Polish Socialist Party

History

The Polish Socialist Party (PPS) was founded in Paris in 1892, during the period known as the Great Emigration. In 1893, a faction called the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL) split from the PPS. The PPS focused more on nationalism and Polish independence, while the SDKPiL adopted a far-left (Marxist), internationalist stance. In November 1892, key members of the PPS developed a political program that, for its time, was notably progressive. The program called for an independent Republic of Poland founded on democratic principles, direct universal voting rights, equal rights for all citizens regardless of religion or gender, freedom of the press, speech, and assembly, progressive taxation, an eight-hour workday, a minimum wage, equal pay for men and women, a ban on child labor (under age 14), free education, and social support for workers injured on the job.

After the Revolution of 1905 in the Russian Empire, the party membership drastically increased from several hundred active members to a mass movement of about 60,000 members. Another split in the party occurred in 1906, with the Revolutionary Faction following Józef Piłsudski, who supported the nationalist and independence ideals, and the Left faction which allied itself with the SDKPiL. However, the Revolutionary Faction became dominant and renamed itself back again to the PPS, while the Left was eclipsed, and in 1918 merged with SDKPiL forming the Communist Party of Poland. In 1917-18 the party participated in the Central Council of Ukraine and the Government of Ukraine.

During the Second Polish Republic, the PPS at first supported Józef Piłsudski (himself a former Socialist), including his May Coup, but later moved into the opposition to his authoritarian Sanacja regime by joining the democratic 'centrolew' (center-left) opposition movement. Many PPS leaders and members were put on trial by Piłsudski's regime and jailed in the infamous Bereza Kartuska prison.

The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1940.

The party supported the Polish resistance during as the underground Polish Socialist Party – Freedom, Equality, Independence (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna – Wolność, Równość, Niepodległość). In 1948 it suffered a fatal split, as the Communists applied the salami tactics to dismember any opposition. One faction, which included Edward Osóbka-Morawski wanted to join forces with the Polish Peasant Party and form a united front against the Communists. Another faction, led by Józef Cyrankiewicz, argued that the Socialists should support the Communists in carrying through a socialist program while opposing the imposition of one-party rule. Pre-war political hostilities continued to influence events, and Stanisław Mikołajczyk, leader of the Peasant Party, would not agree to form a united front with the Socialists. The Communists played on these divisions by dismissing Osóbka-Morawski and making Cyrankiewicz the Prime Minister.

In 1948, Cyrankiewicz's faction of Socialists merged with the Communist Polish Workers' Party (PPR) to form the Polish United Workers' Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; PZPR), the ruling party in the Polish People's Republic; remnants of the other faction survived on emigration in the Polish government-in-exile and because of that Polish Socialist Party was still active on emigration. Cyrankiewicz's faction isn't really treated as proper PPS.

Refoundation and present

A new party sharing the same name, aiming to continue the legacy of the original PPS, was founded in 1987 by left-wing opposition figures like Jan Józef Lipski. However, the modern PPS has remained a marginal force in the political landscape of the Third Republic of Poland, holding representation in the Sejm only from 1993 to 2001, due to the lingering stigma of communism associated with Soviet occupation. In the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, the PPS experienced a resurgence with its leader Wojciech Konieczny being elected to the Senate of Poland as part of The Left. Subsequently, other members of both the Sejm and Senate joined the PPS, which now has two deputies and two senators.

Its main propaganda outlet was the Robotnik ('The Worker') newspaper. The current party published the Nowy Robotnik ("The New Worker"), a continuation of the original publication, from 2003 to 2006.

On 16 November 2020, the party founded its first foreign branch in the United Kingdom, in the city of Coventry, home to a British Polish population founded by Polish Army Exiles.

On the 25 June 2022, factions of the party formed an alliance with Social Democracy of Poland, Freedom and Equality, Labour Union and Polish Left to compete in the next Polish parliamentary election. The alliance also included the Feminist Initiative, the Democratic Left Association (SLD), and the Working People's Movement. In February 2023, after an internal conflict, PPS, together with the Labour Union, re-joined The Left.

Ideology

Historically, the party advocated for a blend of socialism and nationalism, and was generally considered to be a left-wing party on the political spectrum. The party opposed Bolshevism and aligned more with the Mensheviks. In recent years, the party has identified as a democratic socialist movement, with its parliamentary leader Wojciech Konieczny describing it as a leftist party with a strong emphasis on democracy. As a modern party, it distanced itself from anti-clericalism, declaring that it does not wish to wage "war against God", accepting the concordat between Poland and Vatican, along with the position of the Catholic Church in Polish society.

Election results

Presidential

Sejm

Senate

European Parliament

Notable people who were members or were associated with PPS

Presidents and heads of state

• Józef Piłsudski (former member at time in office)
• Stanisław Wojciechowski (former member)
• Ignacy Mościcki (former member)

Presidents in exile

• Stanisław Ostrowski
• Franciszek Trąbalski

Prime ministers

• Ignacy Daszyński
• Jędrzej Moraczewski
• Janusz Jędrzejewicz (former member)
• Walery Sławek (former member)
• Edward Osóbka-Morawski (later became a communist)
• Józef Cyrankiewicz (later became a communist)

Prime ministers in exile

• Tomasz Arciszewski
• Tadeusz Tomaszewski
• Antoni Pająk
• Alfred Urbański

Other figures

• Jan Józef Lipski
• Bolesław Limanowski
• Adam Ciołkosz
• Jerzy Czeszejko-Sochacki (later became a communist)
• Norbert Barlicki
• Józef Biniszkiewicz
• Piotr Ikonowicz
• Wojciech Konieczny
• Jan Kwapiński
• Herman Lieberman
• Stanisław Mendelson
• Stanisław Dubois
• Mieczysław Niedziałkowski
• Zofia Praussowa
• Kazimierz Pużak
• Kazimierz Sosnkowski
• Leon Wasilewski
• Aleksandra Zagórska
• Iza Zielińska

Notes

References

References

1. (9 November 2023). "Refleksje w Dniu walki z faszyzmem i antysemityzmem". Polska Partia Socjalistyczna.
2. "O Nas". Polska Partia Socjalistyczna.
3. (26 June 2022). "PPS w paradzie rownosci tak dla praw lgbt nie dla bankow i korporacji". Polska Partia Socjalistyczna.
4. "Deklaracja ideowa Polskiej Partii Socjalistycznej". Polska Partia Socjalistyczna.
5. (24 August 2024). "Zjazd Młodych Socjalistów PPS".
6. (2014-09-01). "What Did You Do in the Cold War Daddy?: Personal Stories from a Troubled Time". NewSouth.
7. Friszke, Andrzej. (1989). "O kształt niepodległej". Biblioteka "Więzi".
8. Friszke, Andrzej. (1989). "O kształt niepodległej". Biblioteka "Więzi".
9. Kowalski, Werner. (1985). "Geschichte der sozialistischen arbeiter-internationale: 1923 - 19". Dt. Verl. d. Wissenschaften.
10. "Wojciech Konieczny". wnp.pl.
11. "Polska Partia Socjalistyczna".
12. "BBC - Coventry and Warwickshire Features - History of Poles in Coventry".
13. (25 June 2022). "Cztery partie lewicowe podpisały porozumie. Chcą iść razem do wyborów".
14. "Konflikt w PPS. Zakaz używania nazwy przez parlamentarzystów".
15. Lewicy, Rzecznik Nowej. (2023-02-27). "Lewica łączy siły na wybory. Porozumienie Nowej Lewicy, partii Razem, Polskiej Partii Socjalistycznej i Unii Pracy podpisane!".
16. Luxemburg, Rosa. (2019). "The complete works of Rosa Luxemburg".
17. (2018-06-01). "Socialisms in the Tsarist Borderlands". Contributions to the History of Concepts.
18. Suławka, Adam Radosław. (2015-12-31). "Prasa Komitetu Centralnego Komunistycznej Partii Zachodniej Białorusi (KC KPZB) wydawana w języku Rosyjskim". Studia z Dziejów Rosji i Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej.
19. Kowalski, Stanisław. (2018). "Dzieje Kępna : od początku istnienia do 2015 r.". Gmina Kępno.
20. Dubnow, Simon. (1916). "History of the Jews in Russia and Poland, from the Earliest Times Until the Present Day, Vol. 3". Forgotten Books.
21. ""Chcemy być demokratyczni". Konieczny o kulisach powstania koła parlamentarnego PPS".
22. Politt, Holger. (2022). "From Revolution to Coalition – Radical Left Parties in Europe". Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation.