Ignacy Daszyński. Ein Sozialist, polnischer Patriot und transnationaler Akteur vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg

Abstract

The Polish-Galician Socialist Ignacy Daszynski was without doubt one of the most significant Social-Democratic politicians of Cisleithania, and later of the Polish Republic. From 1897 he was a Deputy in the Cisleithania’s Reichsrat, where he would become a most active and eloquent Parliamentarian. Through his close relationships and even friendships, with the most recognized exponents of the Second International, figures like Karl Kautsky or Viktor Adler, he played a role too in the international socialist movement and secured therein support for his national political agenda: He understood himself to be first of all a Pole, followed immediately by his identity as a Social Democrat, and he joined social and nationalist aspirations tightly. The reestablishment of a Polish state occupied for him the highest priority. Before the First World War, Daszynski succeeded in gaining the support of his international comrades for the Polish national project. Furthermore, he skillfully managed to initiate strategic friendships with significant European socialists. In this way, he was recognized and accepted quite early in socialist circles outside of the Habsburg monarchy. He broke through, as did many of his contemporaries, linguistic and other barriers and was a part of networks that spanned national borders. In the process, his foreign language abilities helped him as much as his close personal contacts. In the present article, Daszynski is viewed as one of the most linguistic ethnic, and national boundary transcending Social-Democratic actors from the time before the re-founding of the Polish state. He is appraised from perspective of contemporary transnationally influenced historiographical research. His activities within Social Democratic political forums are similarly considered for its transnational meaning. An essential impulse for this research was given by the Marcel van der Linden connected publication, Transnational Labour History, which examines the labor movement in the context of interwoven, connected processes between states and organizations, and at the same time, stresses the formation of complex socialist networks, and the processes of exchange of people and ideas.