Historical Events of the Revolutionary World Movement

CRAKOW UPRISING 1923

100 YEARS

CRAKOW UPRISING

1923 - 2023

Poland's regaining of independence in 1918 did not change the miserable position of Polish workers and peasants. Only the language used by their exploiters changed. After the Red Army's failed attempt to liberate our country (due to deliberate mistakes by Trotsky and Tukhachevsky), the Polish proletariat had to win its freedom on its own. Since 1918, there was the Communist Workers' Party of Poland. Its members had to face not only the camp of capitalists and landowners, but also their social-fascist agents from the Polish Socialist Party.

There was also unease within the very bosom of the ruling capitalist class. Józef Piłsudski - the main founder of the Second Republic from the "left" - was sent into forced retirement, by his right-wing rivals. They, too, were not aligned with each other, and the governments they formed quickly collapsed. On May 28, 1923, the government of Wincenty Witos, composed of the Polish People's Party "Piast" and the Christian Union of

National Unity - kulaks, nationalists and religious fanatics. From the abbreviation of the names of these groupings (ChZJN PSL ,,Piast",) it was called the ,,Chjeno-Piast" government (Chjena - the word pronounced as hiena, being the Polish name for hyena).

The living conditions of the working masses under any capitalist government were inhumane. In 1921, more than 59% of rural homes had only one room; in the city, the figure was 36%. In the countryside, as many as 2 million people were without work. According to the 1921 agricultural census, 45 percent of all farmland was owned by 18,916 farms, which had more than 100 hectares. And 20 percent of the total was owned by 1964 latifundists with more than 1,000 hectares. The rest were more than 1 million farms of up to 2 hectares, which could not feed their owners. Therefore, these had to employ themselves in the manors, where children were already starting work. More than 600,000 people worked there, who often received their wages in kind. Although compulsory schooling had been in effect since 1919, according to data from the 1921 nationwide census, as many as 33.1 percent of people over the age of 10 could neither read nor write.

In Krakow of 1923, the situation of workers and the urban poor was particularly dire. There were shortages of meat, flour and coal for the winter. Prices were among the highest in the country. Even before November 6, there were protests by residents. On October 29, a general strike began. Despite several incidents, the protest action ended peacefully as early as 1 pm.

On November 3, at a joint rally, the Central Executive Committee of the Polish Socialist Party and the Central Commission of Trade Unions decided to hold a general strike on November 5.

On the night of November 5-6, a decision arrived in Krakow from Warsaw to categorically ban large gatherings in closed premises. On that very day, another rally was to be held at the Workers' House. At dawn, the building was surrounded by a tight cordon of military and police. On one side stood soldiers who had been dragged from the vicinity of Cracow, and on the other side were workers singing socialist songs. It is not clear who started shooting first. Several people were killed in the initial clashes. Wincenty Pietrzak rammed the policemen with a cart loaded with cabbage. The cordon was pelted with various objects. Most of the soldiers were disarmed very quickly; they had no combat experience and did not resist. In this way, the workers gained a large supply of weapons. Some of the soldiers began to retreat, and some opened fire on the workers. At this point, a regular battle had already begun. On both sides the dead and wounded again fell. From the Planty side came the cavalry. Its attack broke down on Dunajewskiego Street, as the horses slipped and broke their legs on the wet cobblestones. The uhlans were also disarmed. The workers took 200 soldiers and 180 policemen prisoner. A Garford-Putilov armored car "Grandfather" of the Garford-Putilov type, unsuitable for street fighting and lacking infantry support, fell into a trap on Basztowa Street. The authorities brought into action the remaining two armored cars stationed in the city.