1917: The View from the Streets #8 - 'The only guarantee of Polish independence is international solidarity'
Maria Koszutska (1876 – 1939), theorist and leader of the PPS-Left
March 17, 2017 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal / John Riddell's Marxist Essays and Commentary website — One hundred years ago, on March 17 (4) 1917, the following appeal calling on Polish workers to support the Russian Revolution and fight for Polish independence was adopted at a rally of Polish socialist workers in Petrograd.
After the outbreak of World War One, the bulk of Poland (which had previously been ruled by the Tsarist government) came under German occupation. By 1917, roughly three million Poles – many of whom had been evacuated from Poland on the eve of the German invasion – found themselves under Tsarist rule. In response, Polish socialist parties began organizing the large groups of displaced Polish workers in industrial cities like Petrograd and Moscow. Little is known about the initiators of the following appeal. Given its simultaneous stress on class struggle, internationalism, and Polish independence, the authors were likely members of the revolutionary Marxist Polish Socialist Party-Left and/or the far left wing of the Polish Socialist Party (Revolutionary Fraction).[1] Whereas most Polish nationalists and the moderate leaders of the Polish Socialist Party (Revolutionary Fraction) had throughout the war sought to promote Polish independence through a pact with German or Austrian imperialism, the following appeal makes the case for why national liberation could only be won through the struggle and solidarity of the international working class. Selection, translation, and annotation by Eric Blanc. — To the Polish workers and soldiers in Russia Comrades Workers and Soldiers! The Russian proletariat took the lead in the fight for the overthrow of the Tsarist government and the establishment of a People's Republic in Russia. It toppled the despotic colossus, which for decades oppressed its own people and subordinated foreign nations, which headed the reaction in all of Europe by readily helping all the oppressors of Europe suppress the peoples’ liberation movements. For decades the Tsarist regime has been fought by Polish workers, who marked the road towards freedom with their warm blood and the suffering and tears of mothers, sisters and wives. You comrades, both male and female, pressed forward, always constantly forward. This path led to the Tsarist gallows, which sacrificed as victims our brothers Ossowskich, Kunickich, Kasprzaków, and Okrzejów. In your fight you were alone in the country; the propertied classes because of the nature of their interests could muster only collusion with the minions of the Tsarist government. And your only allies in the arduous work of creating a brighter tomorrow were the Russian workers, who struggled hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder with you, next to the proletarians of the other nations oppressed by the Tsarist government. Comrades! Today already we hope that our country will gain freedom and independence. Remember that we will not receive an independent Polish Republic from the governments and the bourgeoisie of Europe; remember that the oppressors of the peoples cannot be liberators; remember that the political independence of our country can be built only on the power and cooperation of the peoples; remember that the only real guarantee of the independence of the Polish people is not diplomatic acts and congress decisions, but the international solidarity of the peoples. Comrades! Today you must fulfill your proletarian duty, your class and national interests. You must fulfill your duty to the Russian democracy, you must offer all your power and strength to help the Russian proletariat lead the so-bravely begun struggle to a victorious end and thus contribute to the victory of the proletariat of all nations. Since the fall of Tsarist rule in Russia undermines the existence of all bourgeois governments, it is a harbinger of the victory of democracy internationally. Long live the Russian People's Republic! Long live the Polish People's Republic! Long live the international solidarity of the proletariat! Long live socialism! Polish socialist-workers in Petrograd March 4 [17] 1917. (Published in Archiwum Ruchu Robotniczego, Volume V, Warsaw 1977, pg. 273-74.) [1] Note on the Polish Socialist Party: In 1906, the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) split. The majority of the party sided with the left wing, which stressed mass action, the need for empirewide revolution, and an alliance with Russian workers in particular; this organization henceforth called itself the Polish Socialist Party-Left. The minority was more hesitant about this orientation towards Russian socialism, stressing instead the struggle for national independence and armed struggle; this organization became the Polish Socialist Party (Revolutionary Fraction). In 1917, the far left of the PPS (Revolutionary Fraction), unlike the rest of the party, was based out of central Russia and upheld a mostly internationalist orientation. The PPS-Left was consistently committed to internationalism and revolutionary Marxism and went on to co-found the Polish Communist party in 1918 together with Rosa Luxemburg's party. Other leaflets in the “1917: The view from the streets” series 1. “Down with the war; long live the revolution!” (December 1916, Bolshevik-influenced students) 2. “The day of people’s wrath is near!” (c. January 20, 1917, Mezhrayonka) 3. “Only a provisional government can bring freedom and peace” (February 6, 1917, Mensheviks) 4. “For a provisional revolutionary government of workers and poor peasants.” (February 15 [2]), 1917, Bolsheviks) 5. “Women’s Day in Russia 1917: A day to prepare for victory” (March 6 [February 21] 1917, Mezhrayonka) 6. “For a General Strike against Autocracy” (March 12 [February 27], 1917, Mezhrayonka) 7. “Soldiers, take power into your own hands” (March 14 [1], 1917. Mezhrayonka) A note on Russian dates The Julian calendar used by Russia in 1917 ran 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar that is in general use today. In the “View from the Streets” series, centennial dates are reckoned by the Gregorian calendar; dates are given with the Gregorian (“New Style”) date first, followed by the Julian date in parentheses.