Draft:Socialist Action
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Socialist Action | |
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Akcja Socjalistyczna | |
![]() The Three Arrows symbol used by Socialist Action | |
Also known as | Red Front (Polish: Czerwony Front) |
Leader |
|
Foundation | February 8, 1934 |
Dates of operation | May 1934 | –September 1939
Dissolved | September 1939 |
Merged into | The Okrzeja-Odra and Baron-Berlin battalions under the command of the Second Department of Polish General Staff |
Country | Poland |
Allegiance | Labour and Socialist International |
Motives | Self defence |
Headquarters | Warsaw, Poland |
Ideology | Social democracy |
Political position | Anti-fascism |
Status | Disbanded |
Size | 11,500 (1939) |
Part of | Polish Socialist Party |
Opponents | National Radical Camp |
Part of a series on |
Anti-fascism |
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Socialist Action (Polish: Akcja Socjalistyczna) was an anti-fascist organisation during the Second Polish Republic which acted as the paramilitary wing of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS). The symbol of Socialist Action was the Three Arrows which was originally used by the Iron Front, a similar social democratic organisation operating in the Weimar Republic.
Background
The PPS had a tradition of organised militancy going back to workers' self-defense units that were first formed in 1904. These later evolved into Józef Piłsudski's guerilla organisation OBPPS,[1] which became notorious for a string of heists including the Rogów raid, the Bezdany raid, and a raid near Sławków led by Tomasz Arciszewski.[2] PPS members were active within the Riflemen's Association, and at the beginning of WWI made up the membership of the Polish Military Organisation. However as the PPS began to distance itself from Piłsudski, new militias were formed from 1917, which fought to shape and defend the newly independent Poland.[3]
During the 1920s, violent attacks by the All-Polish Youth on political opponents became increasingly common, leading to the formation of an anti-nationalist self-defence militia by the Alliance of Democrats. Following the establishment of the National Radical Camp (ONR) political violence, often of an antisemitic nature, increased significantly.[4]
Bit about anti-nazi actions by working class sports clubs.[5]
Formation
According to the historian Ludwik Hass the official establishment of Socialist Action took place on the initiative of Kazimierz Pużak at a secret meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the PPS on 8 February 1934. The decision was made in response to the brutal suppression of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) during the Austrian Civil War.
However, the decision was not put into action until an attempt by the (ONR) to encroach on the working class stronghold of so-called ‘Red Wola’ in Warsaw. In May the ONR opened a new headquarters at 44 Wolska Street, provoking local socialists into ransacking the premises. The ONR then responded by firing on a PPS meeting, leading to recriminations and a demonstration in Śródmieście which was violently dispersed by the police. A group named the Red Arrows (Czerwone Strzały) was then formed by the PPS activists Stanisław Dubois and Edward Bugajski, albeit independent of the party’s leadership. The SPÖ's own paramilitary, the Republikanischer Schutzbund, served as a model for the new organisation, with recruits being drawn from the PPS aligned Organizacja Młodzieży Towarzystwa Uniwersytetu Robotniczego, local workers sports clubs, and even members of the Communist Party of Poland (KPP). The spontaneous organisation of the Red Arrows finally forced the hand of the PPS leadership into organising a permanent uniformed paramilitary under their own aegis.[6]
Structure
The membership of this new organisation was drawn from the Red Arrows, etc[7]
Drawn from which areas? Eg Pomerania and Kociewian town of Świecie
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Akcja_Socjalistyczna%2C_Gdynia_przed_1939.jpg/220px-Akcja_Socjalistyczna%2C_Gdynia_przed_1939.jpg)
The PPS ran training camps for Socilaist Action’s militants, the first of which was held in the village of Grzegorzewice with additional lectures given by Adam Próchnik and Zygmunt Zaremba for the attendees.[8]
Actions
Unlike their counterparts in the Iron Front and the Republikanischer Schutzbund, Socialist Action did not have any major confrontations with the communists as the KPP lacked a strong paramilitary street presence in Poland. Add something about longstanding animosity between PPS and KPP.[9] The majority of street confrontations were with the ONR.
One of the main principles of Socialist Action was opposition to antisemitism. In 1936 the ONR declared that they would enforce a ‘Jew free day’ on Ujazdów Avenue, one of Warsaw’s main thoroughfares. Together with members of the boxing section of the worker’s sports club Skra Warsaw, militants of Socialist Action physically confronted the proposed event.[10]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/%C5%BB%C4%85damy_urz%C4%99dowego_getta_Ob%C3%B3z_Narodowo-Radykalny_Politechnika_Lwowska.jpg/220px-%C5%BB%C4%85damy_urz%C4%99dowego_getta_Ob%C3%B3z_Narodowo-Radykalny_Politechnika_Lwowska.jpg)
Warsaw actions.[11]
Dissolution
Since the mid–1930s Arciszewski, Pużak, Edmund Chodyński, and Józef Dzięgielewski had prepared for Socialist Action to go underground, a plan which was adapted following the invasion of Poland. In September 1939 the PPS leadership officially dissolved the party and militants from Socialist Action were recruited to new units intended to launch attacks behind enemy lines. The Okrzeja-Odra battalion operated in Silesia and the Dąbrowa Basin, whilst the Baron-Berlin battalion was based in Łódź.[12]
References
- ^ Tomasiewicz, Jarosław (Summer–Autumn 2017). "O wolność. Polskie socjalistyczne formacje zbrojne 1917–1920". Nowy Obywatel (in Polish) (75). ISSN 2082-7644.
- ^ "Nie tylko akcja pod Bezdanami, czyli jak PPS i Piłsudski napadali na pociągi". historia.dorzeczy.pl (in Polish). 8 November 2022.
- ^ Tomasiewicz, Jarosław (Summer–Autumn 2017). "O wolność. Polskie socjalistyczne formacje zbrojne 1917–1920". Nowy Obywatel (in Polish) (75). ISSN 2082-7644.
- ^ Blerski, Eryk (19 June 2013). "Sport w Polskim Ruchu Antyfaszystowskim Przed 1939 R. Część II". rozbrat.org (in Polish).
- ^ Blerski, Eryk (6 June 2013). "Sport w Polskim Ruchu Antyfaszystowskim Przed 1939 R. Część I". Rozbrat (in Polish).
- ^ Grudka, Piotr; Tomasiewicz, Jarosław (Spring 2018). "Trzy strzały. Paramilitarne struktury PPS w latach 1934-1939". Nowy Obywatel (in Polish) (77). ISSN 2082-7644.
- ^ Grudka, Piotr; Tomasiewicz, Jarosław (Spring 2018). "Trzy strzały. Paramilitarne struktury PPS w latach 1934-1939". Nowy Obywatel (in Polish) (77). ISSN 2082-7644.
- ^ Sankowski, Stanisław (1981). Grudka, Piotr (ed.). "Wspomnienie o Akcji Socjalistycznej". lewicowo.pl (in Polish).
- ^ Sacewicz, Karol (22 March 2020). "Antykomunizm socjalistów…". przystanekhistoria.pl.
- ^ Blerski, Eryk (19 June 2013). "Sport w Polskim Ruchu Antyfaszystowskim Przed 1939 R. Część II". rozbrat.org (in Polish).
- ^ Sankowski, Stanisław (1981). Grudka, Piotr (ed.). "Wspomnienie o Akcji Socjalistycznej". lewicowo.pl (in Polish).
- ^ Żuczkowski, Maciej (9 September 2019). "Socjaliści polscy w „wojnie o całe jutro świata"". przystanekhistoria.pl (in Polish).