, the Velvet Revolution captured
Czechoslovakia, and Romania overthrew Ceausescu in a pool of blood, Poland
lay strangely quiet. On the political front, the Solidarity leaders were happy to
leave things well alone. They knew that every catastrophe that the Communist
movement suffered abroad was undermining the foundations of the Polish
Party. What is more, on the economic front, they saw that Poland's problems
were rapidly becoming critical. In his initial statement, Mazowiecki had
expressed support for a gradualist approach towards a social market economy
along West German lines. This was a distinct advance on the compromise
'socialist market economy' debated at the Round Table talks. But the onset of
galloping hyperinflation in September convinced the government of the urgent
need for 'shock therapy'. The chief therapist was to be a young neo-liberal
Solidarity economist, Dr. Leszek Balcerowicz (b. 1947).
On 29 December 1989, important changes were made to the Constitution.
The ideological Marxist preamble was abolished, together with the leading role
of the PZPR and the so-called supremacy of the working class. The name of the
state was changed back to that of the Polish Republic. The crown was returned
atop the eagle on the national coat of arms, and the 'sovereign nation' was rein-
stated as the main legitimizing principle. In theory, therefore, the former 'social-
ist' order had gone. In practice, much of it still remained intact. General
Jaruzelski kept his position as President together with all the extended powers
established earlier in the year.
The Balcerowicz Plan came into effect on 1 January 1990. It introduced a
thoroughgoing capitalist economy overnight, together with a new convertible
currency. Central government control over all sectors of the economy was aban-
doned. Privatization was encouraged at all levels, but first in the financial and
industrial sectors. Hyperinflation stopped. Confidence returned. Foreign invest-
ment began. International assistance, initially from the IMF, became possible.
Hard times, of course, continued. Productivity was still falling. Unemployment
was increasing. Foreign trade was nearly paralysed. Living standards slumped.
The turnaround did not begin until the middle of the following year, 1991,
partly because Comecon had ceased to function. But hope, the most essential of
commodities, returned.