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." [1001 Days]