Polish Social-Revolutionary Society
The Polish Social-Revolutionary Society was the first Polish anarchist organization, founded in 1872 in Zurich by Polish emigrants.
Towarzystwo Polskie Socjalno-Rewolucyjne | |
| Formation | May 20, 1872 |
|---|---|
| Founded at | Zurich |
| Dissolved | August 14, 1872 |
| Purpose | Anarchism, national liberation, revolutionary socialism |
| Affiliations | IWA |
Formerly called | Polish Social-Democratic Society |
History
The Polish Social-Revolutionary Society was founded as the Polish Social-Democratic Society, established on May 20, 1872 in Zurich. It was founded by Poles taking part in the Paris Commune, who had to leave France after its collapse. It included migrant workers and a group of Russians. The name and program were changed under the influence of Mikhail Bakunin (the term "revolutionary socialism" was Bakunin's synonym for anarchism as opposed to Marxist social democracy). In early June 1872, Bakunin wrote the Society's program, which appeared in the form of a pamphlet and in the Jura Federation bulletin (with an annotation saying that this group of Polish workers was a section of the First International).
The organization intended to publish the "Gmina" magazine, and then the "Wolność" magazine, but the society broke up after just a few months. It turned out that one of its members, going by the name of Adolf Stempkowski, was a tsarist spy and was involved in the arrest of the Russian revolutionary Sergey Nechayev on August 14. Added to this were internal disputes regarding the issue of Polish independence.
After the disintegration of the group, other Polish anarchist organizations did not start to emerge in Poland until the beginning of the 20th century.
Program
The program spoke of a social revolution aimed at workers' control the means of production and replacing the state and capitalism with a system based on workers' associations and independent communes. The program, recognizing the "right to independence and national development", proclaimed the slogan "Long live a free, socialist and democratic Poland!" It also emphasized that "Poland exists only where the people recognize and want to be Polish, and it ends where this people, not wanting to belong to the Polish union, joins a free union of another nationality."[1]
References
Bibliography
- Tych, Feliks (1975). Polskie programy socjalistyczne 1878-1918 (in Polish). Książka i Wiedza. pp. 555–558.
- Bakunin, Mikhail; Tokarzewicz, Józef (1872). "Programy Towarzystwa Polskiego Socjalno-Demokratycznego w Zurychu" (in Polish).