Like Finland, the Kingdom of Poland was part of the Russian Empire virtually until the end of its existence as an autonomous entity with its own constitution. In 1915, after the occupation of Polish territory by the Austro-Hungarian forces, the unrecognized Kingdom of Poland was formed, and after the end of World War I, independence of Poland was guaranteed at the Versailles Conference.
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
According to the Union of Lublin in 1569, Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania merged into one state, called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (literal translation into Polish of the Latin respublica). It was an atypical state formation: the king was elected by the Sejm and gradually he lost the levers of governing the country. Significant strength was possessed by the gentry, that is, the nobility. However, the work of the Sejm was also paralyzed, since any decision could be made only unanimously. During the XVII-XVIII centuries. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth gradually turned into an object of European politics, and much stronger neighbors: Sweden and the Moscow kingdom claimed on its territory. Despite the recognition by Polish society of the many problems and bleak prospects, no decisive steps were taken to rectify the situation. The king became a nominal figure, and the gentry did not want to part with their privileges, even before the threat of the state losing independence.
Sections of the Commonwealth
By the end of the 18th century, Prussia, Austria and Russia were most interested in Polish territories. However, Empress Catherine II sought to preserve an independent Poland, since this allowed her to individually control this state through her proteges. The Austrians and Prussians did not agree with this position. They put pressure on the Russian government, and Catherine, realizing that a new war could break out due to Polish lands, agreed to a section.
In 1772, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth imposed a treaty by which it lost a third of its territory. Russia received the eastern regions of Belarus and the Polish part of Livonia. In 1793, a second section occurred. Russia became the owner of the central regions of Belarus and Right-Bank Ukraine. Only a quarter of the Commonwealth retained independence. After the unsuccessful uprising of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, in 1795, Prussia, Austria and Russia divided the remnants of the country among themselves.
During the sections, the process of returning the lands lost by Russia during the period of feudal fragmentation was completed. Russia did not pretend to historical Polish territory, which allowed Catherine to abandon the title of Queen of Poland.
Kingdom Education Polish
One of the reasons for creating an autonomous Kingdom of Poland as part of the Russian Empire was the need to achieve the loyalty of the local population and thereby protect the western borders. Another reason arose from the declarations of the Congress of Vienna, which took place after the defeat of Napoleonic France. The three states participating in the sections guaranteed autonomy to the Polish lands, but this was realized only by the Russian side.
An important role in the process of creating autonomy was played by the liberal-minded Russian emperor Alexander I. He sincerely believed that this would make it possible to organize cooperation and a mutually beneficial existence between the two Slavic peoples.
Legal Aspects
The inclusion of the Kingdom of Poland into the Russian Empire took place in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Treaties, ratified on May 3, 1815. It followed from them that the Polish lands were assigned to Russia forever.
During the Napoleonic Wars, there was a redistribution of land divided between the three states. So, in addition to the former territories, the Duchy of Warsaw was annexed to Russia . Such a significant territorial increment, of course, met Alexander’s desire to create a bridgehead for Russia in Europe, but at the same time it brought new problems. They were supposed to be granted by granting the constitution to the Kingdom of Poland under Alexander I. The plan of the emperor provoked sharp opposition from England and Austria. In particular, representatives of these states, referring to the gentry anarchy in the last years of the existence of the Commonwealth, argued that the Poles had not reached the necessary level of development in order to obtain a constitution. They suggested limiting themselves to the introduction of local self-government, but Alexander resolutely rejected such a proposal.
Preparation of the Polish Constitution
After the final accession to Russia, the Kingdom of the Polish special body involved in the development of the constitution was not created. The first draft of the document was prepared by the closest advisers to the emperor, including Prince Adam Chartorizhsky, a Pole of origin. But Alexander did not satisfy the document. Firstly, he was excessively large, and secondly, he was imbued with an oligarchic spirit. Czartoryzhsky agreed with the emperor's remarks and set about developing a new project.
Many prominent Polish public figures were involved in the work. Their efforts drew up a new constitutional draft consisting of 162 articles. The emperor personally got acquainted with him and introduced amendments regarding the expansion of his powers. Only after that the text of the constitution in French was signed. On June 20, 1815, it was made public, and from the next year it entered into legal force. Thus, the development of the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland, which became part of the Russian Empire, took a little more than two weeks.
Constitution content
The document consisted of seven sections devoted to the main problems of the state system of the newly formed autonomy. Briefly they can be reduced to the following:
- the basic principles of the state system of the Kingdom of Poland within the Russian Empire;
- fixed rights and obligations of the Poles;
- organization and functioning of the executive branch;
- principles for the formation of legislative bodies;
- administration of justice and organization of Polish judicial institutions;
- formation of local armed forces.
Such an organization of articles, their specific weight from the general corpus of the text of the constitution (the most elaborate articles concerning the executive branch) are fully consistent with the Constitutional Charter adopted in France a year earlier.
Legislature
According to the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland of 1815, the bicameral diet became the supreme legislative body, which also included the Polish tsar (that is, the Russian emperor). The Sejm was assembled once every two years, if necessary, an extraordinary session, the king issued a special decree. Members of the Senate, the upper house, were appointed by the king for life from among the princes, bishops, governor and castellans. In order to become a senator, it was necessary to overcome age and property qualifications.
The lower house was formed from representatives of the provinces of the Kingdom of Poland, and therefore it was called the House of Ambassadors. 77 people belonged to the nobility, and in total 128 deputies met in the chamber. The size of the Senate should not exceed half of this number. Elections to the House of Ambassadors were two-stage, and moderate property qualifications were in effect for voters.
Equality was established between the two chambers: the king could send a bill to any of them. An exception was made only for laws related to the financial sector. They were obligatory sent first to the House of Ambassadors. The legislative initiative did not have a diet. Voting on the bill was open, no text changes were allowed, it was the prerogative of the Council of State. The king at the same time had the right to absolute veto.
Executive branch
The head of this branch was the king. His powers were extremely broad. So, only the monarch had the right to declare war and conclude peace, as well as command and control of the armed forces. He alone could appoint senators, bishops, and judges. The monarch also had a budget. In addition, the king had the right to pardon and dissolve the House of Ambassadors with the appointment of new elections.
Thus, the king was a central figure in the administration of the Kingdom of Poland. However, he was still an unlimited monarch, since he was obliged to take the oath of allegiance to the constitution. Since he could not stay in Poland all the time, the post of governor, appointed by the king, was introduced. His powers coincided with those of the king, with the exception of the right to appoint senior officials.
Under the king or governor, an advisory body was established - the Council of State. He could draw up bills, approve ministerial reports, and also report violations of the constitution.
To address current issues created a government consisting of five ministries. Their area of ​​competence was as follows:
- religion and education system;
- justice;
- distribution of finance;
- organization of law enforcement agencies;
- military affairs.
Background of the Polish uprising of 1830
Under Alexander I, the Kingdom of Poland as part of the Russian Empire was one of the most dynamically developing areas. Economic growth was observed in all areas of the national economy, due to which the budget deficit was overcome. An increase in living standards is also evidenced by population growth: in total, by 1825, 4.5 million people lived on the territory of the autonomy.
However, crisis moments also accumulated. First of all, the Polish national elite was counting on the inclusion in the Kingdom of the Polish lands acquired by Russia in three sections. Count on this allowed the position of Emperor Alexander, but, faced with serious opposition, the emperor abandoned this idea.
Another source of discontent among the Poles was the figure of the governor - the brother of the emperor, Constantine. Although he tried in every possible way to please his wards, his frankly despotic management methods met with dull resistance. Among the officers of the Polish army , suicides became more frequent, and the intelligentsia united in underground circles, which were banned after the Decembrists' speech.
The accession of Nicholas I did not cause joy either, unlike his elder brother, who did not sympathize with liberal movements and hostile to the constitution. Despite his personal attitude, he nevertheless took the oath of office and intended to maintain the management methods that had been in place since the moment the Polish Empire was included in the Russian Empire. But the Poles decided to seek independence. In 1828, the Military Union took shape, within which plans for an armed uprising were developed.
Rebellion and its consequences
The July 1830 revolution in France pushed the Poles to action. Having put forward the slogan of restoring the Commonwealth within the borders to the first partition, the Polish army opposed the Russian units. The viceroy was overthrown and barely escaped reprisal. It is significant that Konstantin Pavlovich was informed of fermentation in the army, but he was in no hurry to apply drastic measures, fearing Polish nationalists less than the emperor. Nicholas himself, by decision of the rebels, was deposed as a Polish king.
Despite fierce resistance, the Polish army was utterly defeated on May 26, 1831. Soon, only Warsaw remained under the control of the rebels, holding on until September 7th. By decisive action, Emperor Nicholas managed to keep the Kingdom of Poland within the Russian Empire. But the consequences of the uprising for the Poles were tragic. Nikolai got the opportunity to abolish the constitution and bring the management system in line with the general imperial. The Sejm and the State Council were abolished, the ministries were replaced by departmental commissions. The Army of the Kingdom of Poland was disbanded, and the ability of the local government to manage finances was significantly curtailed.
After the rebellion
The privileges of the Kingdom of Poland under Nicholas I were rapidly declining. The Constitution was replaced by the Organic Statute of 1832, which laid the idea of ​​the gradual merger of Poland with the Russian Empire. Senior positions were replaced by Russian officials, and a number of Polish departments (for example, railways or the Warsaw School District) became directly subordinate to the central government.
The established authoritarian regime caused a massive emigration of the Polish intelligentsia. From abroad they tried to spread the Polish people, especially the peasantry, by spreading proclamations and appeals. However, the contradictions between the gentry and the peasantry that have remained since the time of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were so strong that not one of these attempts was successful. In addition, the Nikolaev administration, in contrast to nationalism, put forward conservatism and clericalism. The influence of the Catholic Church nullified all attempts by emigration to convince the people of the need for a struggle for independence.
In 1863, the Poles nevertheless launched a new uprising, which the Russian army again managed to crush. Another attempt to break free from Russian rule showed that the integration course of Nicholas I was unsuccessful. Mutual distrust and hostility were established between the two peoples. Forced Russification did not ease the situation either: the history of Russia was taught in educational institutions, and the training itself was conducted in Russian.
It should be noted that in the educated circles of almost all Western states, sections of the Commonwealth were considered historical injustice. This was especially evident when the Poles were divided between the two warring camps during the First World War and were forced to fight with each other. Many Russian public figures were aware of this, but it was dangerous to express such thoughts aloud. However, the stubborn desire of the Poles for independence has done its job. At the final stage of the First World War, American President Woodrow Wilson separately addressed the Polish question in his 14 points on a peaceful settlement. In his opinion, the restoration of Poland within historical boundaries was a matter of principle. However, the vagueness of the term "historical boundaries" caused a fierce debate: should we consider those that had developed by 1772 or the borders of the medieval Polish kingdom? Dissatisfaction with the decisions of the conferences in Versailles and Washington led to the war between the RSFSR and Poland, which ended in victory for the latter. But international contradictions did not end there. Czechoslovakia and Germany claimed a number of Polish regions. This, as well as other controversial decisions of the peace conferences after the First World War, led to a new big war in Europe, the first victim of which was independent Poland.