Proletariat is the name used to refer to three Polish political parties: *The First Proletariat (''International Social Revolutionary Party "Proletariat"'' (Polish: ) (1882–1886)), also called the Great Proletariat. *The Second Proletariat (''Social Revolutionary Party "Proletariat"'' (Polish: ) (1888–1893)), also called the Small Proletariat. *The Third Proletariat (''Polish Socialist Party "Proletariat"'' (Polish: ) (1900–1909)).

First Proletariat

The First Proletariat (or Great Proletariat) was the first

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

socialist party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

as well as the first socialist party in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. It was founded in 1882 by

Ludwik Waryński Ludwik Tadeusz Waryński (24 September 1856 at Martynówka – 2 March 1889 in Shlisselburg) was an activist and theoretician of the socialist movement in Poland. Biography Waryński was born at Martynówka, Kiev Governorate (Мартинів ...

from members of Warsaw At a meeting in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

in 1883, The First Proletariat joined with parties from other cities in creating a central committee composed of Waryński, Stanisław Kunicki, Tadeusz Rechniewski, and others. Other important party activists were Edmund Płoski,

Maria Bohuszewiczówna Maria Stefania Bohuszewiczówna (1865–1887) was a Polish revolutionary and a leader of the First Proletariat party. Biography Bohuszewiczówna was born on 4 January 1865 in the village of Ceperce (near Slutsk in what is now Belarus). She moved ...

, Marian Stefan Ulrych, Aleksandra Jentysówna, and

Henryk Dulęba Henryk may refer to: * Henryk (given name) * Henryk, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, a village in south-central Poland * Henryk Glacier, an Antarctic glacier * Henryk JanikowskiSoccer Player (polish National) See also * Henryk Batuta hoax Henryk Bat ...

. In March 1884 the First Proletariat formed an alliance with the

People's Will Narodnaya Volya () was a late 19th-century revolutionary socialist political organization operating in the Russian Empire, which conducted assassinations of government officials in an attempt to overthrow the autocratic Tsarist system. The org ...

and embraced political and economic terror as a means to combat autocracy. The party supported

proletarian internationalism Proletarian internationalism, sometimes referred to as international socialism, is the perception of all proletarian revolutions as being part of a single global class struggle rather than separate localized events. It is based on the theory th ...

and opposed the Polish independence movement. In 1883-1884 several of the chief activists were arrested and the party lost much of its power.

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg ( ; ; ; born Rozalia Luksenburg; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary and Marxist theorist. She was a key figure of the socialist movements in Poland and Germany in the early 20t ...

, a prominent Polish revolutionary socialist, joined Proletariat in 1886. In July of the same year, the party was crushed as many of its remaining members were imprisoned or executed. The First Proletariat disbanded that year, but many of its traditions would be continued by the Second Proletariat.

Second Proletariat

The Second Proletariat (or Small Proletariat) was founded in 1888 by merging the remaining organisation of the First Proletarian (led by Marcin Kasprzak) and a student group led by Ludwik Kulczycki. A notable member of the Second Proletariat was

, who joined it in 1886. The Second Proletariat also embraced terror as means to combat autocracy. Representatives of the Second Proletariata participated in the founding congress of the

Second International The Second International, also called the Socialist International, was a political international of Labour movement, socialist and labour parties and Trade union, trade unions which existed from 1889 to 1916. It included representatives from mo ...

in Paris in 1889. In 1891 a faction emerged in the party which opposed the tactics of terror. In 1893 the party merged with three other parties to create the

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, 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 ...

Third Proletariat

The Third Proletariat was created in 1900 as a splinter group of the Polish Socialist Party. It was led by Ludwik Kulczycki and, beset by Tsarist repression, ceased operations in 1909.

References

* Орехов А. М. Социал-демократическое движение в России и польские революционеры. Orekhov A. Social Democratic movement in Russia and the Polish revolutionaries. 1887—1893 гг. 1887–1893 years. М., 1973 MA, 1973 * Baumgarten L. Dzieje Wielkiego Proletariatu. Baumgarten L. Dzieje Wielkiego Proletariatu. Warszawa 1966 Warszawa 1966 * Targalski J. Geneza Polskiej Partii Socjalistycznej Proletariat. Targalski J. Geneza Polskiej Partii Socjalistycznej Proletariat. «Z pola walki», 1973, No. 2—3. «Z pola walki», 1973, No. 2-3. Political parties established in 1882 Political parties established in 1888 Political parties established in 1900 1886 disestablishments 1893 disestablishments Political parties disestablished in 1909 Congress Poland History of socialism History of political parties in Poland Socialist parties in Europe Second International parties Polish revolutionary organisations {{Europe-socialist-party-stub