1.
Marcin Zaleski
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Marcin Zaleski was a Polish painter. He received his education in Kraków and Warsaw, in 1817−1822, Zaleski worked as a decorator in a Warsaw theatre while producing copies of paintings. In 1828 the artist exhibited his own work for the first time and received a scholarship to continue his education as a painter, he continued to study painting in Germany, France. In 1846 the artist became a professor of perspective at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Zaleski died in Warsaw in 1877. Zaleski is particularly known for works depicting city views and architecture of Warsaw, Kraków. His works can be found at the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland, the Turkeys Adam Mickiewicz Museum, among Zaleskis works is a series of paintings on the November Uprising in Warsaw, to which he was an eyewitness
2.
Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
3.
Lithuania
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Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in Northern Europe. One of the three Baltic states, it is situated along the shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.9 million people as of 2015, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. The official language, Lithuanian, along with Latvian, is one of two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. For centuries, the shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania, and the first unified Lithuanian state, with the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772–95, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuanias territory. As World War I neared its end, Lithuanias Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, in the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, a full member of the Eurozone, Schengen Agreement and NATO. It is also a member of the Nordic Investment Bank, the United Nations Human Development Index lists Lithuania as a very high human development country. Lithuania has been among the fastest growing economies in the European Union and is ranked 21st in the world in the Ease of Doing Business Index, the first people settled in the territory of Lithuania after the last glacial period in the 10th millennium BC. Over a millennium, the Indo-Europeans, who arrived in the 3rd – 2nd millennium BC, mixed with the local population, the first written mention of Lithuania is found in a medieval German manuscript, the Annals of Quedlinburg, in an entry dated 9 March 1009. Initially inhabited by fragmented Baltic tribes, in the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, after his assassination in 1263, pagan Lithuania was a target of the Christian crusades of the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order. Despite the devastating century-long struggle with the Orders, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded rapidly, by the end of the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and included present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia. The geopolitical situation between the west and the east determined the multicultural and multi-confessional character of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the ruling elite practised religious tolerance and Chancery Slavonic language was used as an auxiliary language to the Latin for official documents. In 1385, the Grand Duke Jogaila accepted Polands offer to become its king, Jogaila embarked on gradual Christianization of Lithuania and established a personal union between Poland and Lithuania. It implied that Lithuania, the fiercely independent land, was one of the last pagan areas of Europe to adopt Christianity, after two civil wars, Vytautas the Great became the Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1392. During his reign, Lithuania reached the peak of its expansion, centralization of the state began
4.
Right-bank Ukraine
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It was separated from the left bank during The Ruin. Right-bank Ukraine is bordered by the regions of Volhynia and Podolia to the west, Yedisan and Zaporozhia to the south, Left-bank Ukraine to the east. Main cities of the region include Cherkasy, Kropyvnytskyi, Bila Tserkva, Zhytomyr, the right and the left-bank Ukraines history is closely associated with the Khmelnytsky Rebellion of 1648–57. The territory belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the House of Vasa until the Russo-Polish War triggered by the Khmelnytskys Treaty of Pereyaslav pleaded in 1654 with the Muscovy. After the 13-year conflict, the victorious Tsardom of Russia incorporated the left-bank Ukraine along with the city of Kiev in 1667 following the Truce of Andrusovo, meanwhile, the right-bank Ukraine remained in the Commonwealth until the Partitions of Poland in the late 18th century. As part of the Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown it was divided into two voivodeships, Kiev and Bracław, in 1669 Hetman Petro Doroshenko submitted to the Ottoman Empire as a vassal. The southernmost Podolia in the right-bank Ukraine was invaded by Ottomans in 1672, the cities of Kiev and Braclav came under the control of Petro Doroshenko until they were captured by the Turks in 1681. Following the 1683 victory of the Christian powers in the Battle of Vienna, during the 18th century, two Cossack uprisings took place. In 1793 right-bank Ukraine was finally annexed by the Russian Empire in the Second Partition of Poland, in the 19th century, the population of right-bank Ukraine was mostly Ukrainian, but most of the land was owned by the Polish or Polonized Ukrainian nobility. Many of the towns and cities belonged to the Pale of Settlement and had a substantial Jewish population, while the Polish-speaking nobility was mostly Roman Catholic. Most of the peasantry became Greek Catholic only in the 18th century, the right-bank Ukraine was subsequently divided into four provinces, each with its own administration, Kiev, Volhynia, Kherson and Podolia. 1684–1689 Andriy Mohyla 1689–1692 Hryshko Ivanovych 1693–1699 Samiylo Samus
5.
Congress Poland
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Thus effectively it was little more than a puppet state of the Russian Empire. The autonomy was curtailed following uprisings in 1830–31 and 1863, as the country became governed by namestniks. Thus from the start, Polish autonomy remained little more than fiction, the territory of the Kingdom of Poland roughly corresponds to the Kalisz Region and the Lublin, Łódź, Masovian, Podlaskie and Holy Cross Voivodeships of Poland. Although the official name of the state was the Kingdom of Poland, in order to distinguish it from other Kingdoms of Poland, it was sometimes referred to as Congress Poland. The Kingdom of Poland was created out of the Duchy of Warsaw, the creation of the Kingdom created a partition of Polish lands in which the state was divided among Russia, Austria and Prussia. The Congress was important enough in the creation of the state to cause the new country to be named for it, the Kingdom lost its status as a sovereign state in 1831 and the administrative divisions were reorganized. It was sufficiently distinct that its name remained in official Russian use, originally, the Kingdom had an area of roughly 128,500 km2 and a population of approximately 3.3 million. Its population reached 6.1 million by 1870 and 10 million by 1900, most of the ethnic Poles in the Russian Empire lived in the Congress Kingdom, although some areas outside it also contained a Polish majority. The Kingdom of Poland largely re-emerged as a result of the efforts of Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, the Kingdom of Poland was one of the few contemporary constitutional monarchies in Europe, with the Emperor of Russia serving as the Polish King. His title as chief of Poland in Russian, was Tsar, similar to usage in the fully integrated states within the Empire, theoretically the Polish Kingdom in its 1815 form was a semi-autonomous state in personal union with Russia through the rule of the Russian Emperor. Poland also had traditions and the Polish nobility deeply valued personal freedom. In reality, the Kings had absolute power and the title of Autocrat. All opposition to the Emperor of Russia was suppressed and the law was disregarded at will by Russian officials, however, in time the situation changed and he granted the viceroy, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, almost dictatorial powers. Very soon after Congress of Vienna resolutions were signed, Russia ceased to respect them, in 1819, Alexander I abolished freedom of the press and introduced preventory censorship. Resistance to Russian control began in the 1820s, beginning in 1825, the sessions of the Sejm were held in secret. Nicholas rule promoted the idea of Official Nationality, consisting of Orthodoxy, Autocracy, in relation to Poles, those ideas meant assimilation, turning them into loyal Orthodox Russians. All of this led to discontent and resistance among the Polish population, in January 1831, the Sejm deposed Nicholas I as King of Poland in response to his repeated curtailing of its constitutional rights. Nicholas reacted by sending Russian troops into Poland, resulting in the November Uprising, following an 11-month military campaign, the Kingdom of Poland lost its semi-independence and was integrated much more closely with the Russian Empire
6.
Army of Congress Poland
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Army of the Congress Poland refers to the military forces of the Kingdom of Poland that existed in the period 1815–1831. The army was formed even before the Congress Poland, in 1814 and its creation was confirmed by the Constitution of the Congress Kingdom. It took part in the November Uprising against the Russians, the uprising begun when a group of young officers tried, unsuccessfully, to assassinate Grand Duke Constantine. The defeat of the uprising in 1831 marked the end of the existence of a regular Polish army for almost a century and it was abolished with the new constitution of 1832, the Organic Statute of the Kingdom of Poland, which incorporated the army into the Russian Army. It was reorganized into a Russian army model, with infantry and cavalry divisions, artillery brigades and batteries, a regiment of grenadiers and cavalry rifleman were also formed. Obligatory military service was set at 10 years, with the option of buying ones time out, the Army was well trained, with a new cadet school in Kalisz, a number of podchorąży training schools, and a higher military school in Warsaw. The cost of maintaining the army was close to 50% of the Kingdoms budget, notable Polish commanders of the Army included Ignacy Prądzyński and Józef Bem, and General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski. Its nominal commander-in-chief was the Russian Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia, the peacetime army was 28, 000-30,000 strong. During the November Uprising, it was expanded to 100,000, of that, about 57,000 could be seen as a qualified, first-line troops. Before the Uprising, the Army was composed of two divisions with three brigades each, two cavalry divisions with two brigades each, and two artillery brigades. Each infantry brigade was about 3,600 strong, each brigade was about half that size. Army of the Duchy of Warsaw Military of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Polish Legions Mieczysław Chojnacki, Template, Army of Congress Poland Template, Polish Armed Forces
7.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
8.
Russian Empire
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The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation
9.
Imperial Russian Army
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The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of more than 900,000 regular soldiers, the last living veteran of the Russian Imperial Army was the Ukrainian supercentenarian Mikhail Krichevsky, who died in 2008. Russian tsars before Peter maintained professional hereditary musketeer corps, known as streltsy and these were originally raised by Tsar Ivan IV, originally an effective force, they had become highly unreliable and undisciplined. In times of war the forces were augmented by peasants. There were different kinds of regiments, such as regulars, dragoons, in 1631, the Russians created two regular regiments in Moscow. During the Russo-Polish War of 1632–1634, six regular regiments, one reiter regiment. Initially, they recruited children of the boyars and streltsy, volunteers, Cossacks. After the war with Poland, all of the regiments were disbanded, during another Russo-Polish War, they were created again and became a principal force of the Russian army. Often, regular and dragoon regiments were manned with datochniye lyudi for lifelong military service, reiters were manned with small or landless gentry and boyars children and were paid with money for their service. More than a half of the officers were representatives from the gentry. In times of peace, some of the regiments were usually disbanded, in 1681, there were 33 regular regiments and 25 dragoon and reiter regiments. In the late 17th century, regiments of the new type represented more than a half of the Russian Army, Conscription in Russia was introduced by Peter I of Russia in December 1699, though reports say Peters father also used it. Conscription of peasants and townspeople was based on system, per settlement. Initially it was based on the number of households, later it was based on the population numbers, the term of service in the 18th century was for life. In 1793 it was reduced to 25 years, in 1834, it was reduced to 20 years plus five years in the reserve, and in 1855 to 12 years plus three years in the reserve. The history of the Russian army in this era was linked to the name of Russian General Alexander Suvorov, considered one of a few great generals in history who never lost a battle. From 1777 to 1783 Suvorov served in the Crimea and in the Caucasus, becoming a lieutenant-general in 1780, from 1787 to 1791 he again fought the Turks during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 and won many victories. Suvorovs leadership also played a key role in a Russian victory over the Poles during the Kościuszko Uprising, furthermore, many lower-level officers were poorly trained and had difficulty getting their men to perform the sometimes complex manoeuvres required in a battle
10.
Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki
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Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki was a Polish general, Commander-in-Chief of the November Uprising. He was born in Żebrak, Siedlce County in 1787, after completing his education at the Lwów University, he entered the Polish Legion formed in the Duchy of Warsaw, as a common soldier and won his lieutenancy at the Battle of Raszyn in 1809. At the Battle of Leipzig he greatly distinguished himself and at Arcis-sur-Aube, in 1814, in the beginning of March 1831 he even entered into correspondence with the Russian Field-marshal Hans Karl von Diebitsch, who was taken very ill both at Paris and London. When, at last Skrzynecki had to take the offensive his opportunity was gone, to this the Diet would not consent, though it gave Skrzynecki a vote of confidence. But public opinion was now running strongly against him and he was forced on the 10th of August, in his camp at Bolimów, to place his resignation in the hands of his successor, Henryk Dembiński. Skrzynecki thereupon joined a corps and on the 22nd of September took refuge in Austrian territory. With the permission of the Austrian government he finally settled at Kraków, Polish historian, Jerzy Łojek, presumed that Skrzynecki was a traitor who baffled all the national efforts. He wrote Two Victorious Days, and Mes erreurs, attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Skrzynecki, Jan Zygmunt
11.
Nicholas I of Russia
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Nicholas I was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855. He was also the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland and his biographer Nicholas V. Riasanovsky says that Nicholas displayed determination, singleness of purpose, and an iron will, along with a powerful sense of duty and a dedication to very hard work. He saw himself as a junior officer totally consumed by spit. A handsome man, he was nervous and aggressive. Trained as an engineer, he was a stickler for minute detail, in his public persona, says Riasanovsky, Nicholas I came to represent autocracy personified, infinitely majestic, determined and powerful, hard as stone, and relentless as fate. His reign had an ideology called Official Nationality that was proclaimed officially in 1833 and it was a reactionary policy based on orthodoxy in religion, autocracy in government, and Russian nationalism. He was the brother of his predecessor, Alexander I. Nicholas inherited his brothers throne despite the failed Decembrist revolt against him and his aggressive foreign policy involved many expensive wars, having a disastrous effect on the empires finances. He was successful against Russias neighbouring southern rivals as he seized the last territories in the Caucasus held by Persia by successfully ending the Russo-Persian War and he ended the Russo-Turkish War successfully as well. Later on, however, he led Russia into the Crimean War with disastrous results, historians emphasize that his micromanagement of the armies hindered his generals, as did his misguided strategy. Fuller notes that historians have concluded that the reign of Nicholas I was a catastrophic failure in both domestic and foreign policy. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its zenith, spanning over 20 million square kilometers. Nicholas was born at Gatchina Palace in Gatchina to Grand Duke Paul, five months after his birth, his grandmother, Catherine the Great, died and his parents became emperor and empress of Russia. He was a brother of Emperor Alexander I of Russia, who succeeded to the throne in 1801. Riasanovsky says he was, the most handsome man in Europe, Nicholas was not brought up to become the Emperor of Russia, he had two elder brothers. However, as both of them failed to produce sons, Nicholas remained second in the line of succession, in 1825, when Alexander I died suddenly of typhus, Nicholas was caught between swearing allegiance to his second-eldest brother, Constantine Pavlovich, and accepting the throne for himself. The interregnum lasted until Constantine, who was in Warsaw at that time, additionally, on 25 December, Nicholas issued the manifesto proclaiming his accession to the throne. That manifesto retroactively named 1 December, the date of Alexander Is death, during this confusion, a plot was hatched by some members of the military to overthrow Nicholas and to seize power
12.
Hans Karl von Diebitsch
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Count Hans Karl Friedrich Anton von Diebitsch und Narden or Graf Ivan Ivanovich Diebitsch-Zabalkansky was a German-born soldier serving as Russian Field Marshal. He was educated at the Berlin cadet school, but by the desire of his father, Frederick IIs aide-de-camp who had passed into the service of Russia, he also did the same in 1801. He served in the campaign of 1805, and was wounded at Austerlitz, fought at Eylau and Friedland, during the next five years of peace he devoted himself to the study of military science, engaging once more in active service in the War of 1812. He distinguished himself greatly in Wittgensteins campaign, and in particular at Polotsk. After the battle of Lützen he served in Silesia and took part in negotiating the treaty of Reichenbach. Having distinguished himself at the battles of Dresden and Leipzig he was promoted lieutenant-general, at the crisis of the campaign of 1814 he strongly urged the march of the allies on Paris, and after their entry the emperor Alexander conferred on him the order of St Alexander Nevsky. In 1815 he attended the congress of Vienna, and was afterwards made adjutant-general to the emperor, with whom, as also with his successor Nicholas, by Nicholas he was created baron, and later count. In 1820 he had become chief of the staff. In 1830 he was appointed to command the great army destined to suppress the November Uprising in Poland. After the inconclusive battle of Grochow on 25 February, he won the battle of Ostrołęka on 26 May, but soon afterwards died of cholera at Kleszewo near Pułtusk, on 10 June 1831
13.
Ivan Paskevich
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Ivan Fyodorovich Paskevich was an imperial Russian military leader. For his victories, he was made Count of Yerevan in 1828 and he attained the rank of field marshal in the Russian army, and later in the Prussian and Austrian armies. From 1807 to 1812, Ivan Paskevich was engaged in the campaigns against Turkey, and distinguished himself by many brilliant and daring exploits, being made a general officer in his thirtieth year. During the war with France in 1812–1814 he was present, in command of the 26th division of infantry, at all the most important engagements, in reward of his services he was created Count of Yerevan and received a million rubles and a diamond-mounted sword. The Russo-Turkish War, 1828–1829 immediately followed and he led the eastern or Caucasus front. For this he was made a Field Marshal at the age of forty-seven, in 1830, he was engaged in the Caucasian War on the territory of present-day Dagestan. At the same time he appointed the high-ranking Muslim cleric Mir-Fatah-Agha from Iran as head of the recently established Caucasus Committee. Paskevich hoped that by the help of Mir-Fattahs high stature in the Muslim community, together with Mir-Fatahs high esteem among Muslims and his devised plans for the Caucasus, they managed to keep the entire Caucasus stable from rebellious Muslim insurrections for many years to come. In June 1831, after the death of Field Marshal von Diebitsch, commander of Russian troops in Congress Poland and he was created Prince of Warsaw and awarded the office of Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland. On the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 he was appointed to command the Russian troops sent to aid Austria, and finally compelled the Hungarians surrender at Világos. In 1854 Paskevich took command of the Army of the Danube, though he laid siege to Silistria, Paskevich advocated aborting the campaign due to Austrias threat to intervene in the war. On 9 June he suffered an injury and was compelled to return to Russia. Paskevich died in Warsaw, where in 1870 a memorial was erected to him before the Koniecpolski Palace and his remains were reburied by his son in the family mausoleum on the grounds of the Homel Palace. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Paskevich. Media related to Ivan Paskevich at Wikimedia Commons
14.
Battle of Stoczek
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Battle of Stoczek is the first significant fight of the November Uprising in Poland. It took place on 14 February 1831 near the town of Stoczek Łukowski, Polish troops scared away 2 regiments of Russian mounted jaegers, inflicting some heavy casualties on them. The Russian Army commanded by Field Marshal Hans Karl von Diebitsch entered Poland on 4 February, the main forces of Field Marshal Dybich were marching towards Warsaw from the direction of Lublin. General Józef Dwernicki, commander of the Polish forces in the area, at noon of February the 14th Geismar received some information regarding presence of Polish troops under Dwernicki near the town of Stoczek. In his usual style he decided to launch an attack on them. On the march his troops were separated by the huge forest and were marching by very narrow forest roads. Dwernicki, a commander, although set his forces already to prepare for the night. Then the 2nd Troop started on Poles, who, in turn, started on them, without a clash 2nd Troop just turned their backs on Poles and went into forest. The 3rd Troop, still mounted, followed, narrow road was of little to no help at this point. The 1st Troop and the men, who barely shot their guns, were left to withstand the fierce attack of Polish Uhlans. This was the battle which really occurred that night. But there was Polish cavalry again—in close formation and ready for fight, and the history repeated itself—the 3rd Troop just started on the Poles but turned back on them without any clash and rode away to safety by the very same road on which they had just arrived. Geismar, deeply shocked by their behaviour, took command of the 2nd Troop asking them to join him in the charge. The 1st Troop followed them without hesitation, leaving baron Geismar and some of their officers at the field and been pursued by Polish Uhlans, who visibly enjoyed such a pleasant war. 2 of the cannons Russians were lucky enough to bring to safety due to them not ready at the time of the Polish attack. Geismar and Pashkov themselves survived rather by chance, the battle of Stoczek was the first Polish victory in the war and had a tremendous effect on Polish morale. In Warsaw they have had great celebrations with huge fireworks for the entire week, Poles especially enjoyed the fact that Dwernicki won over baron Geismar, whose fame as the greatest Russian vanguard commander was fresh from the Russo-Turkish War. He always described this attack as one of his greatest mistakes—though not on the battlefield but, rather, in 1833 Nicolas I of Russia disbanded Mounted-Jaegers as the type of cavalry
15.
Battle of Olszynka Grochowska
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The battle of Olszynka Grochowska was the largest battle of the November Uprising and biggest in Europe since the battle of Waterloo. It was fought between the armies of Poland and Russia on 25 February in the woods near Grochów, at the outskirts of Warsaw. The first months after the outbreak of the November Uprising saw no hostilities between Poland and Russia, both the Polish commander Józef Chłopicki and Russian Tsar Nicholas I were hoping for a peaceful solution to the conflict. However, neither side could propose a compromise, and on 25 January 1831 Nicholas was deposed from the Polish throne. This was seen as a de facto declaration of war and the Russian Army under Hans Karl von Diebitsch was ordered to enter Poland, the Russian army entered Poland on 4 February and started a fast advance towards Warsaw. On 24 February the Russian Army reached the outskirts of Warsaw in two columns, initially Diebitsch was planning an all-out assault on Warsaw on 26 February. The Polish forces deployed to the east of Warsaw constituted the majority of the Polish Army, the majority of the Polish forces was composed of fresh, poorly trained and ill-equipped volunteers. However, the core of the Polish Army was composed of Napoleonic Wars veterans, the Russian forces had some 59000 men under arms and 178 cannon. In addition, at 15,00 the weakened corps of General Shakhovskiy arrived at the battlefield, the forces of Field Marshal Diebitsch were organised into five Infantry Corps, with some cavalry units attached to them. However, the part of the Russian cavalry was defeated in the Battle of Stoczek. The Polish counter-attack in the area of Białołęka on 24 February surprised the Russians, the Russians started a retreat and the Poles started a pursuit, but the Polish advance was halted after an hour. The sound of the battle made Field Marshal Dybich change his plans. At noon the I Corps and the Corps of General Grigoriy Vladimirovich Rosen were ordered to assault the Polish 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions in the woods east of Grochów. At the same time the Corps of General Pahlen was ordered to outflank the Poles from the south, despite numerous assaults, both the woods and the Grochów-Gocławek road were still in Polish hands at dusk. After suffering heavy casualties, the Russians withdrew from the battlefield, however, the Poles had also lost a large part of their forces and were unable to organise a successful pursuit. In the course of a struggle the Russians lost at least 9500 killed and wounded. Polish losses were fewer, but also significant, between 6900 and 7300 dead and wounded. However, Chłopicki did not start a pursuit after the fleeing Russians, because of this, the battle is described as a marginal Polish victory in most handbooks and monographs, both modern and contemporary
16.
Battle of Iganie
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The Battle of Iganie was fought on 10 April 1831 between Russian and Polish forces. It was one of the last major battles of the November Uprising, the Poles, numbering some 4,000 men and 16 cannons advanced rapidly towards the town of Siedlce, a major Russian munitions depot. On 10 April 1831 the Poles encountered forces of Gen. Grigorij Rosen in the village of Iganie, several miles west of Siedlce, Prądzyński, believing the remainder of the Polish forces would arrive shortly, decided to assault the Russians with his avant garde only. The mounted artillery units under Gen. Józef Bem took advantage of its mobility and this allowed for the Polish infantry led by Prądzyński himself to recapture the village. After the initial surprise, the Russian forces under General Geismar managed to regroup across the river and started shelling the Poles with their artillery, much superior in numbers. Seeing the numerical inferiority of the Poles, the Russian commander ordered the artillery barrage to stop, due to Russia superiority in fire power the success was short-living, although Poles managed to inflict heavy casualty on Rosens Observational Corps. Rosen, who arrived back from his meeting with Diebitsch in the middle of the battle, memorie of baron Geismar published by Vladimir Geismar and comments on them. Russkaya Starina -1881, book 5,1882, book 1, facsimile of Gen. Skrzyneckis after-battle report to the government
17.
Battle of Warsaw (1831)
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The Battle of Warsaw was fought in September 1831 between Imperial Russia and Poland. After a two-day assault on the western fortifications, the Polish defences collapsed. It was the largest battle and the episode of the Polish–Russian War of 1830–31. After almost a year of fighting, a large Russian force crossed the Vistula. When a less conciliatory faction gained power in Warsaw and the Russian offer of surrender was refused, the assault started on 6 September 1831. Russian forces surprised the Poles by attacking the strongest Polish position in the suburb of Wola, despite staunch defence of some of the ramparts, especially Fort 54 and Fort 56, after the first day the outer line of Polish defences had been breached by Russian infantry and artillery. The following day fights resumed, but this time Russian artillery was close enough to shell the western boroughs of the city itself, although losses were similar on both sides, Polish authorities decided not to risk another Massacre of Praga and ordered the evacuation of the city. On 8 September 1831 Warsaw lay in Russian hands, and the remainder of the Polish Army retreated to Modlin, the November Uprising ended soon afterwards, with the remnants of the Polish Army crossing the borders of Prussia and Austria, to avoid being captured by the Russians. In the 19th century the fight for Warsaw became one of the icons of Polish culture, described by, among others, Polish romantic poets Adam Mickiewicz and it was also the main inspiration behind Chopins Revolutionary Étude, initially called the Étude on the Bombardment of Warsaw. The fall of Warsaw also garnered sympathy for the Poles and their quest for independence, Russia could not send its armies to Belgium or France before the rebellion in Poland was quelled. For that reason the capture of Warsaw was Russias main target in the war from the start of hostilities, in the course of the uprising, the army of Russia unsuccessfully tried to capture the capital of Poland on two occasions. First in February 1831, forces under Field Marshal Hans Karl von Diebitsch stormed the eastern suburb of Praga, after a bloody battle at Grochów, the Polish Army successfully retreated to Warsaw, and the capital remained in Polish hands. Unable to capture Warsaw by an assault, von Diebitsch devised a plan to outflank it. In early 1831 he sent his forces upstream on the Vistula, the new plan was thwarted by the Polish defence in three successive battles around Wawer, Dębe Wielkie and Iganie. The Russians withdrew towards Siedlce, where von Diebitsch fell ill, in June 1831 General Antoni Giełguds attack on Wilno failed, and his corps was forced to cross the border with Prussia to avoid complete destruction. Only a small detachment under General Henryk Dembiński managed to rejoin the main Polish force and this secured Paskevichs northern flank and allowed his forces to devise a new plan of attack. Instead of attacking the city directly and risking yet another defeat, he intended to surround Warsaw, cut it off from other Polish-controlled areas, between 17 and 21 July 1831 he crossed the Vistula near Osiek with his main force, and moved towards Warsaw through Gąbin and Łowicz. Meanwhile, other Russian forces from other theatres were also directed towards the city, General Gregor von Rosens Corps marched almost unopposed from Brześć Litewski and reached Praga on 10 August
18.
Livonian War
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During the period 1558–1578, Russia dominated the region with early military successes at Dorpat and Narva. Russian dissolution of the Livonian Confederation brought Poland–Lithuania into the conflict while Sweden, Magnus attempted to expand his Livonian holdings to establish the Russian vassal state Kingdom of Livonia, which nominally existed until Magnus defection in 1576. This was followed by a campaign through Russia culminating in the long. Under the 1582 Truce of Jam Zapolski, which ended the war between Russia and Poland–Lithuania, Russia lost all its holdings in Livonia and Polotsk to Poland–Lithuania. The following year, Sweden and Russia signed the Truce of Plussa with Sweden gaining most of Ingria, by the mid-16th century, economically prosperous Old Livonia had become a region organised into the decentralised and religiously divided Livonian Confederation. Its territories consisted of the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order, the prince-bishoprics of Dorpat, Ösel–Wiek, as well as Courland, the Archbishopric of Riga and the city of Riga. Together with Riga, the cities of Dorpat and Reval, along with the knightly estates, the only common institutions of the Livonian estates were the regularly held common assemblies known as landtags. As well as a political administration, there were also persistent rivalries between the archbishop of Riga and the landmeister of the Order for hegemony. As war approached, Livonia had a weak administration subject to internal rivalries, lacked any powerful defences or outside support, and was surrounded by monarchies pursuing expansionist policies. Frost notes of the region, Racked with internal bickering and threatened by the political machinations of its neighbours. Only the archbishopric of Riga successfully overcame resistance of the lesser nobles, Wilhelm and Christoph were to pursue Alberts interests in Livonia, among which was the establishment of a hereditary Livonian duchy styled after the Prussian model. At the same time the Order agitated for its re-establishment in Prussia, by the time the Livonian War broke out, the Hanseatic League had already lost its monopoly on the profitable and prosperous Baltic Sea trade. While still involved and with increasing sales, it now shared the market with European mercenary fleets, most notably from the Dutch Seventeen Provinces, a long bar of Danish territories in the south and her lack of sufficient year-round ice-free ports severely limited Swedens access to the Baltic trade. Through its absorption of the principalities of Novgorod and Pskov, the Tsardom of Russia had become Livonias eastern neighbour, the conflict between Russia and the Western powers was exacerbated by Russias isolation from sea trade. The new Ivangorod port built by Tsar Ivan on the shore of the Narva River in 1550 was considered unsatisfactory on account of its shallow waters. The Livonians eventually promised to pay this sum to Ivan by 1557, Ivan continued to point out that the existence of the Order required passive Russian support, and was quick to threaten use of military force if necessary. The Polish King and Lithuanian Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus was wary of Russian expansionist aspirations, expansion of Russia into Livonia would have meant not only a stronger political rival but also loss of lucrative trade routes. Therefore, Sigismund supported his cousin Wilhelm von Brandenburg, archbishop of Riga, in his conflicts with Wilhelm von Fürstenberg, Sigismund hoped that Livonia, just like the Duchy of Prussia under Duke Albert, would become a vassal state of Poland–Lithuania
19.
Smolensk War
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The Smolensk War was a conflict fought between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia. Hostilities began in October 1632 when Russian forces tried to capture the city of Smolensk, small military engagements produced mixed results for both sides, but the surrender of the main Russian force in February 1634 led to the Treaty of Polyanovka. Russia accepted Polish-Lithuanian control over the Smolensk region, which lasted for another 20 years, in 1632, Sigismund III Vasa, the king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, died. Swedish king Gustav II Adolph sent envoys to Russia and the Ottoman Empire to propose an alliance, the Commonwealth was not ready for war. In May the Senate of Poland agreed to increase the size of the army, but Grand Lithuanian Hetman Lew Sapieha objected, arguing that the current forces were enough, nonetheless the Field Lithuanian Hetman Krzysztof Radziwiłł recruited an additional 2,000 soldiers. Russias aim was to control of Smolensk, which it had ceded to the Commonwealth in 1618 at the Truce of Deulino. Smolensk was the capital of the Commonwealths Smoleńsk Voivodeship, but it had often been contested, a major supporter of the war was the Tsars father, Patriarch Filaret, who represented the anti-Polish camp at court. Inspired by the Zemsky Sobors call for vengeance and reclamation of lost lands, several towns and castles fell as the Russians advanced, and on 28 October 1632, Shein moved to begin the siege of Smolensk. Former Polish estimates of the size of the Russian forces varied from 25,000 through 30,000 to 34,500, recent research on 17th-century Russian archive documents showed that the size of the Russian army was 23,961. Compared to former Russian armies, Sheins army was significantly modernised, eight such regiments, totaling 14,000 to 17,000 men, comprised part of Sheins army. Commonwealth forces in Smolensk were composed of the Smolensk garrison, strengthened by the local nobility, the citys fortifications had also recently been improved with Italian-style bastions. Shein constructed lines of circumvallation around the fortress, using tunnels and mines, his forces damaged a long section of the city wall and one of its towers. Russian heavy artillery, mostly of Western manufacture, reached Smolensk in December 1632 with even heavier guns arriving the following March, after a preliminary artillery bombardment, Shein ordered an assault, which was repulsed by the Polish defenders. Nonetheless the siege was progressing, Smolensks fortifications were being eroded, by June 1633, some soldiers started to desert, and others talked of surrender. The Sejm had been informed about the Russian invasion by 30 October 1632, however, the process was delayed until the spring of 1633, when the Sejm officially sanctioned a declaration of war and authorised a large payment for the raising of a suitable force. Over 10,000 of the infantry would be organized based on the Western model, previously not common in Commonwealth armies. By February 1633, they had amassed around 4,500 soldiers, including over 2,000 infantry, and were engaged in raiding the rear areas of the Russian besiegers to disrupt their logistics. By the summer of 1633, the force, led personally by the king and numbering about 25,000, arrived near Smolensk
20.
War of the Polish Succession
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The slight amount of fighting in Poland resulted in the accession of Augustus III, who in addition to Russia and Saxony, was politically supported by the Habsburgs. The wars major military campaigns occurred outside Poland, the Bourbons, supported by Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, moved against isolated Habsburg territories. Great Britains unwillingness to support Habsburg Austria demonstrated major cracks in the Anglo-Austrian Alliance, Francis Stephen, the duke of Lorraine, was given the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in compensation for the loss of Lorraine. The Duchy of Parma went to Austria whereas Charles of Parma took the crowns of Naples and Sicily, after Sigismund II Augustus, each King of Poland was elected by the Szlachta in the Sejm. As a result, the kings had little formal power, but the Sejm was often paralyzed by the Liberum Veto, the right of any member of the Sejm to block its decisions. Polands neighbors often influenced the Sejm, and by the early 18th century the system was in decline. Elector Augustus the Strong of Saxony had become king in 1697, in 1705, during the Great Northern War, Charles XII of Sweden deposed Augustus and installed Stanisław I as king. After Charles defeat by Russia at Poltava in 1709, Stanisław fled to France, in 1725, his daughter Maria married King Louis XV of France. Augustus tried to make the Polish crown hereditary in his family, so when he died in 1733, Stanisław hoped to regain the throne. He was backed by his son-in-law Louis XV, who wanted to counter Russian and Austrian power by renewing Frances traditional alliance with Poland. Frances prime minister, Cardinal Fleury, saw the Polish struggle as a chance to strike at the Austrian monarchy in the west without seeming to be the aggressor. While he cared little for who should become King of Poland and their marriage would bring Austrian power dangerously close to France. Augustus II died on February 1,1733, the Marquis de Monti, Frances ambassador in Warsaw, convinced the rival Potocki and Czartoryski families to unite behind Stanisław. Teodor Potocki, Primate of Poland and interrex following the death of Augustus, Frederick August negotiated agreements with Austria and Russia in July 1733. To the Austrian emperor he promised recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, in August, Polish nobles gathered for the election sejm. On August 11,30,000 Russian troops under Field Marshal Peter Lascy entered Poland in a bid to influence the sejms decision. On September 4, France openly declared its support for Leszczyński, a group of nobles, led by Lithuanian magnates including Duke Michael Wiśniowiecki, crossed the Vistula River to Praga and the protection of Russian troops. This group, numbering about 3,000, elected Frederick August II King of Poland as Augustus III on October 5, despite the fact that this group was a minority, Russia and Austria, intent on maintaining their influence within Poland, recognised Augustus as king
21.
Bar Confederation
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The founders of the Bar Confederation included the magnates Adam Krasiński, Bishop of Kamenets, Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł, Casimir Pulaski, Moritz Benyowszki and Michał Krasiński. Its creation led to a war and contributed to the First Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Some historians consider the Bar Confederation the first Polish uprising, at that point Habsburg Austria started to consider waging a war against Russia. He was also interested in protecting the weakening Ottoman Empire, which could be utilized in the event of a Prussian war either with Russia or Austria. Fredericks brother, Prince Henry, spent the winter of 1770–71 as a representative of the Prussian court at Saint Petersburg. After Henry informed him of the proposal, Frederick suggested a partition of the Polish borderlands by Austria, Prussia, thus Frederick attempted to encourage Russia to direct its expansion towards weak and non-functional Poland instead of the Ottomans. The recent Koliyivschyna peasant and Cossack uprising in Ukraine also weakened Polish position, under pressure from Prussia, which for a long time wanted to annex the northern Polish province of Royal Prussia, the three powers agreed on the First Partition of Poland. The Russians also withdrew from Moldavia away from the Austrian border, in 1767-1768, Russian forces forced the Polish parliament to pass resolutions they demanded. The articles of the confederation were signed on 29 February 1768 at the fortress of Bar in Podolia, priest Marek Jandołowicz was a notable religious leader, and Michał Wielhorski the Confederations political ideologue. The confederation, encouraged and aided by France, declared a war on Russia and its irregular forces, formed from volunteers, magnate militias and deserters from the royal army, soon clashed with the Russian troops and units loyal to the Polish crown. This marked the Ukrainian campaign, which lasted from April till June 1768, however, the simultaneous outbreak of the Koliyivschyna in Ukraine kept the Confederation alive. The Confederates appealed for help abroad and contributed to bringing about war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. The retreat of some Russian forces needed on the Ottoman front bolstered the confederates, the council proclaimed the king dethroned on 22 October 1770. The court of Versailles sent Charles François Dumouriez to act as an aid to the Confederates, the Confederates also began to operate in Lithuania, although after early successes that direction too met with failures, with defeats at Białystok on 16 July and Orzechowo on 13 September 1769. Early 1770 saw the defeats of confederates in Greater Poland, after the battle of Dobra and Błonie, on 19 February 1772, the agreement of partition was signed in Vienna. A previous agreement between Prussia and Russia had been made in Saint Petersburg on 6 February 1772, early in August Russian, Prussian and Austrian troops simultaneously entered the Commonwealth and occupied the provinces agreed upon among themselves. On 5 August, the three signed the treaty on their respective territorial gains on the Commonwealths expense. An attempt of Bar Confederates to kidnap king Stanisław II Augustus on 3 November 1771 led the Habsburgs to withdraw their support from the confederates, expelling them from their territories
22.
French invasion of Russia
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Napoleon hoped to compel Tsar Alexander I of Russia to cease trading with British merchants through proxies in an effort to pressure the United Kingdom to sue for peace. The official political aim of the campaign was to liberate Poland from the threat of Russia, Napoleon named the campaign the Second Polish War to gain favor with the Poles and provide a political pretext for his actions. The Grande Armée was a large force, numbering 680,000 soldiers. Napoleon hoped the battle would mean an end of the march into Russia, plans Napoleon had made to quarter at Smolensk were abandoned, and he pressed his army on after the Russians. As the Russian army fell back, Cossacks were given the task of burning villages, towns and this was intended to deny the invaders the option of living off the land. The actions forced the French to rely on a system that was incapable of feeding the large army in the field. Starvation and privation compelled French soldiers to leave their camps at night in search of food and these men were frequently confronted by parties of Cossacks, who captured or killed them. The Russian army retreated into Russia for almost three months, the continual retreat and the loss of lands to the French upset the Russian nobility. They pressured Alexander I to relieve the commander of the Russian army, Alexander I complied, appointing an old veteran, Prince Mikhail Kutuzov, to take over command of the army. However, for two more weeks Kutuzov continued to retreat as his predecessor had done, on 7 September, the French caught up with the Russian army which had dug itself in on hillsides before a small town called Borodino, seventy miles west of Moscow. The battle that followed was the bloodiest single-day action of the Napoleonic Wars until that point, involving more than 250,000 soldiers, the French gained a tactical victory, but at the cost of 49 general officers and thousands of men. The Russian army was able to extricate itself and withdrew the following day, Napoleon entered Moscow a week later. In another turn of events the French found puzzling, there was no delegation to meet the Emperor, the Russians had evacuated the city, and the citys governor, Count Fyodor Rostopchin, ordered several strategic points in Moscow set ablaze. Napoleons hopes had been set upon an end to his campaign. The loss of Moscow did not compel Alexander I to sue for peace, Napoleon stayed on in Moscow looking to negotiate a peace, his hopes fed in part by a disinformation campaign informing the Emperor of supposed discontent and fading morale in the Russian camp. After staying a month Napoleon moved his army out southwest toward Kaluga, the French advance toward Kaluga was checked by a Russian corps. Napoleon tried once more to engage the Russian army for an action at the Battle of Maloyaroslavets. Despite holding a position, the Russians retreated following a sharp engagement
23.
January Uprising
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The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire. It began on 22 January 1863 and lasted until the last insurgents were captured in 1864, the uprising began as a spontaneous protest by young Poles against conscription into the Imperial Russian Army. It was soon joined by high-ranking Polish-Lithuanian officers and various politicians, the insurrectionists, severely outnumbered and lacking serious outside support, were forced to resort to guerrilla warfare tactics. Public executions and deportations to Siberia led many Poles to abandon armed struggle and turn instead to the idea of work, economic. After the Russian Empire lost the Crimean war and was weakened economically and politically, in Vilna alone 116 demonstrations were held in 1861. In August 1861, protests in Vilna ended in clashes with the Imperial Russian Army, in spite of Russian police and Cossack interference, a symbolic meeting of hymn-singing Poles and Lithuanians took place on the bridge across the Niemen River. Another mass gathering took place in Horodło, where the Union of Horodło had been signed in 1413, the crowds sang Boże, broń Polskę in Lithuanian and Belarusian. In the autumn of 1861 Russians had introduced a state of emergency in Vilna Governorate, Kovno Governorate, after a series of patriotic riots, the Russian Namestnik of Tsar Alexander II, General Karl Lambert, introduced martial law in Poland on 14 October 1861. Public gatherings were banned and some leaders were declared outlaws. The future leaders of the uprising gathered secretly in St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Vilna, Paris, after this series of meetings two major factions emerged. The Reds represented united peasants, workers, and some clergy, while The Whites represented liberal minded landlords, in 1862 two initiative groups were formed for the two components of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. To deal with these units the Russian government had at its disposal an army of 90,000 men under General Ramsay in Poland. It looked as if the rebellion would be crushed quickly, the die was cast, however, the provisional government applied itself to this great task with fervor. It issued a manifesto in which it pronounced all sons of Poland are free and equal citizens without distinction of creed, condition and rank. The revolutionary government did its very best to supply with provisions the unarmed and scattered guerrillas who, during the month of February, met the Russians in eighty bloody encounters. Meanwhile, it issued an appeal to the nations of western Europe, pope Pius IX ordered a special prayer for the success of the Catholic Polish in their defence against the Orthodox Russians, and was very active in arousing sympathy for the Polish rebels. In Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, northern Ukraine and western Russia the uprising started on February 1,1863, a coalition government of the Reds and the Whites was formed. It was led by Zygmunt Sierakowski, Antanas Mackevičius and Konstanty Kalinowski and they fully supported their counterparts in Poland and adhered to the same policy
24.
Soviet invasion of Poland
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The Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939. On that morning,16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west, the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland was secretly agreed in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed on 23 August 1939. The Red Army, which outnumbered the Polish defenders, achieved its targets by using strategic. Some 230,000 Polish prisoners of war had been captured, the campaign of mass persecution in the newly acquired areas began immediately. In November 1939 the Soviet government ostensibly annexed the entire Polish territory under its control, the Soviet campaign of ethnic cleansing began with the wave of arrests and summary executions of officers, policemen and priests. Soviet forces occupied eastern Poland until the summer of 1941, when they were out by the invading German army in the course of Operation Barbarossa. The area was under Nazi occupation until the Red Army reconquered it again in the summer of 1944, the Soviet Union enclosed most of the annexed territories into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. After the end of World War II in Europe, the USSR signed a new border agreement with the Polish communists on 16 August 1945. The USSR played a double game secretly engaging in talks with Germany. The terms were rejected, thus giving Josef Stalin a free hand in pursuing the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Adolf Hitler, the non-aggression pact contained a secret protocol dividing Northern and Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence in the event of war. One week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, German forces invaded Poland from the west, north, Polish forces gradually withdrew to the southeast where they prepared for a long defence of the Romanian Bridgehead and awaited the French and British support and relief that they were expecting. On 17 September 1939 the Soviet Red Army invaded the Kresy regions in accordance with the secret protocol, at the opening of hostilities several Polish cities including Dubno, Łuck and Włodzimierz Wołyński let the Red Army in peacefully, convinced that it was marching on to fight the Germans. General Juliusz Rómmel of the Polish Army issued an order to treat them like an ally before it was too late. The result of the Paris Peace Conference did little to decrease the territorial ambitions of parties in the region, the border skirmishes of 1919 progressively escalated into the Polish–Soviet War in 1920. Following the Polish victory at the Battle of Warsaw, the Soviets sued for peace, the parties signed the formal peace treaty, the Peace of Riga, on 18 March 1921, dividing the disputed territories between Poland and Soviet Russia. In the aftermath of the agreement, Soviet leaders largely abandoned the cause of international revolution. The Conference of Ambassadors and the community recognized Polands eastern frontiers in 1923. Germany marched into Prague on 15 March 1939, in mid-April, the Soviet Union, Britain and France began trading diplomatic suggestions regarding a political and military agreement to counter potential further German aggression
25.
Russian Partition
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The Russian Partition constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were invaded by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Poland. The Russian acquisition encompassed the largest share of Polands population, living on 463,200 km2 of land constituting formerly east-central territory of a sovereign country. The first partitioning led by imperial Russia took place in 1772, the one in 1793. To both Russians and Poles, the term Russian Poland was not acceptable, to the Russians after partition Poland ceased to exist, and their newly acquired territories were considered the long lost parts of Mother Russia. To Poles, Poland was simply Polish, never Russian, while the Russians used varying administrative names for their new territories, another popular term, used in Poland and adopted by most other historiographies, was the Russian Partition. Even before the partitions from the late 18th century, the Russian Empire had already acquired some territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The first Russian partition took place in the late 17th century, under the Third Partition of Poland Russia acquired Courland, all Lithuanian territory east of the Nieman River, and the remaining parts of Volhynian Ukraine. Major historical events of the Russian Partition included the Warsaw Uprising soon after Kościuszkos victory at Racławice. It ended up in the massacre of Praga district of Warsaw, in which the Russian imperial army killed up to 20,000 civilians in reprisal or revenge, regardless of gender and age. The whole of Praga was strewn with bodies, blood was flowing in streams wrote Suvorov himself. In 1807, the victorious Napoleon formed the Duchy of Warsaw after his War of the Fourth Coalition against Prussia and Russia, the new Duchy was held in personal union by King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony. However, the Duchy was dissolved after just a few years following the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the Tsarist Kingdom of Poland was established in the territory returned to Russia with the Tsar taking the title of King of Poland. The protectorate was gradually integrated into Russia over the course of the 19th century, notwithstanding, the relentless Russian exploitation activities led to the 1830–1831 November Uprising which took place in the heartland of partitioned Poland, forming a government. Its subsequent defeat resulted in a new wave of Tsarist mass repressions, in 1863–1864 another insurrection, the January Uprising, broke out. This time, the Carmelite friars who helped the insurgents were sent on death marches to Siberia chained by their necks together, the January Uprising lead to the Kingdoms autonomy being drastically reduced, and its renaming as Vistula Land. There is debate as to whether the Kingdom of Poland, as a state, was replaced by the Vistula Land. Towns were stripped of their charters in reprisal, and turned into villages, the Russian Partition of Poland was made an official province of the Russian Empire in 1867. In early 20th century, a part of the Russian Revolution of 1905 was the Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland
26.
Partitions of Poland
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The First Partition of Poland was decided on August 5,1772. Two decades later, Russian and Prussian troops entered the Commonwealth again, Austria did not participate in the Second Partition. The Third Partition of Poland took place on October 24,1795, with this partition, the Commonwealth ceased to exist. In Polish, there are two words for the two meanings. In Polish historiography, the term Fourth Partition of Poland has also been used, the term Fourth Partition in a temporal sense can also mean the diaspora communities that played important political role in re-establishing the Polish sovereign state after 1918. A single member of parliaments belief that a measure was injurious to his own constituency, even after the act had been approved and it became increasingly difficult to undertake action. The liberum veto also provided openings for foreign diplomats to get their ways and this applies particularly to the last Commonwealth King Stanisław August Poniatowski, who for some time had been a lover of Russian Empress Catherine the Great. Their alliance later became known in Poland as the Alliance of the Three Black Eagles, the Commonwealth could never be liquidated unless its long-time ally, Austria, allowed it, so Catherine had to use diplomacy to win Austria to her side. Frederick II retaliated by ordering enough Polish currency counterfeited to severely affect the Polish economy and this new constitution undid the reforms made in 1764 under Stanisław II. The liberum veto and all the old abuses of the last one, the irregular and poorly commanded Polish forces had little chance in the face of the regular Russian army and suffered a major defeat. In 1769 Austria annexed a small territory of Spisz and in 1770 – Nowy Sącz and these territories had been a bone of contention between Poland and Hungary, which was a part of the Austrian crown lands. In February 1772, the agreement of partition was signed in Vienna, early in August, Russian, Prussian and Austrian troops simultaneously invaded the Commonwealth and occupied the provinces agreed upon among themselves. The partition treaty was ratified by its signatories on September 22,1772, to Austria fell Zator and Auschwitz, part of Lesser Poland embracing parts of the counties of Kraków and Sandomir and the whole of Galicia, less the city of Kraków. Catherine of Russia was also very satisfied, by this diplomatic document Russia came into possession of that section of Livonia that had remained in Commonwealth control, and of Belarus embracing the counties of Vitebsk, Polotsk and Mstislavl. By this partition, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lost about 30% of its territory and half of its population, by seizing northwestern Poland, Prussia instantly gained control over 80% of the Commonwealths total foreign trade. Through levying enormous customs duties, Prussia accelerated the collapse of the Commonwealth, after having occupied their respective territories, the three partitioning powers demanded that King Stanisław and the Sejm approve their action. By 1790 the First Polish Republic had been weakened to such a degree that it was forced into an unnatural and terminal alliance with its enemy, the Polish–Prussian Pact of 1790 was signed. The conditions of the Pact contributed to the succeeding and final two partitions of Poland–Lithuania, the May Constitution of 1791 enfranchised the bourgeoisie, established the separation of the three branches of government, and eliminated the abuses of the Repnin Sejm
27.
Warsaw
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Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a metropolitan area of 3.101 million residents. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres, while the area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres. Once described as Paris of the East, Warsaw was believed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world until World War II. On 9 November 1939, the city was awarded Polands highest military decoration for heroism, Warsaw is one of Europe’s most dynamic metropolitan cities. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world, in 2017 the city came 4th in the “Business-friendly” category and 8th in the “Human capital and life style”. It was also ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central, Warsaw is considered an Alpha– global city, a major international tourist destination and a significant cultural, political and economic hub. The city is a significant centre of research and development, BPO, ITO, the Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe. Frontex, the European Union agency for external security, has its headquarters in Warsaw. Together with Frankfurt, London and Paris, Warsaw is also one of the cities with the highest number of skyscrapers in the European Union, the city is the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Warsaw. The historic city-centre of Warsaw with its picturesque Old Town in 1980 was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, buildings represent examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period. Warsaw provides many examples of architecture from the gothic, renaissance, baroque, neoclassical and modern periods, furthermore, the city is positioning itself as Europes chic cultural capital with thriving art and club scenes and renowned restaurants. Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman, Wars, according to legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula River with whom Wars fell in love. In actuality, Warsz was a 12th/13th-century nobleman who owned a village located at the site of Mariensztat neighbourhood. See also the Vršovci family which had escaped to Poland, the official city name in full is miasto stołeczne Warszawa. A native or resident of Warsaw is known as a Varsovian – in Polish warszawiak, warszawianin, warszawianka, warszawiacy, other names for Warsaw include Varsovia and Varsóvia, Varsovie, Varsavia, Warschau, װאַרשע /Varshe, Варшава /Varšava /Varshava, Varšuva, Varsó. The first fortified settlements on the site of todays Warsaw were located in Bródno, after Jazdów was raided by nearby clans and dukes, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa
