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| 1971–72 |
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| Church-state relations improved. In June 1971, the Roman Catholic Church was granted full ownership of nearly 7,000 church buildings in the territories acquired from Germany after World War II. In February 1972 the government exempted the Church from paying tax on its farms and repealed its 1962 decree that the Church keep inventories of all its property for taxation purposes. In June, four new dioceses were established in western Poland, and the former “apostolic administrators” were appointed as bishops of the new sees. | 1 |
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| 1971, Sept.–1972, Feb |
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| As a sign of a more liberal policy toward intellectuals under Gierek's regime, liberal writers were released in 1971 and allowed to publish their works. Meanwhile, six leaders of an underground political organization known as Ruch (Movement) were tried and sentenced to several years of imprisonment. | 2 |
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| 1972, Sept. 13–14 |
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| Poland established full diplomatic relations with West Germany. In June, the Polish and German parliaments had ratified the Normalization Treaty. | 3 |
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| 1974, Oct |
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| The PUWP adopted a long-term program for the modernization of agriculture and the food industry, with the aim of tripling production by 1990. The program made no proposal for nationalization or collectivization of the currently private-owned land. | 4 |
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| 1976, June 25 |
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| The government canceled its proposed food price increases, due to workers' protests and intellectuals' open criticism of the government. | 5 |
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| 1977, March 3 |
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| The government ratified the UN Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. | 6 |
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| 1978, Oct. 16 |
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| Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland was made Pope John Paul II. When Pope John Paul II visited Poland (June 2–10, 1979), it was the first visit by a pope to a communist country. Hundreds of thousands gathered to see him. | 7 |
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| 1980, July–Sept |
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| Industrial unrest and government crisis. A wave of industrial strikes and protests in Gdansk and other areas in northern Poland, over price rises and political dissatisfaction, led to the resignations of First Secretary Edward Gierek and Prime Minister Edward Babius. By August more than 120,000 workers were on strike. A major reorganization of the cabinet and the PUWP leadership took place when Jozef Pinkowski became prime minister on Aug. 24 and Stanislaw Kania became first secretary of the PUWP on Sept. 6. Government approval of the right to strike and the right to form unions independent of the Communist Party finally ended the strike. | 8 |
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| Sept. 14 |
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| The Soviet Union provided a loan of $260 million and consented to the postponement of repayment of a previous $280 million loan. The United States provided a $670 million loan for food. | 9 |
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| Sept. 21 |
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| Catholic Mass was broadcast on the radio for the first time in 35 years. | 10 |
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| Sept. 24 |
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| Independent unions formed during the industrial unrest organized themselves into a national confederation of independent trade unions known as Solidarity and elected Lech Walesa as its chairman. | 11 |
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| Oct. 24 |
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| The government officially recognized Solidarity as an independent trade union. | 12 |
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