What was worth it? 30 years of the Round Table in Poland 1989-2019. The Fall of Socialist Bloc in Eastern Europe and Historical Memory

Abstract

The shift from an authoritarian system to a democratic one must not only be accompanied by a process of legislative and political adjustments, but also by the prosecution of the perpetrators and the crimes they committed. This article discusses the inclusion of the economic, social and cultural demands of the transitional process of the political system in Poland. The assumption of this article is that, despite the difficulties in promoting changes in the system –such as a political stage in dispute–, its review can aid in the construction of collective historical memory regarding the substitution of one system for another, the doubts and expectations generated by it and the adoption of new beginnings. To answer these questions, the paper discusses the relationship between the political actors, the expectations of society and the long-term changes that have taken place. Subsequently, through experience, it presents the way political change influences society, and seeks to define whether or not the process was deemed satisfactory by the Polish population.