14 August 1980: Gdansk shipyard strike begins

On this day in 1980, dockworkers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk downed tools, leading to the formation of the Solidarity trade union.

People outside the gates of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk © AFP via Getty Images
The Gdansk strike gave birth to the Solidarity union
(Image credit: © AFP via Getty Images)

After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union installed a puppet government in Poland. The government imposed the communist economic system on the country, resulting in living standards falling behind the West. It also meant that independent trade unions were banned.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

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