In the period from 1569 to 1795, part of the territories of modern states - Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine - was united in a union called the Commonwealth and ruled by a popularly elected monarch. In 1794, an uprising of Tadeusz Kosciuszko broke out there, which grew into a full-scale national liberation war, suppressed by regular Russian troops. Let us dwell in more detail on its causes and effect.
Anti-People Constitution
In the last decades of the 18th century, social tension in the Commonwealth significantly increased due to the aggravation of contradictions between the nobility - representatives of the privileged class, tycoons - owners of the bulk of capital and their eternal antagonists - people of medium and low incomes. In this extremely unstable situation, the prerequisites for the start of the uprising of Tadeusz Kosciuszko were the actions of the Sejm - the estate representative assembly, which adopted the Constitution in May 1791, the main provisions of which were contrary to the interests of the majority of the population.
It is characteristic that opponents of the Constitution were also found among the large magnates who organized a confederation to fight with the main initiator of its adoption - King Stanislav, who immediately declared them rebels and tried to pacify by force of arms. Perhaps he would have succeeded, but the Confederates unexpectedly found an ally in the person of the Russian Empress Catherine II, who, at the end of the war with the Turks, deployed numerous military units under the command of two generals - M.V. Kakhovsky and M.N. Krechetnikova. Thus, the preponderance of forces was on the side of the rebels, and the Constitution, which was objectionable to the people, was repealed.
Explosive situation in the country
These events had a significant impact on the development of further relations between such large states as Russia and the Commonwealth. In particular, in many of its large cities, such as Warsaw, Grodno, Krakow and some others, permanent garrisons were created from military units sent by Catherine II to help the Confederates. The national army was partially disbanded, and partially reformed in the Russian manner. This state of affairs caused widespread discontent among patriotic citizens and subsequently served as an impetus to the start of the Kosciuszko uprising of 1794.
The bulk of the population of the Commonwealth, outwardly expressing the submission of Russia, secretly prepared for a rebellion aimed at the revival of national independence. Among the most active citizens stood out a group led by the Lithuanian gentry Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who took over the entire organizational part of the planned enterprise.
First blood
The signal for the start of hostilities was the attack on one of the Russian regiments, carried out on March 12, 1791 by an equestrian brigade under the command of a prominent military and statesman of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - General Madalinsky, who had earlier refused to comply with the diet and fulfill his order to dissolve the units entrusted to him.
Following this, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, accompanied by several hundred rebels, arrived in Krakow, where he was popularly proclaimed a dictator, and took the oath. There, the national assembly adopted a declaration called the "Act of Rebellion." Based on this document, Kosciuszko was appointed the supreme commander of the armed forces and received full power in the territory controlled by them.
Towards the end of March of that year, large parts of the state’s territories were covered by the uprising fire, and General Igelstrom, commander of the Russian forces in Warsaw, was forced to send all the reserves at his disposal to pacify the rebels. At the same time, numerous reinforcements arrived from Russia.
Establishment of a rebel army
At the early stage of the uprising, Tadeusz Kosciuszko and his associates were able to very successfully use the surprise factor and in a short time destroyed a significant part of the personnel of the Warsaw garrison, while General Igelstrom himself managed to escape only thanks to a lucky accident.
This inspired the rebels, and they announced a general mobilization in the country, which allowed to increase the number of troops up to 70 thousand people. The only problem was that most of them did not have firearms and were forced to fight with improvised means - axes, scythes, spikes, etc.
The situation that preceded the outbreak of hostilities
In April 1791, the thousands of corps under the personal command of Kosciuszko blocked all the approaches to Warsaw, and the rest of the troops subordinate to him strengthened on the approaches to the cities of Rava, Vilno, Grodno and Ljubljana. Near Krakow, a reserve of 8 thousand people was placed for transfer to the areas of the hottest hostilities.
It soon became known that, on the orders of Empress Catherine II, the regiment of General Saltykov entered the territory of Lithuania, consisting of 35 thousand well-trained and armed soldiers. The main danger for the rebels was the corps moving from the Turkish border under the command of A.V. Suvorov. The battles of the past war fanned him with unfading glory, and the rebels could not understand the danger that threatened them. To top it off, a corps (55 thousand people) arrived from Prussia, sent by King Frederick Wilhelm, who was extremely uninterested in the victory of the Confederates.
Victories and defeats of the beginning of the war
In mid-April, a Russian detachment under the command of Colonel P.I. Denisov, in collaboration with the Prussian units, attacked units personally led by T. Kostyushko and, having destroyed a significant number of rebels, pressed the rest close to the Warsaw suburbs. Failures followed in other directions. Parts of General Repnin approached Vilna and besieged the city, while another Russian commander - Count Derfelden - occupied Lublin and came close to Pulawy. In Krakow, by that time, Prussian soldiers were already in full swing.
In part, the extremely rebellious actions of the Russian General Repnin, who hesitated in anticipation of the approach of the Suvorov corps, played into the hands of the rebels. This allowed the 10,000th Polish regiment to invade Courland and reach Lyubava. At the same time, partisan detachments formed and led by the Polish patriot, the famous self-taught composer M.K. Oginsky, who immortalized his name by the famous polonaise, did a fair amount of damage to the Russian units.
Rout of rebellion
But all these episodic victories of the Confederates very soon gave way to grave defeats. So, in early August, the Russian detachment of Colonel Vuchetich, having destroyed parts of the Lithuanian tycoon Khlevinsky, captured Vilno, and General Denisov defeated the regiment guarding Lyubava. After that, the forces of the rebels were weakened by treason that penetrated into their ranks. The fact is that the prominent military and political leader of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Count F.K. Bronitsky - unexpectedly crossed over to the side of the enemy and even managed to create his own confederation of gentry hoping to gain profit in the conditions of the Russian protectorate.
But the true tragedy awaited the rebels on September 29, 1791, when in a battle near the town of Macevici, their army was completely defeated by Russian units, and Kosciuszko himself was captured. The news of this caused a real panic among the defenders of Warsaw, but despite everything, they refused to lay down their arms. The newly elected commander of the combined forces of the Confederates, the coronet Wawzhecki sent messengers to all ends of the country with an order to urgently rush to help the capital, but time was lost.
A.V. Suvorov already sang to take a strategically important position in the suburbs of the capital, called Prague. Warsaw was doomed. In addition to the units that came from the Turkish border, the famous commander received the 30,000th Prussian Allies corps. Soon the assault took place, culminating in the capture of the city, and a few days later an act was signed on the surrender of the rebels.
The fate of the participants in the rebellion
Most of the participants in the uprising of Tadeusz Kosciuszko were arrested, only a few of them managed to maintain their freedom by finding refuge in Austrian territory. In the next reign, when after the death of Catherine II, Emperor Paul I took her place, they were released from places of imprisonment, but subject to the oath of allegiance to the Russian government.
Tadeusz Kosciuszko himself, after his capture, was taken to St. Petersburg and placed in the Peter and Paul Fortress, but was not kept in a casemate, but in the commandant’s house and lived more as a guest than a prisoner. Under Paul I, he was completely freed by taking the oath, like all other participants in the rebellion. Moreover, the generous monarch ordered him to be compensated for inconvenience in the amount sufficient to purchase 1,000 serfs. Soon Kostyushko left Russia and, having settled in Paris, wrote to Pavel that he did not intend to comply with the requirements set forth in his oath. He died on October 15, 1817 in Switzerland.
The results of the uprising of Tadeusz Kosciuszko
One of the most important consequences of the national liberation movement led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko was an increase in the level of social consciousness of the masses and their inclusion in the struggle against exploitation by the magnates and the gentry. The most active participants in this process was the creation of the Jacobin Club, whose main branch was located in Warsaw since 1791.
Its members boldly advanced political demands to the government. During the uprising, on their initiative, many Polish and Lithuanian aristocrats, who stained themselves by cooperation with Russia and Prussia, were tried and executed. In addition, many members of the movement achieved their election to the Sejm and at its meetings defended the interests of ordinary citizens of the country. The main result of the uprising was the partition of the Commonwealth between Russia, Austria and Prussia, completed in 1795.