Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party
Encyclopedia
The Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party , also translated as Fighting Organization of the Polish Socialist Party; also known as bojówki (paramilitary units
); Organizacja Spiskowo-Bojowa PPS (PPS Underground-Combat Organization); Koła Bojowe Samoobrony Robotniczej (Workers' Self-Defense Combat Circles) and Koła Techniczno-Bojowe (Combat-Technical Circles), was an illegal Polish guerrilla organization founded in 1904 by Józef Piłsudski.
Its operations reached their zenith about 1904-1908, when it numbered over 2,000 members, including over 700 paramilitary personnel, and carried out over 2,500 operations. According to Leon Wasilewski
, the organization had over 5,000 members at the height of its power. Afterwards it declined and was dissolved in 1911. Its goal was to create an armed resistance movement
against the Imperial Russian authorities in partitioned Poland
.
). On October 28, 1904, Russian Cossack
cavalry trampled the participants in one of the demonstrations; in revenge, on November 13 the 'Bojówki' opened fire on the Russian police and military during a new demonstration. First concentrating on fighting the spies and informants, in March 1905 'Bojówki' started using bomb
s to assassinate selected members of Russian police, both regular and secret (Okhrana) responsible for repression
of Poles
in the partitioned Poland
. 'Bojówki' also assaulted Russian transports of money leaving the Polish territories. Among the most famous of these was the raid at Bezdany
near Vilna in 1908, led by Piłsudski himself. The loot from that single raid (200,812 ruble
s–or approximately $100,000) was a virtual fortune in contemporary Eastern Europe and equaled the amount 'Bojówki' had looted in the two previous years.
In 1906 alone, the 800-strong Bojówki, operating in five-man units in Congress Poland
, killed 336 Russian officials; the number of casualties declined in the coming years; while the number of its members increased (to around 2,000 in 1908) but started declining significantly after 1908; in 1910 it numbered only 77 members.
Organizacja Bojowa as a military arm of the PPS was viewed disfavourably by the other Polish political force, the right-wing endecja
. During the "June Days", as the Łódź uprising in 1905 came to be known in Poland, armed clashes broke out between gunmen loyal to Piłsudski's PPS and those loyal to Roman Dmowski
's National Democratic Party (Endeks). It was also not unanimously supported by all members of the PPS; in November 1906, a faction of the party split off in protest of Piłsudski's leadership. The Piłsudski's faction was known as Old Faction or the Revolution Faction (Starzy, Frakcja Rewolucyjna), while their opponents were known as the Young Faction, Moderate Faction or the Left Wing (Młodzi, Frakcja Umiarkowana, Lewica). The Youngs sympathized with the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania
and believed that the priority should be cooperation with Russian revolutionaries in toppling the tsardom and creating a socialist utopia
first, and negotiation for independence would be easier later. Piłsudski with his supporters from the revolutionary faction of the PPS, continued to plan a revolution against tsarist Russia However since then Organizacja Bojowa (temporarily known as Organizacja Bojowa PPS - Frakcja Rewolucyjna) - and Piłsudski - acted increasingly independent from the PPS, whose revolutionary faction would try to organize a more controlled organization called 'Milicja Robotnicza'. Nonetheless the Young faction would soon disappear and Piłsudski's faction would again take the leading role within the PPS.
Piłsudski anticipated a coming European war and the need to organize the officers of a future Polish army that could help win Poland's independence from the three empires that had partitioned her out of political existence in the late 18th century
. One of the main goals of Organizacja Bojowa, other than providing funds for continuing activity and demonstrating the strength of Poland's underground, was to prepare a future cadre for the Polish Army. In 1906, Piłsudski, with the connivance and support of the Austrian authorities, founded a military school in Kraków
for the training of Bojówki.
In 1908, Piłsudski transformed the "Combat Teams" to "Związek Walki Czynnej
" (Association for Active Struggle), headed by three of his associates, Władysław Sikorski, Marian Kukiel
, and Kazimierz Sosnkowski
. Compared to Organizacja Bojowa, ZWC was much less political and much more military, but was not the last paramilitary organization created by Piłsudski, who would go on to create the Związek Strzelecki
and the Polish Military Organization before his final goal, Polish independence, was achieved in 1918.
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
); Organizacja Spiskowo-Bojowa PPS (PPS Underground-Combat Organization); Koła Bojowe Samoobrony Robotniczej (Workers' Self-Defense Combat Circles) and Koła Techniczno-Bojowe (Combat-Technical Circles), was an illegal Polish guerrilla organization founded in 1904 by Józef Piłsudski.
Its operations reached their zenith about 1904-1908, when it numbered over 2,000 members, including over 700 paramilitary personnel, and carried out over 2,500 operations. According to Leon Wasilewski
Leon Wasilewski
Leon Wasilewski was an activist of the Polish Socialist Party , a coworker of Józef Piłsudski, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, designer of much of Second Polish Republic policy towards the East, historian and father of Wanda Wasilewska....
, the organization had over 5,000 members at the height of its power. Afterwards it declined and was dissolved in 1911. Its goal was to create an armed resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
against the Imperial Russian authorities in partitioned Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
.
History
The first action of the Organizacja Bojowa took place soon after the PPS started to organize an increasing number of demonstrations (mostly in WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
). On October 28, 1904, Russian Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
cavalry trampled the participants in one of the demonstrations; in revenge, on November 13 the 'Bojówki' opened fire on the Russian police and military during a new demonstration. First concentrating on fighting the spies and informants, in March 1905 'Bojówki' started using bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
s to assassinate selected members of Russian police, both regular and secret (Okhrana) responsible for repression
Political repression
Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take political life of society....
of Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
in the partitioned Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
. 'Bojówki' also assaulted Russian transports of money leaving the Polish territories. Among the most famous of these was the raid at Bezdany
Bezdany raid
Bezdany raid was a train robbery carried out on the night of 26/27 September 1908 in the vicinity of Bezdany near Vilna on a Russian Empire passenger and mail train by a group of Polish revolutionaries, led by future Polish national hero and dictator, Józef Piłsudski.- Background :Piłsudski...
near Vilna in 1908, led by Piłsudski himself. The loot from that single raid (200,812 ruble
Russian ruble
The ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union prior to their breakups. Belarus and Transnistria also use currencies with...
s–or approximately $100,000) was a virtual fortune in contemporary Eastern Europe and equaled the amount 'Bojówki' had looted in the two previous years.
In 1906 alone, the 800-strong Bojówki, operating in five-man units in Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
, killed 336 Russian officials; the number of casualties declined in the coming years; while the number of its members increased (to around 2,000 in 1908) but started declining significantly after 1908; in 1910 it numbered only 77 members.
Organizacja Bojowa as a military arm of the PPS was viewed disfavourably by the other Polish political force, the right-wing endecja
Endecja
National Democracy was a Polish right-wing nationalist political movement active from the latter 19th century to the end of the Second Polish Republic in 1939. A founder and principal ideologue was Roman Dmowski...
. During the "June Days", as the Łódź uprising in 1905 came to be known in Poland, armed clashes broke out between gunmen loyal to Piłsudski's PPS and those loyal to Roman Dmowski
Roman Dmowski
Roman Stanisław Dmowski was a Polish politician, statesman, and chief ideologue and co-founder of the National Democracy political movement, which was one of the strongest political camps of interwar Poland.Though a controversial personality throughout his life, Dmowski was instrumental in...
's National Democratic Party (Endeks). It was also not unanimously supported by all members of the PPS; in November 1906, a faction of the party split off in protest of Piłsudski's leadership. The Piłsudski's faction was known as Old Faction or the Revolution Faction (Starzy, Frakcja Rewolucyjna), while their opponents were known as the Young Faction, Moderate Faction or the Left Wing (Młodzi, Frakcja Umiarkowana, Lewica). The Youngs sympathized with the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania
Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania
The Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania was a Marxist political party founded in 1893. Its original name was the "Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland" and it eventually became part of the Communist Workers Party of Poland...
and believed that the priority should be cooperation with Russian revolutionaries in toppling the tsardom and creating a socialist utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
first, and negotiation for independence would be easier later. Piłsudski with his supporters from the revolutionary faction of the PPS, continued to plan a revolution against tsarist Russia However since then Organizacja Bojowa (temporarily known as Organizacja Bojowa PPS - Frakcja Rewolucyjna) - and Piłsudski - acted increasingly independent from the PPS, whose revolutionary faction would try to organize a more controlled organization called 'Milicja Robotnicza'. Nonetheless the Young faction would soon disappear and Piłsudski's faction would again take the leading role within the PPS.
Piłsudski anticipated a coming European war and the need to organize the officers of a future Polish army that could help win Poland's independence from the three empires that had partitioned her out of political existence in the late 18th century
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
. One of the main goals of Organizacja Bojowa, other than providing funds for continuing activity and demonstrating the strength of Poland's underground, was to prepare a future cadre for the Polish Army. In 1906, Piłsudski, with the connivance and support of the Austrian authorities, founded a military school in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
for the training of Bojówki.
In 1908, Piłsudski transformed the "Combat Teams" to "Związek Walki Czynnej
Zwiazek Walki Czynnej
Związek Walki Czynnej was a Polish secret military organization founded in 1908 by Józef Piłsudski, Marian Kukiel, Kazimierz Sosnkowski and Władysław Sikorski, all members of the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party's Revolutionary...
" (Association for Active Struggle), headed by three of his associates, Władysław Sikorski, Marian Kukiel
Marian Kukiel
Marian Włodzimierz Kukiel pseudonym: Marek Kąkol, Stach Zawierucha was a Polish general, historian, social and political activist....
, and Kazimierz Sosnkowski
Kazimierz Sosnkowski
Kazimierz Sosnkowski was a Polish independence fighter, politician and Polish Army general.-Life:Sosnkowski served successively as founder and first commander of Związek Walki Czynnej , chief of staff of the 1st Brigade of the Polish Legions, Polish minister of military affairs, vice-president of...
. Compared to Organizacja Bojowa, ZWC was much less political and much more military, but was not the last paramilitary organization created by Piłsudski, who would go on to create the Związek Strzelecki
Zwiazek Strzelecki
Związek Strzelecki "Strzelec" was a Polish paramilitary cultural and educational organization created in 1910 in Lwów as a legal front of Związek Walki Czynnej, and revived in Poland in 1991....
and the Polish Military Organization before his final goal, Polish independence, was achieved in 1918.
Prominent members
- Józef Piłsudski
- Walery Sławek
- Kazimierz SosnkowskiKazimierz SosnkowskiKazimierz Sosnkowski was a Polish independence fighter, politician and Polish Army general.-Life:Sosnkowski served successively as founder and first commander of Związek Walki Czynnej , chief of staff of the 1st Brigade of the Polish Legions, Polish minister of military affairs, vice-president of...
- Tomasz ArciszewskiTomasz ArciszewskiTomasz Arciszewski was a Polish socialist politician, a member of the Polish Socialist Party and the Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile in London from 1944 to 1947, presiding over the period when the government lost the recognition of the Western powers.-Early life:Tomasz Arciszewski...
- Stefan Okrzeja
- Józef Montwiłł-Mirecki
- Jan KwapińskiJan KwapinskiJan Kwapiński , born Piotr Chałupka was a Polish independence activist, politician and statesman. Member of Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party, imprisoned by Russian Empire authorities in Warsaw Citadel...
- Medard Downarowicz
Notable operations
- Armed resistance to a Russian attempt to disperse a WarsawWarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
demonstrationDemonstration (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...
, 13 November 1904. - Participation in the June Days revolution, Łódź, 22–24 June 1905.
- Bloody Wednesday (15 August 1906) — assassinationAssassinationTo carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
s of 80 Russian officials, mostly police officers, responsible for brutal repressionRepressionRepression may refer to:* Memory inhibition, the ability to filter irrelevant memories from attempts to recall* Political repression, the oppression or persecution of an individual or group for political reasons* Social repression...
s in Poland. - Failed assassinationAssassinationTo carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
attempt against the Governor-GeneralGovernor-GeneralA Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
of WarsawWarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Georgi SkalonGeorgi SkalonGeorgi Skalon was a Russian Empire Governor-general of Warsaw and the chief commander of Warsaw Military District from 1905-1914....
, 18 August 1906. - Rogów raid — major train robberyTrain robberyTrain robbery is a type of robbery, in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables being carried aboard trains.-History:Train robberies were more common in the past than today, and often occurred in the American Old West. Trains carrying payroll shipments were a major target...
, 8 November 1908. - Bezdany raidBezdany raidBezdany raid was a train robbery carried out on the night of 26/27 September 1908 in the vicinity of Bezdany near Vilna on a Russian Empire passenger and mail train by a group of Polish revolutionaries, led by future Polish national hero and dictator, Józef Piłsudski.- Background :Piłsudski...
— legendary train robberyTrain robberyTrain robbery is a type of robbery, in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables being carried aboard trains.-History:Train robberies were more common in the past than today, and often occurred in the American Old West. Trains carrying payroll shipments were a major target...
, 26 September 1908.
External links
Entries in Polish encyclopedias: Encyklopedia PWN: http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3951671, Encyklopedia WIEM: http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/43402,,,,organizacja_bojowa_polskiej_partii_socjalistycznej,haslo.html, Encyklopedia Interia: http://encyklopedia.interia.pl/haslo?hid=92311Further reading
- Aviel RoshwaldAviel RoshwaldAviel Roshwald is an American historian and Professor of history at Georgetown University.He received is B.A from the University of Minnesota in 1980, and his PhD from Harvard University in 1987....
, Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, the Middle East and Russia, Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0-415-17893-2, Google Print - Philip Henry Kozlowski, The Organizacja Bojowa as a factor in the split of the Polish Social Party, Roosevelt University, Chicago, 1970.