Despite the apparent successes of the partial integration of Poland into the Russian Empire, many Poles still sought independence for their homeland. Their first significant rebellion enjoyed a brief success, but the Poles themselves were too divided to withstand Russia’s reassertion of military control.
Vulnerably situated in the center of Europe and hemmed in by the growing assertiveness of Prussia and the imperial power of Austria and Russia, Poland
Russia’s position in Congress Poland, where Czar Nicholas I ruled as king in accordance with the Vienna settlement, seemed secure by 1829. Apparently reconciled to Russian rule, Poles prospered under the Russian-appointed chancellor, Prince Ksawery Drucki Lubecki.
After Russia’s triumph in Turkey, Russian security quickly vanished. Rebellion erupted in France in July, 1830, and soon spread. Desiring to check the revolutionary threat, Nicholas alerted his Polish units for war, but the events of November 29, 1830, destroyed the czar’s plan. A number of Polish army officers who despised Constantine’s
Deep historical feelings had caused the Polish rebellion. Poland’s nobility had never completely abandoned hope of restoring the independent Polish state, which had been dominated by an aristocratic oligarchy until its disappearance in the late eighteenth century partitions. Since 700,000 Poles were numbered among the nobility, this attitude constantly endangered Russian control. Romanticism
Polish students, impressed by their culture’s romantic emphasis on individual military valor, were hostile toward the Russians and older Poles who accepted Russian influence as economically progressive. Poles traditionally had sought French support for their independence and claimed to admire French republicanism. Rumors that the czar would order Polish troops to march against the new French Republic angered them. Secret nationalist organizations, aware that the police had discovered them, exploited this tense situation to launch what proved to be a premature coup on November 29, 1830.
The Polish revolutionary movement had numerous weaknesses. From its inception, it was divided into a radical wing led by Maurycy Mochnacki
Following Constantine’s
On February 7, 1831, Diebitsch’s
Field Marshal Ivan Paskevich,
Nicholas punished rebels in Congress Poland less severely than the Poles who, as Russian citizens, had rebelled in West Russia. Thousands of the former group became voluntary exiles, although an amnesty issued on October 20 pardoned all Poles in Congress Poland except those involved in the massacre of Russian prisoners on August 15. Some estates in Congress Poland were confiscated and given to Russian officers. West Russian Polish insurgents suffered execution, imprisonment, or exile to Siberia
With the failure of the Polish rebellion, Poland became virtually an integral part of Russia. Thousands of Poles began emigrating—many of them to Paris, which then became the focal point of Polish nationalist agitation. In spite of crushing defeats the idea of an independent Poland survived—if only as an improbable, romantic aspiration. The slim hope that either Great Britain or France would intervene on the behalf of the Poles was extinguished in the 1830-1831 Polish rebellion.
The uprising illustrated that Polish shortcomings were as damaging to the Polish cause as Russian strength. However, this lesson escaped many bitter Poles who blamed the failure of 1830-1831 on poor or “treasonous” generals. The failure of Polish leaders to heal the divisions plaguing the nationalist movement would cause another rebellion to fail in 1863.
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Biskupski, Mieczyslaw B. The History of Poland. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000. Solid general history of Poland, whose political transformations have been at least as great as those of any nation in Europe. -
Chapman, Tim. The Congress of Vienna: Origins, Processes, and Results. London: Routledge, 1998. Study of the proceedings at the international peace conference that created Congress Poland, with attention to the long-term consequences of the conference’s decisions. -
Curtiss, John Shelton. The Russian Army Under Nicholas I, 1825-1855. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1965. In addition to providing biographies of both Diebitsch and Paskevich, this superb work contains information on the military aspects of the Polish revolution and offers reasons for Diebitsch’s reluctance to crush the Poles quickly. -
Davies, Norman. God’s Playground: A History of Poland. New York: Columbia University Press, 1984. This two-volume study remains one of the most up-to-date, reliable, and readable histories of Poland in English. -
_______. Heart of Europe: A Short History of Poland. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984. Works backward from the events during the early 1980’s to eighteenth century Poland, emphasizing those factors that were most important in shaping the country’s present. -
Halecki, Oskar, with additional material by A. Polonsky. A History of Poland. London: Kegan Paul, 1978. Standard work on Polish history. Contains especially useful maps. -
Kagan, Frederick W. The Military Reforms of Nicholas I: The Origins of the Modern Russian Army. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999. Thorough and scholarly study of Nicholas’s reign and reorganization of the Russian army during the period of the first Polish rebellion. Most suitable for scholars. -
Kukiel, Marian. Czartoryski and European Unity, 1770-1861. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1955. Kukiel praises the great Polish conservative statesman, concentrating on his foreign policy. -
Wandyc, Piotr S. The Lands of Partitioned Poland, 1795-1918. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996. Excellent overview of the many partitions and realignments of Poland from the late eighteenth century through the end of World War I.
Congress of Vienna
Russia Crushes Polish Rebellion
Napoleon I; Nicholas I.