Poland's last communist leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, died in Warsaw on Sunday at the age of 90, according to a military hospital spokesman.

General Jaruzelski had been admitted to the hospital early on where he was being treated for cancer and had suffered a stroke only last month.

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His death comes days before Poland is set to mark its 25 year anniversary of the parliamentary election in which the people voted against the country's communist rulers and instead supported the Solidarity freedom movement that would go on to form Poland's first democratic government in over 40 years.

Gen. Jaruzelski was most well-known for imposing martial law in 1981 in order to crack down on the Solidarity freedom movement.

Under martial law, Poles were forced to adhere to curfews and lived with dead phone lines as well as armed troops and tanks on the streets.

Martial law lasted a total of 18 months, until 1983, during which time hundreds of dissenters and Solidarity activists were killed or jailed.  

The General repeatedly defended his decision stating that the only other option would have been a Soviet intervention.

Despite his own harrowing experiences in a Siberian labor camp, Jaruzelski was an ardent supporter of Moscow's communist line and enforced it upon his country until communism began to corrode in various nations in the late 1980s.

However, in 1989 Gen. Jaruzelski was also a key part of negotiations which led to the communist regime being dismantled and Poland moving forward towards becoming a thriving democracy.

Gen. Jaruzelski's role in negotiations allowed him to be portrayed in a more positive light although many people continue to remember him for his brutal leadership from 1981-1985.

Croatian writer Slavenka Drakulic described Jaruzelski as:

"A tragic believer in Communism who made a pact with the devil in good faith."