The gauntlet cast: Poland challenges the Soviet Union

Abstract

Since the Soviet Union entered Eastern Europe in 1944. each twelve year period has been punctuated by a serious challenge to their continued control and has been responded to with a Soviet military intervention. The events in Poland which erupted in August,1980, provide the most recent example. This study, which cannot be all-inclusive because of information difficulties and the currency of the situation, addresses: 1) what is currently happening in Poland; 2) how these events challenge the Soviet Union; 3) how the Soviets have reacted to the events thus far; and 4) the prospects of soviet military intervention in the future.