# KOR founded (1976)

URL: https://poland-history.com/timeline/1976-kor-founded
Location: Warsaw

Intellectuals including Jacek Kuroń and Antoni Macierewicz founded the Workers' Defence Committee to support persecuted workers, a key step toward an alliance of workers and intelligentsia. Within the broader People'S Republic period: Shifted westward and placed under communist rule, Poland rebuilt from the war but repeatedly rose against the regime, until the Solidarity movement forced a negotiated transition in 1989. At this point in the timeline (1976), the governing authority was Henryk Jabłoński (Chairman of the Council of State), together with Edward Gierek (First Secretary of the PZPR). Historian who served as formal head of state during the Gierek era and martial law. KOR founded mattered because collective action by ordinary people challenged those in power and changed Polish society. The event is placed here so readers can follow it alongside changes in government, warfare, society, religion and culture across Polish history.

## Why it matters
KOR founded mattered because collective action by ordinary people challenged those in power and changed Polish society.

Ruler at the time: [Stanisław Ostrowski](https://poland-history.com/rulers/stanislaw-ostrowski)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Workers' Defence Committee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers'_Defence_Committee)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — KOR founded](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=KOR+founded)
- [Wikipedia — Polish People's Republic (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_People's_Republic)