Word: lenin
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...unconscious source.... This type of person serves Soviet interests and works under KGB control without realizing what he is doing. Lenin used to call such people useful idiots. Without being conscious KGB agents, they are often in a position to accomplish far more for the Soviet Union than the people who are knowingly working...
...downfall, the government of Party Boss Edward Gierek had already granted some $117 million to other strikers during the first wave of protest. It refused, however, to roll back the price of meat. The situation took a dramatic turn two weeks ago, when 16,000 employees of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk suddenly walked off the job and seized control of the sprawling complex. They were soon joined by city bus drivers and workers at 17 nearby factories and enterprises, virtually shutting down the country's major Baltic seaport...
...explosive situation. He canceled a scheduled summit meeting with West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt,* and sent a task force to negotiate with the strikers in Gdansk. But the regime shrewdly insisted on talking to workers from individual factories, rejecting any dealings with the Interfactory Strike Committee based at the Lenin Shipyard. "They do not represent the workers," explained a Polish government spokesman in Warsaw. Added a party official in Gdansk: "We want each factory to settle individually...
Neither the arrests nor Gierek's appeals to reason appeared to bring the strikes any closer to a settlement. In the grimy, red-brick conference hall of Lenin Shipyard, Gierek's speech was greeted with derision. "He said nothing new at all," said a dockworker from Gdynia. "He talked to us as if we were children." Many workers ignored the speech entirely, basking shirtless in the sun and playing cards during the live broadcast...
...Kuron's advice to organize peacefully rather than riot, the Gdansk strikers have established a remarkable degree of order and discipline. "After seeing protesters elsewhere shaking their fists and screaming, this is soul-rending," remarked a West German tourist last week, as she contemplated the eerie calm hanging over Lenin Shipyard. "Nobody is misbehaving," said a square-set foreman, puffing on a cigarette. "This is no time for fun. We're all in this together...