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The brief history of Poland
Part 5.
Since Napoleonic Wars till the Spring of Nations
- Napoleon and the Duchy of Warsaw
- The Congress of Vienna and the Kingdom of Poland
- The War with Russia and the Aftermath
1. Napoleon and the Duchy of Warsaw
The Attitude of England and France toward the Polish
One of the most egregious errors of the Polish political philosophy of the XVIIIth century was the prevailing belief that Poland was needed to preserve the balance of power in Europe, and that she was exposed to no danger as long as she remained unaggressive and as long as there existed competition and jealousy among the great powers, precluding the territorial aggrandizement of any one of them. How utterly fallacious such reasoning was the sad events of the last quarter of the XVIIIth century amply demonstrated. The internal problems of France and the exhausting wars she carried on, the preoccupation of Great Britain with the American Revolution, and the jealousies and antagonisms between France and England afforded the opportunity for Russia, Prussia and Austria to proceed unhampered with reference to Poland. With the exception of Turkey, no European power did so much as protest when "one of the greatest crimes of modern history was perpetrated."
In reply to Poniatowski's appeal after the first dismemberment King George III of England wrote: "Good Brother ... justice ought to be the invariable guide of sovereigns ... I fear, however misfortunes have reached the point where redress can be had from the hand of the Almighty alone, and I see no other intervention that can afford a remedy."
Beyond an expression of sympathy, England did nothing to prevent the utter destruction of Poland at the time when the country was going through a period of national regeneration and was making superhuman efforts to remedy the ancient ills, to create a strong government and to introduce social and economic reforms. "After all, no English interests were involved in the partition. It was not her business to intervene."
The interests of Great Britain in the East at that time were purely commercial and the fate of Poland was a matter of indifference to her as long as she was assured by the treaty of May 1774, with Frederick the Great, of all former commercial rights at Danzig and Western Prussia. "The time had not arrived when Great Britain felt that the Russian advance was either a menace to her Mediterranean interests or to her Indian empire.
France also remained singularly unperturbed over Poland's tragedy. Louis XV did not even reply to Poniatowski's appeal of 1772. And Revolutionary France did not exhibit any particular enthusiasm for "a country of nobles."
The Post Partition Regime in Poland
As a consequence, the Polish nation was left entirely unaided against the joint action of three powerful militaristic States to whom "might was right" and whose governments immediately after the partitions proceeded ruthlessly to suppress the national Polish sentiments and bound themselves by the treaty of January 26, 1797, to destroy everything "which might retain the memory of the Polish Kingdom."
The leaders of the nation, not excluding Kosciuszko, were imprisoned and some of those who fell into Russia's hands were exiled to Siberia and even to Kamchatka. Prussia and Austria applied themselves to the task of denationalization very industriously. Polish law and institutions were supplanted by those of the Teutonic countries; schools we're Germanized; heavy taxes were laid; men were drafted into military service to supply the then much needed fodder for cannon; large crown, church and individual estates were confiscated; German colonization in the Polish provinces was strongly encouraged. The Prussian minute police regulations and her spy system which she introduced in Poland were as cruel and vexatious as they were petty and ludicrous: they went so far as to prescribe methods of cow milking. The principle of collective responsibility for political offenses of individuals was applied and the imposition of a severe censorship thwarted every expression of patriotism. In Russian Poland the lot of the nobility was not as severe as in the other two sections of the country.
The Russian civilization could not readily supersede the culture of Poland. A form of home rule was also retained. Moreover, the opportunities afforded for a ready export of grain through the newly opened ports of the Black Sea brought material prosperity. This prosperity, however, was acquired at the terrible expense of the peasantry, whose conditions under the new regime became infinitely worse. The cities were likewise deprived of all the privileges and prerogatives granted to them by the Four Years' Diet. The habitations of the Jews were restricted to a certain area and the Uniate Church was singled out for repressions and persecutions by the Russian Government.
Hopes and Plans of the Polish Patriots
Every successive dismemberment sent forth a new wave of Polish emigration. The exiles scattered in various parts of Europe and some even embarked for the far-off shores of America. Endeavors were made to arouse the nations of Europe and their governments to a realization of the crime committed upon Poland, and to stimulate them to action in the cause of humanity and justice. Realizing that no nation would sacrifice its blood to avenge the Polish tragedy, the emigrants conceived the idea of organizing Polish armed forces in Wallachia and elsewhere and of holding them ready to enter Poland when the proper moment came. The expectations of an international conflict to which Poland could offer a key were based on sound premises. The antagonism between Austria and France was bitter and after Prussia sealed her compact with the French Republic at Basel on April 5, 1795, the old enmity of Austria toward Prussia was revived and the robber triumvirate was divided against itself. Austria endeavored to induce Russia to a war against Prussia, "the traitor of the monarchial idea." Nothing but a war among the three black eagles, aided by Revolutionary France, as contemplated by the Paris Committee of Public Safety, could offer the coveted chance of organizing a Polish army to regain national independence.
The hopes of Poland hung upon a triumphant France and nobody realized this more clearly than did General Jan Henryk Dombrowski (Polish spelling: Dąbrowski), who, after the defeat of Kosciuszko at Macieyowice, conceived the bold and pathetic idea of gathering the remaining forces and of marching to France, jointly with the King and the members of the Four Years' Diet, cutting through Germany by force, if necessary. He well knew that France was the only country in Europe at the time which could have a direct interest in the reconstruction of Poland. The obduracy of the King and the indecision on the part of General Wawrzecki, the successor of Kosciuszko in command of the army prevented, the execution of this truly dramatic act. When it failed, Dombrowski, a knight "sans peur et sans reproche," whose military fame was well known abroad, went to Berlin in February, 1796, where he presented to the King of Prussia a plan of a joint campaign with France and Turkey against Austria and Russia and assured him of Poland's active assistance if Prussia would help to restore Poland's independence. Should this be realized he was confident the Poles would welcome a Hohenzollern to the throne of their thus reconstructed country.
After numerous conferences with the Berlin cabinet and the French representatives, he left for France to organize Polish legions from among those Poles who resided abroad or who were kept in French detention camps as Austrian soldiers.
The Polish Legions
There is hardly a more touching chapter in the world's history than the story of the Polish Legions. When Dombrowski arrived at Paris he presented his idea in a memorial which he had prepared jointly with Joseph Wybicki, the member of the Four Years' Diet and the lawyer Barss, who was the representative of Kosciuszko. It was favorably received by the Directory and by M. Petiet, the Minister of War. He then went to Milan to present himself to Bonaparte, the youthful hero, then Commander in Chief of the Army in Italy. Napoleon had already heard about conditions in Poland from his gallant adjunct, captain Joseph Sulkowski who subsequently perished in Egypt. Referring to a letter received from Prince Michael Oginski, an ardent patriot whose immense estates in Lithuania were confiscated by Russia and who was then active in patriotic circles in Turkey, Napoleon said to Sulkowski: "What can I reply to him? What can I promise? Tell your countrymen that dismemberment of Poland was an act of injustice which cannot last; that after the war in Italy is over I shall personally lead Frenchmen against Russia to compel her to restore Poland's independence; but tell him also that the Poles should not rely on foreign help, that they should arm themselves, harass Russia and keep in contact with their country. The beautiful words designed for their infatuation lead nowhere. I know the diplomatic language and the indolence of Turkey. A nation crucified by her neighbors can be resurrected only by the call to arms."
In spite of his pronounced feelings toward Poland, he gave a cold reception to General Dombrowski when the latter appeared at the French headquarters on December 4, 1796. The probable reason for it was Napoleon's contempt for "the lawyers of the Directory," whose letters of introduction Dombrowski presented. This attitude toward the man who was carrying out his former advice with reference to Poland soon changed and developed into a warm admiration for the military genius of Dombrowski, and the gallantry of his legions whose status was determined by the convention signed by the Administrative Board of Lombardy and the Polish General on January 9,1797. In this way, two years after the last dismemberment of Poland, a Polish army was formed, in Polish uniforms, under Polish command, decorated with French cockades and wearing on the epaulets the inscription: "Gli uomini liberi sono fratelli." (Free men are brethren.) The legionaries were considered citizens of Lombardy with a right to return to their motherland whenever circumstances might demand it. On January 20, 1797, Dombrowski issued his appeal to the Poles, in which he said: "Poles, hope is rising. France is victorious. She fights for the cause of the nations. Let us help to weaken her enemies. Polish legions are being formed in Italy. The triumphs of the French Republic are our only hope. With her help and that of her allies we may yet see our homes which we left with emotion."
In response to this call thousands of Poles flocked to Dombrowski's banners. A good star seemed to have appeared on the dark horizon and enthusiasm was genuine. The rapturous song of the Polish Legions, known by its first words "Poland is not yet lost," or as "Dombrowski's march" was then born and has since become the national anthem. To its strains the valiant Legions flung themselves into the thick of every battle.
Napoleon's phenomenal successes over Austria at Arcole, Rivoli and Mantua seemed to make the realization of Polish hopes near at hand. Dombrowski had already secured Bonaparte's permission for a march through Transylvania to Galicia, when truce was declared at Leoben and preliminary steps taken for the Campo Formio peace. The treaty sealed on October 17, 1797, made, however, no mention of Poland. It was the first severe shock and disappointment experienced at Napoleon's hands. The only apparent result of all the bloody efforts of the past campaign was the intact existence of the Legions, the living and fighting representation of Poland. After the Campo Formio treaty they became attached to the Cisalpine Republic.
In June, 1798 Kosciuszko returned from America to France where he was met by the government and the people of the country in a most tender and enthusiastic manner. His popularity and influence were expected to promote the cause of the Legions, whose chief adviser he became. He was yet bound by his pledge to the Russian Emperor Paul I who released him from imprisonment under promise of not taking part in active service against Russia. He acted, therefore, only as a patron and counsellor of the Polish army. His encouragement added fresh vigor to the soldier-patriots who patiently persisted in their devotion and self-imposed military service. New hopes arose when the second coalition was launched by the allied powers against France. The Legions were burning with desire to push the campaign as far eastward as possible, to be nearer their goal. They distinguished themselves in Championnet's army, as only men fighting for a great ideal can. In the battle at Civita Castellana the Polish batallion under General Kniaziewicz annihilated the corps of Count de Saxe, which constituted the left wing of the Neapolitan army. When at Calvi, Kniaziewicz, by a flank attack, took six thousand prisoners, Championnet elevated him to the rank of Brigadier General. Gaeta was captured by Dombrowski and it was Kniaziewicz's garrison that occupied the Capitol after Rome fell. In recognition of his brilliant services Kniaziewicz was chosen to carry the captured banners to Paris. Rivers of beautiful oratory were poured on the Legions for their valor and French gratitude to the Poles vouched forever. Polish troops took part in the bitter north Italian campaign. In the battle of Legnano the Poles revealed wonders of bravery and determination. At Magnano the heroic General Rymkiewicz fell; Chlopicki exhibited his dauntless courage and coolness in the action at Novi; and Michael Sokolnicki's grenadiers performed marvellous feats of prowess and valor on many occasions. On the banks of the Trebbia the Polish eagles fought with particular furor. They were facing the Tamerlane of the day, the Russian Field Marshal Suvorov, the heartless destroyer of Praga whom they had met in the Valley of the Vistula before. In this battle General Dombrowski was severly wounded. The French army, however, was compelled to retire before the vastly superior forces of the Allies and when the fortress of Mantua surrendered, many of the Poles who were in the garrison of the city fell into Austria's hands.
Strenuous campaigning, murderous battles, inclement weather, disease, privations, lack of food and clothing decimated the ranks of the Polish warriors who braved everything and suffered without complaint or murmur of dissatisfaction, although some of the duties assigned to them were repugnant to their moral principles. They saw only their ideal, for the realization of which no price was too high. The reverses suffered by the French armies, however, made the achievement of it remote, but when Napoleon returned from Egypt spirits rose again. With the opening of the new campaign, fresh Polish volunteers filled the depleted ranks of the Legions. Soon Dombrowski and Kniaziewicz were in command of army of over fifteen teen thousand experienced veterans, whose hearts were filled with patriotic ardor whose souls glowed with enthusiasm. "God is with Napoleon and Napoleon is with us," was the prevailing sentiment, to use the words of the great poet Mickiewicz. At Marengo, St. Christoph and Hohenlinden, Polish banners were in the thick of the fight and the victory at the latter place was in no in measure due to Kniaziewicz. France was again triumphant and as had happened four years before, now when Dombrowski was preparing to lead Legions through Bohemia and Moravia to join hands with the insurrection which was being organized in Poland, Bonaparte concluded the Luneville peace February 9, 1801. And again no mention was made of Poland, whose fate was completely subordinated to the direct interests of France. The peace treaty moreover, contained a clause to the effect that no activities on the part of the subjects of the signatory powers aimed at their respective governments shall be tolerated in any of the contracting countries. This meant the dissolution of the Legions. It is hard describe the crushing effect the treaty produced on the minds of the Polish leaders. The organizers the Legions were severely taken to task by Polish public opinion for the misdirection of their efforts the profitless waste of life and energy. Gen Kniaziewicz resigned from service, in spite of the insistent persuasions of M. Berthier, the French Minister of War. Following his example, a great many officers laid down their swords and returned to Poland. In order to save the Legions, the undaunted Dombrowski presented several plans to Napoleon, one of them proposing the conquest of some of the Aegean islands and the establishment of a Polish colony there. All were in vain. A part of the Legion was incorporated into the Italian army and a part was sent, at the point of the bayonet, to San Domingo to subdue a revolt of the Haytians. Most of the men perished there either from bullets or from yellow fever. Only a few hundred came back from this expedition. They brought back bitter feelings. One of them, speaking of the reasons which prompted Napoleon to send the Poles to their perdition in the West Indies, says in his memoirs: "Napoleon had already been striving for the crown; seeing in us determined republicans he wanted to punish us and dug for us a grave at San Domingo." Whatever his motives were, he sadly duped those whom he once promised the redemption of their country from "the injustice which cannot last" and whom he warned against infatuation by diplomatic tricks.
Although the Legions had sorely failed in accomplishing what their leaders had in mind when they organized them, their efforts and sacrifices were not entirely in vain. They established a lofty tradition. They demonstrated to the world that Poland is ready to shed her blood profusely for the regaining of her independence; that her patriotism and gallantry are second to none in the world and that there can be no peace in Europe until Poland is reconstructed. Furthermore, the common service of tens of thousands of Poles of all stations and conditions, including Jews, under Republican banners, bound together by the slogan, "free men are brethren," had produced a deep impression on their modes of thinking and helped to lessen somewhat the social rift which had hitherto separated a nobleman from a peasant. Finally the admiration which Napoleon could not help developing for the character and bravery of the Poles was one more reason which prompted him to form later the Duchy of Warsaw. An Englishman (Fox Strangways) writing about Poland in 1831 had thus expressed the value of the services the Legions rendered to their country: "After spending their blood in Italy, Spain, San Domingo and in various campaigns where neither the cause of Poland nor the principles of liberty were advanced they ultimately succeeded in extorting from him (Napoleon) the formation of his Polish conquests into the Duchy of Warsaw. Then it was that the survivors of those who had shed their blood in seemingly hopeless warfare met the recompense they deserved. Since that time they ceased not to repeat to their countrymen that of their fellow soldiers who died in Egypt or the West Indies, not one died in vain. ... Thus a wandering nation of fifteen thousand warriors restored Poland, if not to her rank, at least to her, independence.
The Pro-Russian Turn in Polish Politics & Czartoryski's Plans
The disappointment following the Luneville treaty turned popular sentiment in another direction, and circumstances were particularly favorable to effect such a turn. The "Semiramis of the North" died in 1796, and her son Paul I broke with all of her policies. He expressed his condemnation of the manner in which she had treated Poland and released all the Polish prisoners, of whom Kosciuszko was one. England was much displeased with the new Tsar and his attitude toward France. His reign was very short however. In 1801 he was murdered and his son Alexander succeeded him to the throne of Russia. Educated by a Frenchman and possessing an impressionable mind, the Tsarevich developed strong leanings toward the principles of the French Revolution and a strong dislike of despotism and injustice. His idealism did not, however, prevent him from taking part in the plot against, his father.
In his boyhood Alexander had been thrown a great deal with the two young brothers Czartoryski, who were raised as hostages at the Russian court, An intimate friendship arose between the future Emperor and the Polish Prince, Adam Czartoryski, a man of high ideals but mellow character.
They had often discussed plans for the future happiness of mankind and the restoration of Poland. With Alexander's advent to the throne, Czartoryski was made Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the Curator of Education in the Wilno district which was one of the six educational districts into which the Empire was divided and which comprised the Polish and Lithuanian provinces. With such a change in the attitude of Russia toward Poland and with a Pole elevated to the highest position in the Empire in the ominous year of the Luneville peace, small wonder that the hopes of certain elements in Poland became associated with those of Russia. The bond of race added an element of sympathy to the union with that country and created the fiction of common interest against Teutonism which was pursuing a ruthless war of extermination of Polish culture in the sections under Prussian and Austrian sovereignty. A strong pro-Russian party arose, particularly among the Lithuanians, led by Prince Lubecki, Prince Michael Oginski, the erstwhile supporter of Dombrowski's Legions, whose estates were returned to him, and many others. Their program aimed at the unification of all Polish territories into an autonomous unit under the sceptre of Russian tsars, as kings of Poland. Czartoryski planned to carry this through by offering Silesia and Bavaria or some provinces on the Danube to Austria in return for Galicia, and the Rheinish provinces to Prussia for the cession of her share of Poland. The coalition that was to help in the proposed reconstruction of Europe and in checking French aggressiveness was to embrace Russia, Austria, England, Sweden and Prussia. The latter refused to join the coalition, preferring neutrality which she had maintained since 1795. It was planned to coerce her by sending a Russian army, and Prince Joseph Poniatowski was counted on to organize a rebellion in that part of Poland which was under Prussian rule. The Tsar was expected to proclaim himself King of Poland and was enthusiastically received in Pulawy when he came to visit the Czartoryskis in the "Polish Athens."
Prussian diplomacy and the persuasion of the Russian advisers of the Tsar frustrated the plan. Alexander did not issue the expected proclamation, but instead went to Berlin where he and the Prussian King swore fidelity to each other over the grave of Frederick the Great, whose saying that "Poland is the communion uniting the Catholic, Lutheran and Schismatic" was as true then as it was when enunciated. The Tsar then also turned over to his new ally the list of names of the Prussian Poles who were to lead the planned uprising. That confidential list was given to him, as future King of Poland, by Czartoryski. So came to a disappointing end the plans of Czartoryski, unrealizable at best in view of the fresh momentous victories of Napoleon over the Austrians and Russians at Ulm and Austerlitz which even Prussia's participation would probably not have prevented.
Defeat of Prussia and Napoleon's Promises to Poland
Outside of England, Napoleon considered the Hapsburgs his greatest enemy. He was, there therefore anxious to nourish good relations with Prussia which could be used as a check against Austria. Likewise, Russia was a desirable ally. The reopening of the Polish question had, therefore, very small chances of coming to pass. When Prussia first betrayed Russia and then again France with the consequence that in a short while she found herself overrun by Napoleon's army and suffered a terrific defeat at Jena and then again at Auerstadt, the Polish question took on a brighter aspect. Half of Prussia's domain consisted of recently acquired Polish territory. Campaigning in a country remote from his base, Napoleon was forced to seek support among the Poles. He approached Austria with a proposal to exchange Galicia for Silesia and asked Kosciuszko, whose name was surrounded by a halo of glory and patriotism, to organize an armed force in Poland. Kosciuszko did not trust the ambitious French despot and demanded assurances that the Polish state would be restored to its pre-partition boundaries and that the serfs would be freed. As no assurances were given, Kosciuszko refused to act. Napoleon then turned to Dombrowski. The indefatigable warrior iminediately proceeded to organize a legion with the aid of Wybicki, Zayonczek and others. In his appeal issued from Berlin in November, 1806, Dombrowski quoted the famous words of Napoleon: "If the Poles will prove that they are worthy of having independence, they shall have it." The appeal was received with indescribable enthusiasm. The belief of the people in Napoleon's star and the magnetic influence his name exercised, caused an immense outpouring of men into the ranks of the new Legions, to whom were added the Polish veterans of Italy. Money was raised locally for the equipment and provisioning of the Polish army. A large Polish deputation from Warsaw, headed by Count Dzialynski, came to visit Napoleon in Berlin. He received them on November 19th with great pomp and according to the newspaper accounts of the time, he said among other things: "France has never recognized the dismemberment of Poland . . . If I shall see a Polish army of thirty to forty thousand men I shall proclaim in Warsaw your independence; and when I shall proclaim it, it will be inflexible. It is in the interest of France and that of all Europe, that Poland should have her free existence. Let internal strife cease. Your fate is in your own hands."<6> Could Poland do otherwise than she did in view of such a statement from the conqueror of Europe? Immediately rebellions sprung up in various parts of Poland against Prussia. Meanwhile Murat pursuing the Prussians and Russians entered Warsaw on November 28, 1806, and was received amidst tears of emotion and cries of exultation of the populace, which greeted him and his troops as the redeemers of Poland. Faithful to their pledges, the Poles raised an army even in excess of the demanded thirty thousand. The organization of it was entrusted to Prince Joseph Poniatowski who was made minister of war of the Polish territories cleared of the Prussians. The government of the country was entrusted to a Committee of Seven and Stanislaw Malachowski, the venerable president of the Four Years' Diet was made chairman of it. Napoleon found the alliance with Poland very profitable. The country kept his army well provisioned and the Polish regiments proved of great service to him in direct action as well as in scout duty. His victories at Pultusk, Danzig, Friedland and elsewhere were in a large measure due to the support of the Polish troops and their knowledge of the terrain of operations.
Treaty of Tilsit, 1807
Seeing the change of attitude on the part of the Poles and realizing the importance of their friendship during the period of hostilities, Alexander appealed to the aristocratic and wealthy elements in Poland to whom the haughtiness of the French "parvenu" was very distasteful and smacked too much of the detested Revolution. He appealed to Czartoryski and to Kniaziewiczj asking them to organize counter Legions. Neither of the two consented to engage in this work of Cain. The pro-Russian party agitated in favor of Alexander and kept on pointing out the previous treatment of the Poles by Napoleon and called on the people to side with the "Slavic Monarch" whom the Russian General Benningsen was about to proclaim King of Poland. Prussia, seeing how promptly Poland had raised a considerable army, also attempted to gain Polish friendship and promised the restitution of the country under a Hohenzollern. While this was going on, the disastrous defeat suffered by the Russians at Friedland opened the way for peace pour-parlers between Napoleon and Russia. In July, 1807, the two monarchs met on the River Niemen at Tilsit to sign a peace treaty. Napoleon was anxious for peace with Russia as it would give him a free hand in devoting all his energies to the reconstruction of Europe and the war against Great Britain. Russia's endorsement of his nepotism in the disposition of the thrones of Westphalia, Holland and Naples, and her acquiescence in his "continental system" were great prizes, for which he was ready to sacrifice Poland.
Duchy of Poland 1807-15
At first he offered Prussian Poland to Russia. That section together with the other part already held by Russia was to constitute a political entity united with the Russian Empire in the person of the Tsar, as King of Poland. Such a solution of the Polish problem would have been satisfactory to Napoleon, as it would have hampered Russia by putting upon her various complicated obligations and thwarted her policy of expansion. Moreover such a union of Poland with Russia was bound to cause dissensions between Russia and Prussia as well as with Austria. Russian diplomacy saw the difficulties which Napoleon's plan would create and Alexander refused to accept the title of King of Poland.
As a compromise measure, it was agreed to create an independent Polish state embracing a part of Prussian Poland. At the request of the Russian Emperor Napoleon consented to Prussia's keeping the Polish territories which she occupied after the first dismemberment. Her shares in the second and third dismemberment she was to lose. Bialystock and Bielsk, or the northern part of Podlasie, being the section where the Uniate Church prevailed, was demanded by Russia. Danzig became a free city under the joint protectorate of the Kings of Prussia and Saxony. Thorn came back into the new state, which was to be known as the Duchy of Warsaw, and Frederick August, the Saxon King, whom the constitution of May 3, 1791, had designated as King Poniatowski's successor, was made the reigning Duke thereof. The newly created Duchy, as well as the city of Danzig, joined the continental system designed to boycott English commerce. Thus Poland became resurrected from the dead. Although the size of the reconstructed state was small, consisting of only 64,500 square miles, with a population of 2,400,000, yet it had great political significance for the Poles, and by the guarantees it received for free navigation on the Vistula to the Baltic, its economic self sufficiency was assured. Its destinies, however, like those of many other states created by Napoleon, depended, upon the fortunes of this military genius. The makeshift character of the Duchy of Warsaw was well recognized by the political leaders of Poland.
Many were discontented with it, particularly in view of the heavy demands Napoleon made in compensation for its creation and his arbitrary methods which precipitated grave social problems. Many of the former crown lands were given to French generals, and the old Italian Legion, reorganized and increased to eight thousand men, was sent to Westphalia, later to go to Spain. In addition to the regular army of thirty thousand, fresh levies were ordered for the "chevaux legers" which, because of their handsome appearance and gallant conduct, the Emperor designated for his bodyguard regiment. They were put under command of Count Vincent Krasinski, the father of one of the greatest poets of Poland. With the opening of hostilities in Spain they, like the other Polish troops, were sent to that country. Here they took active part in the desperate fighting that characterized this campaign. They realized the injustice that was being done to the brave Spaniards, but they were soldiers and faithful to their duty. When the siege of Saragossa decimated the regiments of Chlopicki and Konopka new detachments were sent to keep up the Polish quota. Forever famous in military annals will remain the Polish charge at Samo-Sierra, the gorge which guarded the road to Madrid. The Spanish batteries mowed down the French troops one after another as they came within range of their guns. The possession of the gorge was absolutely necessary. Napoleon ordered General Montbrun to send a Polish squadron of cavalry to take it. When the General reported that it was impossible, the Emperor impatiently replied: "Impossible? I do not know the word. Nothing is impossible for my Poles."
And with their usual daring the Polish light horse detachment under the youthful John Kozietulski, swept like a tornado through the gorge. Few survived, but to the astonishment of the French troops and even of Napoleon himself Samo-Sierra was taken, and on November 30,1808, the road to Madrid lay open. Small, indeed was to be the recompense Napoleon offered Poland for her inordinate sacrifices. Instead of reviving the generally respected constitution of May 3rd and changing it to meet the new conditions, Napoleon devised for the Duchy of Warsaw an instrument of his own making. It gave large powers to the reigning Duke and limited those of the Diet. No legislative bills could be introduced by the Government, and the Diet had no power of discussion: it could either enact or reject them. The code Napoleon, which superseded Polish civil laws, created innumerable difficulties and called for many adjustments. It is well known how attached Napoleon was to his code and how firmly he insisted that it be adopted without change, regardless of the confusion which might follow its introduction. In a letter to his brother Louis, King of Holland, he wrote on November 13, 1807, "If you allow to touch (retoucher) the Code Napoleon it will no longer be the Code Napoleon. ... You are young, indeed, if you think that a definite adoption of the code will introduce chaos or be a cause of dangerous confusion in the country."
While not guaranteeing freedom of speech or assembly, the new constitution was, however, much more democratic than that of May 3rd, in that it extended suffrage to almost all classes, and made all citizens equal before the law. It also abolished serfdom. But in failing to provide land for the freed peasants it created for the first time in Polish history the new social class of the proletariat. The exodus of the peasants from the country gave a stimulus to industry in the cities. Both commerce and manufacture revived, despite the long period of exhaustion preceding it, and despite the heavy taxes laid upon it as well as upon agriculture to maintain the army and to meet the other, numerous French requisitions. It is remarkable, though characteristic of Polish spirit, that in spite of the heavy drafts and unsettled conditions of the time, public education received painstaking care and sustained attention. The Department of Education under the enlightened guidance of Staszyc and Stanislav Kostka Potocki established numerous primary schools. While during the ten years of the Prussian regime only two hundred and fifty schools were opened, their number increased to one thousand and one hundred when the Poles took charge of education, which then became entirely emancipated from the blighting effects of the former ecclesiastical control. The episcopate vehemently protested against this change as well as against the Napoleonic code, which allowed civil marriages and divorce, and did not provide for penalties in cases of non-observance of religious rites. The protests were unheeded. The Polish nation had become thoroughly modernized in the opening decade of the XIXth century.
The Economic Problems
The first session of the Diet of the Duchy of Warsaw met on March 9,1809, in the same building where the Four Years Diet had sat, under the same president, Stanislav Malachowski, and in the presence of the Duke whom, in 1791 they had chosen to succeed Poniatowski as King. The solemn and dignified proceedings of the Diet, the unanimity in its work and readiness to meet the extreme burdens imposed upon the country by Napoleon, indicated that a deep change had taken place in Polish life since the great catastrophe which had befallen the country. The fiscal and economic problems which became aggravated by the introduction of the new civil code, by the enormous war taxes and by the flood of worthless Prussian money thrown upon the country during the Prussian occupation were ably met by the wise Finance Minister Lubienski.
The War with Austria and the Conquest of Galicia, 1809
At the time when economic restoration of the Duchy was proceeding with success and social relations were adjusting themselves to the changed conditions, war was forced upon the country by Austria's challenge to Napoleon.
One of the four Austrian armies, under Archduke Ferdinand, appeared on, the frontier of the Duchy on April 14, 1809. Taken by surprise, the government ordered general mobilization. A part of the regular Polish army was in France at the time and another part was doing garrison duty in the Prussian fortresses, leaving only thirteen thousand ready for immediate action. Headed by the valiant Prince Joseph Poniatowski; they offered an obstinate resistance during the bloody battle of Raszyn, to the south of Warsaw. The Austrian army was three times as large as the army of the Duchy.
It was necessary to abandon Warsaw and to withdraw to the right bank of the Vistula. The government moved to Thorn. All the Austrian efforts to cross the Vistula were, however, in vain. Even Warsaw's suburb, Praga could not be taken. While the Austrian troops were exhausting themselves in their unsuccessful attempts to get at the right bank of the Vistula, Poniatowski crossed the Austrian frontier to liberate Galicia. Soon he took Lublin, Sandomir, Przemysl and Lemberg. The population of Galicia rose against their oppressors and formed regiments to help Poniatowski. The Galician magnates, however, and Lemberg looked askance upon the Duchy of Warsaw because of its democratic reforms and the abolition of serfdom and regarded with disfavor Poniatowski's activities. They were laying plans for a reconstruction of the country under a Hapsburg or under the scepter of the Tsar, and were accordingly carrying on negotiations with General Golitsin who arrived with a Russian corps ostensibly to help Napoleon, but in reality to hamper the disquieting conquests of the Polish arms. He frustrated many of Poniatowski's plans, and helped the Austrians when they returned from the Duchy to concentrate in Galicia. The fear of Napoleon lest the aggrandizement of Poland caused displeasure in St. Petersburg and resulted in the order that Polish conquests be made in his name and not that of the Duchy, although all operations were carried on by Polish arms exclusively. This naturally caused discontent in Galicia and aroused suspicion. Because of the various hindrances put in his way, and particularly those of the "allied" Russian army, Poniatowski withdrew from Eastern Galicia westward and took Cracow. Before he entered the city the French General Mondet turned the city over to the Russian commander and only Poniatowski's threat to open fire upon the Russians caused their abandonment of the city which was then taken over by a Polish garrison. Meanwhile Napoleon's victory at Wagram ended the war. The Poles who conquered Galicia and left thousands on the battlefields had a right to expect that she would be added to the Duchy. But the ever vigilant Russian diplomacy made it impossible. Only Western Galicia as far, as the River San, a district covering 33,000 square miles with a million and a half inhabitants, came back into the Polish State. Again all the former crown lands in that territory were to be given over to the French generals and once more had the Poles the sad occasion to learn how parsimonious and reserved Napoleon was with reference to them. In the last campaign they had engaged over sixty thousand Austrians and had kept the Prussians from turning against the French, yet even the fruits of conquests in their own country, made wholly by their own sacrifices and endeavors, were denied them in a degree they were morally and legally entitled to expect. Yet the fact that the Duchy was growing; that the City of Cracow with all its national sanctuaries and the university was again free; that a valiant and glorious army was in existence, gave faith and assurance, in spite of the iniquities suffered, that the policy of an alliance with the Corsican was the best and would eventually bring the country to its coveted goal.
Franco-Prussian War
All plans were soon to be shattered. Napoleon's too ambitious undertaking miscarried. One of the causes of the war of 1812 was the existence of the Duchy. For it was against the traditions of Russia harking back to Peter the Great, nay, to Ivan the Terrible, to look complacently at the existence of Poland outside of Russian domination. In spite of Napoleon's continuous assurances that "the dangerous Polish dreams" as Alexander called them, would never be permitted realization, the Russian Tsar was forever restive. He demanded that the word "Poles" be not used in public documents, that Polish orders be abolished and that the Polish army be considered as a part of that of Saxony. The Russian fear of the restoration of Poland was one of the trumps in Napoleon's hand which together with a display of France's enormous resources in men, he intended to use to intimidate Russia and to browbeat her. This explains his real unpreparedness for the Russian campaign and his ambiguous behavior with reference to the Poles. He continued to assure them of the sincerity of his purpose and requested a further increase in the army to 80,000 men and 23,000 horses, and the speedy completion of the fortress of Modlin (known now by the Russian name of Novo Georgievsk) and some others, but made no direct political promises. When in June a special French ambassador arrived at Warsaw and the reigning Duke turned over the whole government to the Council of Ministers, it became evident that great events were near at hand. The Diet assembled to take steps preparatory to the impending war. Napoleon suggested that a general confederation be organized and that he be petitioned to restore Poland. He intimated that Austria would be willing to cede Galicia for the control of certain other territories. In fact, by the secret treaty which Napoleon made with the Austrian ruler on March 14, 1812, the Illyrian provinces were to constitute the prize for the return of Galicia. As had always been the case in times of European conflagration, various bait was thrown out to catch Polish support, so in the war of 1812 Russia also made a polite bow before her "beloved" sister and the Tsar offered, through his old comrade Czartoryski a present to her, in the form of reconstruction of the ancient kingdom in its former boundaries, abutting on the Dnieper and Dvina and including Galicia. He was to give the resurrected country a liberal constitution and a king in his own person but demanded that Poniatowski betray Napoleon and bring the army over in support of Russia, Czartoryski refused to act. In Lithuania, however, the Tsar's proposals found many supporters led by Prince Michael Oginski and the able and brilliant Prince Drucki Lubecki. They even contemplated the creation of an independent Duchy of Lithuania. Meanwhile, the "second Polish war," as Napoleon called it, broke out. When he appeared at Kovno the French Emperor wore the cap and uniform of a Polish officer. To arouse Lithuania he sent to Wilno as a vanguard of his host, a Polish regiment commanded by Prince Dominik Radziwill, a scion of the great Lithuanian family. The dispersion, however, of the Polish regiments among the various French corps was strongly resented. For nowhere else had Napoleon a more loyal and devoted ally than the Poles who stood by him through thick and thin and did not abandon him until his very last hour. They formed a striking contrast to the Prussians under Yorck, who as soon as Napoleon's defeat became known joined the Russians, as did also the Austrians. At the opening of hostilities, the Warsaw Diet formed a confederation calling upon the people to defend their country. The popular response to a firery speech made by Minister Matuszewicz in the course of which he exclaimed: "Poland will be resurrected. What do I say? Poland exists already!" was enormous. The crowds were wild with enthusiasm. All believed in Napoleon's genius. "God is with Napoleon and Napoleon is, with us." And the splendid Polish legions, led by such brilliant generals as Dombrowski, Poniatowski Sokolnicki and others who had no peers in any contemporary army, once more carried the fame of Polish heroism along the same roads which two centuries, before, in the times of Batory and Wladyslav IV saw the banners of the White Eagle in a triumphant onward march to Moscow. The memories of Zolkiewski and Gosiewski came back. But once more it was necessary to retire. Napoleon was defeated and his grand army dispersed. Enormous losses were suffered by the Poles. Over a thousand officers fell and only six thousand men returned. But they brought back all their artillery and the eternal glory of their sacrifices for the country and her honor.
End of the Duchy of Warsaw
Under the guard of Polish uhlans, Napoleon fled Russia which had proved to be the grave of his ambitions. His defeat sounded also the death knell of the Duchy of Warsaw and filled with dismay the hearts of the Poles, who felt that they would again fall prey to the neighboring hawks. The Russian Emperor continued to assure the Poles of his friendship and proclaimed his amnesty to Lithuania but at the same time covenanted with Prussia for another partition in Poland on February 10, 1813, at Kalisz.
Before the Russian army reached the Duchy, the Polish government was discussing the possibilities of offering armed resistance to the invaders; many, like Prince Czartoryski advised an alliance with Russia. A great deal of valuable time was lost in discussion. Meanwhile, it was learned that Schwarzenberg, the commander of the Austrian army, which constituted the right wing of Napoleon's host had practically betrayed his former ally and in view of that, the defense of Warsaw became an impossibility.
Prince Poniatowski gathered all his troops, ordnance and ammunition and moved to Cracow. The Austrian Army in doubtful attitude was near by; a Russian corps under Sacken was stationed in the vicinity of and the pro-Russian party in Poland was bombarding him with persuasions to submit to Russia. He well realized the difficult situation in which he found himself and the responsibility that rested upon him, but he could not be convinced that an alliance with Russia was for the best interests of the country and his exalted conception of duty revolted at any suggestion of a betrayal. Seeing that he would be unable to carry out his plan of a fight to the end, and abandoned by many of his friends, he determined to leave Poland and to join Napoleon's reorganized Grand Army. "There can be no compromise, with honor," he said, and undertook the march in spite of the difficulties which lay before him in crossing hostile Austrian domains.
He left Poland, never to return. His withdrawal was quickly followed by untoward events. The whole Duchy, with the exception of a few fortresses, was occupied by Russian soldiery and used as a base of operations against Napoleon. The Polish government left the country. Its place was taken by a Supreme Council'' composed of supporters of Russia and presided over by Lanskoy, a Russian Senator. Among the members was also a representative of Prussia, by the name of Christopher Colomb to look after the Prussian interests, as, under the above mentioned treaty of Kalisz, the Russian Emperor promised to return to Prussia the Polish provinces which Napoleon had taken from her. The allies suffered several defeats at the hands of Napoleon. He was approaching Breslau and laying plans for the reconquest of Poland when the wily Metternich induced him to agree to a truce and to meet at a convention in Prague. Valuable time gained by the cessation of hostilities made possible the formation of a closer alliance with England and Austria: as active participants. Emboldened by the alliances made, Austria presented at Prague a series of demands to which Napoleon obviously could not accede. The first demand concerned the divison of the Duchy of Warsaw among her three neighbors. When Napoleon refused, Austria declared war. The subsequent events concerning Napoleon's fortunes need not be retold here, except to point out the loyalty of the Polish troops to Napoleon and their undaunted courage in the discharge of the difficult duties assigned to them. During the battle of Leipzig Prince Poniatowski was made Marshal of France. Because of the treachery of the Saxons and Wurtembergians, Prince Joseph's Polish corps was put into a most precarious position from which, however, it emerged triumphantly. The rear guard action after the retreat from Leipzig was entrusted to Poniaowski. Here the Prince was wounded. When the ridges over the River Elster were destroyed too early he was threatened with capture. Though severely wounded and profusely bleeding, he jumped into the stream with his steed and endeavored to swim across the rapid stream. "Il faut mourir en rave,!' he said. Here a shot pierced his left lung and with the words "Poland" and "honor" he fell from his horse and disappeared under the water.
The death of their beloved hero and the appointment of the unpopular Prince Sulkowski in his place, together with reflection upon the futility of further sacrifices, caused the Polish legions to demand release from duty. Apprised of this, Napoleon addressed them in person, pointing out that such a step on their part would not help their country and would but serve to tarnish their past glorious record and their soldierly honor. By staying with him, he said, they could yet serve their country because he would never forget Poland. It is easy to surmise that they did not abandon him. Sulkowski resigned from command and his place was taken by the untiring Jan Henryk Dombrowski. In the campaign of 1814 Polish blood flowed profusely at the battlefields of Brienne, Rheims, Arcis sur Aube and Montereau.
At Arcis sur Aube a battalion of Polish infantry commanded by Jan Skrzynecki saved Napoleon's life. Napoleon's admiration for Polish chivalry was genuine and it is significant that the only squadron which accompanied him to and remained with him in his exile on the Island of Elba was that of the Polish chevaux legers under Colonel Paul Jerzmanowski. By article 29 of the Treaty of Paris, inserted at the personal request of Napoleon, the Polish troops were guaranteed a safe return to their homes and were allowed to carry with them their arms and military decorations. "In this way the small but armed companies were recognized as the representatives of the Polish state. The Congressional Kingdom had its birth here. The vanquished received honors from their conquerors. Sad but proud was the return march to their native country. Through a long mourning road General Sokolnicki carried the body of the supreme commander, during life his rival, and two hundred Cracovians formed the last escort of Prince Joseph."
Grateful memories still surround their heroism and constitute an inexhaustible well of inspiration for the present day efforts of Poland. The returning legions were received with great honors at Warsaw. The body of the Prince, who was the incarnation of Poland's conception of honor and devotion to duty and country, was first interred at Warsaw but subsequently laid to rest in Cracow in the old royal cathedral. The City of Cracow at the time was the only spot in the old vast domains of the Polish Republic that was free. The other sections had come under the sovereignty of Russia, Austria and Prussia, by provisions of a new partition agreed upon at the Congress Vienna.
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2. The Congress of Vienna and the Kingdom of Poland
The Fourth Partition of Poland
The grim injustice of Poland's dismemberment was universally recognized and expressions of sympathy were lavishly bestowed upon the unhappy nation. Fortunately, sentimentality was soon to give place to practical considerations. The danger to the political equilibrium of Europe, which this act of injustice created, became clearly discernible after the smoke of the Napoleonic wars, had cleared away and the representatives of the chief European countries came together to redraw the map of the continent. It was then discovered that Russia, whose civilizing mission lay in Asia, had already penetrated deep into Europe and was in possession of strong claims to the whole of Poland. And sly Prussia was ready to second Russia's demands if only by so doing she could grab Saxony. Neither France nor England cherished the idea of Russia's becoming an European power, and Austria resisted the enrichment of her neighbors by the large Polish acquisitions. The German states of Bavaria and Hanover, as well as Holland, opposed the plans of Russia and Prussia. Formidable quarrels arose over the claims of these two countries, and for a time it looked as if only by force of arms could the matter be brought to an issue. The reappearance of the Corsican in France called for united action and for a speedy close of the negotiations. The Polish question was settled in a manner that could bring nothing but bitter disappointment to the Poles. The Congress sanctioned the admittedly illegal dismemberment of Poland, which has proved to be a curse and calamity to the country and a cause of periodically recurring violent disturbances, as had been predicted by Lord Castlereagh, the British Plenipotentiary at the Congress. In a note to his government, referring to the vicious settlement of the Polish question he wrote: "The undersigned adhering to all his former representations on this subject has only sincerely to hope that none of those evils may result from this measure to the tranquility of the north, and to the general equilibrium of Europe, which it has been his painful duty to anticipate."
The Congress, which assembled ostensibly to do justice to the nations of Europe, and to guarantee to them independence and liberty, did not take into consideration the desires and feelings of the subdued nations and of the Polish nation in particular. It sanctioned the fifth partition of Poland. On the memorable day of May 3, 1815, Russia signed the treaties with Austria and Prussia by which the lion's share of the Duchy of Warsaw went to her, and the western part of the last independent Polish state became annexed to Prussia under the name of the Grand Duchy of Posen. The, districts of Tarnopol and Zbaraz, in Eastern Galicia, went back to Austria, as well as a section in West Galicia comprising the rich Wieliczka salt mines. The City of Cracow, with its immediate vicinity, was made an independent republic under the guardianship of the three partitioning powers. In 1846 it was annexed by Austria. With this exception the boundaries of the three Polands remained fixed, as determined by the Congress of Vienna, until the outbreak of the WWI. Four-fifths of the Polish Republic of 1772 came under Russian rule and the remaining one-fifth was almost equally divided between Austria and Prussia. Henceforth the history of Poland is the history of the three sections developing under entirely different conditions; the Russian part, however by reason of its size and the fact that the Russian Tsar assumed the title of King of Poland, occupies the center of the stage. The severance of the political bonds of the Polish people was mitigated, in a measure, by the provisions of the treaties between Russia and the other two powers, which. guaranteed to the inhabitants of the former Polish Republic complete freedom in their social and economic intercourse within the boundaries of the country as they were in 1772, before the first partition took place. There were to be no tariff walls between the three parts of Poland, and transportation and navigation on all the rivers and canals were. to be unobstructed.
Article I of the Treaty of Vienna guaranteed to the Poles as "the respective subjects of Russia, Austria and Prussia," representation in government and preservation of their national institutions" to be regulated in accordance with the political precepts which the several governments would consider useful and advisable for them." This qualifying phrase was couched in language too flexible to supply lasting foundation for the future political structures, which were to be reared in the three sections of Poland. Painfully did the Poles realize their precarious situation! Before the Congress assembled the venerable and aged Kosciuszko was assured by such statesmen as Lord Grey, Talleyrand and Metternich that the safety of Europe depended upon the restoration of Poland. He stayed in Vienna during the sessions of the Congress, and left, brokenhearted, for Switzerland after the disastrous agreement concerning Poland was reached by the Powers. He banished himself voluntarily to the high mountains of Wilhelm Tell rather than to die a slave in his own country, which he loved so tenderly and to which he was born a free citizen. Kosciuszko is the symbol of Poland's strivings for independence. The very mention of his name conjures up exalted feelings of patriotism in the Polish breast. Universal was the tribute paid to him upon his death on October 15, 1817. Instead of erecting a monument in bronze to his memory it was decided to build something more lasting: a mountain. Approaching Cracow, the city where the Dictator issued his famous proclamation in 1794, one can see from a distance the Kosciuszko Hill, erected by the hands of the people and completed, after years of gratuitous labor, in 1823, It stands firm and forever over an urn containing some earth from the battlefield of Raclawice, where, with several thousand soldiers and two thousand peasants armed with scythes, he won the first victory over the Muscovite despoilers of his country.
The Republic of Cracow
The funeral of Kosciuszko, as well as the patriotic ceremony accompanying the obsequies of Prince Joseph Poniatowski, whose body was brought from Warsaw to Cracow to be laid beside the Polish Kings and heroes, gave additional endearment to the picayune city republic, which contained most of the treasures and memories of the past glories of the once mighty country, and was now the only free community within the boundaries of old Poland. The Cracow republic comprised an area of one hundred and three square miles, with a population of ninety-six thousand inhabitants, twenty-five thousand of whom lived within the city limits and the remainder in the villages surrounding it. According to. the constitution - provided by the Vienna Congress it was governed by a Senate composed. of thirteen members, and an Assembly of representatives of the city' and village population, of the university, the church and the judiciary. The Assembly exercised legislative power, elected nine of thirteen Senators, and had control over the budget over the executive branch of the government, which was centered in the person of the President of the Senate. The Assembly met annually for several weeks. The Code Napoleon was the civil law of the republic. The judiciary was entirely independent of the legislative and executive branches of the government. A small army of five hundred militiamen was put under the command of the President of the Senate. In 1818 the original aristocratic character of the little state was considerably modified by the emancipation of the peasant serfs, the recognition of full freedom of speech and assembly, the prohibition of confiscation of estates and the guarantee of personal immunity from arrest. Owing to the energy and ability of the first President, Count Stanislav Wodzicki, the little republic, soon began to prosper economically and carried on a brisk trade with the other sections of Poland. On account of its political status, historical associations and ancient university, Cracow became the Mecca of the Poles.
Grand Duchy of Posen
Soon after the treaty of the Vienna Congress was signed the Prussian troops occupied the section of the country that was apportioned to the Hohenzollerns, and the Polish flag flying over the City Hall of Posen was substituted by that of the newly created Duchy. King Friedrick Wilhelm III in an address to the Poles assured them that they would not be called upon to renounce their nationality; that they would have a share in the constitutional rights he was about to bestow upon his Prussian subjects in conformity with the promise made by him during the French invasion; and that they would have a provincial constitution of their own, with complete freedom of worship and national education, and an unobstructed right to use their native tongue in private and official life. He appointed Prince Antoni Radziwill, a Pole, related by marriage to the Hohenzollerns, the first Governor General of the Duchy, and other high offices were similarly filled by Poles. An attempt was made to create a special German-Polish military corps, but the Poles refused to serve in it. At first conditions were satisfactory, but in a short time reaction began to set in. First the, districts lying on the right bank of the Vistula were severed from the Duchy, annexed to West Prussia and put under strict German rule. Then attempts at changing the laws were made in the districts where there was the slightest admixture of Germans. The Polish officials were removed and Prussians appointed. The use of the Polish language in the administration and the judiciary was limited, and the schools lost their purely Polish character by the appointment of German teachers. Radziwill became a mere figurehead. Prussian officials with instructions from Berlin became the real governors of the Duchy, and the old policy of playing off the peasants against the landowners was revived. In 1824 the Prussian government abolished serfdom and recognized the right of the Polish peasants to the land they tilled. It was a very inexpensive way of gaining the loyalty and gratitude of the peasants and of arousing bitter class antagonism between the two strata of the Polish people. This mischevious principles of "divide et impera" was subsequently invoked by Austria and Russia in their dealings with Poland. In Silesia, where the landowners were Germans and the peasantry indigenous Poles, the Prussian government was less liberal and the peasants did not get land with their freedom. Here the government favored the land aristocracy. The emancipation of the peasants was, however, a step in the right direction. It was a nearsighted policy on the part of the Polish landowners to wait until this reform had been brought about by a hostile government and exploited for the purpose of sowing the seeds of discord between the higher and lower classes, and thus preventing solid national harmony and unity in the Duchy of Posen.
Galicia
In Galicia conditions were still worse. By making the landowners responsible for the collection of taxes from their peasants the government created bitter antagonism between the two elements. Moreover, the ultra-conservative Hapsburgian government, dominated by the arch-reactionary of his time, Prince Metternich, did even less than Prussia to promote constitutional and liberal government in the Polish province of the Empire. The pledges made at the Congress sank into complete oblivion. At first a semblance of a representative government was introduced in the form of a very cumbersome and undemocratic machinery, but it was soon superseded by a rigid administrative bureaucracy which, in order to weaken the Poles still further, endeavored to foster animosities between them and their Ruthenian cousins in the eastern section of the province.
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland
The most liberal rule was introduced in Russian Poland, that is in that section of ancient Poland which was established by the Congress of Vienna as a sovereign state (etat) and which was "united by a constitution with the throne of Russia," and to which special articles of the treaty of Vienna were devoted. The basis of the union was the constitution. The above quoted flexible clause, leaving the form of internal organization to the discretion of the monarch did not apply to this part of Poland. The boundaries of the newly created kingdom were carefully defined by the Powers. The Tsar, however, expressly reserved to himself the right of making such additions to Poland as he might think fit. "This reservation had in view the eventual annexation to the Kingdom of Poland of at least two parts of Lithuania."
The rights of the Russian Tsar with reference to it were predicated on the existence of a written constitution. The new Kingdom was a distinct state united with Russia in the person of the monarch, but not incorporated into the Empire. Article 4 of the existing fundamental laws of Russia clearly recognized this relation with reference to the Kingdom of Poland, as well as to the Great Duchy of Finland. The principles of the Constitution of the newly created state were agreed upon by the Tsar in Vienna and were incorporated in a document signed by him on May 25, 1815. Accordingly he appointed a commission, with Prince Czartoryski as chairman, to work out a draft of the constitution which, on November 27, 1815, he solemnly sealed. It was proclaimed on December 24th of the same year, and the temporary government, which had been set up in 1813 under the direction of Lanskoy and Novosiltsoff was abolished. The two Russian plenipotentiaries remained, however, in Warsaw, as did the Tsar's brother, Grand Duke Constantine, whom the Tsar appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Polish army.
Constantine was a born despot, a man of unbridled temper, a maniacal pedant who nourished an inveterate contumely for constitutional government. Though he had a liking for the Poles, yet his uncouth manners and severe military discipline, with heavy corporal punishment for the slightest infringements of it, made his presence in Warsaw a source of general discontent and irritation. The Polish officers of the higher and lower ranks, accustomed as they were to gentlemanly treatment and honorable dealings, felt outraged by the Muscovite behavior of the Grand Duke, and many of them committed suicide in despair. His cruelty knew no bounds. Revolting accounts are given of the tortures inflicted on prisoners. The Grand Duke's wantonness had the effect of undoing all the liberties the constitution guaranteed. Numerous persons were thrown into prison at his whim. Students were put to labor in paving and repairing streets. He became a veritable terror of Warsaw. Czartoryski was hampered by him in his preliminary work of organization, and intimated to the Tsar the desirability of his removal. But the clique at the St. Petersburg Court and the influential elements of Russia, who opposed tooth and nail all the plans of the Tsar with reference to Poland, which, in their judgment were dangerous to the Empire and deprived thousands of Russians of lucrative positions in the newly acquired country, prevailed and his recall was not effected. Similarly impossible was the removal of Lanskoy and Novosiltsoff, who enjoyed their extremely well paid situations and who, pretending to be devoted friends of Poland, were in reality her worst enemies They kept the court camarilla at St. Petersburg advised of every movement in Polish life and directed all the efforts at destroying the liberal constitution of the Kingdom. It was at Novosiltsoff's insistence that the old Polish principle. of "neminem captivabimus, nisi jure victum" was substituted by "neminem captivari permittemus, nisi jure victum,." and thus the power of illegal imprisonment was made a perogative of the Crown or its representatives.
The principal provision of the constitution signed, by Emperor Alexander I guaranteed freedom of religious worship, equality of all citizens before the law, freedom of speech and inviolability of private property. The Polish language was to be used in all branches of the government as well as in the army. All offices were to be filled by Poles exclusively. The legislative power was to be vested in a Diet, composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The executive power was, entrusted to an Administrative, Council composed of the Viceroy and five Ministers, all appointed by the Tsar of Russia in his capacity as King of Poland. He also appointed a Secretary of State, whose function it was to act as intermediary between the King and the country. The Ministers were responsible before the Diet, and countersigned, all royal decrees as well as those of the Viceroy. During the absence of the King his power was vested in the State Council, composed of the Viceroy, the Ministers, special counsellors and referees. The State Council's chief duties were to prepare proposals for legislative enactments. For administrative purposes the country was divided into eight provinces, headed by woyevodas. The judiciary was made independent of the executive branch of the government. The judges were appointed for life and could not be recalled. All citizens, without distinction of social status and religion had equal rights at the courts. The competence of the criminal courts did not include cases of high treason or offenses of high state officials.
Such cases were tried by the Diet sitting as a Court. The King was Commander in Chief of the Polish army, whose size depended upon the budgetary appropriations of the Diet. The constitution provided that the Polish army could not be used outside of the boundaries of Europe. The command and uniforms of the army were Polish. The coronation of the King was to take place at Warsaw. A Polish Viceroy was the representative of the King in civil matters, and the Polish language was recognized as the official language of the kingdom. The constitution prohibited deportations to Siberia.
Such were the main provisions of the constitution which was worked out by the Czartoryski Committee and sanctioned by Tsar Alexander I. It was very liberal when contrasted with the preceding constitutions and when considered in the light of the reactionary currents which prevailed in Europe since the unholy "Holy Alliance." Official as well as unofficial Russia was much displeased with it, and brought strong pressure to bear upon the Emperor to dissuade him from adopting it, and particularly from extending it to Lithuania, Podolia and Ukraine. The famous Russian historian, Karamzin, wrote to the Tsar reminding him that he had no right to separate the Polish provinces that were added to Russia in Catherine's time.
"Our sword conquered Poland and this is our law," he wrote. The Tsar, however, would not allow himself to be swayed from his sworn pledges. He came to Warsaw on November 12, 1818, and charmed everybody by his cordiality and apparent frankness. He said he knew of the outrages of his brother Constantine, but did not think it politic to recall him because he would then become an enemy of the Poles and would work against them. He advised the people to suffer him and to coax him as well as the other Russians into friendship, and then added: "I desire to unite you with Lithuania, Podolia and Ukraine, but this requires patience and confidence on your part and dexterity on mine. It is necessary to steal Poland from the Russians ("Il faut aux Russes escamoter la Pologne.")
Such utterances on the part of the Russian monarch were received with delight and gave rise to great, hopes for the future. His failure, however, to appoint Prince Czartoryski, the author of the Constitution, to the post of Viceroy, was a severe disappointment. Public opinion designated him for this exalted office. Czartoryski's character and intimate comradeship with the Emperor made him peculiarly fit for the position in the popular mind. General Zayonczek, upon whom this great honor was bestowed at the request of the Grand Duke Constantine, was a man whose servility to foreign interests was demonstrated during the Napoleonic period. Elevated to high rank by Napoleon, he became entirely devoted to him, and did not hesitate to sacrifice Poland's interests to those of the French Emperor. He was a man of narrow mind and haughty demeanor, and his attitude to Prince Joseph Poniatowski, when the latter was War Minister, of the Duchy of Warsaw was so distasteful and so humiliating to national dignity that the news of his appointment as Viceroy was received in Poland with a feeling bordering on consternation. Unfortunately the fear of the people was wholly justified. He became a pliable tool in the hands of Constantine and the Russian agent Novosilttsoff, and never so much as attempted to protest against the violations of the constitution on the part of the Russians. The protests of the press and of some members of the Diet were of no avail.
The Reaction
Echoes of the happenings in Spain, Naples and France between the years 1818 and 1820, reverberate in the Polish press and served as an excuse for introducing a government censorship on periodic publications, extended presently to all prints and books. At the opening of the second Diet in 1820, Alexander warned the country against adopting the dangerous West European liberalism. He also expressed great dissatisfaction with the proceedings of the Diet, at which two government measures, one relating to the method of criminal procedure and the other to the method of fixing responsibility upon the ministers, were rejected. He realized that the Diet did not propose to be used as a rubber stamp for all official measures and resolved to curb it. In the words of Byron:
"How nobly gave he back to Poles their Diet
Then told pugnacious Poland to be quiet."
Thanks only to the great abilities of Prince Xavier Lubecki, the Minister of Finance, was it possible to avert difficulties over the budget which, in violation of the constitution, was not submitted to the Diet for approval. Moreover, the budget did not specify the items of appropriation, and in this way afforded means for an illegal diversion of moneys. By persuasive presentations at St. Petersburg, Lubecki was able to save the treasury from being drained for unauthorized purposes. He was also able to raise sufficient taxes to preserve the organization of the Kingdom. The Emperor had already intimated that in view of the deficit "it would be necessary to change the form of organization of the Kingdom in such a way as to enable it to be self-supporting."
It was due to the genius and energy of Lubecki that sufficient sums were raised and the need of changing the constitutional groundwork of the Kingdom was obviated. He also contributed greatly to the upbuilding of the country. Thanks to his initiative a Land Owners' Credit Association. was organized in 1825, and four years later he founded the Bank of Poland at Warsaw. In spite of his great achievements the Finance Minister was hated in Poland because of his inconsiderateness, and because of his unbounded devotion and loyalty to Russia.
The growing disregard for the Constitution on the part of the Russian Emperor and his representatives affected public life generally. The press was trammeled by a severe censorship. Public education next came under the careful scrutiny of the Government, with a view of blotting out any liberal doctrines, which might possibly find their way into the minds of the youth. To achieve this end the Government encouraged the aggressiveness of the Church and welcomed religious interference in educational matters. The great educator, Stanislav Kostka Potocki, who had done so much to raise educational standards and to fight obscurantism, was forced to resign his position as Minister of Education in spite of his brilliant achievements, chief among which was the founding of the University of Warsaw in 1818. He was a Free Mason and an enemy of religious hypocrisy which he so vividly depicted in his novel called "The Journey to Darktown." It was through his efforts that Pius VII ordered the closing of about a score of cloisters in Poland. With the hydra of reaction raising its head high, a man of such convictions as Potocki, though entirely faithful to the Government and recognized as the greatest authority in educational matters had to go, clearing the way for one Szaniawski, a man of considerable intellectual attainment but devoid of moral principle. He began his career as a revolutionary and ended it as a reactionary, of so obtuse a type as to fit him for the holding of a ministerial post in, the Polish constitutional cabinet of Alexander I toward the end of that monarch's life, when he finally succumbed to the form of dementia known as religious mysticism. The standard of the schools soon declined under the strict police regime of Szaniawski and his associates, who stifled every expression of independent thought or action. This coincided with the high tide of reaction, which flooded the whole of Europe at the time, and caused the transformation of societies like those of the Free Masons and the Carbonari into secret political organizations. Greece, Italy and Spain lived through revolutions, and political attentats were not infrequent in France and Germany. The members of the Holy Alliance met frequently, and after each successive conference the repressions in their respective countries became stricter and more unbearable. Emperor Alexander attended all these conferences, and grew more convinced of the dangers of liberalism and constitutionalism. The arbitrariness of Constantine, who had an inborn aversion to all popular rights, knew no bounds as the estrangement of his sovereign brother from his former beliefs grew wider. There was no such thing as personal safety in constitutional Poland. People were arrested and thrown into dungeons on the slightest provocation. The prisons were overcrowded and the suspects subjected to cruel inquisitions. The progressive sections of the Code Napoleon were eliminated, a new reactionary criminal code introduced and flogging made legal. The army was cleared of all the officers who had served in the Napoleonic campaigns and who had a gentlemanly conception of honor. Mechanical drill and lifeless routine took the place of old gallantry. The maniacal Constantine was so given over to the observance of rules that the best officers were compelled to resign for breaks of the most trivial character. The Diet objected to all these flagrant violations of the fundamental laws of the land, and was finally muzzled by an imperial order prohibiting the publication of Diet debates.
Secret Patriotic Societies
In the year 1825 Alexander died and Russia expected the advent of Constantine to the throne of the Tsars. When the news of his resignation, on account of his marriage to a Polish woman, Joan Grudzinska, became known, it created general unrest throughout the Empire, of which the Russian revolutionaries decided to take advantage in order to bring about a change in the form of government. The attempt was doomed to failure on account of the unpreparedness of the masses. Even the troops, which supported the Dekabrists (the name by which the revolutionaries were known) and shouted: "Long live Constantine and the Constitution," thought that the constitution was the Grand Duke's wife. Tragic was Poland's lot to be united with a nation of such political immaturity! Alexander's successor, Nicholas I, was a true incarnation of Russia's spirit of that time. His arbitrary character and the deep contempt of the despot for every expression of individualism and freedom augured ill for Poland. Although he swore to maintain the Polish Constitution, his determination to do away even with the semblance of constitutional government which remained to the ill-fated country in the valley of the Vistula was unmistakably demonstrated by his acts. He failed to appoint a Viceroy after Zayonczek's death in 1826, and intensified the ruthless Russification policy inaugurated by his predecessor in Lithuania.
Persecutions in Lithuania
The conditions prevailing in Poland were as paradise in comparison with what was going on in Lithuania, a country of fine Polish culture, with numerous schools and a celebrated university at Wilno. The Congress of Vienna did not guarantee a constitution to Lithuania and Alexander, "the crafty Greek" as Napoleon called him, did not try "to steal her away from Russia," as he intimated he would do. That section of the Polish Republic was completely at the mercy of his minions. Some petty disturbances in a boys' high school in 1822 were taken as an excuse for wholesale arrests and inhuman persecution by the same Novosiltsoff, who at one time had affected great friendship for Poland. Many young men were exiled to Siberia; prominent university professors who betrayed patriotic tendencies were dismissed; the rights and privileges of the University of Wilno were curtailed; and finally, two years before his death, Alexander proclaimed his famous manifesto against all attempts at a reunion with "the injudicious Polish nation," and ordered that henceforth all instruction in Lithuania and other Polish: provinces outside of the Congressional Kingdom should be carried on in the. Russian language, and that all "'excessive reasoning should be condemned.
Small wonder that under such conditions a large number of secret patriotic societies arose all over Poland and Lithuania with an avowed aim of liberating Poland from Russian misrule. Some of the societies had existed in Poland for a long time. There always had been a party opposed to any compromise with Russia, skeptical of the possibility of a symbiosis with that nation. Other societies came into existence when Alexander's true designs became apparent. They had members all over the country, among university students as well as among older and more mature men. The Patriotic Society of Warsaw, founded by Major Valerian Lukasinski, exercised a considerable influence. At first it was a Free Mason lodge, but when these lodges came under the ban of the law it took on the aspect of a secret society known at first as that of the National Carbonari and subsequently as the National Patriotic Society. It grew in membership as the Russian atrocities increased and established a number of provincial branches. When its existence became known to Constantine, Lukasinski and his associates were arrested and put through a "third degree" trial, notorious for its cruelty, and which was repeated afterward in another connection.
In Poland the name of Lukasinski became a common designation for intense suffering and inhuman torture. Contrary to the constitutional law of the land the leaders of the Society were tried by a martial court, and though nothing except the practice of free masonry could be established against them, they were sentenced to many years of hard labor. The Lithuanian societies had at first a purely literary and scientific character. Such were the fraternities of university students known as the Philomaths, Philarets and others. Young men gathered there, read classic works and presented their own productions, and discussed social and scientific problems. Novosiltsoff suspected revolutionary tendencies, and disapproved of the societies because they were centers whence Polish culture radiated and retarded the progress of Russification.
Among the members of these societies were men who subsequently became Poland's greatest poets, scientists, statesmen and patriots. The above mentioned manifesto of Alexander I abolished all these societies. The most promising young men, such as Adam Mickiewicz and Thomas Zan, were either exiled to Siberia or interned in remote provinces of Russia. Like Joachim Lelewel, many of the university professors lost their positions. Prince Adam Czartoryski was relieved of his office of Curator of Education, and his place was taken by the rabidly, anti-Polish Novosiltsoff. The University of Wilno declined rapidly and the Russification of the country was begun in an intensive manner.
Trial of Members of the Polish National Patriotic Society
The "Dekabrist" revolution in Russia had its frightful echo in Poland. During the inquest of the St. Petersburg revolution the prosecutors came across some evidence involving the Polish National Patriotic Society. The first two months of 1826 witnessed an orgy of arrests in Poland. Convents, palaces, town halls and jails were filled with prisoners, and Constantine and Novosiltsoff raged in their fury. All remembered Lukasinski's trial and trembled, for the fate of the arrested. The preliminary inquiries lasted a whole year and the nation had become greatly depressed. Novosiltsoff endeavored to bring the trial before a court martial, and thanks only to the great influence of Prince Lubecki at St. Petersburg, law prevailed and the accused were granted a trial before the Senate sitting as a court of Justice. The atmosphere of Warsaw was very heavy. There was hardly a family that did not have one or more of its members among the accused. The trial was the object upon which the thought of the whole nation concentrated. All performances, gatherings, balls and games were suspended during its duration. It was universally realized that grave matters were at stake. On, its outcome hinged the question of whether the Poles had a right to resent the violation on the part of Russia of the rights guaranteed to them by the Congress of Vienna. On June 10, 1828, the long awaited moment came. The Senators announced their decision. With only the two exceptions of Vincent Krasinski and Czarnecki, they declared unanimously that the accused were not guilty of high treason, but merely of belonging to secret societies, which were prohibited by law, and sentenced them accordingly. The decision was received with enthusiasm throughout Poland. It was felt that Poland's honor had been saved. In their arguments the Senators pointed out that the accused, acting in defense of their rights guaranteed to Poland by the Congress of Vienna and sworn to by the Tsars of Russia, exercised their constitutional prerogatives, in endeavoring to preserve the integrity of their nation. The judgment of the Court was resented by the Tsar. By an imperial rescript publication of the opinion of the Senate was forbidden and all the accused men were exiled to Siberia. This opened the eyes of the most conservative among the Poles as to how Russia understood and respected constitutional rights.
While the older and more conservative men were deeply mortified over the state of affairs the younger spirits flared up in indignation. The fire of patriotic exaltation inflamed the minds of a group of sub-sergeants, who were studying military arts in a school organized by Constantine at the summer palace of the late King Poniatowski. A young lieutenant by the name of Peter Wysocki, a hothead without experience or executive ability, conceived the idea of reviving the Patriotic Society founded by Lukasinski, and enlisted the co-operation of the sub-sergeants. The society was organized in December 1828, and the young men swore to offer their lives in defense of the liberties of their country and to spread broadcast the gospel of freedom.
The Coronation of Nicholas I at Warsaw
About this time a war broke out between Russia and Turkey. Austria secretly backed Turkey, and as usual in such dangerous times the foreign governments became milder in their dealings with the Poles. The bureaucratic oppression in Galicia was made less severe and there was a let-up in the Russian persecutions in Lithuania. In May 1829, Tsar Nicholas I decided to come to Warsaw for his coronation as King of Poland. Wysocki and his associates planned to take advantage of the occasion and to start a revolution. Calmer judgment prevailed, however, and they agreed to postpone action until the meeting of the Diet, which, although the constitution provided biennial sessions, was only the fourth since the Congress of Vienna and was bound to break up in a deadlock with the Government. The Diet met in May 1830, and proved indeed to be as recalcitrant and independent as its immediate predecessors. The Deputies refused to vote money for the erection of a statue to Alexander I as well as to give the Church jurisdiction in matrimonial matters and they did not mince words in criticizing the Government. The Tsar, who attended the session was greatly displeased with their behavior and left the city fully determined to abolish the Constitution. He did not, however, prorogue the Diet and failed to give the awaited signal for an uprising.
The Outbreak of the Uprising, 1830
In July the news of the revolution in Paris reached Warsaw. The Bourbon King, placed on the throne of France at the intervention of foreign powers was deposed, and a more liberal constitution adopted. Shortly afterwards some of the Italian states rose against Austria, and the Belgian people revolted against the Dutch rule. These revolutions had a stimulating effect on the minds of the red-blooded Poles. The society of the sub-sergeants carried on feverish propaganda, but it had nobody big and popular enough to organize and direct a successful campaign against Russia. Perspicacious men such Maurice Mochnacki urged the leader of the revolutionaries to make adequate preparations before starting the conflagration. He begged Wysocki to organize a strong revolutionary government that should take the reins of the movement into their hands lest it disintegrate. Wysocki refused to heed the advice. He was convinced that all that was needed was the starting of the revolution, and then the nation would unanimously support it and the regular government would take care of all the necessaries. He, as well as others, thought that when the crisis came the greatest of the nation would immediately cluster around the banner of the revolution and that General Joseph Chlopicki, the one-time hero of the Legions, by popular acclaim, would become the military dictator and would lead the nation to victory. In his enthusiasm the youthful patriot overestimated the moral strength and political wisdom of "the known and trusted in the nation," and, regardless of persuasions, went on true to his convictions. Novosiltsoff saw what was going on and hurriedly left for St. Petersburg, as did also some Polish dignitaries who were hated by the people. Revolutionary pamphlets were circulated among the people and occasionally some jester would post on the door of the Palace of Belvedere, the residence of Constantine, a notice: "House for rent." Constantine seemed to give little credence to the wild stories, which were being circulated about an uprising, but the secret police was diligently at work and could, at any moment, unearth the conspiracy. It was necessary to act promptly. To make things worse, Nicholas, who considered himself honor-bound to crush all revolutions no matter where they occurred, was getting ready to send an expedition against the restless spirits of France and Belgium, and ordered some Polish regiments for that duty. This was like pouring oil on a smoldering fire. The 29th of November was set for the beginning of the uprising. At a given hour one detachment of conspirators was to enter the Belvedere Palace and to assassinate Constantine. Another was charged with the duty of disarming the Lithuanian guard that was attached to the Grand Duke in his capacity as Military Commander of the Lithuanian and Ruthenian provinces. It was a body of men sixty-five hundred strong, well equipped and possessing considerable ordnance. In order to disarm this guard it was necessary to descend upon them unexpectedly, and to do the work quietly and promptly. Simultaneously, another detachment was to rouse the population of the city and to gather the Polish army stationed in the barracks. None of the plans were carried through successfully. Constantine crept under his wife's very voluminous skirts and could not be found. Instead, the conspirators killed his lieutenant and the vice-president of Warsaw, a contemptible Polish spy who happened to be at the palace. When somebody, mistaking the lieutenant for the Grand Duke, cried out that Constantine was dead the conspirators hastily departed. A few companies of the ducal guards were, in the meantime, approaching the Belvedere in great haste. Their disarming was unsuccessful, as the signals failed to work, and not all of the Polish regiments joined the conspirators. The populace, however, took possession of the arsenal, and carried away all the rifles and cartridges. Several Polish generals, who refused to join the revolutionaries, paid the penalty of death. Flaming beacons in the streets cast their lurid gleam afar on the eventful night of November 29, 1830, which marks the beginning of another Polish war against foreign oppression.
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3. The War with Russia and the Aftermath
Causes of the Polish Failure
Adam Czartoryski said that the war with Russia, precipitated by the conspiracy of the young patriots on November 29, 1830, came either too early or too late. Some writers think that it should have been opened in 1828, when Russia was experiencing reverses in Turkey, and was least able to spare any considerable forces for a war with Poland. Many military critics, among them the foremost Russian writer, General Puzyrewski, maintained that in spite of the inequality of resources of the two countries, Poland had all the chances of holding her own against Russia if the campaign had been managed skillfully. Russia sent over a hundred and eighty thousand well trained men against Poland's seventy thousand, twenty thousand of whom were fresh recruits who entered the service at the opening of hostilities. "In view of this, one would think that not only was the result of the struggle undoubted, but its course should have been something of a triumphant march for the infinitely stronger party. Instead, the war lasted eight months, with often doubtful success. At times the balance seemed to tip decidedly to the side of the weaker adversary who dealt not only blows, but even ventured daring offensives."
When this war ended in the defeat of Poland it was not the fault of the Polish soldier who does not know fear and who is ever ready to offer his life upon the altar of his country; it was not the fault of the country which made all sacrifices in the name of the cause for which the war had been declared and never tired of giving support in both life and money; it was rather the fault of the military leaders in whom the people had supreme confidence, and upon whom they bestowed dictatorial power.
It had so long been preached in Poland that anarchy and a lack of conrord were the causes of national downfall that when war came, afraid lest some discord ruin the new opportunities, the people demanded absolute power for their leaders and tolerated no criticism, The pendulum swung to the other extreme. Unfortunately the men chosen to lead because of their past achievements were either senile or utterly incompetent to perform the great task imposed upon them. And what was worse, they had no faith in the success of the undertaking. By procrastination they ruined all chance of the victory which might have been theirs if the line of battle had been summarily established in Lithuania, and if the Russian forces slowly arriving had been dealt with separately and decisively. The first clashes of a Polish outpost with a Russian corps under Paskiewich show what feats of bravery the enthusiastic Poles could perform even when fighting against such tremendous odds as in the battle at Stoczek. Despite a superiority of two to one and of competent guidance the Russians suffered complete defeat. Because of their spirit and temperament the Poles are more adapted to offensive than to defensive warfare. Polish Generalissimo Chlopicki knew this well yet because of his opposition to the war, criminal under the circumstances, and his hope that by negotiations the conflict might be averted, he tarried, allowing the Russians to gain by the delay, to cross rivers unobstructed and to concentrate large forces at convenient points in Poland proper. Dilatory tactics characterized the whole preliminary period of the war. Taken by surprise at the rapid succession of events during the night of November 29th, the Administrative Council assembled immediately to take the reins of government into their hands and to decide on a course of action.
The unpopular ministers were removed from the Council and men like Prince Czartoryski, the historian Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Joachim Lelewel and General Chlopicki, took their places. Submitting to strong pressure brought to bear upon him, Chlopicki, who condemned the conspirators and considered the uprising an act of madness, consented to command the army temporarily, in the hope that it would be unnecessary to take the field. The perspicacious and farseeing, Maurice Mochnacki did not trust the newly constituted ministry, fearing that it did not possess sufficient self-reliance and determination for spirited action, and decided to overthrow it and substitute in its place the Patriotic Club, organized by him.
On December 3rd a great public demonstration was held in Warsaw. Amid a storm of enthusiasm Mochnacki furiously denounced the dealings that were going on between the Government and Constantine who was camped outside the City in a suburb, protected by his guard. "Negotiations should be carried on not from Warsaw with Constantine, but from Wilno with Nicholas," Mochnacki shouted to the animated crowd. He advocated the transfer of the campaign to Lithuania and the selection of as remote a field of operations as possible to spare the country the devastation incident to war, and to shield the native sources of food supply. The meeting adopted a number of demands to be communicated to the Administrative Council, among which the most urgent were the establishment of a revolutionary government and the immediate attack upon the forces of Constantine. Intensely dramatic was the scene when the delegation appeared at the session of the Council and demanded action. The ill-boding murmur of the surging crowd outside the building gave grave weight to their demands.
When Prince Czartoryski told the delegates that Constantine was ready to forgive the offenders and that the whole matter was being amicably settled, the passionate Mochnacki angrily interrupted: "These are jests, sir. We did not rise for the sake of receiving kindness from Constantine! Let the Government not play comedy now. It may end in tragedy for the revolution or for its foes!" The city was seething. The Government realized that it had to concede to the demands of the people, but fearing an immediate break with Russia, permitted Constantine to depart with his troops, dragging the unfortunate Lukasinski with him in chains. It was an unpardonable blunder to allow the Grand Duke to escape instead of holding him as a valuable hostage, to be released in exchange for some future political gain and it was nothing short of dastardly crime to allow the vindictive Russians to lead away with them the unselfish and heroic patriot Lukasinski.
The Uprising Turns into a Regular Wary
After Constantine's departure the Polish army, with all but two of its generals, Vincent Krasinski and Kurnatowski, joined the people and the uprising of the young conspirators turned into a regular war between Poland and Russia. The remaining four ministers of the pre-revolutionary cabinet left the Administrative Council, and their places were taken by Mochnacki and three of his associates from the Patriotic Club. The new body was known as the Provisional Government. To legalize its actions the new government ordered the convocation of the Diet and meanwhile proclaimed Chlopicki as Dictator. In his day Chlopicki had been an able and glory bedecked soldier who, because of the chicanery of Constantine, retired from the army and lived in seclusion. When called upon to lead the nation against Russia he was nearing senility, and did not possess the executive ability and resourcefulness required by the exigencies of the moment. He overestimated the power of Russia and underestimated the strength and fervor of the Polish revolutionary army. By temperament and conviction he was inveterately opposed to a war with Russia, in the success of which he did not believe, and if he insisted upon a dictatorship and accepted it, it was only because he intended to use his extraordinary powers to maintain internal peace and to save the Constitution. On assuming the great office he sent two delegates to Emperor Nicholas and awaiting a favorable reply, refused to mobilize the forces of the nation and to free Lithuania from the Russian garrisons. The people chafed under his inactivity and their erstwhile enthusiasm turned to restlessness and despair, but their faith in the Dictator was still unshaken.
The Deposition of Tsar Nicholas
Meanwhile the deputies to the Diet began to arrive at the capital and at their first session declared themselves unequivocally for war with Russia. At the same time, Chlopicki's delegates informed the Dictator that the Emperor did not care to enter into any negotiations, but. demanded unconditional surrender and complete submission to his good graces. Whereupon Chlopicki, having irretrievably wasted valuable time, resigned. On January 25, 1831, the Diet proclaimed the dethronization of Nicholas I and thus lawfully broke the personal union which existed between the Kingdom of Poland and Russia by the terms of the Vienna Congress treaty. The bond uniting the two nations was severed. The proclamation declared that "the Polish nation is an independent people and has a right to offer the Polish crown to him whom it may consider worthy, from whom it might with certainty expect faith to his oath and wholehearted respect to the sworn guarantees of. civic freedom." Five men were selected to constitute the government. They were Prince Adam Czartoryski, Chairman, Vincent Niemoyowski, the famous deputy from Kalisz, who during the preceding decade had fearlessly exposed the Russian machinations to cramp constitutional life in Poland, Theophile Stanislav Barzykowski, and the celebrated Professor Joachim Lelewel of the Wilno University. The new government set itself energetically to work at the great task imposed upon it, and soon a considerable army was mustered and equipped for action.
The Dictatorship of Skrzynecki
Chlopicki was persuaded to accept the active command of the army and Prince Michael Radziwill was made Dictator. It was too late to move the theatre of hostilities to Lithuania. By the end of January Russian forces appeared in Poland commanded by Field Marshal Deebitch. After a series of minor battles in which Dwernicki and other generals distinguished themselves, the Polish forces assembled on the right bank of the Vistula to defend the capital. On February 25th the famous battle of Grochov took place, noted for the dogged determination of the adversaries. Over seven thousand Poles fell on that field. The number of killed in the attacking army was considerably larger. The increasing assaults of the doubly strong Russian army were repeatedly repulsed and Deebitch was forced to retire to Siedlce. Warsaw was saved, and the Polish army remained triumphant and confident. Chlopicki, whose soldierly qualities reasserted themselves at the sound of battle, was wounded in action and his place taken by John Skrzynecki who, like his predecessor, had won distinction under Napoleon for personal courage and had been general of the line in the Polish army.
Disliked by Grand Duke Constantine, he had retired from service and had spent his advancing years in lazy speculations over transcendental questions. He shared with Chlopicki the conviction of the futility a war with Russia, but with the opening of hostilities took command of a corps and fought creditably at Grochov. When the weak and indecisive Radziwill surrendered the dictatorship, Skrzynecki was chosen to succeed him. Unfortunately, he also lacked the qualities of firmness and high generalship essential to meeting a difficult situation. He endeavored to end the war by negotiations with the Russian Field Marshal, and, in his political artlessness, hoped for benign foreign intervention. Sympathetic echoes of the Polish aspirations reverberated throughout Europe, and the astounding heroism of the Polish army won popular admiration for the country and her endeavors to free herself from oppression. Under Lafayette's presidency, enthusiastic meetings had been held in Paris. Some money for the Polish cause was also collected in the United States and flags sent to the Polish heroes. The chancelleries of France and England, however, did not share in the feelings of their people. Louis Phillippe, elevated to royal dignity by a revolutionary tide, thought but of securing for himself recognition on the part of all European governments, and Lord Palmerston was in too friendly relations with Russia at the time even to listen to Polish entreaties. Moreover, England regarded with alarm the reawakening of the French national spirit and had come to the conclusion that its policy ought to be not to weaken Russia, "as Europe might soon again require her services in the cause of order, and to prevent Poland, whom it regarded as a national ally of France, from becoming a French province of the Vistula." Austria and particularly Prussia adopted a most hostile attitude and hampered the cause of Poland by a benevolent neutrality toward Russia.
They closed the Polish frontiers and prevented the transportation of munitions of war or supplies of any kind. Under such circumstances the war with Russia began to take on a somber and disquieting aspect. No amount of devotion and sacrifice could avert the impending catastrophe. The Poles fought desperately and attempts were made to rouse Volhynia, Podolia, Zmudz and Lithuania. With the exception of the Lithuanian uprising which took on a serious aspect under ardent leadership, in which the youthful Countess Emily Plater and several other women distinguished themselves, the guerilla warfare carried on in the frontier provinces was of minor importance, and served only to give the Russians an opportunity of wreaking their vengeance on the peaceful population. Notorious was the slaughter of the inhabitants of the small town of Oszmiana in Lithuania. Meanwhile, new Russian forces under Grand Duke Michael arrived in Poland but met with many defeats. They were frequently out-manuvered by superior Polish strategy. Constant warfare, however, and bloody battles such as that at Ostrolenka in which eight thousand Poles lost their lives, considerably depleted the Polish forces and and cast despondency over the country. Regrettable mistakes on the part of the commanders, constant changes and numerous resignations and above all the indolence of the Generalissimo who had not ceased to count on foreign intervention, added to the feeling of despair.
The more radical elements of the community severely criticized the government for its inactivity, its lack of land reforms and the recognition of the peasants rights to the soil they tilled. By identification of their interests with the national liberty, the masses of the people could be gained for further efforts. Such a course of action was strongly indicated and there should have been no delay in adopting it. There was no time for academic discussion yet the Diet fearing lest the reactionary governments of Europe might regard the war with Russia as social revolution procrastinated and haggled over concessions. The original enthusiasm of the peasantry became dampened, and the incompetence and ineptitude of the government more apparent. The thundering denunciations of the democrats were unavailing. In the meantime, the Russian army, commanded after the death of Deebitch by General Paskievitch, was concentrating and moving in a huge semi-circle toward Warsaw. Skrzynecki failed to prevent the juncture of the enemy's forces. Popular clamor demanded his deposition. The Diet acted accordingly and General Dembinski temporarily assumed command. The atmosphere was highly charged. Severe rioting tookplace and the government became completely disorganized. Count John Krukowiecki was made the President of the Ruling Council.
He took everything in hand with much energy and determination, but had no faith in the success of the campaign and accepted the highly responsible position to satisfy his personal ambition. He believed that when the heat of the aroused passions had subsided he could end the war on, what seemed to him, advantageous terms.
The Close of War
After a desperate defense by General Sowinski, Warsaw's suburb of Wola fell into Paskievitch's hands on September 6th. The next day saw the second line of the capital's defensive works attacked by the Russians. During the night of the 7th Krukowiecki capitulated, although the city still held out. He was immediately deposed by the Polish government and replaced by Bonawentura Niemoyowski.
The army and the government withdrew to the fortress of Modlin, on the Vistula, subsequently renamed Novo-Georgievsk by the Russians, and then to Plock, where the dramatic climax of the war was reached. New plans had been adopted when the staggering news was received that the Polish crack corps under Ramorino, unable to join the main army, had laid down its arms by crossing the Austrian frontier into Galicia. It became evident that the war could be carried on no longer. On October 5, 1831, the Polish army of over 20,000 men crossed the Prussian frontier, and amid scenes of heart rending despair and grief laid down their arms at Brodnica in preference to submission to Russia. Only one man, a colonel by the name of Stryjenski, won the peculiar distinction of giving himself up to the grace of Russia. All the others chose voluntary exile rather than life under Russian rule. Following the example of Dombrowski of a generation before, General Bem endeavored to reorganize the Polish soldiers in Prussia and Galicia into Legions and lead them to France. The Prussian government frustrated his plans in spite of the sympathy shown by the people. The immigrants left Prussia in bands of from fifty to a hundred, and their journey through the various German lands was a "triumphal march." The population of the principalities through which they passed greeted them with enthusiasm. Banquets and festivities were given in their honor, cities were illumined, firey speeches were made. and great hospitality was shown. Poetry vied with prose in extolling Polish heroism and patriotism. Even some of the German sovereigns, such as the King of Saxony, the Princess of Weimar and the Duke of Gotha shared in the general outburst. of sympathy. It was only upon the very insistent demands of Russia that the Polish committees all over Germany had been closed. Meanwhile, "the storm birds of the revolution flew across central Europe and brought with them the breath of freedom, awakening the feelings which were slowly taking hold of the German people and kindling in them the striving for liberty which seventeen years later found expression in deeds which shook the foundations of absolutism and reaction."
In the meantime Russia proceeded "to restore order" in the conquered country, for the possession of which she never obtained legal title. Neither the Polish Government nor the powers which signed the treaty of Vienna gave sanction to the incorporation of Poland into the Russian Empire. It was done by force of arms and had no authority under the law of nations. Until the outbreak of the WWI war the country had been held by virtue of military occupancy alone. The importance of this fact cannot be underestimated in considering Poland's future status.
The Immediate Consequences of War
Tragic was Poland's lot when she fell prey to Russia and ceased to have an army of her own! All the leaders of the Patriotic Club and the members of the Diet were condemned to death; all those who served in the Polish army and returned to Poland, following the Imperial amnesty, were *drafted into the Russian army for periods of fifteen to twenty-five years, In addition, twenty thousand men were recruited from Poland. By an ukase of 1831 forty-five thousand persons belonging to the gentry of Lithuania and Ruthenia were forcibly settled in Russia. Tens of thousands of fatherless Polish boys were taken from their mothers and sent off to Russia to be raised as Orthodox Russians in military camps or to become settlers in remote provinces. The estates and all other properties of those who took part in the war were confiscated. In this way 2,349 estates were taken from their owners in Poland and 2,890 in Lithuania and given as compensation to Russian generals and officials. The Universities of Warsaw and Wilno, the Lyceum of Kremienetz in Volhynia and various other schools, the Society of the Friends of Science and other scientific and civic organizations were ordered closed. The libraries and many scientific and art collections were removed to Russia. The country was put under military law which lasted uninterruptedly until 1856 and practically since 1861, as at no time has the Kingdom been entirely free from extraordinary administrative regulations. In order "to exterminate all traces of Polish influence" on November 11,1831, Nicholas ordered the abrogation of the existing judicial system in Lithuania and the adjoining provinces. The indemnity imposed upon Poland amounted to twenty-two million rubles. The burden of maintaining a Russian army of one hundred thousand men was laid on the outraged, ruined and bleeding country where there was hardly a family which had not lost some member either by execution or through exile. General Paskievitch was made Duke of Warsaw and given dictatorial powers over the conquered territory. An elaborate system of espionage and flogging was instituted in the place of constitutional government. The possession of arms was punishable by death. To keep the population in dumb obedience, citadels were built in Warsaw and Wilno and the guns so mounted as to face the cities. The people were threatened with the utter destruction of their two principal cities in the event of an uprising. A so called "organic statute" guaranteeing certain constitutional rights, designed to beguile public opinion abroad, was promulgated in 1832 but never put into operation. In spite of the fact that Pope Gregory XVI in his bull of June 9, 1832, addressed to the Polish clergy, condemned the war with Russia, the Government in its vindictiveness did not spare the Catholic Church and adopted a number of restrictive measures, particularly in Lithuania and Ruthenia. A large number of convents and churches were closed, and the children of parents belonging to other churches were ordered to be baptized in the Orthodox Church. The hardest blow was dealt to the Uniate Church which, since the partition of Poland, had been singled out by Russia for particular repression, as it was the last existing vestige of ancient Polish influence and bound the people of the outlying provinces to Western civilization. The same dissenters, for the protection of whom Peter the Great and Catharine II found it necessary to interfere in Polish internal politics, became the subjects of the most rigorous persecution. Only four days after the fall of Warsaw two monasteries received notice that their estates were confiscated and that the Uniate monks would be replaced by Orthodox friars. Twenty more such institutions were closed before the end of the year 1831. "It was with exuberant joy that Emperor Nicholas received every news of the closing of another Uniate monastery: "Thanks be to God; we have again destroyed an enemy stronghold."
With the aid of a renegade Uniate Bishop Siemaszko, the government, resolved to extirpate the Uniate faith and did not stop at anything to achieve this aim. On February 24, 1839, the Uniate Bishop sealed a formal act of separation from the Church of Rome. Only the Chelm, (Kholm) diocese which was within the limits of the Congressional Kingdom of Poland, because of the determined opposition of the local clergy and population, was exempted. Those who clung to their religion outside of this single diocese were regarded as dangerous political offenders and were dealt with accordingly. During the first week following the dissolution of the Uniate Church hundreds of priests and monks were exiled to Siberia; many were denied food and beaten to death. The women were even more resolved to remain true to their faith than the men and refused apostasy. The sisters of a convent in Minsk were punished, for their obstinate devotion by outoutrageous cruelties, flogging and subjection to atrocious insult. One of them, Baptiste Downar, was burned to death in a bake oven by the Orthodox nuns. Nepomucena Grotkowska had her head split with an axe by a Russian Mother Superior. Some of the sisters who survived the two years of inhuman ufferings were sent to an Orthodox convent in Miadzioly, where the superior officer tortured them in an unspeakable manner. On cold days they were put in sacks and in the presence of the populace of the town, thrown into a lake and dragged by means of ropes from shore to shore. Many drowned. After six years of such persecution, five sisters managed to escape and went to Rome to lay their story before the Pope. Slowacki, one of Poland's greatest poets had depicted their lot in one of his most renowned poems, and more recently Stefan Zeromski described the suffering of the Uniates in some of his short stories. In spite of the persecution many Uniates remained true to their faith and though officially belonging to the Orthodox Church they took every occasion to manifest their true attachment. During the course of the present war, when Russian armies retired from these districts the people gave vent to their religious emotions, welcoming the Polish priests and the Polish legions who, knowing their feelings, opened for them their ancient churches.
The Reflection in Literature of the National Tragedy
The intense sufferings of the Polish, Lithuanian and cognate peoples who had once formed the Polish Republic, could not remain without an echo in Polish literature which, since the days of Poland's partitions took a powerful upward swing and reached its zenith during the period between 1830 and 1850 in the unsurpassed patriotic writings of Mickiewicz, Slowacki and Krasinski. In "Iridion" the latter commands his Greek hero to go north and in the name of Christ to stop in "the land of graves and crosses."
"Thou mayst know it by the silence of its warriors and the melancholy of its little children. Thou mayst know it by the huts of its poor, destroyed by fire and the palaces of its exiles, long since laid in waste."
The writings of the three poets have had such a tremendous influence upon the Polish mind as to warrant at least a brief analysis in connection with the political developments of the nation since 1830. Never since the days of ancient Greece has there been another example of a nation receiving an exclusively poetic education until the tragic fate of Poland after her unsuccessful war with Russia. Life became stifled, every expression of thought and action was rendered impossible by a stupid and rigid bureaucratic regime. And at that time among the tens of thousands of exiles on foreign soil sprang, forth the providential and since the days of the Prophets, the unexampled, triple blossom of poetry drawing its vital sap from the bitter sufferings of the soul of the nation. In intensity of feeling, depth of thought, love of country and mastery and beauty of expression, the three poets have no peers in the literature of the world. Had they written in French, English or German instead of in Polish, their names would have been known to every schoolboy the world over as are the names of Dante, Shakespeare and Goethe. It is profitless, perhaps useless to endeavor to say who of the three was the greatest, as it is useless to try to measure the elemental powers of nature. Each of them had the grandeur and force which nature bestows upon human genius, and each found a different mould for an adequate expression of his soul. Because of the greater simplicity of his style and the directness of presentation, Mickiewicz reached more Polish hearts than the other two and came to be regarded as the greatest interpreter of the people's hopes and ideals. He is the Zeus of the Polish Olympus and the immortal incarnation of Polish national spirit. He wrote at a time when Romanticism prevailed in European literature. His writings bear the impress of that literary epoch, but they deal with intense and palpable realities. His two monumental works, marking the zenith of his power, are: "Dziady" (Ghosts) and "Pan Tadeusz."
The latter is universally recognized as "the only successful epic which the XIXth century produced." George Brandes says that "Mickiewicz alone approached those great names in poetry which stand in history as above all healthy, far healthier than Byron, healthier, even than Shakespeare, Homer and Goethe."
The poetic serenity of the description of Lithuanian life at the opening of the last century is the more remarkable when considered in the light of the poet's volcanic nature and his intense suffering over the tragic fate of his native land to which he could never return. His passionate nature finds its truest expression in "Dziady," which undoubtedly constitutes the acme of poetic inspiration. It deals with the transformation of the soul from individual to a higher national conception. The hero, Gustavus, who has suffered great misfortune, wakes up one morning in his prison cell and finds himself an entirely changed man. His heart, given over to individual pain and individual love, dies. The Gustavus, bewailing his lost personal happiness lives no more, and Konrad, his divine ego, takes his place. All the creative powers of his nation are concentrated in him. Here Mickiewicz bares his own soul. He is filled with enough moral strength to challenge even God. He feels for millions and is pleading before God for their happiness and spiritual perfection. It is the Promethean idea, no doubt, but greatly deepened in conception and execution and applied to but one part of humanity, the Polish nation whose intensity of suffering was the greatest in all mankind.
In 1835 Mickiewicz came under the influence of Towianski, a mystic, and ceased to write. Toward the end of his days he freed himself again of this peculiar thrall which Towianski was able to exert over him, as over the two other poets, and became again a man of reality.
As a young Adam Mickiewicz took a leading part in the literary life of the University circles at Wilno, which were mentioned in the last chapter. When the societies were closed in 1823 by the order of Russian Government he was arrested and exiled to Russia. While in Crimea he wrote his exquisite sonnets. Subsequently he emigrated to France, where most of his life was spent, and died in Constantinople in 1855, while organizing a Polish legion against Russia during the Crimean war. His spirit was ever imbued with exalted patriotism and his genius was active in pointing toward means of freeing the country from foreign oppression. He was a champion of action and it is characteristic of the greatness of his soul that he was ever above the petty strifes that were tearing apart the Polish emigrants, and which absorbed their thoughts and energies. At the time of the greatest intensity of that strife he wrote the celebrated "Books of the Pilgrims" a work of love, wisdom and good will written in exquisite style. They have been called "Mickiewicz's Homilies" and have exercised a soothing and elevating influence. Despite the fact that Mickiewicz's themes and heroes are connected with Polish life, his writings still touch upon most of the problems and motives of the world at large, thus assuring to his works everlasting value and universal interest. The same in an equal measure is true of the other two poets. They dealt with the most profound problems of existence, looking at them always through the prism of their ardent patriotism. Like Mickiewicz, Slowacki and Krasinski were compelled to live outside their own country.
Slowacki's longing for his home in Volhynia and later in Lithuania, where he spent his childhood and adolescence, and his love for his mother are truly pathetic. A few stanzas of one of his poems "I am so sad, Oh God!" may give an idea of the fine sentiment which permeated his whole existence:
To-day o'er the wide waste of ocean sweeping
Hundreds of miles away from shore or rock
I saw the cranes fly on, together 'keeping
In one unbroken flock;
Their feet with soil from Poland's hills were shod,
And I was sad, Oh God
Often by strangers' tombs I've lingered weary,
Since, grown a stranger to my native ways,
I walk a pilgrim through a desert dreary,
Lit but by lightning's blaze,
Knowing not where shall fall the burial clod
Upon my bier, Oh God
Sometime hereafter will my bones lie whitened
Somewhere on strangers' soil, I know not where:
I envy those whose dying hours are lightened,
Fanned by their native air;
But flowers of some strange land will spring and nod
Above my grave, Oh God.
(Translation by Paul Soboleski in Warner's "World Literature.")
Poets are seldom born to be happy. It was not given Slowacki to see his native land again. On April 3 1849, at forty years of age, he died of consumption in Paris, and flowers of a strange land blossomed on his grave.
Albeit all three great Polish poets were under the Byronic spell, none other was to such a marked degree as Slowacki. And yet in spite of that his message is not that of doubts and questions, but of action and suffering. "Although his head was in the clouds, his feet were on the earth." Much as he loved Poland, he was keenly conscious of her faults. Hence his bitterness on one hand and his idealism on the other. He would wish to liberate "the angelic, soul of Poland" from "the hideous rags,"' and "the burning shirt of Deianira's", in which it had been wrapped and would like to see her a great, naked, beautiful statue struck out "of one lump of rock." He would wish for his nation such spiritual power as would make it immortal. And, this desire for internal perfection, seen also in Mickiewiczs "Books of the Pilgrims," runs through his works like a red thread. He would not for a moment think that there is an abyss which could not be bridged over between the ideal and the reality. He was convinced that the ideal exists in the national soul but had been encumbered by extraneous foreign growths which should be removed. There is hardly anything more beautiful than Slowacki's conception of the genesis of the discrepancy of the two elements. The struggle of the two constitutes the pith of his drama "Lilla Weneda." The plot turns around a war between two primitive pagan peoples, the Weneds and Lethits, The first are the forebears of the. Polish ideal, the latter the forebears of the Polish nation. Derwid is the chief of the Weneds and his harp is the symbol of the ideal, a treasure of the tribe. With the fall of the Weneds, the harp comes into the possession of the Lechits, who had not come up to the appreciation of the treasure. Yet "the harp will conquer nations." Slowacki believes that his life mission is to champion the "harp" idea. After he succumbed to the influence of the Towianski philosophy, which was a modification of the Hegelian system, he began to identify the cause of Poland with that of Divinity and of Destination. Poland is to lead all other nations to their spiritual salvation. He believed in metampsychosis. By each successive change the spirit comes nearer to the ideal. Poland is the last link on the road toward the ideal. Her suffering has brought her soul nearer perfection than the soul of any other nation.. She is the "King Spirit." In 1848 in that year of "the spring of the nations" the hopes of Slowacki rose high, and though suffering from a fatal disease, he organized a Confederacy and planned to take part in an armed uprising against Russia. But on April 3. 1849 he died.
Of the three poets Slowacki was the most revolutionary, the most radical and the most democratic. In this respect he formed and extreme contrast to his warm friend Zygmunt Krasinski who, by birth, tradition and temperament was an aristocrat and had a horror of democracy and radicalism; who saw in those tendencies of the Polish nation the explanation for its late misfortunes and the cause of its ultimate destruction. The social unrest of Europe at the time raised in his mind most disquieting thoughts about Poland and he gave expression to them in his "Undivine Comedy". The philosophy of action and vengenance found in Mickiewicz's and Slowacki's work is foreign and repugnant to Krasinski. His "Undivine Comedy" was conceived to demonstrate futility. It is Christian love and virtue that conquers in the end. In this respect he was a precursor of Tolstoy. It required a great deal of boldness to teach such a philosophy of inaction and resignation to the Poles, who were chafing under oppression and were gnawed by despair, and to, combat the democratic currents which were permeating, the hearts of the people who believed that by the adoption of these principles alone, could governmental tyranny be allayed. The seeds of his unpopular philosophy did not, however, fall on utterly barren ground. There was too much despair in the national soul for the glory of quiet martyrdom not to find any sympathetic echo.
Brandes asserts that in few literatures has Romanticism attained to an expression of such beauty as in the Polish. The reason for it can be easily explained. The essence of Romanticism is to be found in the dissatisfaction of the human spirit with existing reality. In normal communities the dissatisfaction and the resultant sufferings and longings lie usually in individual planes. In the tragic conditions of Poland it was elevated to a social conception, hence the greater breadth and intensity of Polish Romanticism. By heroic efforts the nation endeavored to turn away the trend of hostile reality. The efforts resulted only in greater misfortunes. Despair and pessimism began to affect the national spirit. To combat this evil force of bitter reality it was necessary to create an equally strong spiritual force. Hence, the conception of Poland as a Christ of the nations evolved with such strength and beauty by the three poets, and with particular emphasis by Krasinski. By their powerful flights of fancy, by the intensity of their feeling, by the grandeur of their genius and the beauty of their expression, the three poets have immortalized Poland, her literature, her sufferings and her ideals. They have left an indelible imprint upon the spiritual evolution of their nation. The same spirit and longings of the Polish soul have been inculcated in the soul of every civilized human being the world over by the musical productions of another Polish genius, Frederick Chopin who was born in Warsaw and who died in Paris in the same year as Slowacki.
His sensitive soul was imbued with the same sufferings that permeated the hearts of the three great poets and the Polish people.The tens of thousands of Polish emigrants who fled from Russian vengeance arrived in France. While the population met them with enthusiasm as champions of liberty, Louis Philippe and the then Premier, Casimir Perier for the same reason received them with great reserve, and to keep them away from Paris designated the cities of Avignon and Chateauroux for their temporary settlements. Perier refused to grant an audience to Bonawentura Niemoyowski, the President of the last Polish Government, for fear that such a hearing might be construed as an act of diplomatic demonstration. It was an attitude which the emigrants had not anticipated but which remained unaltered after the monarchy was succeeded by the Second Republic. Even Lamartine, the poet and historian, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the Poles that "the dead cannot be resuscitated." But The tens of thousands of Polish emigrants who fled from Russian vengeance arrived in France. While the population met them with enthusiasm as champions of liberty, Louis Philippe and the then Premier, Casimir Perier for the same reason received them with great reserve, and to keep them away from Paris designated the cities of Avignon and Chateauroux for their temporary settlements. Perier refused to grant an audience to Bonawentura Niemoyowski, the President of the last Polish Government, for fear that such a hearing might be construed as an act of diplomatic demonstration. It was an attitude which the emigrants had not anticipated but which remained unaltered after the monarchy was succeeded by the Second Republic. Even Lamartine, the poet and historian, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the Poles that "the dead cannot be resuscitated." But the Poles never can or will believe that their nation is dead. Each generation since the last dismemberment has proved by the seas of blood shed for the cause of independence that the Polish nation is alive and virile, and that there can be no permanent peace in Central Europe until the Polish nation is again made free to organize its own State. The efforts of the emigrants of the period under consideration are but another chapter of the epopee of toil and privation, devotion and martyrdom for a sacred cause. Immediately upon their arrival in France the emigrants organized themselves in political societies to further, their aims. It should be remembered that the flower of Polish thought and achievement was represented among those who came to France. All the generals, officers, statesmen, scientists and writers assembled there, among them Prince Czartoryski, Joachim Lelewel Maurice Mochnacki, General Bem, Mickiewicz, Slowacki, Krasinski and the galaxy of other poets and writers. Those who still believed that through diplomatic intervention a good deal could be accomplished clustered around the illustrious Prince Adam Czartoryski, who had many influential connections in the chancelleries of Europe, and who maintained a large political bureau in his palace, "Hotel Lambert" in Paris, through which he kept in touch with most of the capitals of Europe. Others formed the Democratic Society and associated their hopes with the democratic currents of the time. They criticized Czartoryski's faction, holding justly that diplomacy without a strong army behind it is bound to be ineffective. The failure of the Polish representatives in London may serve as an illustration of the truth of this assertion. Both Grey and Brougham, members of Palmerston's cabinet, were close personal friends of Czartoryski, and both were very friendly to the Poles. In the name of England, Grey had presented a sword of honor to Kosciuszko, assuring him of England's friendship for Poland. Brougham had written splendid dissertations concerning Poland's political rights. And yet, as cabinet officers, they dared do nothing for the outraged and dispossessed nation. The Russian Ambassador, Count Lieven and his wife, the sister of General Beckendorff, who was the closest friend of Tsar Nicholas I and the organizer of the Russian secret service, were able to exercise such pressure upon Lord Brougham that he refused to grant a hearing to the venerable Polish historian Niemcewicz, Kosciuszko's friend and companion. In 1831, after Grey entertained Czartoryski at a private dinner he received a most acrimonious and resentful letter from Lady Lieven. Similarly disappointing were the hopes of the Democratic Society, as the expected social revolutions were slow to come, and when they finally did come, brought naught to Poland.
The Further Consequences of the Polish War with Russia
Tsar Nicholas I, in vindictiveness not a whit inferior to Ivan the Terrible, his celebrated. predecessor on the Russian throne, resolved to blot out the Polish nation forever. His inhuman tyranny, carried out with heartless rigor by Paskiewicz and his associates has cast an indescribable horror over "constitutional" Poland. It should be borne in mind that the constitution has never been, and legally could not be rescinded. The slightest suspicion was sufficient to subject the unfortunate victims to cruel flogging, tortures, jailing and exile. Executions were a daily occurence; life was utterly stifled; schooling was practically discontinued; and shameless provocation was practiced incessantly. When the secret service agents "discovered" a plot which never existed among the boys of one of the upper grades in a Warsaw high school, the Tsar ordered that the three upper grades in the high schools all over Poland. be closed. Those who knew the attitude of this despot toward education will not be surprised at this deed of his. The following quotation from Prof. Vladimir G. Simkbovitch of Columbia University, may give an idea of the mentality of the Tsar, which will help the reader to grasp what his rule in a conquered nation must have been:
"Nicholas I was a narrow-minded man, but with strong convictions, and with a temper that brooked no contradiction. He made it his paramount task to educate his people for an autocratic regime He therefore resolved to do away with all elements and conditions leading to independent thought or to a desire for freedom ... The students in the universities were ordered to wear a special military uniform, and regulations were issued scribing how they should appear in public, how they should cut their hair. The university course also felt the heavy hand of Emperor Nicholas. Thus, for instance all courses in European public law were abolished, because 'rebellions in foreign lands have disfigured this science and shattered its very foundations.'
Comparative constitutional law was discontinued because of 'the weakness of its principles and its unsatisfactory results.' Courses in social statistics and logic were abolished. Philosophy and psychology could be taught only by Greek orthodox professors of theology, and then with the explicit order to teach according to the truth of revealed religion. The professors were instructed to submit to the government the lectures they intended to give, and also the lists of books recommended for collateral reading. The deans were to see to it that professors' lectures are identical with those that were approved, and they were to report the slightest deviations, 'even the most harmless ones.' The tuition fees of the students were furthermore greatly increased, so as to keep out poor people, 'whom education may make dissatisfied with their lot, or with that of their friends.'
Of the gymnasiums, the classical fell into disgrace. The classical writers talked too much about civic matters, and referred to republics., By the end of the reign of Nicholas I, only eight classical gymnasiums were left in existence. Primary education under Nicholas existed only on paper. The Pedagogical Institute was closed, 'being unnecessary,' and unnecessary it really was in Nicholas's reign. Denominational parochial schools were tolerated, and in 1839 there were 2,000 such schools, with 19,000 pupils. But there is no way of telling whether they really existed. Many things existed in Russia on paper only.
Revolutionary Activities
Some of the emigrants nourished such an impatient desire to do something for the country, as to undertake the rashest kinds of expeditions designed to stir up local rebellions and disturbances. Such was the attempt of Colnel Zaliwski, early in 1833. With a small band of ill provisioned penniless companions, with no passports, he reached Poland, having braved unlimited perils. Overawed by oppression, the population failed to respond to his urgings. Here and there he found a few followers, but pursued by Russian troops he sought refuge in Galicia, where he was arrested by the Austrian police. A similar attempt by Zawisza ended in the loss of life of many of the noble souls blinded by patriotism and goaded on by despair. Another result of the numerous unfortunate expeditions and small uprisings was a closer understanding between the three powers. In Munchengraetz, in Bohemia, the Tsar met Emperor Francis I and the Prussian King Frederick Wilhelm III in September, 1833, to ratify the "Holy Alliance" and strengthened the ties that bound them together because of Poland. At this meeting also the lot of the free Cracow republic was doomed. It was agreed to discontinue its existence and to incorporate it in Galicia at the first opportunity. Meanwhile the representatives of the three powers began to exert growing pressure and became the de-facto government of the Republic. All these repressive measures, however, were unsuccessful in suppressing national unrest. As somebody well expressed it, the war was going on, merely the form had changed. The repressions were met by constant uprisings, organized by local secret societies in conjunction with or independently of the Polish political organizations abroad. After the flower of the nation's manhood had been mowed down, all the strong and enterprising spirits who were left at home took part in the preparations for another open outbreak of hostilities. The secret police in all parts of Poland had their hands full trying to uncover the conspiracies. Political suits were incessant; hundreds of men were thrown into dungeons; many, like the noble Simon Konarski and Father Sciegenny, were executed; others were exiled for life to Siberia; and others were tortured inhumanly. In Galicia, Smolka and Dunayewski were sentenced to death in 1845, but their sentences were commuted to long imprisonment. The tide of the revolution in 1848 released them, and subsequently Smolka became the President of the Austrian Parliament and one of the greatest statesmen of the century and Dunayewski was Bishop of Cracow and Cardinal.
The End of the Cracow Republic and the Slaughter of the Galician Gentry
The manifold local uprisings occurring in all sections of Poland and the existence of secret organizations gave to the Polish "Democratic Society" in France the erroneous impression that the time was ripe for starting a general revolution throughout Poland. The leading spirit in this enterprise was Ludwik Mieroslawski, who prepared a sweeping plan of campaign without giving much consideration to the feasibility of carrying it out even in part. The men of cooler judgment urged that he desist from undertaking rash steps, but without avail. He was, however, prevented from progressing very far with the preliminary arrangements by the vigilance of the Prussian police. He and a few of his fellow workers were intercepted in Posen in February, 1846, and a number of his sympathizers in Lemberg were arrested on a charge of complicity in the conspiracy. This ill timed launching of a movement would have been harmless had not the three partitioning powers made use of it to put an end to the free Republic of Cracow.
Immediately following Mieroslawski's arrest in Posen; Austria, by consent of the Russian and Prussian Governments sent a large army to occupy Cracow. A series of encounters followed throughout Galicia, during which occurred one of the most brutal slaughters of the gentry by the peasant rabble that Poland had ever known. To eradicate the existing political ferment the Austrian Government decided to make use of the artifically fostered enmity which the peasants entertained against their landlords because the latter were, by law, compelled to collect taxes and select recruits for the Austrian army. Officials of the Austrian Government spread news among the peasants that the revolutionary movement of the gentry was aimed at the subjugation of the peasants into still greater economic dependence, and that the magnanimous Austrian Government was sending troops to defend them against the oppressors. The ignorant and excitable mobs broke loose under these instigations and the protection of the military and civil authorities and the carnage and havoc wrought by them were atrocious. Particularly distinguished for cruelty was a highwayman by the name of Jacob Szela, who was subsequently awarded an estate in Bukovina by the Austrian Government. This dastardly crime of Austria was but the crowning of the policy of nourishing social discontent in Galicia. On several occasions the representatives of the gentry in Galicia had petitioned the government to set their serfs free, and in every instance the government had refused to grant permission. When, in 1848, at the first news of the conflagration that had set Europe on fire, the Galician landowners again resolved to abolish serfdom, the Austrian Government again interfered, but soon afterward, in the middle of April of the same year, it proclaimed the emancipation of the peasants as an act of grace of the Emperor. The parcels of land which, the peasants had been renting were donated to them by the government. Reimbursements were promised to the owners. The sudden change in land ownership caused by the arbitrary act of a despotic government and the grave economic problems it created and left unsolved, precipitated a severe crisis in Galicia, which, closely following the illegal dissolution of the Cracow Republic whose semi-independent status was guaranteed by the Treaty of Vienna, created a strong feeling of resentment.
The Year 1848
The progress of events of that celebrated year of 1848 gave rise to new hopes. Italy, France, Germany and Austria had been shaken by revolutions. Everywhere the people requested armed intervention on behalf of Poland in addition to their particular demands. The Poles did not remain passive onlookers in this mighty awakening of Europe to the stirring up of which they had contributed in no mean measure. The emigrants left France for Poland, and on their way through the German states and Bohemia were hailed enthusiastically. In Berlin the population demanded the immediate release of Mieroslawski and his colleagues, which King Frederich Wilhelm IV not only granted without delay, but greeted the released prisoners standing with bared head. He also permitted the formation in the Duchy of Posen of a Polish army, which was to fight beside the united German nation against tyrannical Russia. The army soon numbered ten thousand men and Mieroslawski became its commander. The poet Mickiewicz went to present the Polish question to the newly elected Pope Pius IX and formed a Polish Legion in Italy. At the same time Galicia urged a war with Russia upon the Constitutional Austrian monarch.
Soon, however, the revolutionary wave subsided and with its ebb came a dampening of enthusiasm for the cause of Poland. The reaction be came apparent in Prussia first. Against the Poles, a German committee was formed in Posen, which demanded the division of the Duchy into two parts, one German and the other Polish. The consent of the King to the formation of a Polish army was rescinded, particularly in view of the threatening attitude assumed by the Russian ambassador and the massing of strong Russian forces at the frontier. The warning issued by Tsar Nicholas, in his memorable manifesto in which be said: "Nations be submissive, for God is with us!" had, no doubt, its desired effect. As the Poles did not want, to disband, severe encounters followed between them, and the Prussian troops. Finally submission became inevitable, and being unable to reach their own, country, they scattered to help the revolutions, in Italy, Baden and Hungary.
In Galicia, the Ruthenian clergy aroused a feeling of animosity among their peasants toward the Poles, and in this they were stronglyencouraged by the Austrian Government which was under stipulated obligations to the Tsar for the effective aid he had rendered by sending a great army to suppress the Hungarian revolutionaries so ably led by the Polish Generals, Dembinski, Wysocki and Bem. The latter was military commander of the Viennese burghers early in 1848, when they defended. their city against, the Austrian Imperial troops; later he joined the Hungarians and won, a famous victory in Transylvania, and after the collapse of the Hungarian revolution went to Turkey and embraced Islamism, as several other Poles had done, to be able to serve in the Sultan's army against Russia. The failure of the Hungarian an uprising was a great blow to the cause of Poland. Its success would probably have resulted in the emancipation of Galicia. As it was, the year 1848 ended in a triumph of reaction and the retention of the painful status quo as far as Poland was concerned, with the single exception that the Poles received representation in the newly established constitutional regime in both Austria and Prussia, and through their representatives they could denounce openly all the iniquities to which they had been subjected and voice the sentiments of the nation for freedom and independence.
The disappointment with the results of the revolution era of 1848 was disheartening. In Congressional Poland dead silence and complete apathy followed, lasting until the opening of the Crimean War. Interest in economic and intellectual pursuits ceased. During this quiet period Russia proceeded in her wanton ways. The Russian language was introduced in all governmental offices, which had been systematically filled with Russian officials. The Russian system of weights and measures and of passports was transplanted; the post office and the control of highways was taken over by the Russian Government, and the tariff frontier separating the Kingdom from the Empire was removed. During the decade from 1846 to 1855 the population of Poland decreased about one million, and when the Crimean war broke out new hopes seemed vain because the exhaustion of the country was too great to make possible any serious uprising against Russia in spite of the reverses she was experiencing at the hands of the Allies: Turkey, France and England. Ukraine alone rose, led by Polish conspirators, and in Turkey Polish Legions were formed with the help of France and England. In the spring of 1855 and again in September of the same year Napoleon III instructed his Ambassador at London to take up with the English Government the settlement of the Polish guestion The matter did not, however, come up for consideration at the Paris peace conference in 1856. And once more were the Poles made to realize the painful truth that their hopes in diplomacy were but an illusion, a pernicious fata morgana.
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