Recent from talks
Patriotic Self-Defence
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Patriotic Self-Defence
Patriotic Self-Defence (Polish: Samoobrona Patriotyczna, SP) was a minor political party in Poland. The party was founded in September 2006 by former members of the Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland (Polish: Samoobrona Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej, SRP), who left the party following an argument with the leader of Self-Defence Andrzej Lepper. The party ran in the 2007 Polish parliamentary election, where it tried to take votes from their former party by using a similar name, logo and political program. Ultimately, the party's electoral lists were only accepted in one electoral district. The party won 0.02% of the nationwide vote. It disbanded in 2013.
The party consisted of about 20 Self-Defence members, who left the party after it consolidated itself into a far-left party. The name of the party referred to the fact that the SRP completely abandoned nationalism by 2007. The ideology of Patriotic Self-Defence became a mixture of nationalist, Catholic and social policies and tried to play into the main political values of Self-Defence such as agrarianism, populism and socialism. Because Self-Defence had a broad voter coalition including the army, ultra-nationalists, socialists and farmers, Patriotic Self-Defence wanted to win over voters dismayed by SRP affirming itself as a radically left-wing party.
Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland was founded in 1992 as a political and social movement meant to protest Balcerowicz Plan and rural poverty. Starting as a rural trade union, it soon grew into a significant social force that represented not only farmers but also blue-collar workers, the unemployed, the pensioners and everyone impoverished or "left out" by the economic transition into free-market capitalism. Self-Defence utilized nationalist and populist rhetoric and was considered an independent party above the already existed post-communist and anti-communist divide, which allowed it to appeal to various social and political groups, including the military, socialists and even ultra-nationalist.
By the late 1990s, the party emerged as a household name and managed to extend its appeal beyond the countryside. However, beyond agrarians, socialists and post-communist social democrats, the party's support base also started including anti-communist radicals, Catholic fundamentalists and ultranationalists. At the time, the leader of the party Andrzej Lepper was mainly concerned with widening his appeal and did not reject anyone, despite amassing notable support from both the radical right and radical left circles. The party mainly advertised its anti-establishment credentials and ideological flexibility.
Lepper gained the sympathy of various nationalist and right-wing groups, such as the ultraconservative Radio Maryja or far-right millionaire Jan Kobylański. Lepper participated in various interviews held by Radio Maryja and other right-wing media, which resulted in Self-Defence attracting massive followings amongst several right-wing radicals. Amongst Lepper's followers were the Popular-National Bloc (based on the interwar-era Popular National Union), Free Trade Union "August 80" - Confederation, as well as Tadeusz Wilecki, far-right general known as the "Polish Pinochet". The party was also supported by a small paramilitarist Polish Front at the time, led by Marek Toczek and Lech Jęczmyk.
However, it was slowly becoming clear that Self-Defence was a left-wing party. As a candidate in the 1995 Polish presidential election, Lepper called for a return to socialism, arguing that it had "not yet reached full maturity". Lepper would also express his support for legalizing marijuana and allowing same-sex partnerships in the early 2000s, which was an anathema to his nationalist supporters. Ultimately, Lepper increasingly consolidated his party as a far-left one - he called for a “worker-peasant alliance” with fellow socialist parties, dismissed the right-wing and nationalist wings of the party, and established friendly relations with Jerzy Urban, the left-wing radical editor of the anticlerical weekly Nie. The party also invited several socialist politicians and activists to its electoral lists such as Leszek Miller and Piotr Ikonowicz. Self-Defence cemented itself as radically left-wing, Mirosław Karwat called the party "probably the only political party that speaks well of Communist Poland" by Mirosław Karwat, while Piotr Długosz considered the party an "heir of the communist regime".
The party managed to keep a small fraction of its former right-wing supporters by forming an anti-liberal government with (then centre-right) Law and Justice and far-right League of Polish Families (LPR). However, Self-Defence entered the government because it wanted to replace Democratic Left-Alliance as the mainstream left-wing party. By 2007, the government collapsed, and Law and Justice managed to oust both LPR and Self-Defence from the government. Both parties played with the idea of a querfront League and Self-Defence, but the idea was dropped in 2007 when ideological differences became clear. Lepper himself admitted that such an alliance was a bad idea and was only considered to be purely tactical and situational. According to Maciej Marmola, Self-Defence was considered to be on the extreme end of left-wing politics in Poland.
Patriotic Self-Defence was founded in late September 2006, and coincided with the collapse of the PiS-Samoobrona-LPR coalition government. It was formed by 20 former MPs of Samoobrona, who condemned "the adventurous politics of Andrzej Lepper". The party signed an agreement with a fellow SRP breakaway Self-Defence Social Movement (Polish: Samooobrona Ruch Społeczny), which would eventually form Self-Defence Rebirth (Polish: Samoobrona Odrodzenie) in 2007. However, both parties did not run together in the elections, and Self-Defence Rebirth declared that it will be "as left-wing as Samoobrona was", taking a different direction from Patriotic Self-Defence.
Hub AI
Patriotic Self-Defence AI simulator
(@Patriotic Self-Defence_simulator)
Patriotic Self-Defence
Patriotic Self-Defence (Polish: Samoobrona Patriotyczna, SP) was a minor political party in Poland. The party was founded in September 2006 by former members of the Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland (Polish: Samoobrona Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej, SRP), who left the party following an argument with the leader of Self-Defence Andrzej Lepper. The party ran in the 2007 Polish parliamentary election, where it tried to take votes from their former party by using a similar name, logo and political program. Ultimately, the party's electoral lists were only accepted in one electoral district. The party won 0.02% of the nationwide vote. It disbanded in 2013.
The party consisted of about 20 Self-Defence members, who left the party after it consolidated itself into a far-left party. The name of the party referred to the fact that the SRP completely abandoned nationalism by 2007. The ideology of Patriotic Self-Defence became a mixture of nationalist, Catholic and social policies and tried to play into the main political values of Self-Defence such as agrarianism, populism and socialism. Because Self-Defence had a broad voter coalition including the army, ultra-nationalists, socialists and farmers, Patriotic Self-Defence wanted to win over voters dismayed by SRP affirming itself as a radically left-wing party.
Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland was founded in 1992 as a political and social movement meant to protest Balcerowicz Plan and rural poverty. Starting as a rural trade union, it soon grew into a significant social force that represented not only farmers but also blue-collar workers, the unemployed, the pensioners and everyone impoverished or "left out" by the economic transition into free-market capitalism. Self-Defence utilized nationalist and populist rhetoric and was considered an independent party above the already existed post-communist and anti-communist divide, which allowed it to appeal to various social and political groups, including the military, socialists and even ultra-nationalist.
By the late 1990s, the party emerged as a household name and managed to extend its appeal beyond the countryside. However, beyond agrarians, socialists and post-communist social democrats, the party's support base also started including anti-communist radicals, Catholic fundamentalists and ultranationalists. At the time, the leader of the party Andrzej Lepper was mainly concerned with widening his appeal and did not reject anyone, despite amassing notable support from both the radical right and radical left circles. The party mainly advertised its anti-establishment credentials and ideological flexibility.
Lepper gained the sympathy of various nationalist and right-wing groups, such as the ultraconservative Radio Maryja or far-right millionaire Jan Kobylański. Lepper participated in various interviews held by Radio Maryja and other right-wing media, which resulted in Self-Defence attracting massive followings amongst several right-wing radicals. Amongst Lepper's followers were the Popular-National Bloc (based on the interwar-era Popular National Union), Free Trade Union "August 80" - Confederation, as well as Tadeusz Wilecki, far-right general known as the "Polish Pinochet". The party was also supported by a small paramilitarist Polish Front at the time, led by Marek Toczek and Lech Jęczmyk.
However, it was slowly becoming clear that Self-Defence was a left-wing party. As a candidate in the 1995 Polish presidential election, Lepper called for a return to socialism, arguing that it had "not yet reached full maturity". Lepper would also express his support for legalizing marijuana and allowing same-sex partnerships in the early 2000s, which was an anathema to his nationalist supporters. Ultimately, Lepper increasingly consolidated his party as a far-left one - he called for a “worker-peasant alliance” with fellow socialist parties, dismissed the right-wing and nationalist wings of the party, and established friendly relations with Jerzy Urban, the left-wing radical editor of the anticlerical weekly Nie. The party also invited several socialist politicians and activists to its electoral lists such as Leszek Miller and Piotr Ikonowicz. Self-Defence cemented itself as radically left-wing, Mirosław Karwat called the party "probably the only political party that speaks well of Communist Poland" by Mirosław Karwat, while Piotr Długosz considered the party an "heir of the communist regime".
The party managed to keep a small fraction of its former right-wing supporters by forming an anti-liberal government with (then centre-right) Law and Justice and far-right League of Polish Families (LPR). However, Self-Defence entered the government because it wanted to replace Democratic Left-Alliance as the mainstream left-wing party. By 2007, the government collapsed, and Law and Justice managed to oust both LPR and Self-Defence from the government. Both parties played with the idea of a querfront League and Self-Defence, but the idea was dropped in 2007 when ideological differences became clear. Lepper himself admitted that such an alliance was a bad idea and was only considered to be purely tactical and situational. According to Maciej Marmola, Self-Defence was considered to be on the extreme end of left-wing politics in Poland.
Patriotic Self-Defence was founded in late September 2006, and coincided with the collapse of the PiS-Samoobrona-LPR coalition government. It was formed by 20 former MPs of Samoobrona, who condemned "the adventurous politics of Andrzej Lepper". The party signed an agreement with a fellow SRP breakaway Self-Defence Social Movement (Polish: Samooobrona Ruch Społeczny), which would eventually form Self-Defence Rebirth (Polish: Samoobrona Odrodzenie) in 2007. However, both parties did not run together in the elections, and Self-Defence Rebirth declared that it will be "as left-wing as Samoobrona was", taking a different direction from Patriotic Self-Defence.