Closing the Revolving Door on Revolution

Cas posed the question of what differentiated Polish Solidarity from the events of 1968. I think there were several factors at play:

1. Religious support--the Catholic Church played a much larger role in supporting the Solidarity movement than in 1968. This tinted the events with a greater ideological importance and, therefore, greater gravity. 

2. Cause--the Solidarity movement drew off 'bread and butter' issues, as the video today outlined. They had become much more pronounced than even the woes of the Soviet Bloc in 1968, with shortages and revelations of corruption and mismanagement frustrating Poles. This was a much stronger motivation than the student-led protests by political/social radicals of '68.

3. Soviet Response--The Soviet Union wasn't as belligerent in responding to the Solidarity movement as in the case of '68. Perhaps this was because the Red Army was becoming bogged down in Afghanistan or the rise in tensions with the election of Reagan/Thatcher made such a move on Poland less appealing diplomatically.