Few people impacted Polish politics in the early 20th century, such as Ignacy Daszyński. He was a socialist politician, journalist, and briefly Prime Minister of the Second Polish Republic’s first government.

He was one of the founders of the Polish Social Democratic Party (PPSD), which later became the Polish Socialist Party (PPS). He advocated for the independence and reunification of all Polish territories lost in the Partitions of Poland. 

Daszyński himself originated from Galicia and served as MP in the Austrian Parliament until the end of WWI and Poland’s regained independence. His close collaboration with future Marshal Józef Piłsudksi, among many other factors, made him one of the most prominent figures in Poland’s political scene. 

From his earliest years, he vigorously opposed the tsarist rule of Moscow in the late 19th century, which he referred to in 1888 as “an uncompromising and cruel oppressor of the vast majority of our nation.”

When the Bolsheviks took power in Russia, his bitterness was only made worse towards Poland’s eastern neighbour, despite his left-wing convictions. “In Bolshevik Russia, the dictatorship of the proletariat is […] a government of violence […] by minorities over the majority. The ruling minority is not even half a percent of the population and is held in power by such cruel and bloody violence that no other civilised society could bear such savage tyranny,” – he commented in 1927. 

In the aftermath of the Great War, Daszyński co-founded the Polish National Committee and served as head of the Provisional People’s Government of the Republic of Poland formed in Lublin. Shortly after, he was elected to the Polish Sejm, remaining until the 1930s. 

It’s an exciting fact that Ignacy Daszyński was well-respected by representatives of the whole political spectrum. Although he was a Socialist, he always put the interests of his homeland first. It can be said he championed both patriotism and socialism in a balanced combination.

While Soviet Russia’s offensive on Poland peaked in the summer of 1920, he turned Deputy Prime Minister in a Government of National Unity led by Wincenty Witos.

Daszyński was a well-articulated and wise man. He had the ability to argue vehemently as well as to find compromises with his opponents. He remained on the side of Józef Piłsudski until the latter’s coup in 1926 but changed sides shortly after. In the late 1920s, he served as Marshal of the Sejm. His relationship with Poland’s leader deteriorated, yet he continued his dedicated work for the common good. 

He died on 31 October 1936. Many thousands attended his funeral in Kraków. 

Image: IPN

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen