The strikes sparked by the declaration of martial law were still underway when other forms of protest began emerging. In Polish writing on the subject, the term opór społeczny (“civil” resistance) is usually used to describe them. One may question whether this term is appropriate, since it is semantically close to the Second World War term ruch oporu (“resistance movement”), reserved for armed operations, particularly for partisan warfare and terrorist acts. The adjective społeczny (“social,” “collective”) allows us to remove or minimize this discrepancy, but we should, however, realize that this term is very broad, encompassing an enormous number of extremely varied types of activities, including the idea of “resistance movement,” that is, acts involving physical conflict. The overwhelming majority, however, used peaceful means, close to what we often call “civil disobedience.” The term “civic resistance” does not exclude the possibility of people acting on their own; it can actually be comprised of a series of actions undertaken by specific individuals who are not acting together. Under communism, for the most part, no organized, collective forms of opposition to the system existed. Instead, there were only isolated, individual acts of protest. Each year, for example, large quantities of anti-state graffiti appeared, as well as typed or handwritten flyers, and anonymous anti-state or anti-communist letters. Red flags would be ripped down occasionally, or party slogans defaced. The communist regime's ideological and repressive character meant that all criticisms were also regarded as anti-state behavior, even if they were in private letters or conversations. The SB observed these types of deeds, and those who expressed criticism—if discovered—were sentenced or suffered reprisals, for example, by being expelled from their place of study or fired from their jobs. Thus, the very nature of the system resulted in an extremely broad concept of “civil resistance,” the limits of which were practically impossible to define.

After the declaration of martial law, individual forms of protest faded into the background, since Solidarity existed. The trade union was regarded by many, if not most, of its members as a form of opposition not only against the current ruling clique, but also against the regime as such. Nevertheless, in the first weeks after December 13, many individual acts of protest occurred in various places.