Tomasz Stefan Arciszewski (; 4 November 1877 – 20 November 1955) was a Polish socialist politician, a member of 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 ...

and the 31st

Prime Minister of Poland A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only wa ...

, 3rd

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the Polish government-in-exile in London from 1944 to 1947 during which the government lost the recognition of the Western powers.

Early life

Tomasz Stefan Arciszewski was born in Sierzchowy, a tiny town halfway between

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, to Mikołaj Arciszewski, a veteran of the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

, and Helena Młynarska. After graduating from trade schools in Lubań and

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship. Radom is the fifteenth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in its province w ...

, Tomasz Arciszewski moved to Sosnowiec, an ever-growing centre of heavy industry of the region of Zagłębie. There in 1894, at the age of 17, he started working as a factory worker in a steel foundry, and first met social justice activists. In 1896 he joined the

(PPS) and soon afterwards took part in

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...

, for which he was fired.

Career

Initially active in Zagłębie, he had to flee the country and between 1898 and 1900 he lived in London and

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, where he was one of the leaders of the ''Association of Polish Socialists in Exile''. Despite being endangered with arrest by the tsarist police, Arciszewski returned to Poland in August 1900 and was arrested soon afterwards. Released in 1903, Arciszewski returned to active service in the ranks of the socialists. He became one of the PPS' members used to develop the organization and structures of illegal party in poorly developed areas of Poland. He spent some time in

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship. However, Częstochowa is historically part of Lesser Poland, not Si ...

, Piotrków and in the poorly developed region of Podlaskie. In 1904 he joined the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party, a

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

group fighting for the liberation of Poland. A close associate of

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

, Arciszewski moved to

, where he became the head of the local branch of his organization. With it, he organized a number of assassination attempts of various Russian high-ranking officials. He also took part in the famous Bezdany raid near

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 ...

(Vilnius, Lithuania), where his unit expropriated circa 200,000 roubles. In 1906 Arciszewski, along with Piłsudski, joined the newly found Polish Socialist Party - Revolutionary Faction, an organization of the Polish socialists oriented towards the independence of Poland rather than all-European workers' revolution. After the action of Bezdany he had to flee the

Privislinsky Krai Vistula Land, also known as Vistula Country (; ), was the name applied to the lands of Congress Poland from 1867, following the defeats of the November Uprising (1830–1831) and January Uprising (1863–1864) as it was increasingly stripped of ...

and settled in

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

(now Lviv, Ukraine), where he joined the Association of Active Struggle, a secret para-military organization. Shortly before the outbreak of the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he left the Revolutionary Faction and became a member of the internal opposition within the socialist movement. In August 1914 he joined the Polish Legions and served with distinction in the 1st Infantry Regiment of the 1st Brigade. Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, in 1915 he was delegated to political service in the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

'-occupied

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

, where he was among the most active organizers of the secret Polish Military Organization (POW). After the Act of 5 November and the proclamation of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

as part of the Central Powers' plan of

Mitteleuropa (), meaning Middle Europe, is one of the German terms for Central Europe. The term has acquired diverse cultural, political and historical connotations. University of Warsaw, Johnson, Lonnie (1996) ''Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends' ...

, Tomasz Arciszewski entered the city council of Warsaw. There he became the founder of trade unions and the editor of various socialist newspapers. After the collapse of Germany and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

at the end of World War I, on 7 November 1918 Arciszewski was appointed the minister of labour and social affairs in the ''Provisional Government of the Polish Republic'' led by

Ignacy Daszyński Ignacy Ewaryst Daszyński (; 26 October 1866 – 31 October 1936) was a Polish socialist politician, journalist, and very briefly Prime Minister of the Second Polish Republic's first government, formed in Lublin in 1918. In October 1892 he cofo ...

. After Daszyński's government passed its responsibilities to Piłsudski and the consolidation of power in all parts of Poland occurred, Arciszewski was appointed the minister of postal services and telegraphic communication in the government of

Jędrzej Moraczewski Jędrzej Edward Moraczewski (; 13 January 1870 – 5 August 1944) was a Polish socialist politician who, loyal to Józef Piłsudski and viewed as acceptable by both left- and right-wing Polish political factions, served as the second Prime Minis ...

. He served at that post until 16 January 1919. Soon afterwards he was elected a member of the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

. During the Polish-Bolshevik War he organized various workers' voluntary units and supported the sabotage beneath Russian lines. After the war, in 1922 he was again elected member of the Sejm from the Socialist lists and held his post until 1935. One of the most prominent leaders of the socialists (between 1919 and 1939 he was the member of the Main Council of the PPS), Arciszewski gradually broke up with his former colleague Piłsudski, who abandoned the socialist ideas after Poland regained her independence. This made him one of the prominent leaders of the Centrolew coalition of centrist and leftist parties. Apart from his seat in the Sejm, between 1919 and 1934, and then from 1938 until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Arciszewski was a member of the Warsaw's city council. Among other duties, he was also the founder of the Workers' Society of Friends of Children. After the outbreak of the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

of 1939, Arciszewski took part in the defense of Warsaw as one of the commanders of the Workers' Volunteer Battalions. After the German and Soviet take-over of Poland he went underground and, together with Kazimierz Pużak, on 16 October of the same year he proclaimed the ''Polish Socialist Party – Freedom, Equality, Independence'' (PPS-WRN), a secret war-time continuation of the pre-war PPS. He headed that party until July 1944. After that he entered the Council of National Unity (RJN), a quasi-parliament of the Polish Secret State headed by Jan Stanisław Jankowski. Shortly before the outbreak of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

, Arciszewski was evacuated from Poland through an air bridge ( Most III) on 26 July 1944. Through

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

he reached London, where he was one of the candidates for the seat of the

president of Poland The president of Poland ( ), officially the president of the Republic of Poland (), is the head of state of Poland. His or her prerogatives and duties are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president jointly exercises the executive ...

in exile. In accordance with the April Constitution of 1935, on 7 August 1944 he was named by Władysław Raczkiewicz as his successor. Critical towards the pressure of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Stanisław Mikołajczyk's attempts at compromise with

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, Arciszewski focused on trying to convince the Allied leaders (notably

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

) to help fighting Warsaw – to little avail. After Mikołajczyk's resignation, on 29 November 1944, Arciszewski became the

and at the same time he became the minister of labour and welfare in his government. He died on 20 November 1955 at aged 78, and is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

, London.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arciszewski, Tomasz 1877 births 1955 deaths People from Rawa County People from Piotrków Governorate Polish Socialist Party politicians Prime ministers of Poland Members of the Legislative Sejm of the Second Polish Republic Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1922–1927) Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1928–1930) Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1930–1935) Polish legionnaires (World War I) Polish Military Organisation members Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Rada Trzech Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party members Polish anti-communists Recipients of the Cross of Independence with Swords Burials at Brompton Cemetery People from wartime administrations in Poland (1939–1947)