The Jewish Social Democratic Party in Galicia ( yi, יידישער סאציאל-דעמאקראטישער פארטיי אין גאליציען, ''yidisher sotsial-demokratisher partey in galizien'', pl, Żydowska Partia Socjal-Demokratyczna, abbreviated ŻPS) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in Galicia and later also

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...

, established in a split from the

Polish Social Democratic Party of Galicia Polish Social Democratic Party of Galicia ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalno-Demokratyczna Galicji) was a political party in Galicia. The party was formed in 1890 as the Galician territorial organization of the Social Democratic Workers Party of Austria ...

(PPSD) in 1905. The party made its first public appearance on May 1, 1905, with separate

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

rallies in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarnów ...

and

Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...

. However, as the new party stressed that it was not a competitor of the existing Social Democratic parties, they later joined the PPSD celebrations.Kuhn, Ric
'The tradition of Jewish anti-Zionism in the Galician socialist movement'
Resistance and class stream, Australasian Political Studies Association APSA50 Conference, Canberra, 2–4 October 2002 The Party, often nicknamed the 'Galician Bund', was influenced by the Bund in Russia and was opposed to Zionism. ŻPS held its founding congress in June 1905. The second congress was held in 1906.Brenner, Michael/Penslar, Derek Jonathan. ''In search of Jewish community : Jewish identities in Germany and Austria, 1918-1933''. Bloomington: Indiana University press, c1998. p. 118 Its founding theoretician and secretary was

Henryk Grossman Henryk Grossman (alternative spelling: ''Henryk Grossmann''; 14 April 1881 – 24 November 1950) was a Polish economist, historian, and Marxist revolutionary active in both Poland and Germany. Grossman's key contribution to political-economic t ...

. While the Party sought affiliation to the

Social Democratic Workers Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...

, this was refused. The ŻPS became the largest organisation of Jewish workers in Galicia.Kuhn, Rick ''Henryk Grossman and the Recovery of Marxism'' Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2007. . In the initial period of the existence of the party, it publish a monthly titled ''Der yudisher sotsial-demokrat''. In October 1905 it was replaced by a weekly, ''Der sotsial-demokrat''. As of 1910, ''Der sotsial-demokrat'' had a circulation of 2000.Jacobs, Jack Lester. ''Jewish Politics in Eastern Europe: The Bund at 100''. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001. pp. 141-143 In 1911 the Jewish Social Democracy in Galicia, the Jewish affiliate section of the PPSD, merged into the ŻPS. The Jewish Social Democracy in Galicia had 377 members at the time of the merger. The strength of the party reached its peak when the Bukovina Bundists merged into the party the following year. The united party took the name Jewish Social Democratic Party in Galicia and Bukovina. In 1913, several prominent leaders of the erstwhile Jewish Social Democracy began returning to the PPSD. More devastating for the ŻPS, though, was the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Galicia and Bukovina became battlefield, and party activities ceased. The branch in Cracow was reconstructed in 1916, and in the fall of 1917 there was a conference of delegates from different local ŻPS branches. On 15, 1918 ''Der sotsial-demokrat'' reappeared. In 1920, its organisation in Poland merged with the Polish Bund. In Bukovina, now part of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, the remnants of the party continued to operate under the name 'Bund', and in 1922 they founded (along with Jewish socialists from Old Romania and

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

) the

General Jewish Labour Bund in Romania The General Jewish Labour Bund in Romania ( yi, אלגעמײַנער ײדישער ארבעטער בונד אין רומעניע, ro, Uniunea generală a muncitorilor evrei „Bund” în România) was a History of the Jews in Romania, Jewish soc ...

Membership

The party had 2800 members in 1906, by 1908 the figure had risen to 3600 and by 1910 it claimed a membership of 4206. At the time, the party had 80 branches in 32 different localities. In 1911, after the merger with the Bukovina Bund, the party had 4500 members.Jacobs, Jack Lester. ''Jewish Politics in Eastern Europe: The Bund at 100''. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001. p. 144 Except for its organization in Galicia and Bukovina, the party also had presence (at warying times) in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

and Bielsk.

References

{{Reflist 1905 establishments in Austria-Hungary Jewish anti-Zionism in Europe Anti-Zionist political parties Bukovina Jews Bundism in Europe Defunct social democratic parties in Poland Ethnic organizations based in Austria-Hungary Jewish Galician (Eastern Europe) history Jewish political parties Political parties in Austria-Hungary Political parties of minorities Political parties of the Russian Revolution Political parties with year of disestablishment missing

Membership

See also

References