Rozłam w Polskiej Partii Socjalistycznej w oświetleniu publicystów „Trybuny”
Streszczenie
"Trybuna" was a magazine founded by a group of PPS (Polish Socialist Party) activists centred
around Jozef Pilsudski in November 1906 to propagate the political programme of die faction of
“the old” that - after the split in die party - established the PPS-Frakcja Rewolucyjna (Revolutionary
Faction). Among the magazine’s columnists one could find the most important writers, i.e. those who belonged to the group centered around Piłsudski (Jodko, Sieroszewski, Filipowicz) as well as
Żeromski, Limanowski, Daniłowski, and Orkan.
Until the formal split in the party, which took place at the 9"' Congress in November 1906,
the articles in ''Trybuna” had not vigorously opposed the official party programme. Only later did
the columnists of the Revolutionary Faction start strongly opposing the tactical and ideological
principles of their former comrades.
Although the political programme of the Revolutionary Faction did not formally differ from
the PPS agenda as the struggle for influence among party members and labourers excluded the
possibility of divergence from the most important socialist demands, ''Trybuna” emphasized those
aspects of the programme which constituted the pillars of Pilsudski’s conception.
The primary target of the Revolutionary Faction - as it results from articles in “Trybuna"
- was to prepare the Polish society for an armed struggle for the independence of Poland, i.e. to
train the cadres that could lead the prospective national uprising and to overcome the psychological
barrier within the Polish society, which caused the people to be lethargic and passive towards the
partitioned.
Another distinct matter prevalent from the very beginning in articles of "Trybuna" was the
attitude of the Revolutionary Faction towards the revolutionary movement in Russia, which was
also the cause of the split in the party. The reluctance to combine the Polish struggle for
independence with a revolution in Russia is a complex issue. First of all, Piłsudski, and others
activists of his group, did not believe in a swift success of Russian socialists. Both in his
publications and those of members of his group, it is emphasized that according to them the crisis
of the czarism is temporary and the democratic concessions were simply forced by circumstances.
Thus, for Poles the events that took place in Russia could prove merely favourable, but not
decisive for the Polish independence movement.
The authors of "Trybuna” also polemicized strongly with the conception of “tri-annexation”
- an idea to win the independence of all three annexed territories as a result of a great labour
revolution, which - in turn - was to establish a federation of independent states in place of the
overthrown monarchies. The activists of the Faction considered such a program to be not only
a utopia, but also an act of high treason as it excluded the possibility of gaining independence
even in one of the annexed territories and it would result in a federation of states, which would
limit the political independence of Poland. Another matter which divided activists of PPS were the methods of revolutionary struggle
and issues related with party tactics - especially after the revolution of 1905. To put it simply,
we can find that - as far as parly tactics is concerned - the faction of “the young”, especially
since the beginning of 1905, was in favour of mass campaigns, labour protests and strike campaigns.
Whereas according to Piłsudski, the party should be concerned with stimulating the labour movement
and controlling it, so that premature demonstrations would not take place as it could weaken the
powers of the proletariat and damage the cause of the struggle for independence. In his plans,
PPS was supposed to change its focus from mass activities to terrorist-conspirational ones.
“Trybuna” was being published until September 1907. The publication was stopped becausc
of financial reasons as well as because it had fulfilled its objectives as the organ of the faction,
i.e. in its articles the first principles of an official cohesive political programme of the newly
established PPS-Frakcja Rewolucyjna (Revolutionary Faction) had been formulated.
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