The Polish Socialist Party (Polish: Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland.
It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form the Polish United Workers' Party in 1948. Józef Piłsudski, founder of the Second Polish Republic, was a member of and later led the PPS in the early 20th century.
The party was re-established in 1987, near the end of the Polish People's Republic. However, it remained on the margins of Polish politics until 2019, when it won a seat in the Senate of Poland.
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History
The Polish Socialist Party (PPS) was founded in Paris in 1892, during the period known as the Great Emigration. In 1893, a faction called the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL) split from the PPS. The PPS focused more on nationalism and Polish independence, while the SDKPiL adopted a far-left (Marxist), internationalist stance. In November 1892, key members of the PPS developed a political program that, for its time, was notably progressive. The program called for an independent Republic of Poland founded on democratic principles, direct universal voting rights, equal rights for all citizens regardless of religion or gender, freedom of the press, speech, and assembly, progressive taxation, an eight-hour workday, a minimum wage, equal pay for men and women, a ban on child labor (under age 14), free education, and social support for workers injured on the job.
After the Revolution of 1905 in the Russian Empire, the party membership drastically increased from several hundred active members to a mass movement of about 60,000 members. Another split in the party occurred in 1906, with the Revolutionary Faction following Józef Piłsudski, who supported the nationalist and independence ideals, and the Left faction which allied itself with the SDKPiL. However, the Revolutionary Faction became dominant and renamed itself back again to the PPS, while the Left was eclipsed, and in 1918 merged with SDKPiL, forming the Communist Party of Poland. In 1917-1918, the party participated in the Central Council of Ukraine and the Government of Ukraine.
During the Second Polish Republic, the PPS at first supported Józef Piłsudski (himself a former Socialist), including his May Coup, but later moved into the opposition to his authoritarian Sanacja regime by joining the democratic "centrolew" (center-left) opposition movement. Many PPS leaders and members were put on trial by Piłsudski's regime and jailed in the infamous Bereza Kartuska prison.
The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1940.
The party supported the Polish resistance during World War II as the underground Polish Socialist Party – Freedom, Equality, Independence (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna – Wolność, Równość, Niepodległość). In 1948, it suffered a fatal split, as the Communists applied the salami tactics to dismember any opposition. One faction, which included Edward Osóbka-Morawski, wanted to join forces with the Polish Peasant Party and form a united front against the Communists. Another faction, led by Józef Cyrankiewicz, argued that the Socialists should support the Communists in carrying through a socialist program while opposing the imposition of one-party rule. Pre-war political hostilities continued to influence events, and Stanisław Mikołajczyk, leader of the Peasant Party, would not agree to form a united front with the Socialists. The Communists played on these divisions by dismissing Osóbka-Morawski and making Cyrankiewicz the Prime Minister.
Refoundation and present
A new party sharing the same name, aiming to continue the legacy of the original PPS, was founded in 1987 by left-wing opposition figures like Jan Józef Lipski. However, the modern PPS has remained a marginal force in the political landscape of the Third Republic of Poland, holding representation in the Sejm only from 1993 to 2001, due to the lingering stigma of communism associated with Soviet occupation. In the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, the PPS experienced a resurgence with its leader Wojciech Konieczny being elected to the Senate of Poland as part of The Left. Subsequently, other members of both the Sejm and Senate joined the PPS, which now has two deputies and two senators.
Its main propaganda outlet was the Robotnik ('The Worker') newspaper. The current party published the Nowy Robotnik ("The New Worker"), a continuation of the original publication, from 2003 to 2006.
On 16 November 2020, the party founded its first foreign branch in the United Kingdom, in the city of Coventry, home to a British Polish population founded by Polish Army Exiles.
On 25 June 2022, factions of the party formed an alliance with Social Democracy of Poland, Freedom and Equality, Labour Union and Polish Left to compete in the next Polish parliamentary election. The alliance also included the Feminist Initiative, the Democratic Left Association (SLD), and the Working People's Movement. In February 2023, after an internal conflict, PPS, together with the Labour Union, re-joined The Left.
Ideology
Historically, the party advocated for a blend of socialism and nationalism, and was generally considered to be a left-wing or a centre-left party on the political spectrum. The party opposed Bolshevism and aligned more with the Mensheviks. In recent years, the party has identified as a democratic socialist movement, with its parliamentary leader Wojciech Konieczny describing it as a leftist party with a strong emphasis on democracy. As a modern party, it distanced itself from anti-clericalism, declaring that it does not wish to wage "war against God", accepting the concordat between Poland and the Vatican, along with the position of the Catholic Church in Polish society. It is in favour of EU integration.
Election results
Notable people who were members or were associated with PPS
Presidents and heads of state
Józef Piłsudski (former member at time in office)
Stanisław Wojciechowski (former member)
Ignacy Mościcki (former member)
Stanisław Ostrowski
Franciszek Trąbalski
Prime ministers
Ignacy Daszyński
Jędrzej Moraczewski
Janusz Jędrzejewicz (former member)
Walery Sławek (former member)
Edward Osóbka-Morawski (later became a communist)
Józef Cyrankiewicz (later became a communist)
Tomasz Arciszewski
Tadeusz Tomaszewski
Antoni Pająk
Alfred Urbański
Other figures
Norbert Barlicki
Józef Biniszkiewicz
Adam Ciołkosz
Lidia Ciołkosz
Jerzy Czeszejko-Sochacki (later became a communist)
Piotr Ikonowicz
Wojciech Konieczny
Jan Kwapiński
Herman Lieberman
Jan Józef Lipski
Bolesław Limanowski
Stanisław Mendelson
Stanisław Dubois
Jan Mulak
Mieczysław Niedziałkowski
Antoni Pajdak
Feliks Perl
Zofia Praussowa
Kazimierz Pużak
Kazimierz Sosnkowski
Czesław Świrski
Jan Stańczyk
Leon Wasilewski
Aleksandra Zagórska
Iza Zielińska