Erich Honecker and Helmut Schmidt at Lake Werbellin, December 1981 (Photo: The Federal Government, Photographer: Engelbert Reineke)
Meeting between SED General Secretary Erich Honecker and West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt at Lake Werbellin in the GDR. Both leaders express their support for an intensification of mutual relations despite the increasingly tense East-West conflict.
13 December
1981
General Wojciech Jaruzelski, Poland’s prime minister and defence minister, proclaims martial law in the country; he claims that this is to pre-empt any intervention by the Soviet Union. The independent union "Solidarity" is banned, most of its leaders are taken into custody and its chairman, Lech Walesa, is put under house arrest.
There is a wave of repression across the country; "Solidarity" however continues to work underground. Martial law is not lifted until July 1983.
Martial law in Poland and ban on the independent union, 13 December 1981 (Source: Information bulletin published by panel of the committees and initiatives "Solidarität mit Solidarnosc" ("Solidarity with Solidarnosc"), 1981)
As a reaction to the proclamation of martial law in Poland, the US government imposes economic sanctions on the Soviet Union; the shipping agreement and air traffic are also suspended.more
