| Excerpt |
The article describes the most extensive and direct initiative taken by Ceauşescu before December 1989, that is, a letter to his fellow communist rulers and their parties from East and Central Europe and its impact on Polish political situation. The appeal was handed to the ambassadors of the communist countries on the night of August 19-20, 1989. Ceauşescu stated that the events in Poland were not only an internal problem, but posed a threat to socialism in the whole world. In Poland, the appeal was used by the communists to intimidate the Solidarity leadership and Church officials, but its effect was limited due to lack of advocates of that initiative in other communist states. |
