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 POLAND

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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-