Congress Poland 375568 224318456 2008-07-08T09:17:24Z Benito 7395132 /* Initial independence */ {{Infobox Former Country |native_name=''Królestwo Polskie'' <small>([[Polish language|pl]])</small><br>Царство Польское <small>([[Russian language|ru]])</small> |conventional_long_name= Kingdom of Poland |common_name = Congress Poland |continent=Europe |status = Vassal |status_text = [[protectorate]] of the [[Russian Empire]] later turned into provinces |empire=Russian Empire | |p1=Duchy of Warsaw |image_p1=[[Image:Duchy of Warsaw 11.PNG|20px|Coat of arms of the Duchy of Warsaw]] |p2=Kingdom of Prussia |image_p2=[[Image:Wappen Preußen.png|20px|Coat of arms of Prussia]] |s1=Kingdom of Poland (1916–1918) |image_s1= [[Image:PB Piast2 CoA.png|20px|Coat of arms of the 1916–18 Kingdom of Poland]] | |year_start=1815 |date_start=June 9 |event_start=[[Congress of Vienna|Established]] |event1=November Uprising |date_event1=[[November 29]], [[1831]] |event2=January Uprising |date_event2=[[January 22]], [[1863]] |year_end=1915 |date_end= |event_end=Collapsed | |title_leader=[[List of Polish monarchs|King]] |leader1=[[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] |year_leader1=1815–25 |leader2=[[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]] (deposed) |year_leader2=1825–31 |leader3=[[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] (renounced) |year_leader3=1894–1915 |title_representative=[[Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland|Namestnik]] |representative1=[[Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland|''See list'']] | |image_flag=Flag of the Congress of Poland.svg |image_coat=Kongresowka.png |symbol=Coat of arms of Poland | |image_map=Karte_kongresspolen.png |image_map_caption=Map of Congress Poland (in [[German language|German]]), coloured in light green. Dark line shows borders of pre-partition Poland | |government_type=Constitutional monarchy |legislature=Sejm | |common_languages=at first [[Polish language|Polish]] later [[Russian language]] with efforts to eradicate Polish |capital=[[Warsaw]] |latd=52 |latm=14 |latNS=N |longd=21 |longm=1 |longEW=E | |stat_area1=128500 |stat_pop1=3300000 |stat_year1=Varied }} {{Polish statehood}} [[Image:KingdomofPoland1815.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Kingdom of Poland, 1815-1830]] [[Image:Gubernie zachodnie krolestwo polskie 1902.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Map (in Polish) from 1902]] '''Congress Poland''' {{lang-pl|Kongresówka}} [{{IPA-pl|k|o|n|g|r|e|'|s|ó|f|k|a|}}], officially and formally '''Kingdom of Poland''' ({{lang-pl|Królestwo Polskie}} [{{IPA-pl|k|r|ó|'|l|e|s|t|f|o}} {{IPA-pl|'|p|o|l|s|kʲ|e}}], {{lang-ru|Царство Польское}} ''Tsarstvo Polskoye'' {{IPA-ru|'tsarstʋɘ 'polʲskɘje}}) and informally known as '''Russian Poland''' was a constitutional [[personal union]] of the [[Russian Empire]] created in 1815 by the [[Congress of Vienna]], replaced by the [[Central Powers]] in 1915 with the [[Kingdom of Poland (1916–1918)|Kingdom of Poland]]. Though officially Congress Poland was to begin its statehood with considerable official political autonomy the [[Tsar]]s generally disregarded any restrictions on their power and severely curtailed autonomous powers following uprisings in [[November Uprising|1830-31]] and [[January Uprising|1863]] turning it first into a [[puppet state]] of the Russian Empire and later dividing it into provinces.<ref name="Harold Nicolson">{{cite book |author=Nicolson, Harold George |title=The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity, 1812-1822 |publisher=Grove Press |location=New York |year=2001 |pages= 171 |isbn=0-802-13744-X |oclc= |doi= | authorlink = Harold Nicolson | url = http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN080213744X&id=qm5BNjqrGsUC&pg=PA171&lpg=PA171&dq=Congress+Poland+puppet&sig=QeOuv98IrRQBMjDxV-SSShnqHlY }}</ref><ref name="Alan Warwick Palmer">{{cite book |author=Palmer, Alan Warwick |title=Twilight of the Habsburgs: The Life and Times of Emperor Francis Joseph |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press |location=Boston |year=1997 |pages= 7 |isbn=0-871-13665-1 |oclc= |doi=| authorlink = Alan Warwick Palmer | url = http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0871136651&id=d_rlZKhgaekC&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=Congress+Poland+puppet&sig=mWBTlU5r-93pZ3zW6lCaP3iePE4 }}</ref> Thus from the start the Polish autonomy remained nothing more than fiction<ref name="Austin">''Nation without a State: Imagining Poland in the Nineteenth Century'' by Agnieszka Barbara Nance, Dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy [[The University of Texas at Austin]] page 169-188</ref>. The territory of Congress Poland roughly corresponds to the [[Lublin Voivodeship|Lublin]], [[Łódź Voivodeship|Łódź]], [[Masovian Voivodeship|Masovia]], [[Podlachian Voivodeship|Podlachia]] and [[Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship|Świętokrzyskie]] [[voivodeships of Poland]]. ==Naming== Although the official name of the state was the ''Kingdom of Poland'', in practice this was not used. Instead, in order to distinguish it from other [[History of Poland|Kingdoms of Poland]], it was then and is usually now referred to as '''Congress Poland'''. Throughout the 19th century, the term Congress Poland continued to be used in relation to these territories, although the political entity they were connected with no longer existed. ==History== ''Congress Poland'' was created out of the [[Duchy of Warsaw]] at the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815, when [[Europe]]an states reorganized Europe following the [[Napoleonic war]]s. The creation of Congress Poland created a partition of Polish lands in which the state was divided and ruled between [[Russia]], [[Austria]] and [[Prussia]].<ref>{{cite book | first = WO | last = Henderson | title = Castlereagh et l'Europe, w: Le Congrès de Vienne et l'Europe | publisher = Bruxelles | location = Paris | year = 1964 | pages = 60}}</ref> The [[Congress]] was important enough in the creation of the state to cause the new country to be named for it.<ref name="CzM">{{cite book |author=Miłosz, Czesław |title=The history of Polish literature |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |year=1983 |pages= 196|isbn=0520044770 |oclc= |doi= | authorlink = Czesław Miłosz | url = http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0520044770&id=11MVdBYUX5oC&pg=RA1-PA196&lpg=RA1-PA196&dq=congress+constitution+Poland+liberal&sig=vWZzxP8z_z2ELTF98k81ShrdJ3I | accessdate = 2008-04-10}}</ref><ref name="Nicolson">{{cite book |author=Nicolson, Harold George |title=The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity, 1812-1822 |publisher=Grove Press |location=New York |year=2001 |pages= 179–180|isbn=0-802-13744-X |oclc= |doi= | authorlink = Harold Nicolson | url = http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN080213744X&id=qm5BNjqrGsUC&pg=PA179&lpg=PA179&dq=congress+Poland+constitution&sig=SR2BlLsFWhYKpKPuj_PRDDMKO44| accessdate = 2008-04-10}}</ref> Congress Poland lost its status as a [[sovereignty|sovereign]] state in 1831 and the [[administrative division of Congress Poland]] was reorganized. It was sufficiently distinct that its name remained in official Russian use, although in the later years of Russian rule it was often replaced, albeit unofficially,<ref name=BEKP>{{cite web|url=http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/007/111/111469.htm|publisher=The [[Brockhaus and Efron]] Encyclopedia (1890–1906)|title=Kingdom of Poland|accessdate=2006-07-27}} {{ru icon}}</ref> with the ''[[Vistulan Country]]'' (Russian: Privislyansky Krai). Following the defeat of the [[November Uprising]] its separate institutions and administrative arrangements were abolished as part of increased [[Russification]] to be more closely integrated with the [[Russian Empire]]. However, even after this formalized annexation, the territory retained some degree of distinctiveness and continued to be referred to informally as Congress Poland until the Russian rule there ended as a result of the advance by the armies of the [[Central Powers]] in 1915 during the [[First World War]]. Originally, the kingdom had an area of roughly 128,500 km<sup>2</sup> and a population of approximately 3.3 million. The new state would be one of the smallest Polish states ever, smaller than the preceding [[Duchy of Warsaw]] and much smaller than the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]] (which had a population of 10 million and an area of 1 million km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name="Nicolson"/> 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 Polish majority. Congress Poland largely emerged as a result of the efforts of [[Adam Jerzy Czartoryski]],<ref name="Ludwikowski">{{cite book |author=Ludwikowski, Rett R. |title=Constitution-making in the region of former Soviet dominance |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham, N.C |year=1996 |pages= 12–13|isbn=0-822-31802-4 |oclc= |doi= | url = http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0822318024&id=qw8o0_c0m74C&pg=RA1-PA12&lpg=RA1-PA12&dq=congress+constitution+Poland+liberal&sig=mtu3Xp979Whlawu_ee2lP75c_QM }}</ref> a Pole who aimed to resurrect the Polish state in alliance with [[Russia]]. The Kingdom of Poland was one of the few contemporary [[constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarchies]] in Europe, with the Emperor of Russia serving as the [[King of Poland|Polish King]]. His title as chief of Poland, in Russian, was [[Tsar]], similar to usage in the fully integrated states within the Empire ([[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Kazan]], [[Siberia]]). ===Initial independence=== Theoretically Congress Poland in its original form was a semi-autonomous state in [[personal union]] with Russia through the rule of the Russian tsar. The state possessed the [[Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland]], one of the most liberal in 19th century Europe,<ref name="Ludwikowski"/> a [[Sejm of the Republic of Poland#Sejm of the Congress Poland|Sejm]] (parliament) responsible to the tsar capable of voting laws, an independent army, [[Polish złoty|currency]], [[budget]], [[penal code]] and a [[customs]] boundary separating it from the rest of Russian lands. Poland also had democratic traditions ([[Golden Liberty]]) and the [[Szlachta|Polish nobility]] deeply valued personal freedom. In reality, the tsars had absolute power and the formal title of Autocrat, and wanted no restrictions on their rule. All opposition to the emperor was persecuted and the law was disregarded at will by Russian officials.<ref name="PWN-KPP">{{cite web | url = http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3925264 konstytucja | title = Królestwa Polskiego | publisher = [[Encyklopedia PWN]] | accessdate = 2006-01-19 }} {{pl icon}}</ref> though the absolute rule demanded by Russia was difficult to establish due Congress Poland's liberal traditions and insititutions. The independence of Congress Poland lasted only 15 years; initially [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] used a title of the King of Poland and was obligated to observe resolutions of the constitution. However, in time the situation changed and he granted the viceroy, [[Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia|Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich]], almost dictatorial powers.<ref name="CzM"/> 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 1820s<ref name="Austin"/>. Russian secret police commanded by [[Nikolay Nikolayevich Novosiltsev]] started persecution of Polish secret organizations and in 1821 the Tsar ordered the abolition of [[Freemasonry]] which represented patriotic traditions of Poland<ref name="Austin"/>. Beginning in 1825 the sessions of the Sejm were held in secret. ===Uprisings and loss of autonomy=== Alexander I's successor, [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]] was crowned King of Poland on [[24 May]] [[1829]] in Warsaw, but he declined to swear to abide by the Constitution and continued to limit the independence of Congress Poland. Nicholas rule was representing the idea of Official Nationality, that is Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality. In relation to Poles those ideas meant the goal of assimiliation that is turning them into loyal Orthodox Russians<ref name="Austin"/>. The principle of Orthodoxy was the result of special role it played in Russian Empire, as the Church was in fact becoming a department of state<ref name="Austin"/>, and other religions discriminated, for instance papal bulls in Congress Poland could not be read without agreement from Russian government. The rule of Nicholas also meant end of political traditions in Poland, it ended the existence of democratic institutions, introduced centralised administration that was not elected but appointed, and it tried to change relations between state and individual. All of this led to discontent and resistance among Polish population<ref name="Austin"/>. In January 1831 the Sejm deposed the Tsar as [[King of Poland]] in response to his repeated curtailment of its constitutional rights. The Tsar reacted by sending Russian troops into Poland and the [[November Uprising]] broke out.<ref name="PLT-74">{{cite book |author=Janowski, Maciej | coauthors = Przekop, Danuta | title=Polish Liberal Thought Before 1918 |publisher=[[Central European University]] Press |location=Budapest |year=2004 |pages= 74|isbn=9639241180 |oclc= |doi=| url = http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9639241180&id=ieF7NYaEqQYC&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&ots=LA_l36F5os&dq=Poland+constitution+November+uprising&sig=JBLgctLDj-10Zbg4D4GyLzw-4rc | accessdate = 2008-04-10 }}</ref> Following an 11-month military campaign Congress Poland lost its semi-independence and was subsequently integrated much more closely to the Russian Empire. This was formalised through the issuing of the [[Organic Statute of the Kingdom of Poland]] by the Emperor in 1832, which abolished the constitution, army and legislative assembly. In the next 30 years a series of measures bound Congress Poland ever more closely to Russia. In 1863 the [[January Uprising]] broke out, but was crushed by 1865. As a direct result any remaining separate status of Congress Poland was removed and the political entity was directly incorporated into the Russian Empire. The formerly unofficial name of '''[[Vistula land]]''' ({{lang-ru|Привислинский Край}}) replaced "Congress Poland" as the area's official name and the area became a ''namestnichestvo'' under the control of a [[namestnik]] until 1875, when it became a [[Guberniya]]. In the 1880s, the official language was changed to [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Polish language|Polish]] was banned both from the office and education. In 1912 the southeastern part, around [[Chełm]], was constituted a separate entity and incorporated into core Russia. Congress Poland was looted and abandoned by the retreating [[Russian army]] in 1915 during [[World War I]] and the following year the occupying [[Central Powers]] created the short-lived [[Kingdom of Poland (1916–1918)|Kingdom of Poland]] out of most of its territory. == Government == The government of the Congress of Poland was outlined in the [[Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland]] in 1815. The Emperor of Russia was the official head of state, considered the [[King of Poland]], with the local government headed by the [[Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland]], [[Council of State (Kingdom of Poland)|Council of State]] and [[Administrative Council]], in addition to a the [[Sejm of the Republic of Poland#Sejm of the Congress Poland|Sejm]]. In theory Congress Poland possessed one of the most liberal governments of the time in [[Europe]],<ref name="Ludwikowski"/> but in practice the area was a puppet state of the Russian Empire. The liberal provisions of the constitution, and the scope of the autonomy were often disregarded by the Russian officials.<ref name="Ludwikowski"/><ref name="Nicolson"/><ref name="PWN-KPP"/> ==See also== * [[History of Poland (1795-1918)|History of Poland (1795–1918)]] * [[Grand Duchy of Finland]] (1809–1917) * [[Governor-Generals of Poland|Governors-General of Poland]] * [[Pale of Settlement]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== *[[Arcadius Kahan]], ''[http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0226422437&id=6WHQGwsjmfUC&dq=%22Congress+Poland%22 Russian Economic History: The Nineteenth Century]'', [[University of Chicago]] Press, 1989, ISBN 0-226-42243-7<!--has a good chapter on economics of Congress Poland--> [[Category:Congress Poland| ]] [[be:Царства Польскае]] [[bg:Полско царство]] [[de:Kongresspolen]] [[es:Zarato de Polonia]] [[eo:Kongresa Pollando]] [[fr:Royaume du Congrès]] [[hr:Kongresna Poljska]] [[it:Regno del Congresso]] [[lt:Lenkijos Kongreso karalystė]] [[nl:Congres-Polen]] [[ja:ポーランド立憲王国]] [[no:Kongress-Polen]] [[pl:Królestwo Kongresowe]] [[ro:Polonia Congresului]] [[ru:Царство Польское]] [[sr:Конгресна Пољска]] [[fi:Kongressi-Puola]] [[sv:Kongresspolen]] [[vi:Vương quốc Lập hiến Ba Lan]] [[uk:Царство Польське]]