page_title: Ignacy Daszyński
section_title: Prime Minister of the Polish People's Republic
hierarchical_section_title: Ignacy Daszyński / Prime Minister of the Polish People's Republic
caption_attribution_description: English: Ignacy Daszyński drawn by Stanisław Lentz.
context_page_description: Ignacy Ewaryst Daszyński was a Polish socialist politician, journalist, and very briefly Prime Minister of the Second Polish Republic's first government, formed in Lublin in 1918.
  In October 1892 he cofounded the Polish Social Democratic Party, a precursor to the Polish Socialist Party. In 1897 he was elected to the Austrian Parliament and remained there until 1918.
  From 1903 he took part in several congresses and gatherings of the International Socialist Party, advocating for the independence and reunification of all Polish territories, as an integral part of the Polish socialist program. In 1912 he began a long collaboration with future Marshal and Chief of State Józef Pilsudski. He was appointed editor-in-chief of the Socialist newspaper Naprzód, published in Kraków.
  Following World War I, Daszyński cofounded the Polish National Committee, and for a few days he served as head of the provisional government formed in the city of Lublin on 7 November 1918. On 26 January 1919 he was elected to the Polish Sejm, and was re-elected in 1922, 1928, and 1930.
context_section_description: On 15 October 1918 Daszyński and other Polish deputies to the Austrian parliament adopted a document in which they declared themselves to be Polish citizens. Late October brought the first signs of collapse of the once mighty Austria-Hungary. On 28 October he became a member of the Polish Liquidation Committee, which was led by Wincenty Witos and headquartered first in Kraków, then in Lwów.
  On 6 November, Daszyński and others proclaimed the "Polish People's Republic" (Tymczasowy Rząd Ludowy Republiki Polskiej), based in Lublin, with Daszyński as Prime Minister. Other members of the government included Wincenty Witos, Tomasz Arciszewski, Jędrzej Moraczewski, Stanisław Thugutt, and Colonel Edward Rydz-Śmigły as military commander. The government's manifesto called upon workers and peasants to take power into their own hands and build "the edifice of an independent and united People's Republic of Poland", in which all citizens would enjoy equal political and civil rights, especially freedom of conscience, speech and assembly. Within the framework of improving social conditions, there were promises of an eight-hour working day in industry, trade and craft, and of the nationalization of mines and large estates. The future country was intended to be a democratic parliamentary republic.
  Setting itself up as the legitimate representative of the Polish people, Daszyński's government called on the Regency Council to be deposed. This move was repudiated by moderate forces in Warsaw, who now hoped for a return of Józef Piłsudski, who was still in custody in Germany. Already in October, the Regency Council had requested Piłsudski's release, and after deliberations mediated by Harry Graf Kessler, Piłsudski was allowed to return to Warsaw, where he arrived on 10 November. The following day – the day Germany signed the armistice – German troops in Warsaw were disarmed as they refused to fire on Polish insurgents. Both the Regency Council and the Daszyński government ceded all authority to Piłsudski.
  Piłsudski asked Daszyński to form a government, but stressed the need to "strengthen the effectiveness of his cabinet's work through participation of eminent forces, regardless of political beliefs" and forbade him to prejudice the legislative work of the Sejm by radical social reforms or other legislative changes. Daszyński accepted, but failed to form a government, and resigned on 14 November. In a letter published the next day, Piłsudski thanked him for his "truly civic work" in helping to create the first Polish government and for not hesitating "to sacrifice himself for the good of the cause in order to reach an agreement among divergent factors".
caption: Portrait by Stanisław Lentz, 1919.
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