Congress Poland

The term Congress Poland is an unofficial name of the Kingdom of Poland (1815-1831), a political entity that was created out of the Duchy of Warsaw at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, when European powers reorganised Europe following the Napoleonic wars. It had an area of roughly 127 000 km² (compared with over 1 million km² of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) and a population of approximately 2,600,000 (in 1814) (compared with approximately 10 million Commonwealth citizens).

Related Topics:
1815 - 1831 - Duchy of Warsaw - Congress of Vienna - Napoleonic war - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - 1814

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Congress Poland largely emerged as a result of the efforts of Adam Czartoryski, the Russian foreign affairs minister and a Pole who aimed to resurrect the Polish state in alliance with Russia. Formally, Kingdom of Poland was one of the few contemporary constitutional monarchies in Europe, with the Tsar of Russia as Polish King. The main problem was that the tsars, who had absolute power in Russia, similarly wanted no restrictions on their rule in Poland, while the country was given one of the most liberal constitutions in 19th century Europe. Congress Poland had a parliament which could vote on laws and was responsible to the tsar. It had also its own army, Polish currency, budget, penal code and was separated from the rest of Russian lands by a customs boundary.

Related Topics:
Adam Czartoryski - Russia - Constitutional monarchies - Polish King - Tsar - Parliament - Polish currency - Penal code

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Congress Poland lasted for a mere 15 years. Initially Alexander I was crowned as the King of Poland and obeyed the constitution. However, in time the situation changed and he granted the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich almost dictatorial powers. His successor, Nicholas I declined to have himself crowned Polish monarch and instead continued to limit the liberties of Poland. In 1831, the Polish parliament deposed the Tsar as King of Poland in response to his repeated curtailment of its constitutional rights. The Tsar reacted by sending Russian troops into Poland and the so-called November Uprising broke out.

Related Topics:
Alexander I - Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich - Nicholas I - 1831 - Polish parliament - King of Poland - November Uprising

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The end of Congress Poland came with the crushing of the uprising following an 11-month military campaign.

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In 1863 the January Uprising started. The constitution was abolished and the political entity was directly incorporated into the Russian Empire - later even the name was changed into official name of "Vistula Country" (Russian Privislinskiy Kray).

Related Topics:
1863 - January Uprising - Russian Empire - Vistula Country

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In the 1880's, the official language of Congress Poland was changed to Russian, the Polish language was banned both from the office and education, and the process of liquidating the autonomy was finished.

Related Topics:
1880's - Polish language

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In 1912 the southeastern part, around Chelm, was formed into a separate entity.

Related Topics:
1912 - Chelm

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Congress Poland was abandoned by the Russian army in 1915 and the following year the occupying Central Powers created the puppet Kingdom of Poland out of most of its territory.

Related Topics:
1915 - Central Powers - Kingdom of Poland

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Throughout the 19th century the term Congress Poland continued to be used in relation to these territories, although the political entity they were connected with no longer existed. The term Kongresówka is currently used in the Polish language as a slightly derogatory term for all inhabitants of central Poland, who are considered by some inhabitants of former Austrian Galicia as rude, uneducated and barbarian.

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