Notes:
* To compare events that took place in Russia and Western Europe, in all chronological tables, starting from 1582 (the year of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in eight European countries) and ending with 1918 (the year of the transition Soviet Russia from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar), the DATE column indicates date only according to the Gregorian calendar , and the Julian date is indicated in parentheses along with a description of the event. In chronological tables describing the periods before the introduction of the new style by Pope Gregory XIII (in the DATES column) Dates are based on the Julian calendar only. . At the same time, no translation is made to the Gregorian calendar, because it did not exist.
Applications:
Correspondence of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR with the Presidents of the USA and Prime Ministers of Great Britain during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. M., 1958. Personal and secret for Marshal Stalin from President Roosevelt . Received December 20, 1944. Personally and secretly from Prime Minister I.V. Stalin to the President Mr. F. Roosevelt . December 27, 1944.
Cards:
Foreign Ministers of Poland from 1918 to 2001(biographical reference book).
Vitos (Witos) Vincenty (22.1.1874, Wierzchosławice, Krakow Voivodeship, - 31.10.1945, Krakow), Polish politician. One of the founders and leaders of the peasant party "Piast" (1913-1931). In July 1920 - September 1921, May - December 1923 and from May 10 to 15, 1926 - Prime Minister. He actively participated in the opposition to the “sanation” regime in the CenterLeft bloc of parties, for which he was imprisoned (1930). In 1931-35 he was the chairman of the Main Council of the peasant party "Strongness of the People", and from 1935 the chairman of the party. In the fall of 1939 he was arrested by the Nazi occupiers; after a year of imprisonment until the defeat of the fascist occupiers, he was under police supervision. In June 1945 he was co-opted as deputy chairman of the Regional Rada of the People.
Wojciechowski(Wojciechowski) Stanisław (15.3.1869, Kalisz, - 9.4.1953, Goląbki, near Warsaw), statesman and political figure in Poland. He took part in the founding of the Polish socialist party(1892). In 1919-20 Minister of the Interior, in 1922-26 President of Poland. Author of works devoted to the cooperative movement: “The Cooperative Movement in England” (1907) and “Cooperation in its historical development" (1923).
Snesarev Andrey Evgenievich(1865-1937), Soviet military leader.
Poland was part of Russian Empire from 1815 to 1917. It was a turbulent and difficult period for the Polish people - a time of new opportunities and great disappointments.
Relations between Russia and Poland have always been difficult. First of all, this is a consequence of the proximity of the two states, which for many centuries has given rise to territorial disputes. It is quite natural that during major wars Russia always found itself drawn into the revision of the Polish-Russian borders. This radically influenced the social, cultural and economic conditions in the surrounding areas, as well as the way of life of the Poles.
"Prison of Nations"
The “national question” of the Russian Empire aroused different, sometimes polar, opinions. Yes, Soviet historical science called the empire nothing less than a “prison of nations,” and Western historians considered it a colonial power.
But from the Russian publicist Ivan Solonevich we find the opposite statement: “Not a single people in Russia was subjected to such treatment as Ireland was subjected to in the times of Cromwell and the times of Gladstone. With very few exceptions, all nationalities in the country were completely equal before the law."
Russia has always been a multi-ethnic state: its expansion gradually led to the fact that the already heterogeneous composition of Russian society began to be diluted by representatives different nations. This also applied to the imperial elite, which was noticeably replenished with people from European countries who came to Russia “to catch happiness and rank.”
For example, an analysis of the lists of the “Rank” of the late 17th century shows that in the boyar corps there were 24.3% of people of Polish and Lithuanian origin. However, the overwhelming majority of “Russian foreigners” lost their national identity, dissolving into Russian society.
"Kingdom of Poland"
Having joined following the results Patriotic War 1812 to Russia, the “Kingdom of Poland” (since 1887 – “Privislinsky region”) had a dual position. On the one hand, after the division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, although it was a completely new geopolitical entity, it still retained ethnocultural and religious connections with its predecessor.
On the other hand, national self-awareness grew here and the sprouts of statehood emerged, which could not but affect the relationship between the Poles and the central government.
After joining the Russian Empire, changes were undoubtedly expected in the “Kingdom of Poland”. There were changes, but they were not always perceived unambiguously. During Poland's entry into Russia, five emperors changed, and each had his own view of the westernmost Russian province.
If Alexander I was known as a “polonophile,” then Nicholas I built a much more sober and tough policy towards Poland. However, one cannot deny his desire, in the words of the emperor himself, “to be as good a Pole as a good Russian.”
Russian historiography generally has a positive assessment of the results of Poland’s century-long entry into the empire. Perhaps it was Russia’s balanced policy towards its western neighbor that helped create a unique situation in which Poland, although not an independent territory, retained its state and national identity for a hundred years.
Hopes and disappointments
One of the first measures introduced by the Russian government was the abolition of the “Napoleonic Code” and its replacement with the Polish Code, which, among other measures, allocated land to peasants and intended to improve the financial situation of the poor. The Polish Sejm passed the new bill, but refused to ban civil marriage, which provides freedom.
This clearly showed the Poles' orientation toward Western values. There was someone to take as an example. Thus, in the Grand Duchy of Finland, by the time the Kingdom of Poland entered Russia, it was abolished serfdom. Enlightened and liberal Europe was closer to Poland than “peasant” Russia.
After the “Alexander freedoms” the time came for the “Nikolaev reaction”. In the Polish province, almost all office work is translated into Russian, or into French for those who did not speak Russian. Confiscated estates are distributed to persons of Russian origin, and all senior official positions are also filled by Russians.
Nicholas I, who visited Warsaw in 1835, senses a brewing protest in Polish society, and therefore forbids the deputation to express loyal feelings, “in order to protect them from lies.”
The tone of the emperor’s speech is striking in its uncompromisingness: “I need deeds, not words. If you persist in your dreams of national isolation, the independence of Poland and similar fantasies, you will bring upon yourself the greatest misfortune... I tell you that at the slightest disturbance I will order the city to be shot, I will turn Warsaw into ruins and, of course, I will not I’ll rebuild it.”
Polish revolt
Sooner or later, empires will be replaced by national-type states. This problem also affected the Polish province, where, on the wave of growth of national consciousness, strength and political movements, which have no equal among other provinces of Russia.
The idea of national isolation, right up to the restoration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth within its former boundaries, embraced ever wider sections of the masses. The driving force behind the protest was the student body, which was supported by workers, soldiers, as well as various sections of Polish society. Later to liberation movement Some of the landowners and nobles joined.
The main demands made by the rebels were agrarian reforms, democratization of society and ultimately the independence of Poland.
But for Russian state it was a dangerous challenge. On the Polish uprisings of 1830-1831 and 1863-1864 Russian government answers sharply and harshly. The suppression of the riots turned out to be bloody, but the excessive harshness that was written about Soviet historians, there wasn't. They preferred to send the rebels to remote Russian provinces.
The uprisings forced the government to take a number of countermeasures. In 1832, the Polish Sejm was liquidated and the Polish army was disbanded. In 1864, restrictions were introduced on the use Polish language and the movement of the male population. To a lesser extent, the results of the uprisings affected the local bureaucracy, although among the revolutionaries were the children of high-ranking officials. The period after 1864 was marked by an increase in “Russophobia” in Polish society.
From dissatisfaction to benefits
Poland, despite the restrictions and infringements of freedoms, received certain benefits from belonging to the empire. Thus, during the reign of Alexander II and Alexandra III Poles began to be appointed to leadership positions more often. In some counties their number reached 80%. The Poles had the opportunity to advance along public service no less than the Russians.
Even more privileges were given to Polish aristocrats, who automatically received high ranks. Many of them oversaw the banking sector. Profitable positions in St. Petersburg and Moscow were available to the Polish nobility, and they also had the opportunity to open their own business.
It should be noted that in general the Polish province had more privileges than other regions of the empire. Thus, in 1907, at a meeting of the State Duma of the 3rd convocation, it was announced that in various Russian provinces taxation reaches 1.26%, and in the largest industrial centers of Poland - Warsaw and Lodz it does not exceed 1.04%.
It is interesting that the Privislinsky region received 1 ruble 14 kopecks back in the form of subsidies for every ruble donated to the state treasury. For comparison, the Central Black Earth Region received only 74 kopecks.
The government spent a lot on education in the Polish province - from 51 to 57 kopecks per person, and, for example, in Central Russia this amount did not exceed 10 kopecks. Thanks to this policy, from 1861 to 1897 the number of literate people in Poland increased 4 times, reaching 35%, although in the rest of Russia this figure fluctuated around 19%.
IN late XIX century, Russia embarked on the path of industrialization, supported by solid Western investments. Polish officials also received dividends from this, participating in railway transportation between Russia and Germany. As a result, a huge number of banks appeared in large Polish cities.
Tragic for Russia, 1917 ended the history of “Russian Poland”, giving the Poles the opportunity to establish their own statehood. What Nicholas II promised came true. Poland gained freedom, but the union with Russia so desired by the emperor did not work out.
POLAND. HISTORY since 1772
Partitions of Poland. First section. In the midst of it Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774 Prussia, Russia and Austria carried out the first partition of Poland. It was produced in 1772 and ratified by the Sejm under pressure from the occupiers in 1773. Poland ceded to Austria part of Pomerania and Kuyavia (excluding Gdansk and Torun) to Prussia; Galicia, Western Podolia and part of Lesser Poland; eastern Belarus and all lands north of the Western Dvina and east of the Dnieper went to Russia. The winners established a new constitution for Poland, which retained the "liberum veto" and an elective monarchy, and created State Council of 36 elected members of the Sejm. The division of the country awakened social movement for reforms and national revival. In 1773, the Jesuit Order was dissolved and a commission on public education was created, the purpose of which was to reorganize the system of schools and colleges. The four-year Sejm (1788-1792), headed by enlightened patriots Stanislav Malachovsky, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kollontai, adopted a new constitution on May 3, 1791. Under this constitution, Poland became a hereditary monarchy with a ministerial executive system and a parliament elected every two years. The principle of "liberum veto" and other harmful practices were abolished; cities received administrative and judicial autonomy, as well as representation in parliament; peasants, the power of the gentry over whom remained, were considered as a class under state protection; measures were taken to prepare for the abolition of serfdom and the organization regular army. The normal work of parliament and reforms became possible only because Russia was involved in a protracted war with Sweden, and Türkiye supported Poland. However, the magnates who formed the Targowitz Confederation opposed the constitution, at the call of which Russian and Prussian troops entered Poland.
Second and third sections. On January 23, 1793, Prussia and Russia carried out the second partition of Poland. Prussia captured Gdansk, Torun, Greater Poland and Mazovia, and Russia captured most of Lithuania and Belarus, almost all of Volyn and Podolia. The Poles fought but were defeated, the reforms of the Four Year Diet were repealed, and the rest of Poland became a puppet state. In 1794 Tadeusz Kosciuszko led a mass popular uprising which ended in defeat. The third partition of Poland, in which Austria participated, was carried out on October 24, 1795; after that, Poland as an independent state disappeared from the map of Europe.
Foreign rule. Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Although the Polish state ceased to exist, the Poles did not give up hope of restoring their independence. Each new generation fought, either by joining the opponents of the powers that divided Poland, or by starting uprisings. As soon as Napoleon I began his military campaigns against monarchical Europe, Polish legions were formed in France. Having defeated Prussia, Napoleon created in 1807 the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (1807-1815) from the territories captured by Prussia during the second and third partitions. Two years later, the territories that became part of Austria after the third partition were added to it. Miniature Poland, politically dependent on France, had a territory of 160 thousand square meters. km and 4350 thousand inhabitants. The creation of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was considered by the Poles as the beginning of their complete liberation.
Territory that was part of Russia. After Napoleon's defeat, the Congress of Vienna (1815) approved the divisions of Poland with the following changes: Krakow was declared a free city-republic under the auspices of the three powers that divided Poland (1815-1848); the western part of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was transferred to Prussia and became known as the Grand Duchy of Poznan (1815-1846); its other part was declared a monarchy (the so-called Kingdom of Poland) and annexed to the Russian Empire. In November 1830, the Poles rebelled against Russia, but were defeated. Emperor Nicholas I abolished the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland and began repression. In 1846 and 1848 the Poles tried to organize uprisings, but failed. In 1863 a second uprising broke out against Russia, and after two years guerrilla warfare The Poles were again defeated. With the development of capitalism in Russia, the Russification of Polish society intensified. The situation improved somewhat after the 1905 revolution in Russia. Polish deputies sat in all four Russian Dumas(1905-1917), seeking autonomy for Poland.
Territories controlled by Prussia. In the territory under Prussian rule, intensive Germanization of the former Polish regions was carried out, the farms of Polish peasants were expropriated, and Polish schools were closed. Russia helped Prussia suppress the Poznan Uprising of 1848. In 1863, both powers concluded the Alvensleben Convention on mutual assistance in the fight against the Polish national movement. Despite all the efforts of the authorities, at the end of the 19th century. the Poles of Prussia still represented a strong, organized national community.
Polish lands within Austria. In Austrian Polish lands the situation was somewhat better. After the Krakow Uprising of 1846, the regime was liberalized and Galicia received administrative local control; schools, institutions and courts used Polish; Jagiellonian (in Krakow) and Lviv universities became all-Polish cultural centers; by the beginning of the 20th century. Polish political parties emerged (National Democratic, Polish Socialist and Peasant). In all three parts of divided Poland, Polish society actively opposed assimilation. Preservation of the Polish language and Polish culture has become main task the struggle waged by the intelligentsia, primarily poets and writers, as well as the clergy of the Catholic Church.
First world war.
New opportunities to achieve independence. The First World War divided the powers that liquidated Poland: Russia fought with Germany and Austria-Hungary. This situation opened up life-changing opportunities for the Poles, but also created new difficulties. First, the Poles had to fight in opposing armies; secondly, Poland became the arena of battles between the warring powers; thirdly, disagreements between Polish political groups intensified. Conservative national democrats led by Roman Dmowski (1864-1939) considered Germany the main enemy and wanted the Entente to win. Their goal was to unite all Polish lands under Russian control and obtain autonomy status. Radical elements led by the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), on the contrary, viewed the defeat of Russia as the most important condition for achieving Polish independence. They believed that the Poles should create their own armed forces. A few years before the outbreak of the First World War, Józef Piłsudski (1867-1935), radical leader this group began military training of Polish youth in Galicia. During the war he formed the Polish legions and fought on the side of Austria-Hungary.
Polish question. On August 14, 1914, Nicholas I, in an official declaration, promised after the war to unite the three parts of Poland into an autonomous state within the Russian Empire. However, in the fall of 1915, most of Russian Poland was occupied by Germany and Austria-Hungary, and on November 5, 1916, the monarchs of the two powers announced a manifesto on the creation of an independent Polish Kingdom in the Russian part of Poland. March 30, 1917, after February Revolution in Russia, the Provisional Government of Prince Lvov recognized Poland's right to self-determination. On July 22, 1917, Pilsudski, who fought on the side of the Central Powers, was interned, and his legions were disbanded for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the emperors of Austria-Hungary and Germany. In France, with the support of the Entente powers, the Polish National Committee (PNC) was created in August 1917, led by Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski; The Polish army was also formed with commander-in-chief Józef Haller. On January 8, 1918, US President Wilson demanded the creation of an independent Polish state with access to the Baltic Sea. In June 1918, Poland was officially recognized as a country fighting on the side of the Entente. On October 6, during the period of disintegration and collapse of the Central Powers, the Council of Regency of Poland announced the creation of an independent Polish state, and on November 14 transferred full power to Pilsudski in the country. By this time, Germany had already capitulated, Austria-Hungary had collapsed, and there was a civil war in Russia.
Formation of the state. New country faced great difficulties. Cities and villages lay in ruins; there were no connections in the economy, which long time developed within three different states; Poland had neither its own currency nor government agencies; finally, its borders were not defined and agreed upon with its neighbors. Nevertheless, state building and economic recovery proceeded at a rapid pace. After transition period When the socialist cabinet was in power, on January 17, 1919, Paderewski was appointed prime minister, and Dmowski was appointed head of the Polish delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference. On January 26, 1919, elections to the Sejm were held, the new composition of which approved Pilsudski as head of state.
A question about boundaries. The western and northern borders of the country were determined at the Versailles Conference, by which Poland was given part of Pomerania and access to the Baltic Sea; Danzig (Gdansk) received the status of a "free city". At the conference of ambassadors on July 28, 1920, the southern border was agreed upon. The city of Cieszyn and its suburb Cesky Cieszyn were divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia. Fierce disputes between Poland and Lithuania over Vilno (Vilnius), an ethnically Polish but historically Lithuanian city, ended with its occupation by the Poles on October 9, 1920; annexation to Poland was approved on February 10, 1922 by a democratically elected regional assembly.
On April 21, 1920, Piłsudski entered into an alliance with the Ukrainian leader Petliura and launched an offensive to liberate Ukraine from the Bolsheviks. On May 7, the Poles took Kyiv, but on June 8, pressed by the Red Army, they began to retreat. At the end of July, the Bolsheviks were on the outskirts of Warsaw. However, the Poles managed to defend the capital and push back the enemy; this ended the war. The subsequent Treaty of Riga (March 18, 1921) represented a territorial compromise for both sides and was officially recognized by a conference of ambassadors on March 15, 1923.
Internal position. One of the first post-war events in the country was the adoption of a new constitution on March 17, 1921. She established a republican system in Poland, established a bicameral (Sejm and Senate) parliament, proclaimed freedom of speech and organization, and equality of citizens before the law. However, the internal situation of the new state was difficult. Poland was in a state of political, social and economic instability. The Sejm was politically fragmented due to the many parties represented in it and political groups. Constantly changing government coalitions were unstable, and the executive branch as a whole was weak. There were tensions with national minorities, who made up a third of the population. The Locarno Treaties of 1925 did not guarantee the security of Poland's western borders, and the Dawes Plan contributed to the restoration of German military-industrial potential. Under these conditions, on May 12, 1926, Pilsudski carried out a military coup and established a “sanation” regime in the country; Until his death on May 12, 1935, he directly or indirectly controlled all power in the country. The Communist Party was banned, and political trials with long prison sentences became commonplace. As German Nazism strengthened, restrictions were introduced on the grounds of anti-Semitism. On April 22, 1935, a new constitution was adopted, which significantly expanded the power of the president, limiting the rights political parties and the powers of parliament. The new constitution did not receive the approval of the opposition political parties, and the struggle between them and the Piłsudski regime continued until the outbreak of World War II.
Foreign policy. The leaders of the new Polish Republic tried to secure their state by pursuing a policy of non-alignment. Poland did not join the Little Entente, which included Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania. On January 25, 1932, a non-aggression pact was concluded with the USSR.
After Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in January 1933, Poland failed to establish allied relations with France, while Great Britain and France concluded a “pact of agreement and cooperation” with Germany and Italy. After this, on January 26, 1934, Poland and Germany concluded a non-aggression pact for a period of 10 years, and soon the validity of a similar agreement with the USSR was extended. In March 1936, after Germany's military occupation of the Rhineland, Poland again unsuccessfully tried to conclude an agreement with France and Belgium on Poland's support for them in the event of war with Germany. In October 1938, simultaneously with the annexation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, Poland occupied the Czechoslovak part of the Cieszyn region. In March 1939, Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia and made territorial claims to Poland. On March 31, Great Britain and on April 13, France guaranteed the territorial integrity of Poland; In the summer of 1939, Franco-British-Soviet negotiations began in Moscow aimed at containing German expansion. Soviet Union in these negotiations, he demanded the right to occupy the eastern part of Poland and at the same time entered into secret negotiations with the Nazis. On August 23, 1939, a German-Soviet non-aggression pact was concluded, the secret protocols of which provided for the division of Poland between Germany and the USSR. Having ensured Soviet neutrality, Hitler freed his hands. On September 1, 1939, World War II began with an attack on Poland.
Government in exile. The Poles, who, despite promises of military assistance from France and Great Britain (both of them declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939), could not contain the unexpected invasion of powerful motorized German armies. The situation became hopeless after September 17 Soviet troops attacked Poland from the east. The Polish government and the remnants of the armed forces crossed the border into Romania, where they were interned. The Polish government in exile was headed by General Wladyslaw Sikorski. In France, new Polish army, naval and air force with a total number of 80 thousand people. The Poles fought on the side of France until its defeat in June 1940; then the Polish government moved to Great Britain, where it reorganized the army, which later fought in Norway, North Africa And Western Europe. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, Polish pilots destroyed more than 15% of all German aircraft shot down. In total, more than 300 thousand Poles served abroad in the Allied armed forces.
German occupation. The German occupation of Poland was particularly brutal. Hitler included part of Poland into the Third Reich, and transformed the remaining occupied territories into a General Government. All industrial and agricultural production in Poland was subordinated to the military needs of Germany. Polish higher educational institutions were closed and the intelligentsia were persecuted. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced into forced labor or imprisoned concentration camps. Polish Jews were subjected to particular cruelty, who were initially concentrated in several large ghettos. When the leaders of the Reich made the “final solution” to the Jewish question in 1942, Polish Jews were deported to death camps. The largest and most notorious Nazi death camp in Poland was the camp near the city of Auschwitz, where more than 4 million people died.
The Polish people offered both civil disobedience and military resistance to the Nazi occupiers. The Polish Home Army became the strongest resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Europe. When the deportation of Warsaw Jews to death camps began in April 1943, the Warsaw ghetto (350 thousand Jews) rebelled. After a month of hopeless fighting without any outside help, the uprising was crushed. The Germans destroyed the ghetto, and the surviving Jewish population was deported to the Treblinka extermination camp.
Polish-Soviet Treaty of July 30, 1941. After the German attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the Polish emigration government, under British pressure, entered into an agreement with the Soviet Union. Under this agreement they restored diplomatic relations between Poland and the USSR; the Soviet-German pact regarding the division of Poland was annulled; all prisoners of war and deported Poles were subject to release; The Soviet Union provided its territory for the formation of the Polish army. However, the Soviet government did not fulfill the terms of the agreement. It refused to recognize the pre-war Polish-Soviet border and released only part of the Poles who were in Soviet camps.
On April 26, 1943, the Soviet Union broke off diplomatic relations with the Polish government in exile, protesting against the latter's appeal to the International Red Cross with a request to conduct an investigation into the brutal murder of 10 thousand Polish officers interned in 1939 in Katyn. In the future Soviet authorities formed the core of the future Polish communist government and army in the Soviet Union. In November-December 1943, at a conference of three powers in Tehran (Iran) between the Soviet leader I.V. Stalin, American President F. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister W. Churchill reached an agreement that the eastern border of Poland should pass along the Curzon line (it approximately corresponded to the border drawn in accordance with the 1939 treaty between the German and Soviet governments).
Lublin government. In January 1944, the Red Army crossed the border of Poland, pursuing the retreating German troops, and on July 22 in Lublin, with the support of the USSR, the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKNO) was created. On August 1, 1944, the underground armed forces of the Home Army in Warsaw, under the leadership of General Tadeusz Komorowski, began an uprising against the Germans. The Red Army, which was at that moment on the outskirts of Warsaw on the opposite bank of the Vistula, suspended its offensive. After 62 days of desperate fighting, the uprising was crushed and Warsaw was almost completely destroyed. On January 5, 1945, the PKNO in Lublin was reorganized into the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland.
At the Yalta Conference (February 4-11, 1945), Churchill and Roosevelt officially recognized the inclusion of eastern Poland into the USSR, agreeing with Stalin that Poland would receive compensation at the expense of German territories in the west. In addition, the allies anti-Hitler coalition agreed that non-communists would be included in the Lublin government, and then free elections would be held in Poland. Stanisław Mikolajczyk, who resigned as prime minister of the emigration government, and other members of his cabinet joined the Lublin government. On July 5, 1945, after the victory over Germany, it was recognized by Great Britain and the United States as the Provisional Government of National Unity of Poland. The government in exile, which at that time was headed by the leader of the Polish Socialist Party, Tomasz Arciszewski, was dissolved. In August 1945, at the Potsdam Conference, it was agreed that the southern part East Prussia and the territories of Germany east of the Oder and Neisse rivers are transferred under Polish administration. The Soviet Union also provided Poland with 15% of the $10 billion in reparations that defeated Germany had to pay.
Poland was part of the Russian Empire from 1815 to 1917. It was a turbulent and difficult period for the Polish people - a time of new opportunities and great disappointments.
Relations between Russia and Poland have always been difficult. First of all, this is a consequence of the proximity of the two states, which for many centuries has given rise to territorial disputes. It is quite natural that during major wars Russia always found itself drawn into the revision of the Polish-Russian borders. This radically influenced the social, cultural and economic conditions in the surrounding areas, as well as the way of life of the Poles.
"Prison of Nations"
The “national question” of the Russian Empire aroused different, sometimes polar, opinions. Thus, Soviet historical science called the empire nothing more than a “prison of nations,” and Western historians considered it a colonial power.
But from the Russian publicist Ivan Solonevich we find the opposite statement: “Not a single people in Russia was subjected to such treatment as Ireland was subjected to in the times of Cromwell and the times of Gladstone. With very few exceptions, all nationalities in the country were completely equal before the law."
Russia has always been a multi-ethnic state: its expansion gradually led to the fact that the already heterogeneous composition of Russian society began to be diluted by representatives of different nations. This also applied to the imperial elite, which was noticeably replenished with immigrants from European countries who came to Russia “to pursue happiness and rank.”
For example, an analysis of the lists of the “Rank” of the late 17th century shows that in the boyar corps there were 24.3% of people of Polish and Lithuanian origin. However, the overwhelming majority of “Russian foreigners” lost their national identity, dissolving into Russian society.
"Kingdom of Poland"
Having joined Russia as a result of the Patriotic War of 1812, the “Kingdom of Poland” (since 1887 - “Vistula region”) had a dual position. On the one hand, after the division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, although it was a completely new geopolitical entity, it still retained ethnocultural and religious connections with its predecessor.
On the other hand, national self-awareness grew here and the sprouts of statehood emerged, which could not but affect the relationship between the Poles and the central government.
After joining the Russian Empire, changes were undoubtedly expected in the “Kingdom of Poland”. There were changes, but they were not always perceived unambiguously. During Poland's entry into Russia, five emperors changed, and each had his own view of the westernmost Russian province.
If Alexander I was known as a “polonophile,” then Nicholas I built a much more sober and tough policy towards Poland. However, one cannot deny his desire, in the words of the emperor himself, “to be as good a Pole as a good Russian.”
Russian historiography generally has a positive assessment of the results of Poland’s century-long entry into the empire. Perhaps it was Russia’s balanced policy towards its western neighbor that helped create a unique situation in which Poland, although not an independent territory, retained its state and national identity for a hundred years.
Hopes and disappointments
One of the first measures introduced by the Russian government was the abolition of the “Napoleonic Code” and its replacement with the Polish Code, which, among other measures, allocated land to peasants and intended to improve the financial situation of the poor. The Polish Sejm passed the new bill, but refused to ban civil marriage, which provides freedom.
This clearly showed the Poles' orientation toward Western values. There was someone to take as an example. Thus, in the Grand Duchy of Finland, by the time the Kingdom of Poland became part of Russia, serfdom had been abolished. Enlightened and liberal Europe was closer to Poland than “peasant” Russia.
After the “Alexander freedoms” the time came for the “Nikolaev reaction”. In the Polish province, almost all office work is translated into Russian, or into French for those who did not speak Russian. Confiscated estates are distributed to persons of Russian origin, and all senior official positions are also filled by Russians.
Nicholas I, who visited Warsaw in 1835, senses a brewing protest in Polish society, and therefore forbids the deputation to express loyal feelings, “in order to protect them from lies.”
The tone of the emperor’s speech is striking in its uncompromisingness: “I need deeds, not words. If you persist in your dreams of national isolation, the independence of Poland and similar fantasies, you will bring upon yourself the greatest misfortune... I tell you that at the slightest disturbance I will order the city to be shot, I will turn Warsaw into ruins and, of course, I will not I’ll rebuild it.”
Polish revolt
Sooner or later, empires will be replaced by national-type states. This problem also affected the Polish province, where, in the wake of the growth of national consciousness, political movements that have no equal among other provinces of Russia are gaining strength.
The idea of national isolation, right up to the restoration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth within its former boundaries, embraced ever wider sections of the masses. The driving force behind the protest was the student body, which was supported by workers, soldiers, as well as various sections of Polish society. Later, some landowners and nobles joined the liberation movement.
The main demands made by the rebels were agrarian reforms, democratization of society and ultimately the independence of Poland.
But for the Russian state it was a dangerous challenge. The Russian government responded sharply and harshly to the Polish uprisings of 1830-1831 and 1863-1864. The suppression of the riots turned out to be bloody, but there was no excessive harshness, which Soviet historians wrote about. They preferred to send the rebels to remote Russian provinces.
The uprisings forced the government to take a number of countermeasures. In 1832, the Polish Sejm was liquidated and the Polish army was disbanded. In 1864, restrictions were introduced on the use of the Polish language and the movement of the male population. To a lesser extent, the results of the uprisings affected the local bureaucracy, although among the revolutionaries were the children of high-ranking officials. The period after 1864 was marked by an increase in “Russophobia” in Polish society.
From dissatisfaction to benefits
Poland, despite the restrictions and infringements of freedoms, received certain benefits from belonging to the empire. Thus, during the reigns of Alexander II and Alexander III, Poles began to be appointed to leadership positions more often. In some counties their number reached 80%. The Poles had no less opportunity for advancement in the civil service than the Russians.
Even more privileges were given to Polish aristocrats, who automatically received high ranks. Many of them oversaw the banking sector. Profitable positions in St. Petersburg and Moscow were available to the Polish nobility, and they also had the opportunity to open their own business.
It should be noted that in general the Polish province had more privileges than other regions of the empire. Thus, in 1907, at a meeting of the State Duma of the 3rd convocation, it was announced that in various Russian provinces taxation reaches 1.26%, and in the largest industrial centers of Poland - Warsaw and Lodz it does not exceed 1.04%.
It is interesting that the Privislinsky region received 1 ruble 14 kopecks back in the form of subsidies for every ruble donated to the state treasury. For comparison, the Central Black Earth Region received only 74 kopecks.
The government spent a lot on education in the Polish province - from 51 to 57 kopecks per person, and, for example, in Central Russia this amount did not exceed 10 kopecks. Thanks to this policy, from 1861 to 1897 the number of literate people in Poland increased 4 times, reaching 35%, although in the rest of Russia this figure fluctuated around 19%.
At the end of the 19th century, Russia embarked on the path of industrialization, supported by solid Western investments. Polish officials also received dividends from this, participating in railway transportation between Russia and Germany. As a result, a huge number of banks appeared in large Polish cities.
Tragic for Russia, 1917 ended the history of “Russian Poland”, giving the Poles the opportunity to establish their own statehood. What Nicholas II promised came true. Poland gained freedom, but the union with Russia so desired by the emperor did not work out.
