Prasa socjalistyczna wydawana w Krakowie w latach 1900- 1914. Zarys problematyki

Abstract

At the turn of the 19th to the 20th century many Socialist periodicals published in Geneva filtered into Cracow. There were also several publications printed in Cracow and edited in the Polish Kingdom such as “Robotnik” (The Worker), “Czerwony Sztandar” (The Red Flag), “Kurierek Zakordonowy i Zagraniczny” (The Foreign Messenger) and “Wiestnik Polskoj Socialisticzeskoj Partii” (The Messenger of the Polish Socialist Party). Cracow enjoyed relative freedom of print, even though Socialist publications were sometimes confiscated by censorship authorities and their authors put on trial. The most significant publication, issued in large print runs, was “Naprzód” (Ahead), published between 1892 and 1900 as a daily newspaper. “Latarnia” (The Lighthouse) – the publication of PPSD (the Polish Social Democratic Party), was also of great significance, as were the educational and popular science monthly “Przedświt” (The Predawn) – published by PPS-Frakcja (the Polish Socialist Party-Fraction), “Myśl Robotnicza” (The Working Class’ Thought) – the mouthpiece of PPS-Lewica (the Polish Socialist Party-Left) or a satirical biweekly “Hrabia Wojtek” (Count Wojtek) later continued as “Kropidło” (The Aspergill). Socialist periodicals addressed to specific professions included: “Zawodowiec” (The Professional), “Kolejarz” (The Railwayman), “Metalowiec” (The Metalworker) and “Robotnik Drzewny” (The Woodworker). The Germanspeaking supporters of the Socialist movement read “Der Sozialdemokrat” (The Social Democrat) while the Jewish population had their own “Der Jüdische Arbeiter-Zeitung” (The Jewish Workers’ Newspaper). The periodical “Prawo Ludu” (The People’s Rights) was designed for villagers. The main dilemma of the creators of such periodicals was the level of their publications – should they be designed for activists conscious of their role or for the average worker. Generally, around 450 titles supporting the Socialist movement were published in the Polish territories before 1918.