the Communist Workers’ Party of Poland in Relation to the Polish State (December 1918 – June 1919)

Abstract

The Communist Workers’ Party of Poland (Komunistyczna Partia Robotnicza Polski) was formed on December 16, 1918 and operated legally during the first half a year of its activity. The resurgent Polish state guaranteed its citizens an extensive range of democratic freedoms, which were also enjoyed by the communists. The main area of their activity was the Councils of Workers Delegates (CWD, Rady Delegatów Robotniczych), which they wanted to transform
into alternatives for administrative and governmental institutions. The communists wished to establish a soviet republic. For this reason, they carried out activities in the CWD and at rallies. They also organized strikes and became involved in anti-government activities. State authorities reacted vigorously by declaring a state of emergency in the area of the former Kingdom of Poland on April 1, 1919 and by making numerous arrests of communist activists for anti-state activities. However, the split of the CWD in June/July 1919 was a decisive factor that made the communists go into hiding. Nevertheless, an outright act of outlawing them was never passed. The Communist Workers’ Party of Poland and communists in general continued, although no longer on such a scale, to use existing democratic institutions for their own purposes.