Military Council of National Salvation


The Military Council of National Salvation was a military junta administering the Polish People's Republic during the period of martial law in Poland between 1981 and 1983. It was headed by General and First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party Wojciech Jaruzelski.
The body was created on 13 December 1981, and was dissolved on 22 July 1983. It consisted of 21 members: fifteen generals, one admiral and five colonels. Among the most notable members were generals Wojciech Jaruzelski, Florian Siwicki, Michał Janiszewski and Czesław Kiszczak. One member, Lt. Col. Mirosław Hermaszewski, was included without his consent and knowledge.
The lettering of the Polish acronym was immediately picked up by those that the regime sought to repress and widely used in a form of non-violent opposition through jokes. One saying was that "orła wrona nie pokona - the crow won't defeat the eagle".
In 2012, the Polish Supreme Court ruled that WRON was an unlawful criminal armed enterprise in violation of the Polish constitution.