Królestwo Polskie 1815–1874. Powstanie i upadek państwa
The Kingdom of Poland 1815–1874: The Rise and Fall of the State

Summary/Abstract: It was only in 1815–1830 that the Kingdom of Poland had a limited international personality, but itis hard not to treat it as a state. The situation of the Polish state in the years 1815–1874, in the senseof its rise and fall, is not rare in the history of states. The Kingdom of Poland was created out of theDuchy of Warsaw in May 1815 upon the decision of tsar Alexander I and recognized internationallaw status of statehood under the Final Act of the Vienna Congress. Fifteen years later a Polish Russianwar was initiated to acquire the full sovereignty of the Kingdom and to incorporate the Lithuanian Russianprovinces. In 1863, an insurrection broke out inspired by similar goals. After the fallof the January Uprising, tsar Alexander II, wishing to avoid such problems in the future, decided toabolish a separate Polish statehood. The decision was implemented within a few years. With the appearanceat the Royal Castle of the Warsaw Governor-General, the history of the Kingdom of Polandfinally came to an end, although it really happened a little earlier when, on 12 March 1868, the statusof viceroy (namiestnik) of the Kingdom of Poland was equated with that of the Russian governorgeneral. In the legal sense, the fall of the state came to effect with the disappearance of a separatesupreme authority in the Kingdom (even if it was exercised by non-Polish actors), the lastelement of which was the institution of the viceroy. Actually, it was decided by the insurgent attemptof 1863 and the accompanying diplomatic intervention of the Western states, which almost causedthe outbreak of pan European war.

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