POLAND
187
POLAND
Catholic remained the dominant rehgion, but the westerly part, with Posen, fell to Prussia; Cracow,
dissidents were granted complete civil equality and with the territory under its jurisdiction, became a free
the protection of the law. The new ordinances curbed state, and the rest of the grand-duchy, with Warsaw,
licentiousness, and thus caused dissatisfaction, espe- as the autonomous Kingdom of Poland, came under
cially among the higher nobility, who formed the Con- Russian dominion. The new Kingdom of Poland (or
federation of Targowitz for the purpose of annulling Congress Poland) was taken by the Czar Alexander I,
the Constitution which had just been granted, and
called Russian troops to their assistance. The king
sided with this deluded faction. Thus Russia and
Prussia had another opportunity of making annexa-
tions; once more they both seized large tracts of Polish
territory and thus was consummated the second parti-
tion of Poland (1793). The Poles, resolved to defend
their independence, rose, under the leadership of
Tadeusz Kosciuszko, against Russia and Prussia.
Victorious over the Russians at Raclawice (4 April,
1794), he occupied Warsaw, but was defeated and
taken prisoner at Maciejowice (10 October, 1794).
The revolt had miscarried: Russia, Prussia, and
Austria divided among them the rest of the Polish
kingdom. The king abdicated. And thus the third
and last partition of Poland was effected (1795). The
occupation by hos-
tile armies of the
territory thus di-
vided proceeded
without resistance on
the part of the in-
habitants. The Pol-
ish people were ex-
hausted by wars am:'
so humbled by nu-
merous defeats that
they seemed to look
on with unconcern.
After Poland hai
disappeared from the
political map of Eu-
rope, each of the
three states which
hadabsorbed itbegan
to carry out its own
policy in the annexed
territory. In Prus-
sia all church lands
were confiscated,
just as after the first partition, and the clergy aa a body were made answerable for the political crimes of individuals. In Austria, likewise, the policy of germanization prevailed. Under Russian rule official hostility to the Polish national spirit was not entirely open, but the persecution of the Uniats continued. In 1796 all the Uniat dioceses, except Plotsk and Chelm, were suppressed. Poland had lost its independence, but liberty-loving patriots did not lose courage, for they counted on foreign aid. Dabrow- ski and Kniaziewicz organized in Italy a force com- posed of Polish emigrants, the "Poli.sh Legions", which served Napoleon in the hope that, out of grati- tude, he would re-establish the Polish Kingdom. These expectations came to nought. Napoleon did not re-psi ablish the Kingdom of Poland, but, after the defeat of Prussia, he created the independent "Grand- duchy of Warsaw" which continued in existence from 1807 to 1815 out of the Polish territories that were affected by the second and third partitions. This small state had an area of 1860 square miles, with 2,400,000 inhabitants. Frederick Augustus, King of Saxony, became grand-duke. After the war with Austria in 1809, the Grand-duchy of Warsaw became a factor which the European diplomats could not afford to overlook in their calculations
who had himself crowned as its king in the year 1815.
In the territory annexed to Prussia the Poles received
complete equality of rights, and Polish was recognized
as the official language. But from the very beginning
a difference was apparent in the treatment accorded to
districts whose inhabitants were Poles and those in
which the population was mixed. In the latter regions
German officials were appointed; schools and courts
were conducted in German, and the process of german-
izing the Polish minority was begun. A policy similar
to that of Prussia was adopted by the Russian Gov-
ernment in Congress Poland, where Polish culture
was in a particularly flourishing condition. The new
Kingdom of Poland was connected with Russia only
through its rulers, who belonged to the reigning dy-
nasty of the latter state. The governor was the king's
brother, the Grand-
duke Constantine.
His government of
Poland was despotic
in the extreme; he
paid not the slightest
regard to the Con-
stitution, which had
been confirmed by
the king, but ruled as
in a barbarian coun-
try. This despotism
growing still worse
after the death of
Alexander I, when
Nicholas I succeeded
him upon the Rus-
sian throne, provok-
ed, on 29 November,
1830, an insurrection
in Congress Poland,
which was put down,
however, by the
overwhelming miU-
tary force of Russia (end of October, 1831). Thereupon
the Czar Nicholas abolished the Diet and the Polish
army, and assigned the government of Poland to
Russia, whose administration was characterized by
harsh persecution of the Catholic faith and the Polish
nationality. While the Russian Government pre-
served at least the semblance of justice in Congress
Poland, it did not deem it necessary to restrict itself
in this respect in Lithuania and Little Russia. All the
Polish schools were closed, and Russian schools
founded in their stead. Even the clergy were sub-
jected to manifold restraints: the church lands were
confiscated, admittance to the seminaries for the train-
ing of priests was made more difficult, and communi-
cation with Rome forbidden.
The suppression of the revolt in Congress Poland involved a severe defeat of Polish nationality in all the tliree neighbouring states. In Galicia the system of germanization grew more and more oppressive. In the Grand-duchy of Posen the use of the Polish language was restricted, German teachers were ap- pointed in the schools, and the prerogatives of the Poles were curtailed. In 1833 provision was made for the purchase of Polish lands, the money for this pur- pose being supplied from a special public fund. At this time also the Ia.st of the surviving convents were
After the fall of Napoleon, the Czar Alexander, in suppressed, and their revenues applied to the sup-
the Congress of Vienna, claimed the grand duchy for port of religious schools. The Prussian Government
himself. At first there was some opposition to this ventured even to lay violent hands upon the
demand, but an agreement was finally reached, with clergy. In the year 1838 the government en-
the result that the grand-duchy was divided : the gaged in a dispute with Archbishop Dunin concern-
