Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania
Encyclopedia
The Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (Socjaldemokracja Królestwa Polskiego i Litwy or SDKPiL) was a Marxist political party
founded in 1893. Its original name was the "Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland" (SDKP) and it eventually became part of the Communist Workers Party of Poland. Its most famous member was Rosa Luxemburg
.
. Chief among them was Rosa Luxemburg, the leading theoretician of the movement. Also notable were Leo Jogiches
, Julian Marchlewski
, Adolf Warszawski, Felix Dzerzhinsky, Stanisław Pestkowski, Karl Sobelson
, Józef Unszlicht
, and Jakob Furstenberg. Internationalists to a fault, many of them would play leading roles in Germany as well as Russia.
Marxist program. At its core was the Union of Polish Workers which refused to back the national demands contained within the program of the Polish Socialist Party
(PPS). As a result of the differing positions on the question of Polish national independence the former Union of Polish Workers and the Second Proletariat left the PPS in 1893 establishing the SDKP, differences between the two parties deepening at the International Socialist Congress of August 1893 when the All-Polish delegation, led by Ignacy Daszyński of Galicia opposed seating Karski and Rosa Luxemburg
now making her first appearance at an international gathering. Differences were to deepen at the next International Socialist Congress in 1896 where Luxemburg was opposed by the future dictator of Poland, Józef Piłsudski, representing the PPS.
. The SDKP becoming the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania. The young party enjoyed a period of growth impelled by the organisational efforts of Dzierżyński in Warsaw
before he was arrested again.
(RSDLP) held in London at which the famous division occurred between the Menshevik
and Bolshevik
factions. The delegation from the SDKPiL was concerned chiefly with maintaining its own autonomy within the party as a whole and with the removal of recognition of the Right of Nations to Self Determination from the party’s program. This was the beginning of the long dispute between the Polish and Russian Social Democrats on this question. Only a little while later theoretical differences would also develop in regard to the Bolshevik slogan of "the Democratic Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the Peasantry" which the Polish revolutionaries rejected.
and the Russian Revolution of 1905
saw the party playing a leading role in the struggle. Strongly defeatist towards the Tsarist state the SDKPiL opposed the PPS which adopted a pro-Japanese stance. However as the tide of struggle rose the party worked ever more closely with the Bund and the left wing of the PPS. Luxemburg returned from exile and the Mass Strike was placed at the centre of the organisation's revolutionary theory. Despite this emphasis on the actions of the masses the party disposed of fighting squads which defended the workers movement from the Tsarist authorities.
By 1906 the party had 40,000 members. 70% were Polish, 25% German and 5% were Jewish.
was to be a frequent contributor to the theoretical publication of the SDKPiL the Social Democratic Review. The SDKPiL itself split, in 1911, during the downturn in class struggle of these years with the Warsaw Committee leading a breakaway from the Central Committee dominated by Jogiches.
in 1914. The Warsaw Committee of the SDKPiL called a conference of all revolutionary factions for August 2 at which both the Warsaw Committee and Central Committee were joined by the PPS Lewica (Left) and the Bund. The conference issued an unequivocal denunciation of imperialist war and called for the workers to take state power. Despite this attempts to coordinate the different parties came to nothing. But as the war continued both social democratic factions joined the Zimmerwald movement
with the Warsaw Committee becoming particularly close to the Bolsheviks. The growing clarification of right and left internationally would enable the two factions of the party to reunify at a congress held on November 4 1916, a new Central Committee was elected and the party pledged support to the Zimmerwald movement.
of 1917 saw the Provisional Government issue a manifesto, on March 30th, recognising Poland’s right to an autonomous status, while the Petrograd Soviet
recognised Poland’s right to self determination. This was vehemently disagreed with by those Polish Social Democrats working with the Bolsheviks such as Dzierżyński and Julian Leszczyński (Leński)
. The end of the war witnessed SDKPiL members spread throughout revolutionary Europe and playing leading roles everywhere they were to be found. Thus Luxemburg and Jogiches stood at the head of the newly founded Communist Party of Germany, while Dzierżyński, Radek and Hanecki all participated fully in the October Revolution and assumed positions in the Soviet government. The history of the SDKPiL drew to a close when it’s influence and that of its members had never been as widespread. The future would see it become part of the Communist Workers Party of Poland.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
founded in 1893. Its original name was the "Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland" (SDKP) and it eventually became part of the Communist Workers Party of Poland. Its most famous member was Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
.
Leading members
The leading cadre of the SDKPiL were a famous group, many of whom would play a role in the Russian RevolutionOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
. Chief among them was Rosa Luxemburg, the leading theoretician of the movement. Also notable were Leo Jogiches
Leo Jogiches
Leo Jogiches , also known by his party name of Leon Tyszka was a Marxist revolutionary active in Lithuania, Poland, and Germany....
, Julian Marchlewski
Julian Marchlewski
Julian Baltazar Marchlewski was a Polish communist. He was also known under the aliases Karski and Kujawiak....
, Adolf Warszawski, Felix Dzerzhinsky, Stanisław Pestkowski, Karl Sobelson
Karl Radek
Karl Bernhardovic Radek was a socialist active in the Polish and German movements before World War I and an international Communist leader after the Russian Revolution....
, Józef Unszlicht
Józef Unszlicht
Józef Unszlicht or Iosif Unshlikht , a Bolshevik revolutionary activist, chekist, and Soviet government official of Polish-Jewish extraction from the Masovian region....
, and Jakob Furstenberg. Internationalists to a fault, many of them would play leading roles in Germany as well as Russia.
1893: Formation
The party was founded in 1893 based on an internationalistInternationalist
Internationalist may refer to:* Internationalism , a movement to increase cooperation across national borders* Internationalist, socialists opposed to World War I* The Internationalist Review, an e-journal founded in Maastricht...
Marxist program. At its core was the Union of Polish Workers which refused to back the national demands contained within the program of the 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...
(PPS). As a result of the differing positions on the question of Polish national independence the former Union of Polish Workers and the Second Proletariat left the PPS in 1893 establishing the SDKP, differences between the two parties deepening at the International Socialist Congress of August 1893 when the All-Polish delegation, led by Ignacy Daszyński of Galicia opposed seating Karski and Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
now making her first appearance at an international gathering. Differences were to deepen at the next International Socialist Congress in 1896 where Luxemburg was opposed by the future dictator of Poland, Józef Piłsudski, representing the PPS.
1899: Merger with the Union of Workers in Lithuania
Conceived as the geographical representative party of the workers, rather than national, the SDKP was to fuse with the Union of Workers in Lithuania in 1899 as a result of the work carried out by Feliks Dzierżyński, future Bolshevik head of the ChekaCheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
. The SDKP becoming the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania. The young party enjoyed a period of growth impelled by the organisational efforts of Dzierżyński in Warsaw
Warsaw
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...
before he was arrested again.
1903:The split between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
Consistent with its self-conception as a geographic unit of an All-Russian Social Democratic party, the SDKPiL attended the 1903 Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour PartyRussian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party , also known as Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or Russian Social Democratic Party, was a revolutionary socialist Russian political party formed in 1898 in Minsk to unite the various revolutionary organizations into one party...
(RSDLP) held in London at which the famous division occurred between the Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
and Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
factions. The delegation from the SDKPiL was concerned chiefly with maintaining its own autonomy within the party as a whole and with the removal of recognition of the Right of Nations to Self Determination from the party’s program. This was the beginning of the long dispute between the Polish and Russian Social Democrats on this question. Only a little while later theoretical differences would also develop in regard to the Bolshevik slogan of "the Democratic Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the Peasantry" which the Polish revolutionaries rejected.
1905: War and Revolution
The War with JapanRusso-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
and the Russian Revolution of 1905
Russian Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies...
saw the party playing a leading role in the struggle. Strongly defeatist towards the Tsarist state the SDKPiL opposed the PPS which adopted a pro-Japanese stance. However as the tide of struggle rose the party worked ever more closely with the Bund and the left wing of the PPS. Luxemburg returned from exile and the Mass Strike was placed at the centre of the organisation's revolutionary theory. Despite this emphasis on the actions of the masses the party disposed of fighting squads which defended the workers movement from the Tsarist authorities.
By 1906 the party had 40,000 members. 70% were Polish, 25% German and 5% were Jewish.
Downturn and split
The period after the revolution was one of retreat for the left and the SDKPiL was to split into two factions as a result. Always closely connected to the RSDLP the Polish party’s problems were intricately interwoven with those of the Russian Party. Attending the Fifth Congress of the RSDLP held in London in 1907 Jogiches and Warski were elected to the united Central Committee where they assumed a position of support in respect of the Bolshevik faction. In the following years however the All-Russia party almost ceased to exist as a unified body and the SDKPiL itself distanced itself from all the Russian factions while seeking to promote unity of the various factions. This perspective ensured that Leon TrotskyLeon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
was to be a frequent contributor to the theoretical publication of the SDKPiL the Social Democratic Review. The SDKPiL itself split, in 1911, during the downturn in class struggle of these years with the Warsaw Committee leading a breakaway from the Central Committee dominated by Jogiches.
World War I: New unity in opposition to war
Despite divisions in its ranks the entire party adopted an internationalist position with the onset of World War IWar
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
in 1914. The Warsaw Committee of the SDKPiL called a conference of all revolutionary factions for August 2 at which both the Warsaw Committee and Central Committee were joined by the PPS Lewica (Left) and the Bund. The conference issued an unequivocal denunciation of imperialist war and called for the workers to take state power. Despite this attempts to coordinate the different parties came to nothing. But as the war continued both social democratic factions joined the Zimmerwald movement
Zimmerwald Conference
The Zimmerwald Conference was held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland, from September 5 through September 8, 1915. It was an international socialist conference, which saw the beginning of the end of the coalition between revolutionary socialists and reformist socialists in the Second International.-...
with the Warsaw Committee becoming particularly close to the Bolsheviks. The growing clarification of right and left internationally would enable the two factions of the party to reunify at a congress held on November 4 1916, a new Central Committee was elected and the party pledged support to the Zimmerwald movement.
End of the party
The February RevolutionFebruary Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
of 1917 saw the Provisional Government issue a manifesto, on March 30th, recognising Poland’s right to an autonomous status, while the Petrograd Soviet
Petrograd Soviet
The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies , usually called the Petrograd Soviet , was the soviet in Petrograd , Russia, established in March 1917 after the February Revolution as the representative body of the city's workers.The Petrograd Soviet became important during the Russian...
recognised Poland’s right to self determination. This was vehemently disagreed with by those Polish Social Democrats working with the Bolsheviks such as Dzierżyński and Julian Leszczyński (Leński)
Julian Leszczynski
Julian Leszczyński was leader of the Stalinist faction in the Communist Party of Poland , led the party in the 1930s, and himself fell victim to Stalin's Great Purge. He joined the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania in 1905, and was also a member of the Bolshevik Party...
. The end of the war witnessed SDKPiL members spread throughout revolutionary Europe and playing leading roles everywhere they were to be found. Thus Luxemburg and Jogiches stood at the head of the newly founded Communist Party of Germany, while Dzierżyński, Radek and Hanecki all participated fully in the October Revolution and assumed positions in the Soviet government. The history of the SDKPiL drew to a close when it’s influence and that of its members had never been as widespread. The future would see it become part of the Communist Workers Party of Poland.
See also
- Polish Socialist PartyPolish Socialist PartyThe Polish Socialist Party was one of the most important Polish left-wing political parties from its inception in 1892 until 1948...
- Rosa LuxemburgRosa LuxemburgRosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
- Russian Social Democratic Labour PartyRussian Social Democratic Labour PartyThe Russian Social Democratic Labour Party , also known as Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or Russian Social Democratic Party, was a revolutionary socialist Russian political party formed in 1898 in Minsk to unite the various revolutionary organizations into one party...