The new ‘democratic’ constitution in Poland creates unstable coalitions completely beholden to small right-wing parties, a deficit in political democracy that will set stage for Pilsudski’s later dictatorship.

‘Pilsudski’s Victory and the Defeat of Democracy’ by L. Domski from International Press Correspondence. Vol. 2 No. 70. August 18, 1922.

Korfanty has withdrawn; Pilsudski has finally won his victory. The decision was arrived at when the small Constitutional Club, which is composed of West Galician bourgeois and landlords, and which, with its 16 votes, is the straw on the scale between 200 Right and 200 Left-deputies, fell under the threat of Pilsudski’s resignation, and drew after it two other small fractions of the Right Centre. The new premier, Professor Novak, is indeed a nonentity, from a political standpoint, but his cabinet is composed of the same ministers that formed the cabinet of Slivinski. Above all, Pilsudski has gotten rid of the two ministers he hated most, Skirmunt. and Michalski, who were also in Korfanty’s Cabinet. Skirmunt urged an understanding with Soviet Russia, while Michalsky, as minister of finance opposed every increase in military credits. Now, these two “disturbers” have been turned out in the name of democracy.

Pilsudski’s victory has cost the country much. The governmental crisis lasted not less than two months. In that period, the Polish mark has fallen to two-thirds of its value; the dollar has climbed in value from 4000 to 6000 Polish marks. What matters it? Democracy has conquered. So claim, at any rate the “Labor Parties” of the Polish Sejm, the Polish Socialist Party (P.P.S.) and the National Labor Party (N.P.R.).

These remarkable “workers’ representatives” are quite seriously convinced that their struggle to obtain unlimited and irresponsible power for the sabre-rattling hero, Pilsudski, was really a fight against reaction. And they are beside themselves with joy, because, in a terrorized Parliament, the will of the majority is trodden underfoot, because it has been shown once more that the decisive power of the land is in the hands of the Belvederian pretorians (Pretorian legions). If the workers dared to render the Sejm powerless in this manner, and send the Democrats to the devil, these same famous “Workers’ Parties” would yell massacre against the Bolsheviki and Anarchists. But–a leader of warriors, who won his knightly spurs upon the speedy march from Kiev back to Warsaw, that is another matter!

In this struggle to present monarchical power to their militarist taskmaster, the P.P.S. has not yet noticed how a nice piece of democracy has been stolen from under their noses. The Peasants’ Party, under the leadership of Vitos, which in its own class interests, has supported Pilsudski against the town bourgeoisie and the nobility, exhausted its brotherhood with the Left, in order to ally itself with the Right on the suffrage question.

The fruit of this illegitimate union is a suffrage act which, under the cloak of universality, equality and proportional representation, is really a partisan law against the national and social minorities. To be sure, the social patriots can evade the consequences of many of these exceptional laws. If, for instance, the electoral zones and the mandates are so distributed that the national election will be prejudiced, and especially if the Jews, through a series of manoeuvres, are reduced to a complete lack of influence, then will the social patriots (whose enthusiasm for national equalization is limited to words only) rejoice that these partisan enactments were passed against their votes. The sage applies, with still greater force, to those measures which are directed against the Communist Party. In this case too, the P.P.S. has contented itself with loud protests. It was different with those portions of the electoral law which are directed against the P.P.S. and particularly against the smaller parties. Here the P.P.S. defended its own skin most energetically; if only its attention had not been most unfortunately diverted by the recent struggle for power.

United in this struggle with the Peasants’ Party, which was particularly interested in the formation of a government satisfactory to Pilsudski, the P.P.S. made no attempt to secure, in return for its support, concrete concessions with regard to the suffrage law. On the contrary, it felt itself so strongly bound to Pilsudski that it accorded all favors to its adroitly bargaining allies, just to hold them. So that when the suffrage question came up, Vitos’ party, was able to let the P.P.S. gently drop, without fear of resistance.

This suffrage act, brought into being by the Right and the Peasants Party, is simply destructive for the small and scattered parties. This applies particularly to the “Labor Parties” which at present find themselves in a very unfavorable position in Poland. Their voters are in the cities, and the cities are, for the most part, now joined to large country electoral districts, so that, in the proportional vote, the purely urban parties do not even obtain a mandate. The P.P.S. saw only two methods of remedying this awkward situation: 1) the most practicable enlargement of the number of mandatory voters in city districts; and (2) the introduction of a national voters’ list for the full utilization of all votes.

The Peasants’ Party, not wishing to endanger the Pilsudski bloc, appeared to be quite conciliatory, and prepared to consider the wishes of the P.P.S. and the smaller parties. It played out this comedy step by step. At the first reading of the bill, it voted for the national list and for increasing the number of mandatory votes. At the second reading, it switched about and declared together with the Right parties, that the mandates on the national list should be distributed, not from the remaining unused votes on the list, but from the total count of the votes of each party, that is, from the votes already used. When the “Labor Parties” loudly cried treachery and reaction, the Peasants’ Party confidently declared itself ready to vote the necessary increased number of mandatory votes to the P.P.S. and N.P.R. and thus appeased the wrath of the people.

At the third reading the Peasants’ Party dropped all pretenses. It refused the increase in mandatory votes, and voted for the proposal of the Right, under which the mandates would be distributed from the national list according to the count of the already gained mandates in the local electoral areas. Therefore, instead of bettering the unjust distribution of electoral areas and mandates, the national list doubles the injustice. This cheap trick quite discomposed the “Labor Parties” and the small Left peasant groups. They started obstructional tactics. But the wily Vitos also knew how to weather this storm. He arranged another conference, and proposed to the obstructionists to yield them four mandates in urban districts. The social patriots once again let themselves be led by the nose, and allowed the division to take place. But when the matter came up in the Sejm, it was found that not less than 30 of Vitos’ followers were absent. The motion was lost.

The above sad history teaches us only that the heads of the Peasants’ Party are better political hucksters than the social patriots. It also shows that the Mensheviki of all countries, even from the point of view of formal parliamentary democracy, do pretty bad business when they are up against the bourgeois and militarist “democrats”.

The Polish social patriots are beginning to realize that they have travelled a bad road, with their support of “democratic” Bonapartism. It is to be hoped that the Sejm elections will show them this still more drastically. And the Polish workers, to whom this “democratic victory” will bring a reactionary Seja, will again be in a position to be convinced that their own democracy, proletarian democracy, can only be won through real proletarian action.

International Press Correspondence, widely known as”Inprecorr” was published by the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) regularly in German and English, occasionally in many other languages, beginning in 1921 and lasting in English until 1938. Inprecorr’s role was to supply translated articles to the English-speaking press of the International from the Comintern’s different sections, as well as news and statements from the ECCI. Many ‘Daily Worker’ and ‘Communist’ articles originated in Inprecorr, and it also published articles by American comrades for use in other countries. It was published at least weekly, and often thrice weekly.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/inprecor/1922/v02n070-aug-18-1922-Inprecor.pdf