Tadeusz Mazowiecki. Pisma i dokumenty. Premier 1989–1990

Tadeusz Mazowiecki. Writings and Documents. Prime Minister 1989–1990

Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1927-2013), the first non-communist prime minister of Poland after the Second World War, was undoubtedly a major figure of Polish political life of the second half of the twentieth century. This has spurred the initiative to compile a multi-volume edition of Mazowiecki’s scattered writings and documents connected with him, which would encompass the entirety of his time as a social and political activist.

This volume, concerning Tadeusz Mazowiecki in the period of his premiership, comprises two parts. The first contains texts and documents from 1989-1990, the period when Mazowiecki headed the government or immediately before. The second part is a selection of later interviews and reckoning articles: until the end of his life, Tadeusz Mazowiecki would explain the decision he had made as the prime minister, defending them, sometimes by revealing their hitherto unknown circumstances.

Mazowiecki’s government laid foundations for a new Polish statehood – in a country devastated economically and politically by almost half a century of communist rule. It transitioned Poland from authoritarianism to democracy, and its economy from inefficient systemic poverty to free market. These reforms were not perfect, but they were revolutionary, though implemented in an evolutionary fashion. The fifteen months of Mazowiecki’s government proved enough to begin strategic changes in all areas of Polish life, changes that would be continued afterwards. They were not enough, however, for all these changes to be completed under Mazowiecki’s government – even though it is this government that was blamed for the errors and mistakes of transition, not its critics and successors.

Tadeusz Mazowiecki was a man who attached great importance to the world of values. He perceived politics as acting for the sake of the common good. Today this no longer is a feature associated with politicians. This is all the more reason to offer a reminder that there was a time when politics could be done differently, and that this time was not that long ago.

Keywords: Tadeusz Mazowiecki, systemic transition, War at the Top, Third Polish Republic.