Polish Revolution, 1905–1907

Abstract

By the turn of the twentieth century opposition to tsarist domination of Congress Poland had consolidated into two camps: the National Democrats and the Polish Socialist Party (PPS). The National Democratic Party had its roots in the Polish League, a secret society formed in 1886 to resist Russification and build a united Poland based on liberal principles. The League was reorganized in 1891 by Roman Dmowski into the National League, which rejected liberalism in favor of national autonomy through whatever means were necessary. By 1905 the League was established as the National Democratic Party. Among the various factions that formed the broad coalition of socialists represented in the other camp, many originally rejected nationalism in favor of anarchist cosmopolitanism. As the PPS was consolidated under the leadership of Bolesław Limanowski, however, many among the socialist leadership were persuaded toward support for Polish independence. Marx and Engels's anti‐tsarist views and prescription of the necessity of an independent Poland were more compelling than their economic ideas for many socialists. Initially there were strong sympathies between the two factions given the shared ideal of national independence and socialist leanings among several of the National Democratic leadership. The National Democrats ultimately represented the middle classes, however, while the PPS drew its base from among the workers. The outbreak of the Russo‐Japanese War in 1904 exacerbated these differences and the two groups worked at cross purposes during the ensuing period of revolutionary action.