Editing Józef Piłsudski (section)

===Armed resistance===
In the early 1900s, almost all parties in Russian Poland and Lithuania took a conciliatory position toward the Russian Empire and aimed at negotiating within it a limited autonomy for Poland. Piłsudski's PPS was the only political force prepared to fight the Empire for Polish independence and to resort to violence to achieve that goal.{{r|POleksa04}}

On the outbreak of the [[Russo-Japanese War]] in the summer of 1904, Piłsudski traveled to Tokyo, Japan, where he tried unsuccessfully to obtain that country's assistance for an uprising in Poland. He offered to supply Japan with [[intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence]] to support its war with Russia, and proposed the creation of a Polish Legion from Poles,{{r|Urbank97_109–11}} conscripted into the Russian Army, who had been captured by Japan. He also suggested a [[Prometheism#Sources of Prometheism|"Promethean" project]] directed at breaking up the Russian Empire, a goal that he later continued to pursue.{{sfn|Charaszkiewicz|2000|p=56}} Meeting with [[Yamagata Aritomo]], he suggested that starting a [[guerrilla war]] in Poland would distract Russia and asked for Japan to supply him with weapons. Although the Japanese diplomat [[Hayashi Tadasu]] supported the plan, the Japanese government, including Yamagata, was more skeptical.{{sfn|Kowner|2006|p=285}} Piłsudski's arch-rival, [[Roman Dmowski]], travelled to Japan and argued against Piłsudski's plan, discouraging the Japanese government from supporting a Polish revolution because he thought it was doomed to fail.{{r|Urbank97_109–11|Zamo87_330}} The Japanese offered Piłsudski much less than he hoped; he received Japan's help in purchasing weapons and ammunition for the PPS and their combat organisation, and the Japanese declined the Legion proposal.{{r|PolandGov|Urbank97_109–11}}

In the fall of 1904, Piłsudski formed a paramilitary unit (the [[Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party]], or ''bojówki'') aiming to create an armed [[resistance movement]] against the Russian authorities.{{r|Zamo87_330}} The PPS organized demonstrations, mainly in [[Warsaw]]. On 28 October 1904, Russian [[Cossack]] [[cavalry]] attacked a demonstration, and in reprisal, during a demonstration on 13 November, Piłsudski's paramilitary opened fire on Russian police and military.{{r|Zamo87_330|Urbank97_113–6}} Initially concentrating their attention on spies and informers, in March 1905, the paramilitary began using bombs to assassinate selected Russian police officers.{{r|Urbank97_117–8}}