The National Workers' Party (, NPR) was a political party in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
.
History
The NPR was established in
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
on 23 May 1920 by a merger of the
National Workers' Union and the National Party of Workers.
[Jerzy Jan Lerski (1996) ''Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945'', Greenwood Publishing Group, p380] Strongest in
Greater Poland
Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland.
The bound ...
,
Pomerania
Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...
,
Łódź
Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...
and
Silesia
Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
, it had around 150,000 members by the following year.
[ It received around 5% of the vote in the ]1922 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1922.
Africa
* 1922 Southern Rhodesian government referendum
Asia
* 1922 Philippine House of Representatives elections
* 1922 Philippine Senate elections
* 1922 Philippine legislative election
Europe
...
, winning 18 seats in the Sejm and three in the Senate.Dieter Nohlen
Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...
& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', pp1509–1512
The party was a member of the Józef Piłsudski
Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...
governments until 1926, but then split into two factions; one retained the NPR name, whilst the other became known as NPR-Left. The NPR-Left supported Piłsudski's Sanation
Sanation (, ) was a Polish political movement that emerged in the interwar period, prior to Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 ''Coup d'État'', and gained influence following the coup. In 1928, its political activists went on to form the Nonpartisa ...
regime, whilst the NPR, which had been reduced to around 80,000 members, opposed it.[ The ]1928 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1928.
Africa
* 1928 Southern Rhodesian general election
Asia
* 1928 Japanese general election
* 1928 Persian legislative election
* 1928 Philippine House of Representatives elections
* 1928 Philippine ...
saw the NPR's vote share fall to 2%. As a result, it was reduced to 11 seats in the Sejm and two in the Senate.[
In 1930, the NPR joined the ]Centrolew
The (, '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 Party and Christ ...
alliance,[ which contested the ]1930 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1930.
Asia
* 1930 Persian legislative election
* 1930 Madras Presidency legislative council election
* 1930 Japanese general election
Europe
* 1930 Finnish parliamentary election
* 1930 Norwegian parli ...
. The alliance won 79 seats, of which the NPR took eight. It later became part of the Front Morges, and by 1934 only had around 20,000 members.[ The party boycotted the 1935 elections;][ in 1937, it merged with the Polish Christian Democratic Party to form the Labor Party.
]
Ideology
The party's platform in 1921 called for social solidarity and a strong parliamentary democracy, and supported autonomy for national minorities except Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
.[
]
Election results
Sejm
References
{{Authority control
Defunct political parties in Poland
1920 establishments in Poland
1937 disestablishments in Poland
Political parties established in 1920
Political parties disestablished in 1937
Political parties in the Second Polish Republic