The neighborhood of the two states and the territorial disagreements arising during the wars left their mark on the formation of Russian-Polish relations. One of the outcomes of the Patriotic War of 1812 was the decision of the Congress of Vienna to annex the Duchy of Warsaw to Russia. The duchy included Polish territories taken from Prussia in 1807 and from Austria in 1809 by Napoleon (the exception was Krakow, the Poznan region, Galicia).
Liberal politics of Alexander I
Alexander I, who was a liberal in his youth, never abandoned the idea of constitutional projects. In 1809, Finland, annexed to the Russian Empire, received the Constitution, and in 1815, Poland (Constituent Charter). The independence of the Poles in Russia was emphasized by the educated Sejm. True, in contrast to Finland, a viceroy was appointed to Poland, Grand Duke Konstantin, Alexander's brother. The Polish army was reorganized into the Polish Corps, which became part of the Russian army. Despite the ethnic diversity of the population of Poland, the Poles received the privilege to hold public office, including in the courts. The dominant religion, with equalityother religions, Catholicism was recognized. The revenues of the Polish lands were used exclusively for the benefit of Poland. The only person in the Polish Council representing the Russian government was appointed an associate of the emperor N. N. Novosiltsev, who received the post of imperial commissar.
In 1818, speaking in Warsaw at the opening of the Sejm, Alexander made it clear that he would like to extend such constitutional trends to the rest of the Russian Empire entrusted to him. It is in Warsaw, in an atmosphere of strict secrecy, under the leadership of Novosiltsev, that the draft of the Russian constitution, the “Charter of the Russian Empire”, which has never seen the light of the day, is being prepared.
Poland's economic recovery
During the first ten years after the incorporation of the Duchy of Warsaw into the empire, the Poles in Russia reached a high level of prosperity. Napoleon used these territories as a source of military power - he replaced his soldiers who died during the era of wars with Poles. No one cared about the social structure and infrastructure, the people were bent under the weight of an unbearable tax burden. Under Alexander, who was known as a "polonophile", Poland came to life. The Russian government gave the Poles land, developed a program to help the poor. Cities and villages destroyed by the Napoleonic invasion were rebuilt, roads were restored. Industry was actively developing, which was facilitated by customs privileges given to the Poles for the development of trade, and the establishment of the Polish Bank. With the assistance of the Russian authorities in Polandeducation spread, Warsaw University was established.
The reaction of Nicholas I
Despite Alexander's favorable policies, Poles in Russia longed for national statehood. Already at the meeting of the first Seimas, in 1818, the parliamentarians, who initially expressed eternal gratitude to the emperor, undertook to express dissatisfaction with the authorities. Gradually growing unrest came to light, for example, with a shortage of taxes. Alexander took forced measures: banning debates at Seimas meetings and imposing censorship on printing.
The dream of restoring an independent state, the Commonwe alth, led the Poles in Russia to the development of a national movement that had no analogues in the empire of that period. The students who spoke were supported by workers, the army, commoners, and later the nobility and landlords. Demands were put forward for the restructuring of agriculture, the introduction of democratic freedoms and, as a result, the independence of Poland.
Nicholas I, who went down in history as Nikolai Palkin, learned a lesson from the Decembrist uprising of 1825 and made it his goal to prevent a revolution. Initially continuing Alexander's policy of granting independence to Poland, Nikolai Pavlovich after the uprising of 1830-1831. eliminates autonomy. The Sejm is dissolved, the Polish army is eliminated. The estates and government posts confiscated from the rebels are given to the Russians. In 1832, the Polish zloty was replaced by the Russian ruble, the metric system of measures was transformed intoimperial system. In 1864 Russian became the official language instead of Polish.
Revolts of 1830-1831 and 1863-1864. suppressed decisively, but without excessive bloodshed. The rebels were not subjected to harsh punishments, they were simply sent into exile in remote regions of Russia.
Poles in Russia. Historical Facts
Russia, which has always been a multinational country, was calm about representatives of other peoples. For example, at the end of the 17th century, a quarter of the composition of the elite Boyar Corps consisted of Poles and Lithuanians.
Poles in Russia in the 19th century, during the reign of Alexander II and Alexander III, in some provinces occupied 80% of leadership positions. Polish aristocrats serving in the Russian army were given high ranks automatically according to class. Poles were widely represented in banking, business and transport infrastructure (railways). Poles in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century were provided with benefits that promote industrialization - the taxation of large industrial cities in Poland was 20% lower than the taxation of cities in Russia. The size of the subsidies allocated by the Russian government to the Polish regions differed greatly. For example, subsidies for education were five times higher than similar subsidies for the old Russian provinces.
Poland gained its independence in 1917 as a result of the collapse of the Russian Empire, caused by the coming to power of the Bolsheviks. The assessment of the development of Poland as part of Russia is controversial to this day and affectson Russian-Polish relations.
