Polish Revolutionary Formations in the Red Army Structures.Pdf
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Review DR HAB. DANIEL GRINBERG – prof. UwB Editor Ewa Frymus-Dąbrowska Translated by Anna Drabarz Translation and edition co-financed by Faculty of History and Sociology & Institute of History and Political Sciences of University of Bialystok © Copyright by Adam Miodowski, Białystok 2017 Adam Miodowski – ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2623-955X ISBN 978 83 87881 49 8 Publisher Wydawnictwo PRYMAT, Mariusz Śliwowski ul. Hetmańska 42, 15-727 Białystok tel. 602 766 304, 881 766 304 e-mail: [email protected], www.prymat.biasoft.net Contents Abbreviations ................................................................... 7 Preface ........................................................................... 11 Chapter I The personnel and organizational base of the Polish revolutionary formations in Russia ............. 27 Chapter II The disputes over the organization form of the Polish revolutionary formations in Russia ............. 87 Chapter III The first stage of forming the Polish revolutionary formations in Russia ............................... 119 Chapter IV The second stage of forming the Polish revolutionary formations in Russia .............. 141 Chapter V The conditions of the liquidation process of the Polish revolutionary formations in Russia ........... 179 Conclusions ................................................................. 229 Bibliography ................................................................ 233 5 Abbreviations AMP – Alliances of Military Poles [pol. Związki Wojskowych Polaków ] AUCP(b) – All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) Central Committee [rus. Всесоюзная коммунистическая партия (большевиков) – ВКП(б) , transl. Vsesoiûznaâ kommunisti ́českaâ pa ́rtiâ (bol ʹševiko v)́ – VKP(b) ] AAN – Central Archives of Modern Records [pol. Archiwum Akt Nowych ] CC AMPL – Central Committee of the Alliances of Military Poles of the Left [pol. Komitet Główny Związków Wojskowych Polaków Lewicy ] CEC – Central Executive Committee [rus. Центральный Исполнительный Комитет , transl. Central ʹnyj Ispolnitel ʹnyj Komitet pol. Centralny Komitet Wykonawczy ] CEC CWSD – Central Executive Committee of the Council of Workers and Soldiers Delegates [rus. Центральный Исполнительный Комитет Советов Рабочих и Солдатских Депутатов , transl. Central ʹnyj Ispolnitel ʹnyj Komitet Sovetov Rabočih i Soldatskih Deputatov , pol. Centralny Komitet Wykonawczy Rady Delegatów Robotniczych i Żołnierskich ] CAW – Central Military Archives [pol. Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe ] CPA – Commissariat for Polish Affairs [pol. Komisariat do spraw Polskich ] 7 CWPP – Communist Workers Party of Poland [pol. Komunistyczna Partia Robotnicza Polski ] CPC – Council of People’s Commissars [rus. Совет народных комиссаров transl. Sovet narodnyh komissarov , pol Rada Komisarzy Ludowych] CRDO – Council of Revolutionary and Democratic Organizations [pol. Rada Organizacji Rewolucyjno-Demokratycznych ] CRDO – Council of Revolutionary-Democratic Organizations [pol. Rada Organizacji Rewolucyjno-Demokratycznych ] CWD – Council of Workers’ Delegates [pol. Rada Delegatów Robotniczych ] CPIU – Council Polish of the Interparty Union [pol. Rada Polska Zjednoczenia Międzypartyjnego ] L-BSSR – Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic [lit. Lietuvos-Baltarusijos Tarybinė Socialistinė Respublika ; biel. Літоўска- Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка , transl. Lìto ǔska-Belaruskaâ Saveckaâ Sacyâlìstyčnaâ Rèspublìka] NDP – National-Democratic Party [pol. Stronnictwo Narodowo-Demokratyczne ] NCO – Non-Commissioned Officer PAF – Polish Armed Forces [pol. Polska Siła PMEC – PolishZbrojna Military] Executive Committee [pol. Polski Wojskowy Komitet Wykonawczy ] PMO – Polish Military Organization [pol. Polska Organizacja Wojskowa ] PMRC – Polish Military-Revolutionary Council [pol. Polska Rada Wojskowo-Rewolucyjna ] PPA – Polish People’s Association [pol. Polski Związek Ludowy ] PRSC – Polish Revolutionary Soldier Clubs [pol. Polskie Rewolucyjne Kluby Żołnierskie ] 8 PSC – Polish Security Council [pol. Polska Rada Bezpieczeństwa ] PSG – Polish Security Guard [ Polska Straż Bezpieczeństwa ] PSP-Left – Polish Socialist Party – Left (pol. Polska Partia Socjalistyczna – Lewica ] PSP RF – Polish Socialist Party [pol. Polska Partia Socjalistyczna – Frakcja Rewolucyjna ] PSP – Polish Socialist Party [pol. Polska Partia Socjalistyczna ] PSU – Polish Socialist Unity [pol. Zjednoczenie Socjalistyczne Polskie ] PSMC – Polish Supreme Military Committee [pol. Naczelny Polski Komitet Wojskowy ] POWs – prisoners of war RRWC – Republic’s Revolutionary War Council [pol. Rewolucyjna Rada Wojenna Republiki ] RCP(b) – Russian Communist Party (bolsheviks) [rus. Российская Коммунистическая партия (большевиков) – РКП(б), transl. Rossijskaâ Kommunističeskaâ partiâ (bol ʹševikov) – RKP(b) ] RSDLP(b) – Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (bolsheviks) [rus. Российская социал- демократическая рабочая партия (большевиков) – РСДРП(б) , transl. Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya (bol ʹševiko ́v) ] RSFSR – Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic [rus. Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика , transl. Rossiyskaya Sovetskaya Federativnaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika ] RGASPI – Russian State Archive of Social and Political History [rus. Российский государственный архив социально-политической истории – РГАСПИ, transl. Rossijskij Gosudarstvennyj Archiv Social’no-Politicheskoj Istorii ] 9 RGVA – Russian State Military Archive [rus. Российский государственный военный архив – РГВА , transl. Rossijskij gosudarstvennyj voennyj archiv ] SDKPL – Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania [pol. Socjaldemokracja Królestwa Polskiego i Litwy ] GARF – State Archive of the Russian Federation [rus. Государственный архив Российской Федерации – ГАРФ , transl. Gosudarstvennyj archiv Rossijskoj Federacii ] SC PAF – Supreme Council of the Polish Armed Forces [pol. Rada Naczelna Polskiej Siły Zbrojnej ] SDC – Supreme Democratic Committee [pol. Naczelny Komitet Demokratyczny ] TPRC – Temporary Polish Revolutionary Committee [pol. Tymczasowy Komitet Rewolucyjny Polski the so-called “Polrewkom” ] WO – Warrant Officer 10 Preface Forming in the first months after the February Revolution, sections of the extremely leftist branch of the Polish Socialist Party [PSP, pol. Polska Partia Socjalis- tyczna ]1 – the Polish Socialist Party – Left (PSP–Left, pol. Polska Partia Socjalistyczna – Lewica ] and the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania [SDKPL, pol. Socjaldemokracja Królestwa Polskiego i Lit- wy ] almost immediately made contact with Polish soldiers dispersed in the Russian Army, as well as serving in the Polish Rifle Division being part of the Army. The stimulus to take the action came from the example of the Bolshevik fraction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (bolsheviks) [RSDLP(b), rus. Российская социал-демократическая рабочая партия (большевиков) – РСДРП(б) , transl. Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya (bol ʹševiko ́v) ], which appreciated the importance of soldiers’ favor for radical revolutionary slogans, and developed intense activity among soldiers. Russian Bolsheviks established a special agitation structure, colloquially called Wojenka , whose office at the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) served as the management of the military organizations’ network responsible for propaganda. Within the scope of Wojenka’s impact there were also the most radical groups of Polish soldiers. Through the latter, and later also directly on the 1 The abbreviations used in the monograph are provided in their English versions, for their easier identification in source materials and other publications. 11 basis of their own members’ ranks of the Polish radical left wing, an intensive action was developed for creating Polish revolutionary formations and against the Polish Corps 2 in Russia established under the auspices of the National-Democratic Party [NDP, pol. Stronnictwo Narodowo-Demokratyczne ]. Promoted in Russia after the Bolshevik revolution by some activists of the SDKPL and the PSP – Left, the idea of creating “Polish workers and peasants formations” initially received moderate attention from Polish military circles. This attitude was observed both among those who were still in active service, as well as among their demobilized companions. The widespread pacifist attitude among Polish military was a serious obstacle in attracting people ready to serve in revolutionary formations. It was previously infused by the very same emigrant radicals who, after November 7, 1917, for a change, had encouraged armed support for the revolution. Hence, it could not surprise that the rate of recruitment to the Polish revolutionary divisions was not too great. The emphasis put by the SDKPL on internationalization of the “red formations” constituted another factor inhibiting the inflow of Poles to them. In such a situation without the support of the Soviet civil and military authorities, any organizational initiatives from the Polish communist circles 3 in Russia had no chance to be implemented. The substantive framework of the undertaken research covers a wide range of issues illustrating the shaping process, the spatiotemporal evolution and forms 2 The 1st Polish Corps was established in July 1917 on the basis of the Polish Rifle Division. 3 By Polish communists before the establishment of the Communist Workers Party of Poland, I mean extremely radicalized activists of SDKPL and PSP – Left. 12 of realizing the military