Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established when the French ceded a part of Polish territory to the Russian Empire following France's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars. In 1915, during World War I, it was replaced by the German-controlled nominal Regency Kingdom until Poland regained independence in 1918.
The Kingdom of Poland, 1815–1830
An advertisement of cameras made by a Polish company FOS (1905). Cameras, objectives and stereoscopes were exclusively made in Congress Poland.
An early photograph of Manufaktura in Łódź. The city was considered to be one of the largest textile industry centres in Europe and was nicknamed Polish Manchester.
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Participants were representatives of all European powers and other stakeholders. The Congress was chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich, and was held in Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815.
Frontispiece of the Acts of the Congress of Vienna
Architect of the Congress System, Prince von Metternich, chancellor of the Austrian Empire from 1821 until the Revolution in 1848. Painting by Lawrence (1815)
Talleyrand proved an able negotiator for the defeated French.
Marquis of Labrador, Spanish Ambassador to the Congress of Vienna – Painting by Vicente López Portaña
