[11] 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.
However, beyond agrarians, socialists and post-communist social democrats, the party's support base also started including anti-communist radicals, Catholic fundamentalists and ultranationalists.
[12] Lepper gained the sympathy of various nationalist and right-wing groups, such as the ultraconservative Radio Maryja or far-right millionaire Jan Kobylański.
The party was also supported by a small paramilitarist Polish Front at the time, led by Marek Toczek and Lech Jęczmyk.
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".
[11] The party also invited several socialist politicians and activists to its electoral lists such as Leszek Miller and Piotr Ikonowicz.
[16] 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).
[23] Patriotic Self-Defence blamed Andrzej Lepper for exerting legal pressure on the government to throw out its lists.
[1] The party ran a largely invisible electoral campaign, and organized a protest against the arrest of Antoni Jarosz, a right-wing agrarian economist charged with corruption.
[26] Political commentators noted the sharp turn of SRP to "radical left", while Patriotic Self-Defence was assumed to appeal to the right-wing, nationalist fringes of SPR's electorate.
Patriotic Self-Defence refused to participate in the 2009 European Parliament election in Poland, registering an electoral committee but not fielding any candidates.
[4] The party heavily cooperated with nationalist and populist circles, and called for a nationalized economy, believing that the capital had been "taken away" from Poles and Poland.
[36] Similarly to original Samoobrona, Patriotic Self-Defence called for immediate halt of privatization and then renationalization of Polish industry.
[3] Patriotic Self-Defence also collaborated with rural newspapers such as Zielony Sztandar (in publication since 1931), and campaigned for an economy that would address the issue of economic exclusion of Polish peasants and establish protective mechanics for small agriculture and family farms, especially those focused on ecological production.
[39] In its populist rhetoric, the SP created the contrast and conflict of interest between "simple people" and the governing elites, with the latter lousing touch with ordinary citizens and derailing the economy by privatizing and selling off capital for their own personal benefit.
The party presented an anti-capitalist and socialist program, demanding radical policies aimed at equality and redistriubtion.
Rural Poland was described as "true, honest and traditional", but one that was vulnerable and had to be defended from capitalism and foreign interference.
[40] On the issue of foreign policy, the party promoted a plan of improving both political and economic relations with all Polish neighbors, with a particular focus on Slavic countries.