Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government
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The Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government ( pl, Bezpartyjny Blok Współpracy z Rządem, ; abbreviated ''BBWR'') was a "non-
political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
"
organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...
in the
interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
, in 1928–35. It was closely affiliated with
Józef Piłsudski ), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania) , death_date = , death_place = Warsaw, Poland , constituency = , party = None (formerly PPS) , spouse = , children = Wan ...
and his
Sanation Sanation ( pl, Sanacja, ) was a Polish political movement that was created in the interwar period, prior to Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 ''Coup d'État'', and came to power in the wake of that coup. In 1928 its political activists would go on ...
movement. Its major activists included
Walery Sławek Walery Jan Sławek (; 2 November 1879 – 3 April 1939) was a Polish politician, freemason, military officer and activist, who in the early 1930s served three times as Prime Minister of Poland. He was one of the closest aides of Polish lead ...
,
Kazimierz Bartel Kazimierz Władysław Bartel (; en, Casimir Bartel; 3 March 1882 – 26 July 1941) was a Polish mathematician, freemason, scholar, diplomat and politician who served as 15th, 17th and 19th Prime Minister of Poland three times between 1926 ...
,
Kazimierz Świtalski Kazimierz Stanisław Świtalski (; 4 March 1886, Sanok – 28 December 1962, Warsaw, Poland) was a Polish politician, diplomat, soldier, military officer in the Polish Legions and 18th Prime Minister of Poland between April and December 1929. Ea ...
,
Aleksander Prystor Aleksander Błażej Prystor (; 2 January 1874 – 1941) was a Polish politician, activist, soldier and freemason, who served as 23rd Prime Minister of Poland from 1931 to 1933. He was a member of the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist ...
,
Józef Beck Józef Beck (; 4 October 1894 – 5 June 1944) was a Poles, Polish statesman who served the Second Republic of Poland as a diplomat and military officer. A close associate of Józef Piłsudski, Beck is most famous for being Polish foreign minist ...
,
Janusz Jędrzejewicz Janusz Jędrzejewicz (; 21 June 1885 – 16 March 1951) was a Polish politician and educator, a leader of the Sanacja political group, and 24th Prime Minister of Poland from 1933 to 1934. Life He joined Józef Piłsudski's Polish Socialist Part ...
, Wacław Jędrzejewicz, Adam Koc, Leon Kozłowski,
Ignacy Matuszewski Ignacy Hugo Stanisław Matuszewski (born September 10, 1891, in Warsaw, died on August 3, 1946, in New York City) was a Polish politician, publicist, diplomat, Minister of Finance of the Second Polish Republic, colonel, infantry officer and int ...
,
Bogusław Miedziński Bogusław may refer to: * Bogusław (given name) * Bogusław, West Pomeranian Voivodeship * Bogusław, Lublin Voivodeship See also * Bogusławski (disambiguation) * Bohuslav Bohuslav ( uk, Богуслав, yi, באָסלעוו or ''Boslov'' ...
, Bronisław Pieracki, Adam Skwarczyński, and Janusz Franciszek Radziwiłł. In 1993
Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democratica ...
, then President of Poland, founded a
Nonpartisan Bloc for Support of Reforms The Nonpartisan Bloc for Support of Reforms ( pl, Bezpartyjny Blok Wspierania Reform, BBWR) was an officially nonpartisan organization (but, in fact, a political party) affiliated with Lech Wałęsa. It was established in 1993 and in 1997 became ...
, in Polish ''Bezpartyjny Blok Wspierania Reform'', likewise abbreviated "''BBWR''," which was meant to revive some of the traditions of the prewar "BBWR" and to form a parliamentary grouping explicitly supportive of President Wałęsa. In the 1993 elections, the new "BBWR" achieved limited success, capturing 5.41% of the vote.


BBWR in 1928–35

The BBWR was created in November 1927, by Walery Sławek, at the urging of Józef Piłsudski. The organization consisted of several smaller parties, including those representing national minorities. Also, a few deputies of the
Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' ...
and PSL Piast decided to join the new movement. The BBWR was not a classic political party, as it consisted of people with sometimes very different opinions. They were united by the personality of Piłsudski, whom they supported, and the BBWR had several targets: to carry out changes in the constitution, to keep the
National Democracy National Democracy may refer to: * National Democracy (Czech Republic) * National Democracy (Italy) * National Democracy (Philippines) * National Democracy (Poland) * National Democracy (Spain) See also * Civic nationalism, a general concept * ...
political movement away from the parliament, and to attract conservatives and business circles. The political program of the BBWR was announced on January 19, 1928. It was based on the following principles: * the cult of Józef Piłsudski, * criticism of party favouritism, which had a destructive influence on the condition of the state, * the need to change the constitution, with more power in the hands of the president and limiting the powers of the parliament, * social
solidarism Solidarism or solidarist can refer to: * The term " solidarism" is applied to the sociopolitical thought advanced by Léon Bourgeois based on ideas by the sociologist Émile Durkheim which is loosely applied to a leading social philosophy operative ...
. During the 1928 election campaign, which took place in March, the BBWR won 130 seats in the
Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...
(out of 444), and 46 seats in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
(out of 111). On June 28, 1928, the government of Prime Minister Kazimierz Bartel was created. Even though the movement did not have a majority in the Polish Parliament, Józef Piłsudski regarded his party as the winner. Still, to his surprise, left-wing politician
Ignacy Daszyński Ignacy Ewaryst Daszyński (; 26 October 1866 – 31 October 1936) was a Polish socialist politician, journalist, and very briefly Prime Minister of the Second Polish Republic's first government, formed in Lublin in 1918. In October 1892 he co ...
was chosen the speaker of the Sejm. On April 14, 1929, Bartel's government was replaced by the more radical government of
Kazimierz Świtalski Kazimierz Stanisław Świtalski (; 4 March 1886, Sanok – 28 December 1962, Warsaw, Poland) was a Polish politician, diplomat, soldier, military officer in the Polish Legions and 18th Prime Minister of Poland between April and December 1929. Ea ...
. It was based on the so-called “group of colonels”, who were personal friends of Piłsudski. On December 6, 1929, the Sejm passed the
motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
, and Bartel replaced Świtalski. The new government was dissolved on March 29, 1930, and the new Prime Minister was Walery Sławek. In response, opposition parties united, creating the so-called
Centrolew The ''Centrolew'' (, ''Center-Left'') was a coalition of several Polish political parties ( Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie", German Socialist Labour Party of Poland, Polish People's Party "Piast", National Workers' Party, Polish Socialist Part ...
, and organizing a mass anti-government demonstration 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 ...
, on June 29, 1930. On August 25, 1930, Józef Piłsudski took the post of Prime Minister, and on September 9, the first arrests of opposition politicians took place. The parliament was dissolved, and the opposition leaders were imprisoned in the
Brest Fortress Brest Fortress ( be, Брэсцкая крэпасць, '; pl, Twierdza brzeska, russian: Брестская крепость), formerly known as Brest-Litoŭsk Fortress, is a 19th-century fortress in Brest, Belarus. In 1965, the title "H ...
. In the 1930 election, which was also called the “Brest election”, the BBWR won 249 seats in the Sejm, and 75 in the Senate. On December 4, 1930, the second government of Walery Sławek was created. It existed until May 1930, when Aleksander Prystor became a new Prime Minister. Facing the
financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...
(see
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
), Prystor decided to cut public spending in order to balance the budget. In 1933, a program of
public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...
was created to reduce widespread unemployment. Furthermore, in 1932 - 1933, the BBWR government carried out significant educational reform. Simultaneously, oppositional activities were curbed, following three new bills, which limited the means of street protests and possibilities of creating new movements (see also
Brest trials The Brest trials ( pl, Proces brzeski) were among the most famous trials conducted under the Second Polish Republic. Lasting from 26 October 1931 to 13 January 1932, they were held at the Warsaw Regional Court where leaders of the ''Centrolew'', ...
). In the summer of 1933, Prystor lost the confidence of Józef Piłsudski and was replaced by Janusz Jedrzejowicz. At the same time, Piłsudski and his subordinates began drafting the
April Constitution The April Constitution of Poland ( pl, Ustawa konstytucyjna 23 IV 1935 or ''Konstytucja kwietniowa'') was the general law passed by the act of the Polish Sejm on 23 April 1935. It introduced in the Second Polish Republic a presidential syste ...
, and on May 15, 1934, the new government of Leon Kozłowski was created. In June of the same year, Minister of Internal Affairs Bronisław Pieracki was murdered by the
Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists ( uk, Організація українських націоналістів, Orhanizatsiya ukrayins'kykh natsionalistiv, abbreviated OUN) was a Ukrainian ultranationalist political organization estab ...
. The government in response opened the
Bereza Kartuska detention camp Bereza Kartuska Prison (, "Place of Isolation at Bereza Kartuska") was operated by Poland's Sanation government from 1934 to 1939 in Biaroza, Bereza Kartuska, Polesie Voivodeship (today, Biaroza, Belarus). Because the inmates were detained with ...
. After the death of Józef Piłsudski (May 12, 1935), the weakened BBWR continued to exist until October 30, when Walery Sławek dissolved it. The tradition of the movement was continued by the
Camp of National Unity ''Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego'' (, en, Camp of National Unity; abbreviated "''OZN''"; and often called "''Ozon''" (Polish for "ozone") was a Polish political party founded in 1937 by sections of the leadership in the Sanacja movement. A yea ...
, formed in February 1937.


BBWR in the 1990s

The
Nonpartisan Bloc for Support of Reforms The Nonpartisan Bloc for Support of Reforms ( pl, Bezpartyjny Blok Wspierania Reform, BBWR) was an officially nonpartisan organization (but, in fact, a political party) affiliated with Lech Wałęsa. It was established in 1993 and in 1997 became ...
(''Bezpartyjny Blok Wspierania Reform'', also abbreviated ''BBWR''), was founded to continue the traditions of pre-war Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government. Its creation was announced by
Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democratica ...
on June 1, 1993, during a press conference in the garden of the
Belweder Belweder (; from the Italian language, Italian ''belvedere'', "beautiful view") is a Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical palace in Warsaw, Poland. Erected in 1660 and remodelled in the early 1800s, it is one of several official residences u ...
. The movement was registered on October 30, 1993. It was a political party, supposed to provide Wałęsa with support in the Parliament. In the 1993 election, the BBWR won 5.41% of votes, or 8 seats (16 in the Sejm, 2 in the Senate). Disappointed with this result, Wałęsa began to disassociate himself from the organization. The BBWR continued to exist until 1997. It supported Wałęsa in the 1995 presidential election, after which the party was split into several factions - the ''BBWR - Bloc for Poland'' (''BBWR - Blok dla Polski''), ''BBWR - United in Election'' (''BBWR - Solidarni w Wyborach''), ''New Poland'' (''Nowa Polska''), ''Republican Party'' (''Partia Republikanie''), and ''National Party of Retirees'' (''Krajowa Partia Emerytow i Rencistow''). In December 1997, Wałęsa created the
Christian Democracy of the 3rd Polish Republic ''Chrześcijańska Demokracja III Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej'' (; abbreviated ''ChD III RP'' or ''ChDRP''; en, Christian Democracy of the 3rd Polish Republic) is a Polish political party that was created in 1997 by former Solidarity leader and Po ...
.


Election Results


Sejm


Sources



* Krystyna Paszkiewicz: Partie i koalicje polityczne III Rzeczypospolitej. Wroclaw: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wroclawskiego, 2000, s. 13-16. .


See also

*
Camp of National Unity ''Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego'' (, en, Camp of National Unity; abbreviated "''OZN''"; and often called "''Ozon''" (Polish for "ozone") was a Polish political party founded in 1937 by sections of the leadership in the Sanacja movement. A yea ...
*
National Radical Camp (1934) The National Radical Camp ( pl, Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny, ONR) refers to at least three groups that are fascist, far-right, and ultranationalist Polish organisations with doctrines stemming from pre-World War II nationalist ideology. The cu ...
*
Adam Czerniakow Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
{{Authority control 1928 establishments in Poland Political parties established in 1928 Political parties disestablished in 1935 1935 disestablishments Defunct political parties in Poland Józef Piłsudski