German Social Democratic Party (german: Deutsche Sozialdemokratische Partei, DSDP) 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 ideological or p ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, founded on March 26, 1922.Blachetta-Madajczyk, Petra.
Klassenkampf oder Nation?: deutsche Sozialdemokratie in Polen 1918–1939. Schriften des Bundesarchivs, 49
'.

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

: Droste, 1997. p. 291

Foundation

The party emerged from a fusion of the

Oberschlesien Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

(Upper Silesia) organizations of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been ...

(SPD) and the

Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. The organization was establish ...

(USPD) and the Teschener-Schlesien organization of 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 ...

(SDAPÖ). These were German and Austrian Social Democratic party branches in areas transferred to Poland after the Silesian Uprisings. The founding meeting took place in

Bielsko Bielsko (german: Bielitz, cs, Bílsko) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that to ...

Johann Kowoll Johann Kowoll (December 27, 1890 in Laurahütte – 1941) was a German socialist politician. In his young years, Kowoll had several jobs; as stenographer, office assistant, journalist, cottage worker and machine operator. In 1906 he joined th ...

was appointed chairman of the DSDP. The party, although geographically limited to Upper Silesia, intended to organize German workers throughout the Polish republic. The newspaper '' Kattowitzer Volkswille'' ('Kattowitz (

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popu ...

) People's Will'), the erstwhile organ of the SPD in Upper Silesia, became the organ of DSDP.

1922 elections

On August 21, 1922, DSPP formed an electoral bloc together with the

Independent Socialist Labour Party The Independent Socialist Labour Party ( pl, Niezależna Socjalistyczna Partia Pracy) was a political party in Poland. The party was founded on March 12, 1922, in Krakow. Initially the party bore the name Party of Independent Socialists (''Partia N ...

(NSPP). In the September 24, 1922, election to the

Silesian Sejm Silesian Parliament or Silesian Sejm ( pl, Sejm Śląski) was the governing body of the Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939), an autonomous voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic between 1920 and 1945. It was elected in democratic elections and h ...

the bloc contested under the name ''Deutsche Sozialdemokratische Partei''. The candidature won two out of 48 seats, to be held by Johann Kowoll and

Karl Buchwald Karl Buchwald (1889 – ?) was a German politician and trade unionist. Buchwald was born in a working-class family in the Galician town of Auschwitz on December 4, 1889. He became a trade unionist in 1907. On February 2, 1919, he joined the Indep ...

. Ahead of the November 5, 1922 Polish Sejm election, the electoral bloc fell apart. The NSPP leader,

Bolesław Drobner Bolesław Drobner (born 28 June 1883 in Kraków, died 31 March 1968 in Kraków) was a Polish politician. A member of the Polish Socialist Party, he supported cooperation with the communists. Arrested by the NKVD after the Soviet invasion of Poland ...

, decided to withdrew their candidate lists and break the agreement with DSPP in protest of Kowoll and Buchwald joining the 'German Club' in the Silesian Sejm.

Mergers

The DSPP held its second party congress December 7–8, 1924.Blachetta-Madajczyk, Petra.
Klassenkampf oder Nation?: deutsche Sozialdemokratie in Polen 1918–1939. Schriften des Bundesarchivs, 49
'.

: Droste, 1997. p. 78 On August 9, 1925 DSPP merged with the

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of ca ...

-based

German Labour Party of Poland The German Labour Party of Poland (german: Deutsche Arbeitspartei Polen, abbreviated DAP) was a German social democratic party in Poland. DAP was founded in Łodz on 19 January 1922 at the office of the ''Vereins deutschsprecheder Meister und Arb ...

(DAP), forming the

German Socialist Labour Party in Poland The German Socialist Labour Party of Poland (german: Deutsche Sozialistische Arbeitspartei Polens, abbreviated DSAP, pl, Niemiecka Socjalistyczna Partia Pracy w Polsce) was a political party organizing German Social Democrats in interbellum Poland ...

(DSAP). The merger was however only nominal, in reality DSPP and DAP continued to exist as separate parties until October 1929. On October 6–7, 1929, DSAP became a unitary political party.

References

{{Polish political parties 1922 establishments in Poland 1929 disestablishments in Poland Defunct socialist parties in Poland German political parties in Poland Political parties disestablished in 1929 Political parties established in 1922