THE POLISH SOCIALIST PARTY (PPS) IN THE PROVINCE OF RZESZÓW IN 1944-1945

Abstract

This article presents issues concerning the functioning of Polish Socia- list Party in the Rzeszów Province area in the period immediately after the Second World War. After the Second World War, due to the changes in Polish eastern border, a new province was created. It was formed out of the terrains of former Lwów and Cracow Province. Unexpectedly, Rzeszow became a new seat of administrative authorities in that region. In the traditional conservative society of the south-east Poland, after the Second World War, Polish Socialist Party was coming back to life. Post-war Polish Socialist Party dissociated itself from the ideology of reformism and defined itself as a revolutionary Marxist party. They declared a positive attitu- de towards the communist movement and the Soviet Union, which was refer- red to as a socialist state. They also assumed the necessity to temporarily crea- te a revolutionary apparatus of authority with the purpose to eliminate the armed underground and conduct major social and political changes. The author hopes that the issues discussed in this article will become a starting point for further discussion on the role of the Polish Socialist Party in the development of the political and government system in the Rzeszów Pro- vince area after the Second World War.