The Polish Socialist Party was formed in 1892, the result of a merger of several different minor socialist factions. Most significantly, however, these groups were largely made up of Polish patriots who dreamed of a free and independent homeland. For this reason they adopted the so-called Paris Programme, an ideological document describing the aims of the PPS, and beginning with the words: „The Polish Socialist Party, as a political organisation of the Polish working class struggling for its liberation from the yoke of capitalism, aims first and foremost to overthrow the present political bondage and to win power for the proletariat. In this endeavour its aim is an independent democratic republic”.
The restoration of independence was therefore the primary objective. Nevertheless, in addition to this overriding task, PPS activists had other ambitions, both political and economic. The former included freedom of speech, democratic elections, the creation of local self-government, equality of citizens regardless of age, gender, etc. In addition to the above, the Pepees intended to fight for an eight-hour working day, a thirty-six-hour weekly holiday, a ban on child labour, attention to health and safety at work, etc. However, in order for the above demands to be realised, Poland had to be freed from the grip of the three partitioners: Austria-Hungary, Prussia and Russia. These countries, since the end of the 18th century, had acted to the detriment, and sometimes the detriment of the Polish nation.
However, regaining the independence of the Republic was not a simple task, especially for an internally diverse and multifractal party. This was precisely what the PPS was at the time. From the very beginning, the party was plagued by various disputes and feuds. From time to time, new activists left the party. Of course, there were many reasons for these conflicts. For example, in 1893, activists who had formed the so-called Social-Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland left the ranks of the PPS (this grouping was finally transformed into the Communist Workers’ Party of Poland many years later). Then, in 1900, the PPS was left by a group of activists who believed that terrorist actions should be taken against the partitioners. These people decided to form the so-called Third Proletariat.
Around 1905-1907. The PPS was divided into two rival factions, the so-called Old and Young. The former were associated with Józef Piłsudski. Among the very many initiatives that this politician undertook and then implemented was the creation of special PPS militias. Indeed, Piłsudski was in favour of building up military units. Moreover, the party’s activists believed that self-defence groups should be set up, which would, for example, protect people taking part in various manifestations from the tsarist services.
This is how first the Workers’ Self-Defence Combat Circle, then the Conspiracy and Combat Organisation and then the PPS Combat Organisation were formed. The latter, still in 1906, was reformed. First of all, its name was left, but the so-called PPS Technical and Combat Organisation, which was commonly called the People’s Militia or Workers’ Militia, was incorporated into the structures of the PPS OB. Thus the new OB PPS had as many as thirteen combat districts. These, in turn, were composed of 'squads’, which were made up of so-called 'fives’, i.e. small groups of fighters. According to various estimates, the OB PPS numbered about four thousand men. It was, therefore, a numerous, by the standards of the time, and an efficient tool in the struggle against the Tsar. At the same time, its role and conduct led to another dispute within the PPS. This took place at the end of 1906, and ended in another split. Piłsudski, among others, left the party, creating the Polish Socialist Party – Revolutionary Faction and taking the vast majority of OB PPS members into the new grouping.
This is how the Combat Organisation of the Polish Socialist Party – Revolutionary Faction was founded, which in the following months carried out a number of actions, aimed primarily at the Tsarist invaders. In 1907, the activists of the OB of the PPS – Revolutionary Faction were to carry out nearly two hundred terrorist attacks and nearly a hundred robberies aimed at the money they intended to spend on independence activities. The latter were also the target of perhaps the most famous operation carried out by Piłsudski’s subordinates. He himself took part in it.
The action in question took place on 26 September 1908 near Bezdany in Vilnius, and was eventually dubbed the 'action of the four prime ministers’. Years later, it turned out that four later Polish Prime Ministers took part in it: Tomasz Arciszewski (Prime Minister in the years 1944-1947), Józef Piłsudski (twice Prime Minister in the years 1926-1928 and in 1930), Aleksander Prystor (Prime Minister in the years 1931-1933) and Walery Sławek (thrice Prime Minister in 1930, in the years 1930-1931 and in 1935).
Preparations for the action took some time. OB officers, including Piłsudski’s future wife Aleksandra Szczerbińska, kept a close eye on the Vilnius station, although it has to be remembered that, initially, the future Marshal of Poland wanted to get the money by robbing a branch of the Kiev State Bank. That plan, however, did not come to fruition. Pilsudski, after discussion with Prystor, decided that OB would get the cash by attacking a Vilnius-St Petersburg train, which carried quite a large amount of money every week.
Originally, the operation was to be carried out on 19 September. Due to numerous shortcomings, Pilsudski cancelled the operation scheduled for that day. He set the next date for 26 September. It all started around 11 p.m., when a train carrying money arrived at Bezdany. Walery Slawek, who was inside, and his men disarmed the guards and telegraph workers. Arciszewski’s group then threw two bombs into the mail compartment. The train, or rather the part containing the cash, was commandeered and the OB soldiers concentrated on packing the loot. It turned out that more than two hundred thousand roubles had been captured at the time, a huge sum for the conditions of the time.
The whole action was a great success for the OB. First and foremost, none of Piłsudski’s men were killed. Moreover, such an amount of money was obtained that, among other things, helped to pay off the Pilsudski debts, support the families of socialist activists imprisoned by the Tsar, and was also earmarked for the Union of Active Struggle being formed in Galicia.
