1937 peasant strike in Poland
Encyclopedia
1937 peasant strike in Poland, also known in some Polish sources as the Great Peasant Uprising was a mass strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

 and demonstration
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...

 of peasants organized by the People's Party and aimed at the ruling sanacja
Sanacja
Sanation was a Polish political movement that came to power after Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 Coup d'État. Sanation took its name from his watchword—the moral "sanation" of the Polish body politic...

government. It was the largest political protest in the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...

, taking place in 12 voivodeships
Voivodeships of Poland
The voivodeship, or province, called in Polish województwo , has been a high-level administrative subdivision of Poland since the 14th century....

 of the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...

. It is estimated that several million peasants took part in the demonstrations, and the strike was supported not only by Polish peasants, but also by the Ukrainian and Belarusian farmers, who made a majority in eastern part of the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...

.

Background

By mid 1930s, Poland, a country with a large agricultural sector, was significantly affected by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, with peasants being one of the most affected groups. Polish peasantry, especially in overpopulated areas of Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland is one of the historical regions of Poland, with its capital in the city of Kraków. It forms the southeastern corner of the country, and should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only a small, southern part of Lesser Poland...

, was desperately poor. Prices of food products fell down, which resulted in smaller profits for the peasants. In some provinces, the countryside went backwards to the 19th century, with imminent prospect of hunger. Unemployment among youth in villages was widespread, and this grew radicalization and frustration of the impoverished people. Furthermore, the increasingly more authoritarian government (sanacja
Sanacja
Sanation was a Polish political movement that came to power after Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 Coup d'État. Sanation took its name from his watchword—the moral "sanation" of the Polish body politic...

) was losing public support. Immediately after the May Coup, some leaders of peasant parties hoped that cooperation with the new government was possible. However, further events, such as destruction of Centrolew
Centrolew
The Centrolew was a coalition of several Polish political parties after the 1928 Sejm elections...

, arrest of Wincenty Witos
Wincenty Witos
Wincenty Witos was a prominent member of the Polish People's Party from 1895, and leader of its "Piast" faction from 1913. He was a member of parliament in the Galician Sejm from 1908–1914, and an envoy to Reichsrat in Vienna from 1911 to 1918...

, and the ill-fated 1930 election
Polish legislative election, 1930
Polish legislative election, 1930, also known as the Brest elections , were the elections to the Sejm on 16 November 1930. The pro-Sanacja Bezpartyjny Blok Współpracy z Rządem party took 56% of the votes...

 deeply disappointed all of them. In response to the actions of the government, in 1931 a new political party of the peasants, agrarian People's Party (Stronnictwo Ludowe, SL) was created out of three smaller parties. SL leaders, who by mid-1930s became more radical, emphasized quantity of numerous Polish peasantry and its physical strength. They claimed that peasants were real hosts of the country.

In an attempt to wrest political power, the SL was organizing a series of large demonstrations and strikes; those were often met with government opposition; over the years violent incidents occurred, leading to fatalities. Peasants' protests were frequent, and in all cases they were brutally suppressed by the sanacja
Sanacja
Sanation was a Polish political movement that came to power after Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 Coup d'État. Sanation took its name from his watchword—the moral "sanation" of the Polish body politic...

 regime. Among most notable events of this kind was a large wave of strikes, which took place in 1932-33 in southern Poland, in the area of Lapanow
Lapanów
Łapanów is a village in Bochnia County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Łapanów. It lies approximately south-west of Bochnia and south-east of the regional capital Kraków....

, Lesko
Lesko
Lesko ; is a town in south-eastern Poland with a population of 5,755 . situated in the Bieszczady mountains. It is located in the heartland of the Doły , and its average altitude is above sea level, although there are some hills located within the confines of the city...

, and Ropczyce
Ropczyce
Ropczyce is a town in Subcarpathian Voivodeship in south-eastern Poland, situated in the Valley the Wielopolka River and is inhabited by 15,098 people . It is the seat of Ropczyce-Sędziszów County.-Geography:...

. Instead of negotiating, the government would send armed police or units of the Polish Army, which pacified villages and sometimes killed the demonstrators. It has been estimated that across 1930s, around 100 peasants were killed by the security forces.

The idea of the strike did not meet with unanimous approval. Marginal Communist Party of Poland
Communist Party of Poland
The Communist Party of Poland is a historical communist party in Poland. It was a result of the fusion of Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania and the Polish Socialist Party-Left in the Communist Workers Party of Poland .-1918-1921:The KPRP was founded on 16 December 1918 as...

 (Komunistyczna Partia Polski, KPP) threw its weight behind the strike, but right wing National Party
National Party (Poland)
Stronnictwo Narodowe was a Polish political party formed on 7 October 1928 after the transformation of National Populist Union. It gathered together most of the political forces of Poland's National Democracy right-wing political camp. SN was one of the main opponents of the Sanacja regime...

 (Stronnictwo Narodowe, SN) was opposed to it. Crucially, Polish Socialist Party
Polish Socialist Party
The Polish Socialist Party was one of the most important Polish left-wing political parties from its inception in 1892 until 1948...

 (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) declined to participate in it, so despite KPP support, the strike did not spread to the cities, as SL hoped. Notheless some worker strikes did occur during that period. Even within SL not all activists were convinced it was a good idea; it was supported by Wincenty Witos
Wincenty Witos
Wincenty Witos was a prominent member of the Polish People's Party from 1895, and leader of its "Piast" faction from 1913. He was a member of parliament in the Galician Sejm from 1908–1914, and an envoy to Reichsrat in Vienna from 1911 to 1918...

 and Stanisław Mikołajczyk, but criticized by Maciej Rataj
Maciej Rataj
Maciej Rataj was a Polish politician, socialist activist and writer.Born in the village of Chłopy near Lwów on 19 February 1884, he attended a gymnasium in Lwów and studied classical linguistics at the University of Lwów...

.

The decision to start the strike was the effect of new tactics, worked out during the Extraordinary Congress of the People's Party (SL), which took place on January 17, 1937 in Warsaw. On that day it was decided that if the government did not meet demands of the SL, a general peasant strike would be introduced. Participants in the Congress signed an appeal which demanded democratization of the country, amnesty for politicians sentenced in the Brest trials
Brest trials
The Brest trials were among the most famous trials conducted under the Second Polish Republic. Lasting from October 26, 1931 to January 13, 1932, they were held at the Warsaw Regional Court where leaders of the Centrolew, a "Center-Left" anti-Sanation-government political-opposition movement,...

, and changes in the Constitution. The strike was prepared by Stanisław Mikołajczyk, also by Wincenty Witos, who had been forced to leave Poland and lived in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

. Using his couriers, Witos sent advice and instructions.

Prelude to the strike took place on April 18, 1937, when peasants organized a large demonstration in the fields of Raclawice, site of a 1792 battle (see Battle of Raclawice
Battle of Raclawice
The Battle of Racławice was one of the first battles of the Polish Kościuszko Uprising against Russia. It was fought on April 4, 1794 near the village of Racławice in Lesser Poland.The Polish forces prepared for the battle were relatively small...

), in which Polish units consisted of several peasant soldiers. On that day, thousands of people gathered, unaware of the fact that Minister Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski had forbidden public demonstrations and meetings. The rally was attacked by the police, which killed 3 peasants.

The strike

August 15 was the Holiday of Peasant Activity (Święto Czynu Chłopskiego)., a holiday introduced to honor participation of Polish peasants in the Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...

. On that day, numerous rallies took place, during which a 10-day nationwide peasant strike was announced. These rallies were carefully organized, as they were supposed to show the power of peasant movement of Poland. One of the biggest events of this kind took place on the market square in Kolbuszowa
Kolbuszowa
Kolbuszowa is a small town in south-eastern Poland, with 9,190 inhabitants .Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodship , it is the capital of Kolbuszowa County.-History:The name of the town comes from the land owner Kolbusz...

. Those present marched with green flags of Polish peasants. During speeches, people were urged to start open struggle until full victory, like back in 1920. Peasants were told that the Miracle at the Vistula
Battle of Warsaw (1920)
The Battle of Warsaw sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula, was the decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War. That war began soon after the end of World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Treaty of Riga resulted in the end of the hostilities between Poland and Russia in 1921.The...

 was not a miracle, but victory of peasant soldiers. Chants such as "Down with the sanacja government" were heard, also calls for release of political prisoners. Participants in the strike pledged not to send food to towns and cities, and also block roads. Timing was crucial, as in mid-August, old food supplies in the cities had been exhausted, and deliveries of new goods were expected to cover shortages. SL activists, who created Peasant Order Guard (Chlopska Straz Porzadkowa) watched the roads, urging all peasants not to weasel out of the strike. The biggest August 15 rallies took place in Jarosław, Grebow, Dębica
Debica
Dębica is a town in southeastern Poland with 46,693 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it had previously been in the Tarnów Voivodeship .-Area:...

, Przeworsk
Przeworsk
Przeworsk Ukrainian: Переворськ, is a town in south-eastern Poland with 15,675 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. Since 1999 it has been in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, and is the capital of Przeworsk County....

, Bochnia
Bochnia
Bochnia is a town of 30,000 inhabitants on the river Raba in southern Poland. The town lies approximately in halfway [] between Tarnów and the regional capital Kraków . Bochnia is most noted for its salt mine, the oldest functioning in Europe, built circa 1248...

, and Ciezkowice
Ciezkowice
Ciężkowice is a town in Tarnów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,407 inhabitants ....

.

The strike begun on August 16, 1937 and lasted (as planned) till August 25. SL leaders kept the date of the beginning of the strike as top secret. In his memoirs, an SL activist from Bochnia
Bochnia
Bochnia is a town of 30,000 inhabitants on the river Raba in southern Poland. The town lies approximately in halfway [] between Tarnów and the regional capital Kraków . Bochnia is most noted for its salt mine, the oldest functioning in Europe, built circa 1248...

 wrote: "Everything was carefully prepared. Members of Kraków's district of the party came to our village, instructing us what to do and how to act in case of trouble. We were told to light bonfires on August 14, as a sign that a large meeting of peasants was approaching". Rallies were organized not only in villages and towns, but also in cities. In Kraków, on Sunday, August 15, thousands of peasants with banners and orchestras gathered in the Jablonowski Square. A peasant from Bienczyce, Jakub Pszczola, gave a speech, in which he announced that the strike would begin on the next day. After his speech, leaflets were spread among those gathered, and peasants began singing their informal anthem "Gdy naród do boju" ("When The Nation Fights"). The leaflets informed about demands of the strikers, such as dissolution of the Parliament, release of political prisoners, change of the Constitution, and just distribution of social goods.

Even though SL leadership hoped that the action would cover whole country except for border and ethnically mixed areas, in reality it was successful only in southern part of historical province of Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland is one of the historical regions of Poland, with its capital in the city of Kraków. It forms the southeastern corner of the country, and should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only a small, southern part of Lesser Poland...

 (Małopolska) region, with major events taking place in eastern counties of the Kraków Voivodeship
Kraków Voivodeship (1919-1939)
Kraków Voivodeship - a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in years 1919–1939. Back then, it covered a big chunk of southern part of the country, including such cities as Kraków, Jaworzno and Tarnów. Capital city: Kraków....

, and western counties of the Lwów Voivodeship
Lwów Voivodeship
Lwów Voivodeship was an administrative unit of interwar Poland . According to Nazis and Soviets it ceased to exist in September 1939, following German and Soviet aggression on Poland . The Polish underground administration existed till August 1944.-Population:Its capital, biggest and most...

, particularly in the Jarosław County, where the SL structures were the strongest. Peasant demonstrators blockaded roads and stopped food transports to the cities, and at first, the government tolerated the action, regarding it as legal, and convinced that the SL would not be able to expand the protest. Also, as Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski stated later, SL leadership had assured that the strike would be of peaceful character. Therefore, Skladkowski had left for a two-week vacation in France, leaving Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski
Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski
Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski was a Polish politician and economist, Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, government minister and manager of the Second Polish Republic....

 in charge. This indicated that the government, even though aware of the strike, did not plan to use force. One of peasant activists from the area of Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...

 wrote later: "In every village there was a strike committee, with deputies in case of arrests. There were self-reliance organizations, which collected food and money for those incarcerated. Also, families of arrested activists were offered help during the harvest time".

After a few days, however, this stance was changed and terror was introduced. The change was also spurred by the actions of the peasants themselves, who had become more radical. SL activists created groups of 4 - 10 mostly young men, who were armed with sticks, and watched all roads. They did not hesitate to use force against the strikebreaker
Strikebreaker
A strikebreaker is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company prior to the trade union dispute, but rather hired prior to or during the strike to keep the organisation running...

, beating them, killing their horses, destroying produce, and overturning their wagons. In some cases, radical activists attacked houses of the strikebreakers. In the course of the time, the strike turned into an uprising, which was noticed by activists of the Polish Communist Party, who appeared in the area, with their propaganda (in their appeal to the nation, the communist stated "Let the cities and villages die! Long live the nationwide strike! They will not arrest millions"). First skirmishes took place in the area of Jarosław on August 17, where members of the Peasants' Order Guard fought the police. On the same day, in Grebow near Tarnobrzeg
Tarnobrzeg
Tarnobrzeg is a city in south-eastern Poland, on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 49,419 inhabitants, as of December 31, 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship since 1999, it had previously been the capital of Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship...

, first peasant was killed. In response, the peasants blocked the main road of southern Poland, route Kraków - Lwów (in the area of Brzesko
Brzesko
Brzesko is a town in southern Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It lies approximately west of Tarnów and east of the regional capital Kraków. Since Polish administrative reorganization , Brzesko has been the administrative capital of Brzesko County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship...

), where transport of all goods was halted. Local police commandant wrote in his report: "On the roads and in their vicinity there are gangs of peasants armed with knives, sticks, perhaps guns. We are defenseless against them. Today, they have formed a march of around 500, which started from Wielka Wies. On the way, more people joined them. Economy in our area has been completely paralyzed. We are requesting help and awaiting orders". General Marian Kukiel
Marian Kukiel
Marian Włodzimierz Kukiel pseudonym: Marek Kąkol, Stach Zawierucha was a Polish general, historian, social and political activist....

 wrote to Wladyslaw Sikorski
Wladyslaw Sikorski
Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski was a Polish military and political leader.Prior to World War I, he established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause of Polish independence. He fought with distinction in the Polish Legions during World War I, and later in the...

: "The police are completely exhausted. There are losses. There are no police units in Kraków. If the communists were a significant force, they would be taking advantage of this situation".

Actions of the police were described as cruel and barbarian. Officers beat peasants, their wives and children with batons, rallies were dispersed, and during revisions in houses, furniture and goods were destroyed. The police, of whom 108 were wounded, never tried to negotiate, instead, they used not only batons, but also guns, firing at the crowds without warning. Approximately 5,000 peasants were detained, 617 arrested, and in some cases, violence on both sides lead to fatalities (44 peasant demonstrators were killed during the strike, 15 of them coming from the village of Majdan Sieniawski, in Przeworsk
Przeworsk
Przeworsk Ukrainian: Переворськ, is a town in south-eastern Poland with 15,675 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. Since 1999 it has been in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, and is the capital of Przeworsk County....

 county). Among counties
Powiat
A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as "county", although other terms are also sometimes used...

 with most people arrested, there were:
  • Jarosław County - 61 arrested,
  • Brzozów County
    Brzozów County
    Brzozów County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and only town is Brzozów, which lies ...

     - 47 arrested,
  • Rzeszów County
    Rzeszów County
    Rzeszów County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat is the city of Rzeszów, although the...

     - 16 arrested,
  • Przemyśl County
    Przemysl County
    Przemyśl County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland, on the border with Ukraine. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998...

     - 16 arrested.


About 700 farms were pacified, as the police used the doctrine of collective responsibility. The number of wounded is difficult to estimate, as in many situations, the peasants did not go to hospitals, fearing arrest. Nevertheless, despite the repressions, the peasants showed their strength, determination and organizational abilities. It must be noted that SL leaders deliberately chose not to organize the strike in the border areas of the country - Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...

, Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...

, Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...

, and the areas of Tarnopol and Wilno, as deterioration of social situation in those strategic and vulnerable provinces, inhabited by ethnic minorities, was unwanted by them. Also, since SL structures in Mazovia
Mazovia
Mazovia or Masovia is a geographical, historical and cultural region in east-central Poland. It is also a voivodeship in Poland.Its historic capital is Płock, which was the medieval residence of first Dukes of Masovia...

, Podlasie, Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...

, and northern Lesser Poland (areas of Kielce
Kielce
Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...

, Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...

, and Radom
Radom
Radom is a city in central Poland with 223,397 inhabitants . It is located on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship , having previously been the capital of Radom Voivodeship ; 100 km south of Poland's capital, Warsaw.It is home to the biennial Radom Air Show, the largest and...

) were not as strong as those in the south, the strike there was of a limited character and did not evolve into a mass protest.

Outcome

Since the mutual violence of the peasants and the police, among whom there were units of freshly created riot police, was getting out of hand, on August 20 SL leadership decided to stop the strike. The police, which at first was shocked at the magnitude of the protest, took their revenge, pacifying villages and beating participants. This in return provoked hatred of the villagers. First processes of the arrested peasants began in December 1937 in the court in Przemyśl
Przemysl
Przemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....

. Altogether, around 1000 people were sentenced to up to 5 years. Many of them stayed behind bars until September 1939, when prison guards left their posts behind, escaping the advancing German troops.

The strike failed to shift the official balance of power, as sanacja remained in control. However, it strengthened the Polish peasant movement, and was seen by the peasant activist as a successful demonstration of force. SL activists wanted to organize another strike in 1938, but due to deteriorating international situation, and growing threat of German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 aggression, it was called off. During World War II, those who took part in the 1937 strike, organized Polish Peasants' Battalions
Bataliony Chlopskie
Bataliony Chłopskie was a Polish World War II resistance movement and partisan organisation. The organisation was created in mid-1940 by the agrarian political party Stronnictwo Ludowe and by 1944 was partially integrated with the Armia Krajowa...

, and after the war, they opposed introduction of the Communist system.

External links


Further reading

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK