• • Adam CIOLKOSZ was a Member of-the Polish Diet and secretary of the. Polith Socialist Parliamentary Party. Member of the Central Executive Committee of the P.P.S. He was one of ,the opposition leaders imprisoned by Pilsudski in the military fortress of Brest Lltovsk. , The Polish Socialist Porty (PPS) prior to the war 'fhe Polish Socialist Party (PPS) was founded in November )892 and beci.me, i\) the course of history, the undisputed Party of the Polish working classComing into being as the u1'derground Party of Russiano<icupied Poland, it closely co-operated with the Polish SocialDemocratic Party of former Austrian Poland (PPSD) and the !'olish Socialist Party (PPS) .of former• Prussian Poland. Immedfately' after ·tl~ rebirth of Poland· as an indepelldent· Re• public in °November 1918, a-11these three PaTties merged into one J:'olish Socialist Party. In ,addition, there existed in Poland Jewish, ·Ger1nan and Ukrainian Socialist Parties, with which the PPS closely co-ope~ated . . Durin"g_ the' twenty years· of Poland's independence, the PPS stood in the forefront. of the struggle against any reactionary tendencies, from whatever quarter they may have come.- In particular, it distinguished itself by the uncompromising fi_ght against the regime inaugurated by Pilsudski's coup d'etat. !n the course of this fight the PPS had to endure many serious blows, amongst which the ,imprisonment of six of its leaders in 1he military fortess of Brest Litowsk in 1930 was one of the most outstanding. An attempt to split the PPS from inside; launched by Pilsudski's followers, resulted in the creation by them of an allegedly Socialist Party~) which, however, was unable to gain any serious in.fluence within the Polish proletariat. On the other hand, it increased:-the solidity within• the PPS, -cleansed it of Pilsudski's friends and consequently made it stronger than before. With rega-1:dto Fascism and Hitlerism', tbe PPS took from the very beginning anluncompromising attitude in which there was to be no wavering or faltering. It resolutely opposed Colonel Deck's policy. • The constructive programme of the PPS with regard to in- _1,en1al_ conditiims, in pre-war Polaqd consisted in _adyoc_;itlrig f!ee and unfettered elections, based on upiversal, direct, secret, :equal and proportional suffrage- The Party had no doubts that 1the two strongest parties to emerge from such ele_ctions would be the PPS itself and the Peasant Party, and these two,· with a·working majority in Parliament, could together form a democratic Government. There was the probability of smaller parties •) "Polska Partja Socjalistyczna dawna Frakcja Rewolu- 'cyJna". 2 2 BibliotecaGino Bianco
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTExMDY2NQ==