Duchy of Warsaw, 1807-1813 1830-1863
Cracow 1815-1846 Galicia
1815-1846






Congress Poland 1815-1830



A.) Poland Partitioned Again

At the VIENNA CONGRESS, Poland again was the victim of the victorious powers appetite. As most Poles had been staunch supporters of the French to the very end - only a group of Polish nobles around PRINCE ADAM CZARTORYSKI had accepted the Czar as Poland's lord - they were not represented on the Congress. Russian Czar Alexander planned the reestablihment of a Polish Kingdom in DYNASTIC UNION with Russia; this kingdom would comprise of the DUCHY OF WARSAW an possibly include territories further east, acquired by Russia in the Polish Partitions 1772-1795. However, the British side had objections, and a compromise was found according to which the PROVINCE OF POSEN became Prussian, and the rest of the Duchy of Poland (CONGRESS POLAND) was reestablished as a Kingdom, in Dynastic Union with Russia. CRACOW was declared a free city under the joint protection of it's three neighbours, Austria, Prussia and Russia.


B.) Congress Poland

Poland was given a liberal constitution. Head of the administration was the Czar's governor, an office to which a Pole was appointed. SEJM was responsible for legislation. The kingdom had an army of it's own, under the command of the Czar's brother.
Czar Alexander's policy toward Poland was cautious. His main intention was to secure Russia's acquisition. His major object in foreign policy was to enforce the stability of Europe's new order as established on the Vienna Congress. Russia offered to send it's army to any country where a revolution broke out. Therefore, Poland, as long as it did not question the Czar's rule and did not engage in a drastic change of it's constitution, enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy.
In 1816 the UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW was founded.
In 1818 the new ARCHDIOCESIS OF WARSAW was established, in accordance with the borders of Congress Poland.


C.) The Economy

Congress Poland had a population of c. 3.3 million in 1816, of c. 4.14 million in 1830. The largest city was Warsaw with 80,000 inhabitants (in 1816). 75 % of the population were Poles, 10 % Jews, 7.5 % Germans, 5 % Lithuanians, 2.5 % Ruthenians (Ukrainians). A textile industry emerged. An immigration law (1820) provided immigrants with knowhow, foremost German weavers, with favourable conditions. Lodz quickly grew from a village (371 inhabitants c. 1800) into a major industrial town.
Tariffs for trade across the border separating Congress Poland from the Russian Empire were set low, in contrast to tariffs collected at the other borders. This protectionism provided the Polish industry, still in her infancy, with good conditions to grow (1822).



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EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Lodz : 1423-1869, from City of Lodz
The Royal University of Warsaw, 1816-1831, from University of Warsaw
Article Poland, from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition
DOCUMENTS Constitution of 1815, from Verfassungen.de, in German
Acte du Congres de Vienne du 9 juin 1815 : Pologne, from Histoire Empire
REFERENCE Enno Meyer, Grundzüge der Geschichte Polens (Main Features of Polish History), Darmstadt : Wissenschaftliche Buchgemeinschaft 1977; in German
Manfred Hellmann, Daten der Polnischen Geschichte (Dates in Polish History), München : dtv 1985; in German
Richard Breyer, Csaba Janos Kenez, Das Russische Teilgebiet 1815 bis 1914 (The Russian Sector, 1815-1914), pp.281-340, in : Joachim Rogall, Land der grossen Ströme. Von Polen nach Litauen. Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas (Land of the Large Streams. From Poland to Lithuania. German History in Europe's East), Berlin : Siedler 1996; in German


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on March 15th 2002, last revised on November 11th 2004

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