The Role of the Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee, the “Polish Bureau” of the CK RCP(b), in the Planned Sovietization of Poland in 1920

Abstract

The planned Sovietization of Poland was supposed to be executed by a Polish office of the Central Committee (CC) of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) [CK RCP(b)] created on 19 July 1920 in Moscow. According to the decision of the Political Office of the CC of the RCP(b) from the 23th of July, the “Polish Bureau” was named the Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee (Tymczasowy Komitet Rewolucyjny Polski, PPRC). The PPRC, which operated from its headquarters in Białystok, considered itself a temporary revolutionary authority in Poland. It issued decrees to the effect of nationalizing industrial enterprises, banks and landed estates. The PPRC refused to divide the land among peasants however, and the authority of its local revolutionary committees remained insignificant among the Polish population. In addition, the attempt to assemble a Polish Red Army was not successful. Nor was the PPRC able to establish contact with leaders of the Communist Workers’ Party of Poland (Komunistyczna Partia Robotnicza Polski) or with the Tarnopol-based Galician Revolutionary Committee (Galrewkom). Both the PPRC and Galrewkom retreated along with the Red Army and ceased their activities.