Anarchism in Poland

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Anarchism in Poland first developed at the turn of the 20th century under the influence of anarchist ideas from Western Europe and from Russia.^[1]

Prior to Polish independence from the

The tsarist régime (which controlled much of Poland before 1914) acted with a high level of despotism. The authorities commonly fired on demonstrating workers. In January 1906 the authorities arrested sixteen members of the International group and shot them without trial.^[3]

Significant Polish theorists of anarchism and anarcho-syndicalism included Edward Abramowski (1868-1918), Jan Wacław Machajski (1866–1926), Augustyn Wróblewski (1866–1923) and Rafał Górski (1973–2010).

History

Anarchist movement during the partitions

The pioneers of the Polish anarchist movement were the movement of

In 1864, the Polish Republican Center was established. It was founded by Józef Hauke-Bosak, Ludwik Bulewski and Leon Zienkowicz. It was the Polish section of the Universal Republican Alliance, created by Giuseppe Mazzini.

In each of the partitions, anarchism took a slightly different shape. In the fairly liberal

Daniel Grinberg points out that the first Polish group known by name to refer to anarchism was the Polish Social-Revolutionary Society, operating in 1872 among Polish emigrants in Zürich.^[7] Influenced by Bakunin, it adopted an anarchist agenda. However, when Józef Tokarzewicz joined the organization, he created a new program, the idea of the stateless nature of the future Polish society, present in the Bakuninist version, was abandoned.

Another anarchist organization was Free Brethren. This group functioned in 1897 in Galicia, among teachers and junior high school students from Kraków. Its program, apart from anarchist ideas, also contained folk and national-democratic themes. The Free Brethren approved of individual terror.^[8]

In 1903, an anarchist group called Walka was established in Białystok on the initiative of Jewish weavers. Combat activists established contact with the circles of the Russian organization Land and Liberty and Western anarchist groups organizing the transfer of instructional materials, money and weapons. The fight practiced economic terror and agitated among the unemployed in the Białystok region. The biggest actions of the conflict were: the successful attack on the district office in Krynki, where the anarchists managed to obtain large amounts of passport forms; shooting the chief of the Białystok police; an attempt to assassinate the scab-employing factory owner Kogan in 1904.^[7]

With the outbreak of the

In 1905, a group of about 120 people called the International was active in Warsaw. This organization announced a manifesto calling for a general strike, conducted agitation among Warsaw workers, organized sabotage, set bakeries on fire and distributed bread to the poorest.^[9] In the same year, there was also the Warsaw Anarchist-Communist Group "Internacyjnyał", which carried out bomb attacks and extorted money from wealthy entrepreneurs. The "Internacyjnyał" group also carried out a lively propaganda activity.^[12] One of its appeals read:

Forward brothers, for the great struggle of which all tyrants so fear, forward for anarchist communism and social revolution! Death to tyrants and the bourgeoisie! Death to multiple owners and dictators! Down with private property and its defenders Democrats! Long live the solidarity of the class struggle of the proletariat! Long live the social revolution! Long live anarchist communism!

— Our fight is hard, but it is fruitful – the appeal of the "International" group of October 1905, [in:] Appeals and proclamations of Polish anarchist groups^[13]

The former socialist Augustyn Wróblewski was active in the Austrian Partition. He created a group in Kraków, the press body of which was the anarcho-syndicalist magazine "Sprawa Robotnicza". The Galician anarcho-syndicalist movement, however, never developed significantly.^[14]

While groups operating in Poland were often inclined towards terror, Polish thinkers associated with anarchism were rather in favor of peaceful and more constructive solutions. Apart from Machajski, who "was a rebellious Marxist rather than an anarchist in the strict sense", mention should be made of Edward Abramowski, Augustyn Wróblewski and Józef Zieliński [pl].^[15]

The anarchist movement in the Second Polish Republic

With Poland regaining independence, which was largely the work of the socialists, anarchists found themselves in a difficult situation. The joint opposition of anarchists and communists to the policy of the socialists and

Due to repression, there was also political emigration. In 1923, a group of anarchists emigrated to Paris, where they founded the Group of Polish Anarchists in France and the publishing house "Nowa Epoka", publishing anarchist authors, including Rudolf Rocker and Alexander Berkman. The published texts were then smuggled to Poland.

The

After the end of World War II, the AFP was reactivated under the name of the Federation of Polish Anarcho-syndicalists (Polish: Federacja Polskich Anarchosyndykalistów, FPAS). However, this organization disbanded in the early 1950s.^[20] In 1946, the publishing co-operative "Word" was founded in Łódź by anarchists. Due to the liquidation of the independent cooperative movement by the communist party, it ceased its activities on 1 September 1949.

Anarchism had its supporters in Poland also in the 1960s. Anarchist themes were present mainly in the artistic environment – for example in the activities of Henryk Stażewski, Akademia Ruchu, and the 8 Day Theater.

Anarchism after 1980

For authorities referring to Marxism, anarchism was not ideologically close. Repression by the government apparatus was one of the more important reasons why anarchists did not develop their activities on a political ground. The anarchist movement in Poland began to take shape on a large scale only in the 1980s, during the wave of social protests. The role of the counterculture and the punk subculture played a key role in reactivating the anarchist movement in Poland.

The group that first referred to anarchism was the Alternative Society Movement (Polish: Ruch Społeczeństwa Alternatywnego, RSA).^[b] June 1983 is considered to be its symbolic beginning. The RSA was one of many groups opposing the then authorities.

At the end of the eighties, on the initiative of the RSA, the Anarchist Inter-city was established, which over time transformed into the

In Poznań, there is the Publishing House of the Brotherhood "Trojka", which is associated with the Poznań section of FA and the Rozbrat squat. The history of the "Trojka" Society of the Brotherhood dates back to 1994, when it was established to popularize anarchist thought. Initially, Trojka published small brochures, but now it distributes its own and other publications. The publications of the Trojka include both the works of the classics of anarchism and books written by contemporary authors.^[23]

After 1980, many groups unrelated to the RSA and FA were also created. Nowadays, anarchism is also referred to by, among others, the Workers' Initiative, the Left Alternative, the "Freedom-Equality-Solidarity" Association, and the Union of Polish Syndicalists.

The group that was openly formed in opposition to the FA and RSA circles was the

Nowadays, the most radical forms of activity are referred to by the Internet portals Greece on Fire^[24] (also an informal publishing house^[25]), as well as Black Theory.^[26] In the published content, they sometimes express their support for the ideology of insurrection.^[27][28]

See also

• Communism in Poland
• Liberalism in Poland

Notes

References