Świdnik

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Świdnik

	(Coat of arms)


Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Lublin
Mayor	Waldemar Jakson
Area	20,35 km²
Population - city - urban - density	42,797 (2004) 1968/km²
Founded	before 1392
City rights	1954
Municipal Website

Świdnik is a town in eastern Poland with 42,797 inhabitants (2004), situated in the Lublin Voivodeship, very near the city of Lublin. It is the capital of Świdnik County.

[edit] History

The village of Świdnik is first mentioned in historical records from 1392. It remained a village until the end of the 19th century when it began to develop as a spa, due to its good location and climate.

SM-1 helicopter (Polish-built Mil Mi-1) displayed as a monument in Świdnik

Before World War II an airfield was built, which probably influenced the postwar decision of Poland's Communist government to locate a factory there. This factory, created in 1951 under the name Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego (WSK for short, Communications Equipment Factory in English), became one of the main centres of helicopters' production both in the Eastern bloc and Europe. The workers arriving to work in the factory created the modern town, which formally received its charter in 1954. In 1957 the factory was formally renamed WSK "PZL-Świdnik".

The first helicopter produced in Świdnik, the Soviet-designed SM-1 (Mil Mi-1), flew in 1956 - around 1800 were produced in Świdnik. In 1965 production switched to the Mil Mi-2, of which 5,450 were produced over the next three decades. The factory was its exclusive manufacturer. In the 1980s the factory started producing helicopters of Polish design - PZL W-3 Sokół and PZL SW-4 Puszczyk.

On July 8, 1980 a strike started in the WSK factory, which quickly spread to other factories in the Lublin region and essentially brought its economy to a standstill. The Communist government eventually managed to quell these mass strikes by granting the workers many of their demands. However, the pressure for change generated by these strikes in turn led to the August strikes in Gdańsk and elsewhere on Poland's Baltic Coast, which shortly after led to the emergence of the Solidarity movement.