1923 Kraków riot
1923 Kraków riot | |||
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Part of history of Kraków | |||
Date | 6 November 1923 | ||
Location | |||
Caused by | Government crackdown on striking workers | ||
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Casualties and losses | |||
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The 1923 Kraków riot was a
Some 18 to 30 workers were killed,[5][4] as well as 14 soldiers. No policemen died, but 31 were injured.[3]
Background
Poland regained independence in 1918 (see
In the fall of 1923, hundreds of strikes took place across the country.[3] At first, Polish government adopted a lenient policy towards workers' demonstrations, but after a scandal in 1922 in which a carriage with Polish president was pelted by stones by the workers while police did nothing, that policy changed.[4] In October 1923, railroads were militarized, and the striking rail workers were drafted into the army. In Kraków, where workers' strikes and demonstrations were occurring as well,[3] the local military commander, General Józef Czikiel, introduced special courts for striking rail workers. In response, on November 5, the Polish Socialist Party proclaimed a general strike.[6]
Riots in Kraków
On 5 November the government forbade any demonstrations, but the decree was disregarded by the workers of Kraków. Therefore, troops, some of them armed with machine guns, were deployed on the streets of the city and in crucial positions across the city early in the morning on November 6. A day earlier, the Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) had declared a general strike as in response to government militarization of the railways, which had been ordered to end a month-long strike of the railway workers, and other restrictions.[3][4] Workers clashed with the police, but the situation did not progress further that day.[citation needed]
Another large workers' demonstration began in the late morning of 6 November and resulted in the events described in some sources as Bloody Tuesday.
Since the situation was getting very serious, local authorities called
Upon order of General Czikiel, Colonel Becker was left in charge of the army units sent to fight the demonstrators. Becker, finding out about failure of the mounted troops, sent into action infantry regiments, which on previous night had been transported from
Around mid-day on November 6, the centre of the city was under control of the workers, with police and army units stationed around
Aftermath
By 6 November the Polish government declared that it was willing to negotiate with PPS, a ceasefire was agreed upon and the riots subsided.[3] The government agreed to reverse its decision about militarization of the railways; the unpopular voivode of Kraków Voivodeship, Kazimierz Gałecki, was replaced by Karol Olpiński; and General Józef Czikel (commander of the Kraków Military District No. V) was replaced by Lucjan Żeligowski.[3] In return, the socialists promised to end the strike and urged all workers to return to work the next day. In Kraków, the police withdrew from the streets, which were temporarily patrolled by the armed workers.[6]
The increasingly-unpopular Chjeno-Piast government would resign in December 1923, partly from its handling of the Kraków riots.[8][9][10][11] Apart from Kraków, there were in early November 1923 violent street demonstrations and clashes with police in other southern Polish cities, such as Tarnów, and Boryslaw, with a number of people wounded or killed. All killed cavalrymen were buried at Kraków's Rakowicki Cemetery, where a monument with their names was erected.[citation needed]
See also
- September Uprising (Communist unrest in Bulgaria)
References
- ^ Kraków at internet encyclopedia of interia.pl
- ^ Gazeta Bankowa, Financial history of the 20th century
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s (in Polish) Stanisław Czerpak, Walka zbrojna na ulicach Krakowa w listopadzie 1923 r.[dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h (in Polish) Andrzej Osęka, Gumowa kula demokracji. Numer: 26/2005 (1178)
- ^ a b c (in Polish) Wspomnienie o adw. Eugeniuszu Śmiarowskim (1878–1932)
- ^ a b c d e f Gazeta Wyborcza. 6.XI.1923. Na krakowskim bruku by Wlodzimierz Kalicki retrieved June 17, 2009
- ^ (in Polish) Krwawy wtorek w Krakowie, "Naprzód" nr. 257 z dn. 9 XI 1923 r., s. 2;