Those familiar with Polish history have probably heard about Stanisław Staszic, one of Poland’s greatest philosophers and a leader of the reformatory movement which brought the country its first constitution in 1791. (It is widely believed that one of Staszic’s pamphlets sparked the movement and his political ideas about constitutional monarchy directly influenced the constitution’s contents.) But this Enlightenment thinker had a few other thoughts he wanted to promote. As a physiocrat, he followed the French economist François Quesnay in arguing that farming is the only real source of wealth. Consequently, Staszic also opposed serfdom – which forced Polish peasants into involuntary labour for the owners of the land on which they lived – and argued for the improvement of their lot. But while many philosophers are known for being all talk and no action, Staszic actually put his money where his mouth was in quite a literal way.
In 1811, back when philosophy paid much better than in does today, he bought a 6,000-hectare estate in Hrubieszów in today’s southeastern Poland. In 1816, he divided it amongst 329 peasants who were willing to join the newly established and wonderfully named Hrubieszów Farmers’ Association for Mutually Saving Each Other From Misfortunes. The association was given the estate, and its members were granted lifelong and inheritable permits to use its land – under the conditions that their individual farms would not exceed 100 morgen (around 50 hectares), that they paid local taxes as well as an additional contribution of 2 złoty per morgen per year for shared goals, and that they would help each other in times of need.
The association was a resounding success, in practice abolishing serfdom in the lands it controlled, while also bringing great prosperity to the region – this early co-operative built manufactories, schools and a hospital, while taking care of orphans and financing education for the brightest children of its members. Staszic’s initiative also offered individual loans to peasants who were part of it and provided welfare to those who were unable to work. It remained in operation until 1951, when it was disbanded and nationalised by the communist regime’s authorities – even though, from the 1860s, the Russian partitioning administration had tried to establish control over the association and even ruined some of its plans.
Despite its successes, the Hrubieszów Farmers’ Association for Mutually Saving Each Other From Misfortunes was quite far from the ideals established in Rochdale. Membership was not exactly open, as only the inhabitants of Hrubieszów were admitted, and even that was not on equal terms. Since the right to work the land was inherited, only some of the peasants had their own farms, whereas others had to work for them (which, admittedly, still offered a vastly more appealing career path than serfdom). The members also lacked economic control over the estate, as the association was managed by the President (the job was inherited by the Grothus noble family, but they were later replaced by state representatives) and an indirectly elected council. They were also bound by the founding agreement drafted by Staszic.
Nevertheless, the association demonstrated that the ideal of cooperativism could be achieved in Poland and served as a foundation for later developments in the movement while also earning the title of the first pre-co-operative farming organisation in Europe. To be fair, there was not that much competition as Staszic’s ideas were quite revolutionary.
For the community, against the state