Federation of Fighting Youth
The Federation of Fighting Youth (Polish: Federacja Młodzieży Walczącej, also called FMW) was a radical anticommunist organization of Polish youth, existing in the mid and late 1980s. It was founded in June 1984 in Warsaw's district of Grochów by a group of high school students.
In September 1984, a "Riot" (Bunt) underground publication informed about creation of the Federation, it also featured an appeal to Polish youth. The Federation's activists published their own magazine, called Information Service of the FMW (Serwis Informacyjny FMW). It was printed in the format of a samizdat, in the period November 1984 - May 1985. In October 1984, high school students in Gdańsk founded their own branch of the Federation, and began publishing their own biweekly Monit.
In October 1985, a group of activists of the FMW decided to create the so-called Activity Groups (Grupy Wykonawcze), which began to actively fight the Communist system, by painting slogans on walls, distributing leaflets, and persecuting members of Communist apparatus of repression. The FMW gathered not only high school students, but also college students, as well as laborers. At the beginning of 1985, the Federation got its own printing press, and quickly established itself in numerous Polish towns and cities. Altogether, it had around 1,000 members, and was regarded as an open platform for those who wished for a free and democratic Poland. The FMW organized underground lectures, and distributed underground press among Polish youth. It collected money for incarcerated members of opposition, also helped families whose members were in prisons. It closely cooperated with such organizations, as Independent Students Union, Solidarity, Fighting Solidarity, and Solidarity Citizens' Committee. In the 1980s, the FMW was under surveillance of the Communist secret services. Among its major centers were Kraków, Gdansk, Warsaw, and Lodz, and FMW's members were famous for their anticommunist radicalism.
The Federation ceased to exist in 1989.
Most famous activists
- Tomasz Arabski, later director of prime minister Donald Tusk's office,
- Sławomir Cenckiewicz, now a professional historian,
- Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, later deputy minister of justice,
- Bogdan Rymanowski, now a journalist of TVN 24,
Sources
- Artykul
See also
- Confederation of Independent Poland (Konfederacja Polski Niepodległej)
- Freedom and Peace (Wolność i Pokój)
- Orange Alternative (Pomarańczowa Alternatywa)
- v
- t
- e
- Recovered Territories
- Polish population transfers (1944–1946)
- Expulsion of Germans
- Operation Vistula
- Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland
- Polish Committee of National Liberation
- Provisional Government of National Unity
- Trial of the Sixteen
- Cursed soldiers
- Augustów roundup
- 1946 Polish people's referendum
- 1947 Polish legislative election
- Small Constitution of 1947
- Amnesty of 1947
- Battle for trade
- Three-Year Plan
under Bierut's rule
autarchic communism
international opening
- 1971 Łódź strikes
- Letter of 59
- June 1976 protests
- Workers' Defence Committee
- Flying University
- 1980 Lublin strikes
- Gdańsk Agreement
- Jastrzębie-Zdrój strikes
- Solidarity (Polish trade union)
- Independent Students' Association
- Rural Solidarity
- Bydgoszcz events
- 1981 warning strike in Poland
- 1981 Polish hunger demonstrations
autocratic rule and demise