Poland in the Russian Empire. The Kingdom of Poland as part of the Russian Empire: history, dates, events
Poland was part of the Russian Empire from 1815 to 1917. It was a turbulent and difficult period for the Polish people - a time of new opportunities and great disappointments.
Relations between Russia and Poland have always been difficult. First of all, this is a consequence of the proximity of the two states, which for many centuries has given rise to territorial disputes. It is quite natural that during major wars Russia always found itself drawn into the revision of the Polish-Russian borders. This radically influenced the social, cultural and economic conditions in the surrounding areas, as well as the way of life of the Poles.
"Prison of Nations"
The “national question” of the Russian Empire aroused different, sometimes polar, opinions. Thus, Soviet historical science called the empire nothing more than a “prison of nations,” and Western historians considered it a colonial power.
But from the Russian publicist Ivan Solonevich we find the opposite statement: “Not a single people in Russia was subjected to such treatment as Ireland was subjected to in the times of Cromwell and the times of Gladstone. With very few exceptions, all nationalities in the country were completely equal before the law."
Russia has always been a multi-ethnic state: its expansion gradually led to the fact that the already heterogeneous composition of Russian society began to be diluted by representatives of different nations. This also applied to the imperial elite, which was noticeably replenished with immigrants from European countries who came to Russia “to pursue happiness and rank.”
For example, an analysis of the lists of the “Rank” of the late 17th century shows that in the boyar corps there were 24.3% of people of Polish and Lithuanian origin. However, the overwhelming majority of “Russian foreigners” lost their national identity, dissolving into Russian society.
"Kingdom of Poland"
Having joined Russia as a result of the Patriotic War of 1812, the “Kingdom of Poland” (since 1887 - “Vistula region”) had a dual position. On the one hand, after the division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, although it was a completely new geopolitical entity, it still retained ethnocultural and religious connections with its predecessor.
On the other hand, national self-awareness grew here and the sprouts of statehood emerged, which could not but affect the relationship between the Poles and the central government.
After joining the Russian Empire, changes were undoubtedly expected in the “Kingdom of Poland”. There were changes, but they were not always perceived unambiguously. During Poland's entry into Russia, five emperors changed, and each had his own view of the westernmost Russian province.
If Alexander I was known as a “polonophile,” then Nicholas I built a much more sober and tough policy towards Poland. However, one cannot deny his desire, in the words of the emperor himself, “to be as good a Pole as a good Russian.”
Russian historiography generally has a positive assessment of the results of Poland’s century-long entry into the empire. Perhaps it was Russia’s balanced policy towards its western neighbor that helped create a unique situation in which Poland, although not an independent territory, retained its state and national identity for a hundred years.
Hopes and disappointments
One of the first measures introduced by the Russian government was the abolition of the “Napoleonic Code” and its replacement with the Polish Code, which, among other measures, allocated land to peasants and intended to improve the financial situation of the poor. The Polish Sejm passed the new bill, but refused to ban civil marriage, which provides freedom.
This clearly showed the Poles' orientation toward Western values. There was someone to take as an example. Thus, in the Grand Duchy of Finland, by the time the Kingdom of Poland became part of Russia, serfdom had been abolished. Enlightened and liberal Europe was closer to Poland than “peasant” Russia.
After the “Alexander freedoms” the time came for the “Nikolaev reaction”. In the Polish province, almost all office work is translated into Russian, or into French for those who did not speak Russian. Confiscated estates are distributed to persons of Russian origin, and all senior official positions are also filled by Russians.
Nicholas I, who visited Warsaw in 1835, senses a brewing protest in Polish society, and therefore forbids the deputation to express loyal feelings, “in order to protect them from lies.”
The tone of the emperor’s speech is striking in its uncompromisingness: “I need deeds, not words. If you persist in your dreams of national isolation, the independence of Poland and similar fantasies, you will bring upon yourself the greatest misfortune... I tell you that at the slightest disturbance I will order the city to be shot, I will turn Warsaw into ruins and, of course, I will not I’ll rebuild it.”
Polish revolt
Sooner or later, empires will be replaced by national-type states. This problem also affected the Polish province, in which, in the wake of the growth of national consciousness, political movements that have no equal among other provinces of Russia are gaining strength.
The idea of national isolation, right up to the restoration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth within its former boundaries, embraced ever wider sections of the masses. The driving force behind the protest was the student body, which was supported by workers, soldiers, and various sections of Polish society. Later, some landowners and nobles joined the liberation movement.
The main demands made by the rebels were agrarian reforms, democratization of society and ultimately the independence of Poland.
But for the Russian state it was a dangerous challenge. The Russian government responded sharply and harshly to the Polish uprisings of 1830-1831 and 1863-1864. The suppression of the riots turned out to be bloody, but there was no excessive harshness, which Soviet historians wrote about. They preferred to send the rebels to remote Russian provinces.
The uprisings forced the government to take a number of countermeasures. In 1832, the Polish Sejm was liquidated and the Polish army was disbanded. In 1864, restrictions were introduced on the use of the Polish language and the movement of the male population. To a lesser extent, the results of the uprisings affected the local bureaucracy, although among the revolutionaries were the children of high-ranking officials. The period after 1864 was marked by an increase in “Russophobia” in Polish society.
From dissatisfaction to benefits
Poland, despite the restrictions and infringements of freedoms, received certain benefits from belonging to the empire. Thus, during the reigns of Alexander II and Alexander III, Poles began to be appointed to leadership positions more often. In some counties their number reached 80%. The Poles had no less opportunity for advancement in the civil service than the Russians.
Even more privileges were given to Polish aristocrats, who automatically received high ranks. Many of them oversaw the banking sector. Profitable positions in St. Petersburg and Moscow were available to the Polish nobility, and they also had the opportunity to open their own business.
It should be noted that in general the Polish province had more privileges than other regions of the empire. Thus, in 1907, at a meeting of the State Duma of the 3rd convocation, it was announced that in various Russian provinces taxation reaches 1.26%, and in the largest industrial centers of Poland - Warsaw and Lodz it does not exceed 1.04%.
It is interesting that the Privislinsky region received 1 ruble 14 kopecks back in the form of subsidies for every ruble donated to the state treasury. For comparison, the Central Black Earth Region received only 74 kopecks.
The government spent a lot on education in the Polish province - from 51 to 57 kopecks per person, and, for example, in Central Russia this amount did not exceed 10 kopecks. Thanks to this policy, from 1861 to 1897 the number of literate people in Poland increased 4 times, reaching 35%, although in the rest of Russia this figure fluctuated around 19%.
At the end of the 19th century, Russia embarked on the path of industrialization, supported by solid Western investments. Polish officials also received dividends from this, participating in railway transportation between Russia and Germany. As a result, a huge number of banks appeared in large Polish cities.
Tragic for Russia, 1917 ended the history of “Russian Poland”, giving the Poles the opportunity to establish their own statehood. What Nicholas II promised came true. Poland gained freedom, but the union with Russia so desired by the emperor did not work out.
Krakow. Woolen warehouses (north side). 1876
1) The Polish constitution was promulgated on June 20, 1815 ( 17 days after joining the Russian Empire), and came into force in 1816. At the same time, the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Poland were sworn to allegiance to the Russian sovereign.
2) In 1817, state peasants were freed from many medieval duties, and in 1820, corvee ( forced labor of a dependent peasant) began to be replaced by quitrent ( Danto the landowner in the form of food or money).
Castle in Krakow. Second half of the 19th century
3) A few years after the creation of the Kingdom of Poland, a secret revolutionary organization “National Patriotic Partnership” was formed on its territory, whose members wanted to carry out a revolution in Russia. However, in May 1822, the main leaders of the Partnership were arrested and subjected to severe punishment.
4) During the reign of Alexander I, the Kingdom of Poland developed noticeably economically and culturally. Progress was noted in all areas of economic life: agriculture, industry and trade. The deficit disappeared, a reserve of several tens of millions of zlotys accumulated in the treasury, officials and troops began to receive their salaries on time. The country's population has increased to 4.5 million.
Warsaw. Alexandria-Mariinsky Girls' Institute. Second half of the 19th century.
5) In 1829, Nicholas I was solemnly crowned King of Poland in Warsaw, and already in 1830-1831 there was an uprising that brought about profound changes. A significant number of politically active Poles were expelled from the Kingdom of Poland and settled in the provinces of the Russian Empire.
6) In 1833, French, German and Italian Carbonari decided to create revolutionary movements in their countries and many Polish emigrants joined Carbonari societies. It was decided to undertake a partisan raid into the Kingdom of Poland in order to raise an uprising here, but ordinary people were indifferent to them. As a result, the leader of the raid was captured and imprisoned for 20 years in a fortress, and other partisans fell into the hands of Russian soldiers. Some were hanged, others were shot or sent to hard labor.
Warsaw. National Theater building. Second half of the 19th century.
7) The beginning of the reign of Emperor Alexander II was greeted with great enthusiasm. Under him, the former harsh regime was somewhat eased, many political prisoners were released, some emigrants returned, and in June 1857 it was allowed to open the Medical-Surgical Academy in Warsaw, and in November to establish the Agricultural Society, which became important centers of intellectual life. However, the uprising did break out, it was January 1863, and it continued until the late autumn of 1864, and ended with the execution of the most active participants and mass expulsions of the rebels.
8) Since 1871, the publication of the “Diary of Laws of Ts. Polish” was suspended, and imperial rules for the promulgation of legislative decrees began to apply to the country. Mandatory use of the Russian language has been introduced in administration, legal proceedings and teaching.
Warsaw. View from the lighthouse of the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Second half of the 19th century.
9) Until the 1860s, the name “Kingdom of Poland” was more often used in legislation, and “Poland” was rarely used. In the 1860s, these names began to be replaced by the phrases “provinces of the Kingdom of Poland” and “provinces of the Privislensky”. On March 5, 1870, it was intended to call Russian Poland “provinces of the Kingdom of Poland,” but in a number of articles of the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire the name “Kingdom of Poland” was retained. Since 1887, the most used phrases have been “provinces of the Vistula region”, “Privislinsky provinces” and “Privislinsky region”, and in January 1897 Nicholas II issued an order by which the use of the names “Kingdom of Poland” and “provinces of the Kingdom of Poland” was limited to cases of extreme necessity, although these names were never removed from the Code of Laws.
10) The First World War created a situation in which Poles, Russian subjects, fought against Poles who served in the Austro-Hungarian and German armies.
Yanowiec. Lock. Second half of the 19th century.
11) In 1915, the Kingdom of Poland came under German-Austrian occupation. In its place, the occupiers proclaimed the short-lived puppet Kingdom of Poland on November 5, 1916. This entity was not recognized by anyone except the Central Powers that occupied it.
12) The October Revolution of 1917 in Russia and the defeat of the German Empire and Austria-Hungary in the First World War led to the final disappearance of the Kingdom of Poland and the creation of an independent Polish state.
The Kingdom of Poland (Polish: Królestwo Polskie) is a territory in Europe that was in union with the Russian Empire from 1815 to 1915.
The part of Poland included in the Russian Empire did not have a single name. Until the 1860s, the name “Kingdom of Poland” was more often used in legislation, and “Poland” was rarely used. In the 1860s, these names began to be replaced by the phrases “provinces of the Kingdom of Poland” and “provinces of the Privislensky”. On March 5, 1870, by order of Alexander II, it was intended to call Russian Poland “provinces of the Kingdom of Poland,” but in a number of articles of the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire the name “Kingdom of Poland” was retained. Since 1887, the most used phrases have been “provinces of the Vistula region”, “Privislinsky provinces” and “Privislinsky region”, and in January 1897 Nicholas II issued an order by which the use of the names “Kingdom of Poland” and “provinces of the Kingdom of Poland” was limited cases of extreme necessity, although these names were never removed from the Code of Laws.
The Poles ironically called the Kingdom of Poland “Kongresówka” (Polish: Kongresówka, from Królestwo Kongresowe).
The Kingdom of Poland occupied the central part of Poland: Warsaw, Lodz, Kalisz, Czestochowa, Lublin, Suwalki. Area 127 thousand km².Reign of Alexander I
Pursuing Napoleon's retreating troops, the Russian army occupied almost the entire Grand Duchy of Warsaw at the end of February 1813. Krakow, Thorn, Czestochowa, Zamosc and Modlin surrendered a little later. Thus, the state created by Napoleon actually found itself in the hands of Russia, but its fate still depended on the relationship between the powers. This state was going through difficult times. Requisitions for the needs of the occupying army of 380,000 people exhausted it. Emperor Alexander I established a temporary supreme council to manage the affairs of the duchy, headed by Governor-General V. S. Lansky. Command of the army was entrusted to Field Marshal Barclay de Tolly. Polish affairs were concentrated in the hands of Count Arakcheev, which sufficiently determines the general nature of government.
Despite the promised amnesty and contrary to the wishes of the Governor-General, citizens were arrested and deported only on the basis of denunciations. At the beginning of 1814, Polish society was revived by the hope that its lot would improve. The emperor eased the billets, cut taxes, and allowed the formation of a corps of Polish soldiers under the command of General Dombrowski. The organization of the army was led by Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. Later, the emperor formed a civil committee that proposed replacing the Napoleonic Code with a new Polish code, giving the peasants land and improving finances.
Meanwhile, at the Congress of Vienna, which was reworking the map of Europe in a new way, the duchy gave rise to strife that almost turned into a new war. Alexander I wanted to annex the entire Duchy of Warsaw and even other lands that were once part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to his empire. Austria saw this as a danger to itself. On January 3, 1815, a secret alliance was concluded between Austria, England and France to counteract Russia and Prussia, which had become closer to each other. The Russian emperor compromised: he abandoned Krakow in favor of Austria, and Thorn and Poznan in favor of Prussia. Most of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was annexed “for eternity” to the Russian Empire under the name of the Kingdom of Poland (May 3, 1815), which received a constitutional structure. The Polish constitution was promulgated on June 20. At the same time, the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Poland were sworn to allegiance to the Russian sovereign.
The Constitution came into force in 1816. The emperor appointed General Zayonchek, who was very helpful to Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, as governor. Count Novosiltsev became the Imperial Commissar.
In 1816, the University of Warsaw was established, higher schools were founded: military, polytechnic, forestry, mining, the Institute of Folk Teachers, and the number of secondary and primary schools was increased. Two centers located outside the Kingdom of Poland had a strong influence on intellectual life: Vilna University and the Kremenets Lyceum. The greatest poet of Poland, Adam Mickiewicz, studied at Vilna University, and the historian Lelewel also taught there. Enlightenment developed despite obstacles.Minister of Education Stanislaw Potocki, who ridiculed obscurantism in the allegorical story “Journey to Darkness” (Podróż do Ciemnogrodu), was forced to resign. Strict supervision was established over educational institutions, books and periodicals were subject to severe censorship.
In 1817, state peasants were freed from many medieval duties. In 1820, corvee began to be replaced by quitrent.
At first there was complete harmony between the emperor and the Kingdom of Poland he created thanks to the liberal sentiments of the sovereign. With the strengthening of reactionary currents, the above-mentioned harmony was upset. In the country itself, some were ready to come to terms with what they had, while others dreamed of restoring the Polish state within its former boundaries. On March 5 (17), 1818, the Emperor opened the Sejm in Warsaw with a significant speech:
“The previous organization of the country enabled me to introduce that which I bestowed upon you, bringing into operation the liberal institutions. These latter have always been the subject of my concerns, and I hope to spread, with God's help, their beneficial influence to all the countries that providence has been given to me to govern. »
The Sejm adopted all government bills except the abolition of civil marriage, introduced in Poland by the Napoleonic Code. The Emperor was pleased, as he expressed in his final speech, raising hopes among the Poles for the fulfillment of their patriotic dreams:
“Poles, I remain with my previous intentions; they are familiar to you. »
The Emperor hinted at his desire to extend the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland to the Russian-Lithuanian regions.When, according to the constitution, the second Diet was convened in 1820, the emperor opened it again, but his speech already contained warnings about the dangers of liberalism. Under the influence of the opposition, the Sejm rejected the government bill on the grounds that it abolished the publicity of legal proceedings, abolished jury trials and violated the principle “no one will be arrested without a court decision.”
The opposition angered Alexander, which he expressed in his final speech, noting that the Poles themselves were hindering the restoration of their homeland. The emperor even wanted to abolish the constitution, but limited himself to threats. Contrary to the constitution, which established the convening of Sejms every two years, the third Sejm was convened only in 1825. Previously, an additional article to the constitution was published, abolishing the publicity of Sejm meetings, and the leader of the opposition, Vikenty Nemojovsky, was arrested. To control the activities of the Sejm, special officials were appointed who were required to attend meetings. The projects proposed by the government were accepted by the Seimas. The Emperor expressed his satisfaction.
Simultaneously with the legal opposition, there was also a secret, revolutionary one. A secret organization “National Patriotic Partnership” arose. In May 1822, the main leaders of the Partnership were arrested and subjected to severe punishment. Nevertheless, the Partnership continued its activities and even entered into relations with the Decembrists. The latter's attempt to carry out a revolution in Russia also revealed the activities of Polish revolutionaries. According to the constitution, they were tried by the Sejm Court, which limited itself to mild punishments. Emperor Nicholas I expressed his displeasure at the verdict.Economically and culturally, the Kingdom of Poland developed noticeably in 1815-1830. The exhaustion of forces disappeared thanks to a long peace and a number of remarkable figures - the ministers of finance Matuszewicz and Prince Drutsky-Lubecki and the famous writer Staszic, who was in charge of industrial affairs. Progress was noted in all areas of economic life: agriculture, industry and trade. The energetic Minister of Finance Lyubetsky, through a series of measures, sometimes drastic, sometimes repressive, put finances in order. The deficit disappeared, a reserve of several tens of millions of zlotys accumulated in the treasury, officials and troops began to receive their salaries on time. The country's population has increased to 4.5 million.
At the same time, members of secret societies spread democratic ideas. In literature, voices were loudly heard against serfdom, which was harmful to both the economy and public morality.The reign of Nicholas I and the Polish uprising of 1830-31.
In 1829, Nicholas I was solemnly crowned King of Poland in Warsaw and swore an oath to fulfill the constitution, but left the petition submitted to cancel the additional article to the constitution unanswered. The Sejm was convened only in 1830. The project to abolish civil marriage was again rejected almost unanimously, despite the clear will of the emperor. The opposition submitted a number of petitions to the government: to ease censorship restrictions, to abolish the additional article, and to release the leader of the opposition from arrest. This course of action by the Sejm greatly angered the sovereign.
Kingdom of Poland in 1831
In 1830-1831 there was an uprising that brought about profound changes. A significant number of politically active Poles were expelled from the Kingdom of Poland and settled in the provinces of the Russian Empire. Extensive power, along with the title of Prince of Warsaw and the post of governor, was awarded to Count Paskevich. To help him, a provisional government was established, consisting of four departments: justice, finance, internal affairs and police, education and confessions. The powers of the provisional government ceased with the promulgation of the Organic Statute (February 26, 1832), which abolished the coronation of emperors by Polish kings, the special Polish army and the Sejm and declared the Kingdom of Poland an organic part of the Russian Empire. The preserved administrative council presented candidates for spiritual and civil positions to the sovereign. The State Council drew up the budget and considered disputes that arose between administrative and judicial authorities, and held officials accountable for malfeasance. Three commissions were established - to manage: 1) internal affairs and educational affairs; 2) by court; 3) finances. Instead of the Sejm, it was planned to establish an assembly of provincial officials with an advisory voice. Legislative power belonged undividedly to the Emperor.The organic statute was not enforced. The meeting of provincial officials, as well as the gentry and commune meetings, remained only in the draft. The State Council was abolished (1841). Voivodships were transformed into provinces (1837). The Russian language was introduced into the office work of the administrative council and the office of the governor, with permission to use French for those who did not speak Russian. The confiscated estates were granted to the Russians; The highest government positions in the region were filled by Russians. In 1832, the Polish currency zloty was replaced by the Russian ruble, and the Russian imperial system of measures was introduced to replace the metric one. Also this year, the Alexander Citadel in Warsaw was founded. The Emperor came to inspect these fortresses, but visited Warsaw only in 1835. He did not allow the delegation from ordinary people to express loyal feelings, noting that he wanted to protect them from lies:
“I need actions, not words. If you persist in your dreams of national isolation, the independence of Poland and similar fantasies, you will bring upon yourself the greatest misfortune. I have built a citadel here. I tell you that at the slightest disturbance I will order the city to be shot, I will turn Warsaw into ruins and, of course, I will not rebuild it. »The Warsaw Scientific Society was abolished, its library and museums were transferred to St. Petersburg. Warsaw and Vilna universities and the Kremenets Lyceum were closed. Instead of a university, it was allowed to open additional courses in pedagogy and jurisprudence at the gymnasium (1840), but they were soon closed. Teaching in secondary schools was conducted in Russian. The government also paid attention to the education of young women, as future mothers, on whom the upbringing of subsequent generations depends. For this purpose, the Alexandria Institute was established in Warsaw. Tuition fees in gymnasiums were increased and the admission of children of non-noble or non-official origin was prohibited.
In 1833, the Warsaw Orthodox Bishopric was established, which in 1840 was transformed into an archbishopric. The Catholic clergy was subject to strict supervision: they were prohibited from holding local synods, organizing jubilee celebrations, and founding temperance societies. In 1839, the property of the Polish Catholic Church was secularized, the local Greek Catholic Church, after a congress in Polotsk, dissolved itself and officially became subordinate to the Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate. Following the abolition of the University of Warsaw, a Roman Catholic Theological Academy was established in Warsaw, which was under the control of the Internal Affairs Commission, which generally monitored the activities of the Catholic clergy. The government wanted to subordinate the spiritual affairs of the Catholic population in the Kingdom of Poland to the St. Petersburg Roman Catholic Collegium, which was in charge of the spiritual affairs of Catholics in the rest of the empire, but due to resistance from Rome it abandoned this. The mental life of the country was in stagnation, sometimes disrupted only by revolutionary propaganda, the centers of which were concentrated among the Polish emigration, mainly in France.
In 1833, the French, German and Italian Carbonari decided to create revolutionary movements in their countries. Many Polish emigrants joined Carbonari societies. It was decided to undertake a partisan raid into the Kingdom of Poland in order to raise an uprising here. The commander of the raid was Jozef Zalivsky. The partisans barely penetrated the Kingdom of Poland to call upon the common people to revolt, but the common people were indifferent to them. Pursued by the Cossacks, Zalivsky fled to Austria, was arrested there and imprisoned for 20 years in a fortress. Other partisans fell into the hands of Russian soldiers. Some were hanged, others were shot or sent to hard labor. The failure of Zalivski's raid led Polish democrats to the conviction that revolutionary propaganda was necessary.
The new “Society of the Polish People” tried to cover all the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with its activities, sending envoys to Lithuania, Volyn, Ukraine and the Kingdom of Poland. In May 1838, the main emissary Konarsky was arrested near Vilna, which led to other arrests. Even several high school students were sent to hard labor. These harsh measures did not dampen the enthusiasm of the Polish revolutionaries. They were led by the “Democratic Society”, which professed not only democratic ideas, but also socialist ones. Under his influence, Father Szegenny organized a secret society among peasants in the south of the Kingdom of Poland with the goal of founding a Polish peasant republic; betrayed by one of his own, he was arrested and sentenced to hang, but was pardoned and sent to hard labor. Many peasants who participated in the conspiracy had to follow him to Siberia (1844).
In 1846, the board decided that the country was ready for an uprising. The movement that began in Galicia ended in the most deplorable way. Ukrainian peasants not only did not join the movement, but, encouraged by Austrian officials, carried out a terrible massacre among the Polish nobles. In the Kingdom of Poland, the nobleman Pantaleon Potocki with a small detachment captured the city of Sedlec (in February 1846), but was soon captured and hanged. The rebels were sent to Siberia.Russia, Prussia and Austria took action against the Poles. With the consent of Russia and Prussia, Austria occupied the Free City of Krakow with its troops. In addition, the Russian and Austrian governments paid attention to the situation of the peasants who were under the rule of the Polish nobles. In June 1846, it was forbidden to arbitrarily remove peasants from the land, reduce their allotments, and annex the wastelands left behind by the peasants to the estates. In November 1846, many duties that fell on the peasants were abolished. At the same time, the government took measures aimed at closer inclusion of the Kingdom of Poland into the empire. In 1847, a new set of punishments was published for him, which was an almost literal translation of the Russian Code of Punishments of 1845.
The revolution of 1848 greatly agitated the Poles: they raised uprisings in the Duchy of Poznań and Galicia. Mickiewicz formed the Polish Legion, which took part in the Italian revolutionary movement; Polish generals, officers and ordinary volunteers fought for the independence of Hungary. The secret society in the Kingdom of Poland abandoned its intentions after learning about the suppression of the revolution in Poznan. The conspiracy was discovered (1850), the conspirators were subjected to corporal punishment and exile to hard labor. The government of Louis Napoleon expelled the leaders of the Polish Democratic Society from Paris. They were forced to retire to London, and their influence on Poland almost completely ceased.
The Crimean War again revived the hopes of patriots. Calls for an uprising in Poland were unsuccessful. It was decided to form Polish legions in the theater of operations to fight Russia. This plan was also supported by the conservative Polish emigration led by Prince Adam Czartoryski. By the way, Mickiewicz went to Constantinople. The efforts of the Polish patriots ended in almost nothing. The Polish writer Mikhail Tchaikovsky, who converted to Mohammedanism (Sadyk Pasha), recruited, however, a detachment of the so-called Sultan's Cossacks, but it consisted of Armenians, Bulgarians, Gypsies and Turks, and besides, he did not take part in hostilities, because the war was over . A handful of Poles acted in the Caucasus against Russian troops, helping the Circassians. Meanwhile, Emperor Nicholas I died, and about a year later, so did the governor of the Kingdom of Poland, Prince Paskevich.Reign of Alexander II and subsequent reigns
In May 1856, Emperor Alexander II arrived in Warsaw and was greeted with great enthusiasm. In a speech delivered to the deputation of ordinary people, the sovereign warned the Poles against daydreaming:
“Away with fantasies, gentlemen! (Point de reveries, messieurs!) Everything my father did was well done. My reign will be a further continuation of his reign. »
Soon, however, the former harsh regime was somewhat eased. The Emperor allowed some of Mickiewicz's works to be printed. Censorship stopped persecuting the works of Słowacki, Krasiński and Lelewel. Many political prisoners were released. Some emigrants have returned. In June 1857, it was authorized to open the Medical-Surgical Academy in Warsaw, and in November, to establish the Agricultural Society, which became important centers of intellectual life.
The political mood of the Poles was strongly influenced by the unification of Italy and liberal reforms in Austria. Young people who read Herzen and Bakunin believed that Russia was on the eve of revolution. Both moderates and radicals hoped for help from Napoleon III, who wanted to see the idea of nationality as a guiding international principle. The radicals began to organize demonstrations on every glorious occasion from Polish history.
A grandiose demonstration took place on November 29, 1860, on the anniversary of the November Uprising of 1830. On February 27, 1861, troops fired into the crowd and killed 5 people. The governor, Prince Gorchakov, agreed to satisfy the complaints, promised to remove Chief of Police Trepov, and allowed the establishment of a committee to govern Warsaw.
Kingdom of Poland in 1861
The government agreed to a number of reforms in the spirit of autonomy. By decree of March 26, 1861, the State Council was restored, provincial, district and city councils were formed, it was decided to open higher educational institutions and transform secondary schools. Marquis Alexander Wielopolsky, appointed assistant to the governor, irritated the gentry by closing the Agricultural Society, which caused a grandiose demonstration (April 8, 1861), which resulted in about 200 killed. The revolutionary mood grew, and Wielopolsky began to energetically implement reforms: he abolished serfdom, replaced corvee with quitrent, equalized the rights of Jews, increased the number of schools, improved the teaching system and established a university in Warsaw.
On May 30, 1861, the governor, Prince Gorchakov, died; his successors did not sympathize with the activities of the marquis. On the anniversary of the death of Tadeusz Kosciuszko (November 15), the churches were filled with worshipers singing patriotic hymns. Governor General Gershtenzweig declared a state of siege and moved troops into the temples. Blood was spilled. The clergy considered this sacrilege and closed the churches.
Wielopolsky resigned. The Emperor accepted her, ordering him to remain a member of the State Council. The Emperor appointed his brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, as viceroy, giving him Wielopolsky as an assistant in civil affairs and Baron Ramsay in military affairs. The Kingdom of Poland was granted complete autonomy.
The radicals, or “reds,” did not stop their activities, however, and moved from demonstrations to terror. Attempts were made on the life of the Grand Duke. The moderates, or “whites,” did not sympathize with the “reds,” but they also disagreed with Wielopolsky. He wanted to restore the constitution of 1815, while the “moderates” thought about uniting all the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth into one whole with a constitutional structure. The Whites intended to write an address in the highest name, but Wielopolsky opposed. White leader Zamoyski was ordered to emigrate. This finally recoiled the “whites” from Wielopolsky. A revolutionary explosion was approaching, which Wielopolsky decided to prevent with a recruitment drive. The calculation turned out to be bad.
The uprising broke out in January 1863, lasting until the late autumn of 1864 and ending with the execution of the most active participants and mass expulsions of the rebels. In March 1863, Count Berg was appointed commander-in-chief, who, after the departure of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich on September 8, 1863 and the resignation of Wielopolsky, became governor. The management of the police was entrusted to the former police chief, General Trepov. At the beginning of January 1864, a committee for the affairs of the Kingdom of Poland was established in St. Petersburg, chaired by the sovereign himself.
By decree of February 19 (March 2), 1864, Polish peasants received ownership of the arable land that they cultivated. The landowners received compensation from the treasury with so-called liquidation papers according to the assessment of the alienated lands. At the same time, an all-class gmina was established.
Management of the affairs of the Catholic clergy was given to the Internal Affairs Commission, of which Prince Cherkassky was appointed director. All church property was confiscated and almost all monasteries were closed. According to the charter of 1865, the Catholic Church in the Kingdom of Poland was divided into seven dioceses - Plock, Lublin, Sandomierz, Kieleck, Augustow, Kuyavian-Kalisz and Podlaskie; in 1867 the Podlaskie diocese was united with the Lublin diocese. The clergy began to receive salaries from the treasury. Since 1871 it has been subordinated to the Department of Foreign Religions of the Ministry of the Interior. In 1875, the union in the Kingdom of Poland was abolished and a new (Kholm) Orthodox diocese was founded.
Kingdom of Poland in 1896
At the same time, changes were made in the civil administration. In 1866, a charter was issued on provincial and district administration: ten provinces (instead of five) and 84 districts. In 1867, the State Council was abolished; in 1868, the administrative council and government commissions (confessions and education, finance and internal affairs) were abolished. The cases were transferred to the relevant imperial institutions in St. Petersburg. In the spirit of the complete merger of the Kingdom of Poland with the Russian Empire, transformations were also carried out in the field of education. In 1872, the imperial charter on gymnasiums of 1871 was extended to the Kingdom of Poland. An imperial judicial organization was also introduced, with an important exception: the region did not receive a jury trial. Since 1871, the publication of the “Diary of Laws of Ts. Polish” was suspended, because the general imperial rules for the promulgation of legislative decrees began to apply to the country. Mandatory use of the Russian language has been introduced in administration, legal proceedings and teaching. Attempts are being made to translate Polish into Cyrillic. After the death of Count Berg in 1874, Count Kotzebue received the post of head of the region and commander-in-chief of the troops of the Warsaw Military District, with the title of Governor General; then the region was ruled by generals Albedinsky (1880-83), Gurko (1883-94), Count Shuvalov (1894-96), Prince Imeretinsky (1896-1900) and M.I. Chertkov (1900-05).
End of the Kingdom of PolandIn 1912, the Kholmsk province, where a significant number of Ukrainians lived, was separated from the provinces of the Kingdom of Poland.
On August 14, 1914, Nicholas II promised, after victory in the war, to unite the Kingdom of Poland with the Polish lands that would be taken from Germany and Austria-Hungary into an autonomous state within the Russian Empire.
The war created a situation in which Poles, Russian subjects, fought against Poles serving in the Austro-Hungarian and German armies. The pro-Russian National Democratic Party of Poland, led by Roman Dmowski, considered Germany the main enemy of Poland; its supporters considered it necessary to unite all Polish lands under Russian control with the status of autonomy within the Russian Empire. Anti-Russian supporters of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) believed that the path to Polish independence lay through Russia’s defeat in the war. Several years before the outbreak of World War I, PPS leader Józef Pilsudski began military training of Polish youth in Austro-Hungarian Galicia. After the outbreak of war, he formed the Polish legions as part of the Austro-Hungarian army.
During the offensive of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies in the spring and summer of 1915, the Kingdom of Poland found itself under German-Austrian occupation and, being divided between the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, ceased to exist.Another national region that initially had a broad state-legal status was Poland, which received the name of the Kingdom of Poland after the Duchy of Warsaw annexed to Russia.
In the XYIII century, the core of the Polish problem was the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands that were under the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But Russia has not yet set the goal of returning these lands and has even rejected projects for the division of Poland proposed by Austria, Prussia and Sweden. At the same time, in an effort to ensure its influence in the region, Russia actively intervened in the matter of the “Polish inheritance.” In the event of the death of Augustus II, she wanted to see his son on the Polish throne. The second contender for the Polish crown was Stanislaw Leszczynski, father-in-law of the French king Louis XY. Through diplomacy and wars (almost until 1735), Augustus III, a supporter of Russia, became the Polish king.
By decision of the Congress of Vienna, which completed the victory over Napoleon, in 1815, most of the Duchy of Warsaw, created by the French Emperor from Polish lands taken from Prussia, was transferred to Russia and was annexed to the Polish lands that were already part of it. Even earlier, according to the Tilzit Treaty of Alexander I with Napoleon, the Polish Bialystok region ceded to Russia from Prussia.
The Kingdom of Poland was proclaimed on this territory. In 1815, Alexander I approved a Constitutional Charter for Poland - the “Constituent Charter”, according to which autonomy was introduced in Poland and the status of a kingdom was given. Alexander I even swore allegiance to the “Constituent Charter”, and the Russian Emperor simultaneously became the Polish king. The presence of the Constitution in Poland created a peculiar situation when the autocratic monarch in the empire became limited in its part. During the absence of the Tsar in Poland, he was represented by a viceroy (Pole).
According to modern Polish researchers, the status of Poland within the Russian Empire after 1815 can be defined as a personal union.
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland was more liberal than the Constitution of the Duchy of Warsaw, granted to it by Napoleon. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland was generally the most liberal of the constitutions of Europe at that time.
In Central Europe, Poland was the only state that had a parliament elected directly by all social classes, although with little participation from the peasants. In 1818 he began to be elected legislative Seimas . The Sejm consisted of two chambers: the Senate and the Ambassadorial Hut of 128 deputies elected locally.
The Senate was made up of representatives of the nobility, appointed for life by the tsar, the embassy chamber (“hut”) was made up of the gentry and representatives of the communities (gliny). Deputies were elected at voivodeship sejmiks, in which only the gentry participated. The Diet convened in 1820 and 1825. The Diet discussed bills submitted to it on behalf of the emperor and king, or the Council of State. The Sejm did not have the legislative initiative (the State Council did), it could only accept or reject bills. The predominance of the nobility was ensured in representative bodies.
Under Alexander I, the Sejm was convened three times - in 1818, 1820 and 1825, and even then a conflict emerged between the constitutional institutions of Poland and the autocratic power.
During the absence of the Tsar in Poland, he was represented by a viceroy (Pole). The Sejm did not enjoy the right of legislative initiative (the State Council had it); it could only accept or reject bills. The predominance of the nobility was ensured in representative bodies.
Executive branch concentrated in her hands viceroy of the king , under him acted as an advisory body State Council . Poland began to be governed by administrative council headed by the viceroy of the emperor and 5 ministries: military, justice, internal affairs and police, education and religion. It was the highest executive body controlled by the governor.
The judiciary was separated from the administration. The irremovability of judges was proclaimed and city self-government was established. The territory of the Kingdom of Poland was divided into 8 voivodeships, which enjoyed self-government.
Freedom of the press was proclaimed.
The Kingdom of Poland retained its own army, Polish was the official state language, and government bodies were formed, as a rule, from Poles. There was a coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland, and the Catholic religion was declared to enjoy “special government protection.” The civil legislation introduced in the Duchy of Warsaw in 1808, modeled on the Napoleonic Code, has been preserved. Freedom of the press was proclaimed.
The provision of a constitution to the Kingdom of Poland, as well as other benefits, was a kind of consolation for the Poles who had lost their independent state. For Russia, the inclusion of a new region in the empire turned out to be a source of concern; throughout the 19th and even 20th centuries. At the same time, one can hardly agree with the opinion of some authors that for Russia the annexation of such an economically developed region at that time had no economic significance.
Even such broad rights that the Kingdom of Poland received did not suit, however, a certain part of the Poles, mainly the gentry. She dreamed of restoring an independent Poland, moreover, within the borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, that is, with the inclusion of Lithuanian, Belarusian and Ukrainian lands in its territory.
This was the main reason for the uprising of 1830–1831. However, the uprising led to the loss of existing liberties. After the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1830, it was published by Nicholas I (1832). They began to determine the legal status of the region. The “Organic Statute”, which abolished many liberal privileges for territories with a Polish population: abolished the Polish constitution, and Poland was declared an integral part of the empire. The Polish crown became hereditary in the Russian imperial house.
The Sejm was abolished, and meetings of provincial officials began to be convened to discuss the most important issues.
In March 1832, a special governorship was formed there, headed by General I.F. Paskevich. He was endowed with dictatorial powers. In 1837, Polish voivodeships were transformed into provinces, and office work was translated into Russian. From a state, the Kingdom of Poland turned into a province.
To manage the courts in Warsaw, two departments of the Imperial Senate were created. The entire educational system came under the control of the Ministry of Public Education. Since 1839, Russian programs were introduced in gymnasiums, and the Russian language became compulsory in schools. Warsaw and Vilna universities were closed.
All this caused discontent on the part of the Poles and created conditions for new mass protests. The governorship in the Polish lands lasted until 1874, then the Warsaw General Government was established there, and the entire territory began to be officially called the Privislensky region.
Finland, Poland and other western regions of the empire, being included in it, nevertheless did not become colonies of Russia. In terms of their economic development, they were on a par with Central Russia, and their economy continued to develop successfully as part of the empire.
Finland, Poland and other western regions of the empire, being included in it, nevertheless did not become colonies of Russia. In terms of their economic development, they were on a par with Central Russia, and their economy continued to develop successfully as part of the empire. The resettlement did not go to the newly annexed territories from the metropolis, but just the opposite - from the Baltic states and Belarus to the east, deep into Russia. The western regions of the empire became not a source of raw materials, but, on the contrary, the industrial base of the country.
POLAND. HISTORY since 1772
Partitions of Poland. First section. At the height of the Russian-Turkish War of 1768-1774, Prussia, Russia and Austria carried out the first partition of Poland. It was produced in 1772 and ratified by the Sejm under pressure from the occupiers in 1773. Poland ceded to Austria part of Pomerania and Kuyavia (excluding Gdansk and Torun) to Prussia; Galicia, Western Podolia and part of Lesser Poland; eastern Belarus and all lands north of the Western Dvina and east of the Dnieper went to Russia. The victors established a new constitution for Poland, which retained the "liberum veto" and an elective monarchy, and created a State Council of 36 elected members of the Sejm. The division of the country awakened a social movement for reform and national revival. In 1773, the Jesuit Order was dissolved and a commission on public education was created, the purpose of which was to reorganize the system of schools and colleges. The four-year Sejm (1788-1792), headed by enlightened patriots Stanislav Malachovsky, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kollontai, adopted a new constitution on May 3, 1791. Under this constitution, Poland became a hereditary monarchy with a ministerial executive system and a parliament elected every two years. The principle of "liberum veto" and other harmful practices were abolished; cities received administrative and judicial autonomy, as well as representation in parliament; peasants, the power of the gentry over whom remained, were considered as a class under state protection; measures were taken to prepare for the abolition of serfdom and the organization of a regular army. The normal work of parliament and reforms became possible only because Russia was involved in a protracted war with Sweden, and Turkey supported Poland. However, the magnates who formed the Targowitz Confederation opposed the constitution, at the call of which Russian and Prussian troops entered Poland.
Second and third sections. On January 23, 1793, Prussia and Russia carried out the second partition of Poland. Prussia captured Gdansk, Torun, Greater Poland and Mazovia, and Russia captured most of Lithuania and Belarus, almost all of Volyn and Podolia. The Poles fought but were defeated, the reforms of the Four Year Diet were repealed, and the rest of Poland became a puppet state. In 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko led a massive popular uprising that ended in defeat. The third partition of Poland, in which Austria participated, was carried out on October 24, 1795; after that, Poland as an independent state disappeared from the map of Europe.
Foreign rule. Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Although the Polish state ceased to exist, the Poles did not give up hope of restoring their independence. Each new generation fought, either by joining the opponents of the powers that divided Poland, or by starting uprisings. As soon as Napoleon I began his military campaigns against monarchical Europe, Polish legions were formed in France. Having defeated Prussia, Napoleon created in 1807 the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (1807-1815) from the territories captured by Prussia during the second and third partitions. Two years later, the territories that became part of Austria after the third partition were added to it. Miniature Poland, politically dependent on France, had a territory of 160 thousand square meters. km and 4350 thousand inhabitants. The creation of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was considered by the Poles as the beginning of their complete liberation.
Territory that was part of Russia. After Napoleon's defeat, the Congress of Vienna (1815) approved the divisions of Poland with the following changes: Krakow was declared a free city-republic under the auspices of the three powers that divided Poland (1815-1848); the western part of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was transferred to Prussia and became known as the Grand Duchy of Poznan (1815-1846); its other part was declared a monarchy (the so-called Kingdom of Poland) and annexed to the Russian Empire. In November 1830, the Poles rebelled against Russia, but were defeated. Emperor Nicholas I abolished the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland and began repression. In 1846 and 1848 the Poles tried to organize uprisings, but failed. In 1863, a second uprising broke out against Russia, and after two years of partisan warfare, the Poles were again defeated. With the development of capitalism in Russia, the Russification of Polish society intensified. The situation improved somewhat after the 1905 revolution in Russia. Polish deputies sat in all four Russian Dumas (1905-1917), seeking autonomy for Poland.
Territories controlled by Prussia. In the territory under Prussian rule, intensive Germanization of the former Polish regions was carried out, the farms of Polish peasants were expropriated, and Polish schools were closed. Russia helped Prussia suppress the Poznań uprising of 1848. In 1863, both powers concluded the Alvensleben Convention on mutual assistance in the fight against the Polish national movement. Despite all the efforts of the authorities, at the end of the 19th century. the Poles of Prussia still represented a strong, organized national community.
Polish lands within Austria. In the Austrian Polish lands the situation was somewhat better. After the Krakow Uprising of 1846, the regime was liberalized and Galicia received administrative local control; schools, institutions and courts used Polish; Jagiellonian (in Krakow) and Lviv universities became all-Polish cultural centers; by the beginning of the 20th century. Polish political parties emerged (National Democratic, Polish Socialist and Peasant). In all three parts of divided Poland, Polish society actively opposed assimilation. The preservation of the Polish language and Polish culture became the main task of the struggle waged by the intelligentsia, primarily poets and writers, as well as the clergy of the Catholic Church.
First World War. New opportunities to achieve independence. The First World War divided the powers that liquidated Poland: Russia fought with Germany and Austria-Hungary. This situation opened up life-changing opportunities for the Poles, but also created new difficulties. First, the Poles had to fight in opposing armies; secondly, Poland became the arena of battles between the warring powers; thirdly, disagreements between Polish political groups intensified. Conservative national democrats led by Roman Dmowski (1864-1939) considered Germany the main enemy and wanted the Entente to win. Their goal was to unite all Polish lands under Russian control and obtain autonomy status. Radical elements led by the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), on the contrary, viewed the defeat of Russia as the most important condition for achieving Polish independence. They believed that the Poles should create their own armed forces. A few years before the outbreak of World War I, Józef Piłsudski (1867-1935), the radical leader of this group, began military training for Polish youth in Galicia. During the war he formed the Polish legions and fought on the side of Austria-Hungary.
Polish question. On August 14, 1914, Nicholas I, in an official declaration, promised after the war to unite the three parts of Poland into an autonomous state within the Russian Empire. However, in the fall of 1915, most of Russian Poland was occupied by Germany and Austria-Hungary, and on November 5, 1916, the monarchs of the two powers announced a manifesto on the creation of an independent Polish Kingdom in the Russian part of Poland. On March 30, 1917, after the February Revolution in Russia, the Provisional Government of Prince Lvov recognized Poland's right to self-determination. On July 22, 1917, Pilsudski, who fought on the side of the Central Powers, was interned, and his legions were disbanded for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the emperors of Austria-Hungary and Germany. In France, with the support of the Entente powers, the Polish National Committee (PNC) was created in August 1917, led by Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski; The Polish army was also formed with commander-in-chief Józef Haller. On January 8, 1918, US President Wilson demanded the creation of an independent Polish state with access to the Baltic Sea. In June 1918, Poland was officially recognized as a country fighting on the side of the Entente. On October 6, during the period of disintegration and collapse of the Central Powers, the Council of Regency of Poland announced the creation of an independent Polish state, and on November 14 transferred full power to Pilsudski in the country. By this time, Germany had already capitulated, Austria-Hungary had collapsed, and there was a civil war in Russia.
Formation of the state. The new country faced great difficulties. Cities and villages lay in ruins; there were no connections in the economy, which had been developing for a long time within three different states; Poland had neither its own currency nor government institutions; finally, its borders were not defined and agreed upon with its neighbors. Nevertheless, state building and economic recovery proceeded at a rapid pace. After the transition period, when the socialist cabinet was in power, on January 17, 1919, Paderewski was appointed prime minister, and Dmowski was appointed head of the Polish delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference. On January 26, 1919, elections to the Sejm were held, the new composition of which approved Pilsudski as head of state.
A question about boundaries. The western and northern borders of the country were determined at the Versailles Conference, by which Poland was given part of Pomerania and access to the Baltic Sea; Danzig (Gdansk) received the status of a "free city". At the conference of ambassadors on July 28, 1920, the southern border was agreed upon. The city of Cieszyn and its suburb Cesky Cieszyn were divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia. Fierce disputes between Poland and Lithuania over Vilno (Vilnius), an ethnically Polish but historically Lithuanian city, ended with its occupation by the Poles on October 9, 1920; annexation to Poland was approved on February 10, 1922 by a democratically elected regional assembly.
On April 21, 1920, Pilsudski entered into an alliance with the Ukrainian leader Petlyura and launched an offensive to liberate Ukraine from the Bolsheviks. On May 7, the Poles took Kyiv, but on June 8, pressed by the Red Army, they began to retreat. At the end of July, the Bolsheviks were on the outskirts of Warsaw. However, the Poles managed to defend the capital and push back the enemy; this ended the war. The subsequent Treaty of Riga (March 18, 1921) represented a territorial compromise for both sides and was officially recognized by a conference of ambassadors on March 15, 1923.
Internal position. One of the first post-war events in the country was the adoption of a new constitution on March 17, 1921. She established a republican system in Poland, established a bicameral (Sejm and Senate) parliament, proclaimed freedom of speech and organization, and equality of citizens before the law. However, the internal situation of the new state was difficult. Poland was in a state of political, social and economic instability. The Sejm was politically fragmented due to the many parties and political groups represented in it. Constantly changing government coalitions were unstable, and the executive branch as a whole was weak. There were tensions with national minorities, who made up a third of the population. The Locarno Treaties of 1925 did not guarantee the security of Poland's western borders, and the Dawes Plan contributed to the restoration of German military-industrial potential. Under these conditions, on May 12, 1926, Pilsudski carried out a military coup and established a “sanitation” regime in the country; Until his death on May 12, 1935, he directly or indirectly controlled all power in the country. The Communist Party was banned, and political trials with long prison sentences became commonplace. As German Nazism strengthened, restrictions were introduced on the grounds of anti-Semitism. On April 22, 1935, a new constitution was adopted, which significantly expanded the power of the president, limiting the rights of political parties and the powers of parliament. The new constitution did not receive the approval of the opposition political parties, and the struggle between them and the Piłsudski regime continued until the outbreak of World War II.
Foreign policy. The leaders of the new Polish Republic tried to secure their state by pursuing a policy of non-alignment. Poland did not join the Little Entente, which included Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania. On January 25, 1932, a non-aggression pact was concluded with the USSR.
After Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in January 1933, Poland failed to establish allied relations with France, while Great Britain and France concluded a “pact of agreement and cooperation” with Germany and Italy. After this, on January 26, 1934, Poland and Germany concluded a non-aggression pact for a period of 10 years, and soon the validity of a similar agreement with the USSR was extended. In March 1936, after Germany's military occupation of the Rhineland, Poland again unsuccessfully tried to conclude an agreement with France and Belgium on Poland's support for them in the event of war with Germany. In October 1938, simultaneously with the annexation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, Poland occupied the Czechoslovak part of the Cieszyn region. In March 1939, Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia and made territorial claims to Poland. On March 31, Great Britain and on April 13, France guaranteed the territorial integrity of Poland; In the summer of 1939, Franco-British-Soviet negotiations began in Moscow aimed at containing German expansion. In these negotiations, the Soviet Union demanded the right to occupy the eastern part of Poland and at the same time entered into secret negotiations with the Nazis. On August 23, 1939, a German-Soviet non-aggression pact was concluded, the secret protocols of which provided for the division of Poland between Germany and the USSR. Having ensured Soviet neutrality, Hitler freed his hands. On September 1, 1939, World War II began with an attack on Poland.
Government in exile. The Poles, who had not received military assistance from France and Great Britain despite promises (both of them declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939), could not hold back the unexpected invasion of powerful motorized German armies. The situation became hopeless after Soviet troops attacked Poland from the east on September 17. The Polish government and the remnants of the armed forces crossed the border into Romania, where they were interned. The Polish government in exile was headed by General Wladyslaw Sikorski. In France, a new Polish army, naval and air force with a total strength of 80 thousand people were formed. The Poles fought on the side of France until its defeat in June 1940; the Polish government then moved to Britain, where it reorganized the army, which later fought in Norway, North Africa and Western Europe. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, Polish pilots destroyed more than 15% of all German aircraft shot down. In total, more than 300 thousand Poles served abroad in the Allied armed forces.
German occupation. The German occupation of Poland was particularly brutal. Hitler included part of Poland into the Third Reich, and transformed the remaining occupied territories into a General Government. All industrial and agricultural production in Poland was subordinated to the military needs of Germany. Polish institutions of higher education were closed and the intelligentsia were persecuted. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced into forced labor or imprisoned in concentration camps. Polish Jews were subjected to particular cruelty, who were initially concentrated in several large ghettos. When the leaders of the Reich made the “final solution” to the Jewish question in 1942, Polish Jews were deported to death camps. The largest and most notorious Nazi death camp in Poland was the camp near the city of Auschwitz, where more than 4 million people died.
The Polish people offered both civil disobedience and military resistance to the Nazi occupiers. The Polish Home Army became the strongest resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Europe. When the deportation of Warsaw Jews to death camps began in April 1943, the Warsaw ghetto (350 thousand Jews) rebelled. After a month of hopeless fighting without any outside help, the uprising was crushed. The Germans destroyed the ghetto, and the surviving Jewish population was deported to the Treblinka extermination camp.
Polish-Soviet Treaty of July 30, 1941. After the German attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the Polish emigration government, under British pressure, entered into an agreement with the Soviet Union. Under this treaty, diplomatic relations between Poland and the USSR were restored; the Soviet-German pact regarding the division of Poland was annulled; all prisoners of war and deported Poles were subject to release; The Soviet Union provided its territory for the formation of the Polish army. However, the Soviet government did not fulfill the terms of the agreement. It refused to recognize the pre-war Polish-Soviet border and released only part of the Poles who were in Soviet camps.
On April 26, 1943, the Soviet Union broke off diplomatic relations with the Polish government in exile, protesting against the latter's appeal to the International Red Cross to investigate the brutal murder of 10 thousand Polish officers interned in 1939 in Katyn. Subsequently, the Soviet authorities formed the core of the future Polish communist government and army in the Soviet Union. In November-December 1943, at a conference of three powers in Tehran (Iran), between Soviet leader J.V. Stalin, American President F. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister W. Churchill, an agreement was reached that the eastern border of Poland should pass along the line Curzon (it approximately corresponded to the border drawn in accordance with the 1939 agreement between the German and Soviet governments).
Lublin government. In January 1944, the Red Army crossed the border of Poland, pursuing retreating German troops, and on July 22, the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKNO) was created in Lublin with the support of the USSR. On August 1, 1944, the underground armed forces of the Home Army in Warsaw, under the leadership of General Tadeusz Komorowski, began an uprising against the Germans. The Red Army, which was at that moment on the outskirts of Warsaw on the opposite bank of the Vistula, suspended its offensive. After 62 days of desperate fighting, the uprising was crushed and Warsaw was almost completely destroyed. On January 5, 1945, the PKNO in Lublin was reorganized into the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland.
At the Yalta Conference (February 4-11, 1945), Churchill and Roosevelt officially recognized the inclusion of eastern Poland into the USSR, agreeing with Stalin that Poland would receive compensation at the expense of German territories in the west. In addition, the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition agreed that non-communists would be included in the Lublin government, and then free elections would be held in Poland. Stanisław Mikolajczyk, who resigned as prime minister of the emigration government, and other members of his cabinet joined the Lublin government. On July 5, 1945, after the victory over Germany, it was recognized by Great Britain and the United States as the Provisional Government of National Unity of Poland. The government in exile, which at that time was headed by the leader of the Polish Socialist Party, Tomasz Arciszewski, was dissolved. In August 1945, at the Potsdam Conference, an agreement was reached that the southern part of East Prussia and the German territories east of the Oder and Neisse rivers would be transferred under Polish control. The Soviet Union also provided Poland with 15% of the $10 billion in reparations that defeated Germany had to pay.Related articles
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