View source for Congress Poland

{{Short description|Semi-autonomous polity (1815–1915)}}
{{For|the Polish legislature|Parliament of Poland}}
{{Redirect|Russian Poland|Russian territory of the former Commonwealth|Russian Partition}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = {{native name|pl|Królestwo Polskie}}<br/>{{native name|ru|Царство Польское|italics=off}}
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Poland
| common_name            = Poland
| iso3166code            = omit
| status                 = Vassal
| status_text            = {{plainlist|
* [[Personal union]] with the Russian Empire (1815–1831)
* [[Real union]] with the [[Russian Empire]] (1832–1915)
}}
| empire                 = Russian Empire
| p1                     = Duchy of Warsaw
| flag_p1                = Banner of the Duchy of Warsaw.svg
| s3                     = Ober-Ost{{!}}'''1914:'''<br />Ober-Ost
| flag_s3                = War Ensign of Germany (1903–1919).svg
| s4                     = Government General of Warsaw{{!}}'''1915:'''<br />Government General of Warsaw
| flag_s4                = Flag of the German Empire.svg
| s1                     = Polish National Government (November Uprising){{!}}'''1830:'''<br />Polish National Government
| flag_s1                = Banner of the Kingdom of Poland from the Sejm Chamber (November Uprising).svg
| s5                     = Military Government of Lublin
| flag_s5                = Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg
| life_span              = 1815–1918
| date_start             = 9 June 1815
| event_start            = [[Congress of Vienna]]
| event1                 = [[Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland|Constitution adopted]]
| date_event1            = 27 November 1815
| event2                 = [[November Uprising|November<br>Uprising]]
| date_event2            = 29 November 1830
| event3                 = [[January Uprising|January<br>Uprising]]
| date_event3            = 23 January 1863
| event5                 = [[Great Retreat (Russia)|Russian withdrawal]]
| date_event5            = 19 September 1915
| title_leader           = [[List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland|King]]
| leader1                = [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]]
| year_leader1           = 1815–1825 <small>(first)</small>
| leader5                = [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]]
| year_leader5           = 1894–1915 <small>(last)</small>|
| representative1        = [[Józef Zajączek]]
| representative2        = [[Pavel Yengalychev]]
| year_representative1   = 1815–1826 <small>(first)</small>
| year_representative2   = 1914–1917 <small>(last)</small>
| title_representative   = [[Namiestnik of the Kingdom of Poland|Namiestnik (Viceroy)]]|
| deputy1                = 
| deputy2                = 
| year_deputy1           = 
| year_deputy2           = 
| title_deputy           = 
| image_flag             =
| flag                   =
| flag_type              =
| image_coat             = RU COA Kingdom of Poland (1815-1915).svg
| symbol                 = Coat of arms of Congress Poland
| image_map              = Congress Poland 1815.svg
| image_map_caption      = Map of Congress Poland, {{circa|1815}}, following the Congress of Vienna. The [[Russian Empire]] is shown in light green.
| image_map2             = Administrative divisions of Congress Poland in 1830 ENG.png
| map_caption2           = [[Subdivisions of Congress Poland|Administrative divisions of Congress Poland]] in 1830
| government_type        = [[Constitutional monarchy]] (1815–1832)<br/>[[Absolute monarchy]] (1832–1918)
| legislature            = [[Sejm of Congress Poland|Sejm]]
| house1                 = [[Senate of Poland|Senate]]
| house2                 = [[Chamber of Deputies]]|
| capital                = [[Warsaw]]
| national_motto         = {{langnf|pl|Z nami Bóg!|God is with us!|break=yes}}
| national_anthem        = {{ill|Pieśń narodowa za pomyślność króla|pl}}<br/><small>"National Song to the King's Well-being"</small>
| official_languages     = [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Russian language|Russian]] (from 1867)<ref name="Kamusella"/>
| common_languages       = Polish, [[Yiddish]], [[German language|German]], Russian<ref>{{cite web|url= https://kamusella.wordpress.com/2017/01/24/the-social-and-political-history-of-the-polish-language-in-the-long-19th-century/ |title=The Social and Political History of the Polish Language in the Long 19th Century|date=24 January 2017|publisher= Kamusella |access-date=1 November 2018}}</ref>
| religion               = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]
{{hidden |style=font-size:100%;padding:0.25em 0 0; |headerstyle=text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
 |header = Minorities:
 |content = {{unbulleted list| [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Catholicism]] | [[Polish Reformed Church|Reformed]] | [[Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession in Poland|Lutheranism]] | [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodoxy]] | [[Polish Orthodox Church|Polish Orthodoxy]] | [[Judaism]] | [[Sunni Islam]]}}}}
| population_census      = 9,402,253
| population_census_year = 1897
| currency               = {{plainlist|
* [[Polish złoty]]<br>{{small|(1815–1841)}}}}
| demonym                = [[Polish people|Polish]], [[Polish people|Pole]]
| today                  = {{ubl|[[Poland]]|[[Lithuania]]|[[Belarus]]¹}}
| footnotes              = ¹ [[Sopoćkinie]] area
}}

'''Congress Poland'''{{efn|{{langx|pl|Królestwo Kongresowe}} {{IPAc-pl|k|r|ó|'|lʲ|e|s|t|f|o|-|k|o|n|g|r|e|'|s|o|w|e}}; {{langx|ru|Конгрессовая Польша|Kongressovaya Polsha}}}} or '''Congress Kingdom of Poland''',<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Congress Kingdom of Poland|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|publisher=|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Congress-Kingdom-of-Poland|access-date=18 January 2022|last=Britannica|date=8 January 2010}}</ref> formally known as the '''Kingdom of Poland''',{{efn|{{Langx|ru|Царство Польское|translit=Tsarstvo Polskoye}}}} was a [[polity]] created in 1815 by the [[Congress of Vienna]] as a semi-autonomous [[Polish people|Polish]] [[State (polity)|state]], a successor to [[Napoleon]]'s [[Duchy of Warsaw]]. It was established when the [[First French Empire|French]] ceded a part of Polish territory to the [[Russian Empire]] following France's defeat in the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. In 1915, during [[World War I]], it was replaced by the [[German Empire|German]]-controlled nominal [[Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)|Regency Kingdom]]{{efn|Sources agree that after the fall of the [[January Uprising]] in 1864, the autonomy of Congress Poland was drastically reduced. They disagree however on whether the Kingdom of Poland, colloquially known as Congress Poland, as a state, was officially replaced by [[Vistula Land]] (''Privislinsky Krai''), a province of the Russian Empire, as many sources still use the term Congress Poland for the post-1864 period. The sources are also unclear as to when Congress Poland (or Vistula land) officially ended; some argue that it ended when the German and Austro-Hungarian occupying authorities assumed control of the area during [[World War I]]; others, that it ended with the creation of the [[Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)|Kingdom of Poland]] in 1917; finally, some argue that it ended only with the creation of the independent [[Second Polish Republic|Republic of Poland]] in 1918. Examples:<ref>* Ludność Polski w XX Wieku = The Population of Poland in the 20th Century / Andrzej Gawryszewski. Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk, Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodorowania im. Stanisława Leszczyckiego, 2005 (Monografie; 5), p 539, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170731190553/http://www.rcin.org.pl/igipz/dlibra/docmetadata?id=2425&from=publication]** {{in lang|pl}} ''Mimo wprowadzenia oficjalnej nazwy Kraj Przywiślański terminy Królestwo Polskie, Królestwo Kongresowe lub w skrócie Kongresówka były nadal używane, zarówno w języku potocznym jak i w niektórych publikacjach.''
**''Despite the official name Kraj Przywiślański terms such as, Kingdom of Poland, Congress Poland, or in short Kongresówka were still in use, both in everyday language and in some publications.''</ref><ref>* [http://encyklopedia.interia.pl/haslo?hid=96853 POWSTANIE STYCZNIOWE], [[Encyklopedia Interia]]:
** {{in lang|pl}} ''po upadku powstania zlikwidowano ostatnie elementy autonomii Królestwa Pol. (łącznie z nazwą), przekształcając je w "Kraj Przywiślański";''
** ''after the fall of the uprising last elements of autonomy of the Kingdom of Poland (including the name) were abolished, transforming it into the "Vistula land;"''</ref><ref>* [http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/15674,,,,krolestwo_polskie,haslo.html Królestwo Polskie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424024512/http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/15674,,,,krolestwo_polskie,haslo.html |date=2017-04-24 }}. [[WIEM Encyklopedia]]:
** {{in lang|pl}} ''Królestwo Polskie po powstaniu styczniowym: Nazwę Królestwa Polskiego zastąpiła, w urzędowej terminologii, nazwa Kraj Przywiślański.'' Jednakże w artykule jest także: ''Po rewolucji 1905-1907 w Królestwie Polskim...'' i ''W latach 1914-1916 Królestwo Polskie stało się...''.
** ''Kingdom of Poland after the January Uprising: the name Kingdom of Poland was replaced, in official documents, by the name of Vistula land.'' However the same article also states: ''After the revolution 1905-1907 in the Kingdom of Poland'' and ''In the years 1914-1916 the Kingdom of Poland became...''.</ref><ref>* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110607152907/http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3927693 Królestwo Polskie, Królestwo Kongresowe], [[Internetowa encyklopedia PWN|Encyklopedia PWN]]:
** {{in lang|pl}} ''1915–18 pod okupacją niem. i austro-węgierską; K.P. przestało istnieć po powstaniu II RP (XI 1918).''
** ''[Congress Poland was] under German and Austro-Hungarian occupation from 1915 to 1918; it was finally abolished after the creation of the Second Polish Republic in November 1918''</ref>}} until Poland [[National Independence Day (Poland)|regained independence]] in 1918.

Following the [[partitions of Poland]] at the end of the 18th century, Poland ceased to exist as an independent nation for 123 years. The territory, with its native population, was split among the [[Habsburg monarchy]], the [[Kingdom of Prussia]], and the Russian Empire. After 1804, an equivalent to Congress Poland within the Austrian Empire was the [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria]], also commonly referred to as "[[Austrian Partition|Austrian Poland]]". The area incorporated into Prussia initially also held autonomy as the [[Grand Duchy of Posen]] outside of [[German Confederation]], but later was demoted to merely a Prussian province (the [[Province of Posen]]), and was subsequently annexed in [[1866]] into the [[North German Confederation]], the predecessor of the [[German Empire]].

The Congress Kingdom of Poland was theoretically granted considerable political autonomy by the liberal [[Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland|constitution]]. However, its rulers, the [[Emperor of All Russia|Russian emperors]], generally disregarded any restrictions on their power. It was, therefore, little more than a [[puppet state]] in a [[personal union]] with the Russian Empire.<ref name="Harold Nicolson">{{cite book | last = Nicolson | first = Harold George |title= The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity, 1812–1822 |publisher= Grove Press |location=New York |year= 2001 |page = 171 |isbn=0-8021-3744-X | author-link = Harold Nicolson | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qm5BNjqrGsUC&pg=PA171}}</ref><ref name="Alan Warwick Palmer">{{cite book | last =Palmer | first = Alan Warwick |title=Twilight of the Habsburgs: The Life and Times of Emperor Francis Joseph |publisher= Atlantic Monthly Press |location=Boston |year= 1997 |page= 7 |isbn=0-87113-665-1 | author-link = Alan Warwick Palmer | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=d_rlZKhgaekC&pg=PA7}}</ref> The autonomy was severely curtailed following uprisings in [[November Uprising|1830–31]] and [[January Uprising|1863]], as the country became governed by [[Viceroy#Russian Empire|viceroys]], and later divided into [[guberniya|governorates]] (provinces).<ref name="Harold Nicolson" /><ref name= "Alan Warwick Palmer" /> Thus, from the start, Polish autonomy remained little more than fiction.<ref name="Austin">Agnieszka Barbara Nance, ''Nation without a State: Imagining Poland in the Nineteenth Century'', dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, [[The University of Texas at Austin]], pp. 169-88</ref>

The capital was located in [[Warsaw]], which towards the beginning of the 20th century became the Russian Empire's third-largest city after [[St. Petersburg]] and [[Moscow]]. The moderately multicultural population of Congress Poland was estimated at 9,402,253 inhabitants in 1897. It was mostly composed of Poles, [[History of the Jews in Poland|Polish Jews]], ethnic [[German minority in Poland|Germans]], [[History of the Ukrainian minority in Poland|Ukrainians]], [[Lithuanian minority in Poland|Lithuanians]], and a small Russian minority. The predominant religion was [[Roman Catholicism]] and the official language used within the state was [[Polish language|Polish]] until the failed January Uprising (1863) when [[Russian language|Russian]] became co-official as a consequence. [[Yiddish]] and German were widely spoken by their native speakers.

The territory of Congress Poland roughly corresponds to modern-day [[Kalisz Region]] and the [[Lublin Voivodeship|Lublin]], [[Łódź Voivodeship|Łódź]], [[Masovian Voivodeship|Masovian]], [[Podlaskie Voivodeship|Podlaskie]] and [[Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship|Holy Cross]] [[Voivodeships of Poland]] as well as southwestern [[Lithuania]] and a small part of the [[Grodno District]] of Belarus.

The Kingdom of Poland effectively came to an end with the [[Great Retreat (Russian)|Great Retreat]] of Russian forces in 1915 and was succeeded by the [[Government General of Warsaw]], established by the Germans. In 1917, part of this was renamed as the short-lived [[Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)|Kingdom of Poland]], a [[client state]] of the [[Central Powers]], which had a [[Regency Council (Poland)|Regency Council]] instead of a king.

==Naming==
Although the official name of the state was the ''Kingdom of Poland'' ({{langx|pl|Królestwo Polskie}}; {{langx|ru|Царство Польское}}), in order to distinguish it from other [[History of Poland|Kingdoms of Poland]], it is often referred to as "Congress Poland" by historians.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Poland|title=Poland - Partitioned Poland|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref>

==History==
{{Polish statehood}}
The Congress Kingdom of Poland was created out of the [[Duchy of Warsaw]], a French client state, at the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815 when the [[great power]]s reorganized Europe following the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. The kingdom was created from parts of the Polish territory that had been [[Partitions of Poland|partitioned]] between [[Austrian Empire|Austria]] and [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] which had been transformed into the [[Duchy of Warsaw]] by [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in 1807. After Napoleon's defeat, the fate of the Duchy of Warsaw was dependent on Russia. Prussia insisted on the duchy being eliminated. Tsar [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] intended to annex the duchy and parts of Lithuanian lands which were historically in the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. Both Austria and the [[United Kingdom]], however, disapproved strongly of the idea, Austria issuing a memorandum on returning to the 1795 resolutions with support from the United Kingdom under [[George IV]], Prime Minister [[Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool|Robert Jenkinson]] and the British delegate to the Congress, [[Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh]].

Following the Congress, Russia gained a larger share of Poland (with Warsaw) and, after crushing an [[November Uprising|insurrection in 1831]], the Congress Kingdom's autonomy was abolished. Poles faced confiscation of property, deportation, forced military service, and the closure of their own universities.<ref>W. Caban, ‘The Nineteenth-Century Ideas of Polish Roads to Independence’, Yearbook of the Institute of East-Central Europe, 2018, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 105-127.</ref><ref>{{cite book | first = WO | last = Henderson | title = Castlereagh et l'Europe, w: Le Congrès de Vienne et l'Europe | publisher = Bruxelles | location = Paris | year = 1964 | pages = 60}}</ref> The Congress was important enough in the creation of the state to cause the new country to be informally named for it.<ref name="CzM">{{cite book |author=Miłosz, Czesław |title=The history of Polish literature |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |year=1983 |pages= 196|isbn=0-520-04477-0 | author-link = Czesław Miłosz | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=11MVdBYUX5oC&q=congress+constitution+Poland+liberal&pg=RA1-PA196 | access-date = 2008-04-10}}</ref><ref name="Nicolson">{{cite book |author=Nicolson, Harold George |title=The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity, 1812–1822 |publisher=Grove Press |location=New York |year=2001 |pages= 179–180|isbn=0-8021-3744-X | author-link = Harold Nicolson | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qm5BNjqrGsUC&q=congress+Poland+constitution&pg=PA179| access-date = 2008-04-10}}</ref> The kingdom lost its status as a [[sovereignty|sovereign]] state in 1831 and the administrative divisions were reorganized. It was sufficiently distinct that its name remained in official Russian use, although in the later years of Russian rule it was replaced<ref name=BEKP>{{cite web|url=http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/007/111/111469.htm|publisher=The [[Brockhaus and Efron]] Encyclopedia (1890–1906)|title=Kingdom of Poland|access-date=2006-07-27 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060902090436/http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/007/111/111469.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2006-09-02|language=ru}}</ref> with the "[[Vistula Land]]" (Russian: Привислинский Край). Following the defeat of the [[November Uprising]] its separate institutions and administrative arrangements were abolished as part of increased [[Russification of Poles during the Partitions|Russification]] to be more closely integrated with the Russian Empire. However, even after this formalized annexation, the territory retained some degree of distinctiveness and continued to be referred to informally as Congress Poland until the Russian rule there ended as a result of the advance by the armies of the [[Central Powers]] in 1915 during [[World War I]].

[[File:1820 Царство Польское.jpg|thumb|Congress Poland in 1820]] The kingdom was 128,500&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> in area and originally had a population of approximately 3.3&nbsp;million. The new state would be one of the smallest Polish states ever, smaller than the preceding Duchy of Warsaw and much smaller than the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] which had a population of over 10&nbsp;million and an area of 1&nbsp;million km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name="Nicolson"/> Its population reached 6.1&nbsp;million by 1870 and 10&nbsp;million by 1900. The majority of ethnic [[Polish people|Poles]] within the Russian Empire lived in the Congress Kingdom, although some areas outside its borders were also inhabited by strong Polish and Roman Catholic minorities.

The Kingdom of Poland largely re-emerged as a result of the efforts of [[Adam Jerzy Czartoryski]],<ref name="Ludwikowski">{{cite book |author=Ludwikowski, Rett R. |title=Constitution-making in the region of former Soviet dominance |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham, N.C. |year=1996 |pages= 12–13|isbn=0-8223-1802-4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qw8o0_c0m74C&q=congress+constitution+Poland+liberal&pg=RA1-PA12 }}</ref> a Pole who aimed to resurrect the Polish state in alliance with [[Russia]]. The Kingdom of Poland was one of the few contemporary [[constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarchies]] in Europe, with the emperor of Russia serving as the self-proclaimed [[king of Poland]].

===Initial independence===
Theoretically, the Polish Kingdom in its 1815 form was a semi-autonomous state in [[personal union]] with Russia through the rule of the Russian emperor. The state possessed the [[Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland]], one of the most liberal in 19th-century Europe,<ref name="Ludwikowski"/> a [[Sejm of Congress Poland|Sejm]] (parliament) responsible to the king capable of voting laws, [[Army of the Congress Poland|an independent army]], [[Polish złoty|currency]], [[budget]], [[penal code]] and a [[customs]] boundary separating it from the rest of Russian lands. Poland also had democratic traditions ([[Golden Liberty]]) and the [[Szlachta|Polish nobility]] deeply valued personal freedom.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} In reality, the kings had absolute power and the formal title of ''Autocrat'', and wanted no restrictions on their rule. All opposition to the emperor of Russia was suppressed and the law was disregarded at will by Russian officials.<ref name="PWN-KPP">{{cite web | url = http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3925264 | title = Królestwa Polskiego | publisher = [[Internetowa encyklopedia PWN|Encyklopedia PWN]] | access-date = 2006-01-19 | language = pl | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061001102742/http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3925264 | archive-date = 2006-10-01 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Though the absolute rule demanded by Russia was difficult to establish due to Poland's liberal traditions and institutions, the independence of the kingdom lasted only 15 years; initially [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] used the title King of Poland and was obligated to observe the provisions of the constitution. However, in time the situation changed and he granted the viceroy, [[Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia|Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich]], almost dictatorial powers.<ref name="CzM"/> Very soon after [[Congress of Vienna]] resolutions were signed, Russia ceased to respect them. In 1819, Alexander I abolished freedom of the press and introduced preventive [[censorship]]. Resistance to Russian control began in the 1820s.<ref name="Austin"/> Russian secret police commanded by [[Nikolay Nikolayevich Novosiltsev]] started the persecution of Polish secret organizations and in 1821 the King ordered the abolition of [[Freemasonry]], which represented Poland's patriotic traditions.<ref name="Austin"/> Beginning in 1825, the sessions of the Sejm were held in secret.

===Uprisings and loss of autonomy===
{{main|November Uprising|January Uprising|Alvensleben Convention|Vistula Land}}
[[File:Eagle of officer of 2nd Infantry Regiment of Congress Poland.PNG|thumb|upright=0.7|Eagle of an officer in the [[Army of Congress Poland]]]]

Alexander I's successor, [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]] was crowned King of Poland on 24 May 1829 in Warsaw, but he declined to swear to abide by the Constitution and continued to limit the independence of the Polish kingdom. Nicholas' rule promoted the idea of Official Nationality, consisting of Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality. In relation to Poles, those ideas meant assimilation: turning them into loyal subjects through gradual religious and cultural conversion.<ref name="Austin"/> The principle of Orthodoxy was the result of the special role it played in the Russian Empire, as the Church was in fact becoming a department of state,<ref name="Austin"/> and other religions discriminated against; for instance, papal bulls could not be read in the largely Catholic kingdom of Poland without agreement from the Russian government.

The rule of Nicholas also meant the end of political traditions in Poland; democratic institutions were removed, an appointed—rather than elected—centralized administration was put in place, and efforts were made to change the relations between the state and the individual. All of this led to discontent and resistance among the Polish population.<ref name="Austin"/> In January 1831, the Sejm deposed Nicholas I as [[King of Poland]] in response to his repeated curtailing of its constitutional rights. Nicholas reacted by sending Russian troops into Poland, resulting in the [[November Uprising]].<ref name="PLT-74">{{cite book |author=Janowski, Maciej |author2=Przekop, Danuta |title=Polish Liberal Thought Before 1918 |publisher=[[Central European University]] Press |location=Budapest |year=2004 |pages=74|isbn=963-9241-18-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ieF7NYaEqQYC&q=Poland+constitution+November+uprising&pg=PA74 |access-date=2008-04-10 }}</ref>

Following an 11-month military campaign, the Kingdom of Poland lost its semi-independent status and was integrated much more closely with the Russian Empire. This was formalized through the issuing of the [[Organic Statute of the Kingdom of Poland]] by the Emperor in 1832, which abolished the constitution, army and legislative assembly. Over the next 30 years, a series of measures bound Congress Poland ever more closely to Russia. In 1863 the [[January Uprising]] broke out but lasted only two years before being crushed. As a direct result, any remaining separate status of the kingdom was removed and the political entity was directly incorporated into the Russian Empire. The unofficial name ''[[Privislinsky Krai]]'' ({{langx|ru|Привислинский Край}}), i.e., 'Vistula Land', replaced 'Kingdom of Poland' as the area's official name and the area became a ''namestnichestvo'' under the control of a [[namiestnik]] until 1875, when it became a [[Guberniya]]. {{Dubious|date=January 2011}}

==Government==
[[File:KingdomofPoland1815.jpg|thumb|right|266px|The Kingdom of Poland, 1815–1830]]

The government of Congress Poland was outlined in the [[Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland]] in 1815. The emperor of Russia was the official head of state, considered the [[king of Poland]], with the local government headed by the [[viceroy of the Kingdom of Poland]] ({{langx|pl|Namiestnik}}), [[Council of State (Kingdom of Poland)|Council of State]] and [[Administrative Council]], in addition to the [[Sejm of the Republic of Poland#Sejm of the Congress Poland|Sejm]].

In theory, Congress Poland possessed one of the most liberal governments of the time in [[Europe]],<ref name="Ludwikowski"/> but in practice, the area was a [[puppet state]] of the Russian Empire. The liberal provisions of the constitution, and the scope of the autonomy, were often disregarded by the Russian officials.<ref name="Nicolson"/><ref name="Ludwikowski"/><ref name="PWN-KPP"/>

Polish remained an official language until the mid-1860s when it was replaced by Russian.<ref name="Kamusella">{{cite book|author=Tomasz Kamusella|title=The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JzkWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA137|date= 2009|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-58347-4|page=137}}</ref> This resulted in bilingual street signs and documents, however, the full implementation of [[Cyrillic script]] into the Polish language failed.

===Executive leadership===
{{main|Namiestnik of the Kingdom of Poland}}
The office of "''[[namiestnik]]''" was introduced in Poland by the [[Constitution of Congress Poland|1815 constitution of Congress Poland]]. The viceroy was chosen by the king from among the noble citizens of the Russian Empire or the Kingdom of Poland. The viceroy supervised the entire [[public administration]] and, in the monarch's absence, chaired the [[Council of State (Kingdom of Poland)|Council of State]], as well as the [[Administrative Council]]. He could [[veto]] the councils' decisions; other than that, his decisions had to be [[Countersign (legal)|countersign]]ed by the appropriate [[Minister (government)|government minister]]. The viceroy exercised broad powers and could nominate candidates for most senior government posts (ministers, [[senator]]s, judges of the High Tribunal, councilors of state, [[referendary|referendaries]], [[bishop]]s, and [[archbishop]]s). He had no competence in the realms of finances and foreign policy; his military competence varied.

The office of "namiestnik" or viceroy was never abolished; however, the last "namiestnik" was [[Friedrich Wilhelm Rembert von Berg]], who served from 1863 to his death in 1874. No "namiestnik" was named to replace him;<ref name="Berg-last">Hugo Stumm, ''Russia's Advance Eastward'', 1874, p. 140, note 1. Google Print [https://archive.org/details/russiasadvancee00stumgoog/page/n158 <!-- quote=namestnik Poland. -->]</ref> however, the role of "namestnik"—[[viceroy]] of the former kingdom passed to the [[governor-general]] of [[Warsaw]]<ref name="passed">Thomas Mitchell, ''Handbook for Travellers in Russia, Poland, and Finland'', 1888, p. 460. Google Print [https://books.google.com/books?id=AenSXGLDulUC&dq=namiestnik+Poland&pg=RA9-PA460]</ref>—or, to be more specific, of the [[Warsaw Military District (Russian Empire)|Warsaw Military District]] ({{langx|pl|Warszawski Okręg Wojskowy}}, {{langx|ru|Варшавский Военный Округ}}).

The governor-general answered directly to the emperor and exercised much broader powers than had the "namiestnik". In particular, he controlled all the military forces in the region and oversaw the judicial systems (he could impose [[death sentence]]s without trial). He could also issue "[[Declaration (law)|declarations]] with the force of law," which could alter existing laws.

===Administrative Council===
{{Main|Administrative Council}}
The ''Administrative Council'' ({{Langx|pl|Rada Administracyjna}}) was a part of the [[Council of State (Kingdom of Poland)|Council of State]] of the kingdom. Introduced by the [[Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland]] in 1815, it was composed of five ministers, special nominees of the king and the viceroy of the Kingdom of Poland. The council executed the king's will and ruled in the cases outside the minister's competence and prepared projects for the Council of State.

==Administrative divisions==
{{main|Administrative division of Congress Poland}}
[[File:Polska 1907 adm.png|thumb|Administrative divisions of Congress Poland in 1907]]

The administrative divisions of the kingdom changed several times over its history, and various smaller reforms were also carried out which either changed the smaller administrative units or merged/split various subdivisions.

Immediately after its creation in 1815, the Kingdom of Poland was divided into [[Department (country subdivision)|departments]], [[Administrative division of Duchy of Warsaw|a relic]] from the times of the French-dominated [[Duchy of Warsaw]].

On 16 January 1816 the administrative division was reformed, with the departments being replaced with more traditionally Polish [[voivodeship]]s (of which there were eight), [[obwód]]s and [[powiat]]s. On 7 March 1837, in the aftermath of the [[November Uprising]] earlier that decade, the administrative division was reformed again, bringing Congress Poland closer to the structure of the [[Russian Empire]], with the introduction of [[guberniya]]s ([[governorate]], Polish spelling ''{{lang|pl|gubernia}}''). In 1842 the [[powiat]]s were renamed [[okręg]]s, and the [[obwód]]s were renamed powiats. In 1844 several governorates were merged with others, and some others were renamed; five governorates remained.

In 1867, following the failure of the [[January Uprising]], further reforms were instituted which were designed to bring the administrative structure of Poland closer to that of the Russian Empire. It divided larger governorates into smaller ones, introduced the [[gmina]] (a new lower-level entity), and restructured the existing five governorates into 10. The 1912 reform created a new governorate – [[Kholm Governorate (Russian Empire)|Kholm Governorate]] – from parts of the [[Sedlets Governorate|Sedlets]] and [[Lublin Governorate]]s. It was  made part of the [[Southwestern Krai]] of the [[Russian Empire]].<ref>[[Norman Davies]], ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'', Columbia University Press, 2005, {{ISBN|0-231-12819-3}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9Tbed6iMNLEC&dq=God%27s+Playground+1912&pg=PA278 Print, p. 278]</ref>

==Economy==
[[File:FOS reklama.jpg|thumb|right|250px|An advertisement of [[camera]]s made by a Polish company ''FOS'' (1905). Cameras, [[Objective (optics)|objectives]] and [[Stereoscopy|stereoscopes]] were exclusively made in Congress Poland.]]
[[File:Bronisław Wilkoszewski – Fabryka Tow. Ak. Poznańskiego.jpg|thumb|right|250px|An early photograph of [[Manufaktura]] in [[Łódź]]. The city was considered to be one of the largest textile industry centres in Europe and was nicknamed ''Polish [[Manchester]]''.]]
Despite the fact that the economic situation varied at times, Congress Poland was one of the largest economies in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/oriindex.htm|title=Home Maddison|date=27 July 2016 |access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> In the mid 1800s the region became heavily [[Industrial Era|industrialized]],<ref name="sciaga.pl">{{cite news|url=http://sciaga.pl/slowniki-tematyczne/698/zycie-gospodarcze-krolestwa-polskiego-w-latach-1815-1830/|title=Życie gospodarcze Królestwa Polskiego w latach 1815-1830|access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> however, agriculture still maintained a major role in the economy.<ref name="sciaga.pl1">{{cite news|url=http://sciaga.pl/tekst/47160-48-gospodarka_w_krolestwie_polskim_od_roku_1815_do_poczatku_xix_wieku|title=Gospodarka w Królestwie Polskim od roku 1815 do początku XIX wieku.|newspaper=Sciaga.pl |access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> In addition, the export of [[wheat]], [[rye]] and other crops was significant in stabilizing the financial output.<ref name="sciaga.pl1"/> An important trade partner of Congress Poland was [[Great Britain]], which imported goods in large amounts.

Since agriculture was equivalent to 70% of the national income, the most important economic transformations included the establishment of mines and the textile industry; the development of these sectors brought more profit and higher tax revenues. The beginnings were difficult due to floods and an intense diplomatic relationship with [[Prussia]]. It was not until 1822 when Prince [[Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki|Francis Xavier Drucki-Lubecki]] negotiated to open the Polish market to the world.<ref name="druckilubecki.pl">{{cite web|url=http://www.druckilubecki.pl/polityka-gospodarcza/|title=Polityka gospodarcza – druckilubecki.pl|access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> He also tried to introduce appropriate protective duties. A large and profitable investment was the construction of the [[Augustów Canal]] connecting [[Narew]] and [[Neman]] Rivers, which allowed to bypass [[Danzig]] (Gdańsk) and high Prussian [[tariff]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.augustow.pl/en/augustow-canal|title=The Augustów Canal|access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> Drucki-Lubecki also founded the [[Bank Polski]], for which he is mostly remembered.<ref name="druckilubecki.pl"/>

The first Polish [[steam mill]] was built in 1828 in [[Warsaw]]-[[Śródmieście, Warsaw|Solec]]; the first textile machine was installed in 1829.<ref name="sciaga.pl"/> Greater use of machines led to production in the form of workshops. The government was also encouraging foreign specialists, mostly [[Germans]], to upkeep larger establishments, or to undertake production.<ref name="sciaga.pl"/> By 1887, 550 of the 29,000 Prussian landowners in Poland were manufacturers.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1887-08-03 |title=CURRENT FOREIGN TOPICS. |work=The New York Times |pages=2}}</ref> The Germans were also relieved of the tax burden.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lodz.wyborcza.pl/lodz/1,35135,2883519.html|title=Wyborcza.pl|access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> This allowed to create one of the largest European textile centres in [[Łódź]] and in surrounding towns like [[Ozorków]] and [[Zduńska Wola]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historiaposzukaj.pl/miejsca,31,lodz.html|title=Łódź|access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> These small and initially insignificant settlements later developed into large and multicultural cities, where Germans and [[Jews]] were the majority in the population. With the abolition of border customs in 1851 and further economic growth, Polish cities were gaining wealth and importance.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} Most notably, [[Warsaw]], being associated with the construction of railway lines and bridges, gained priority in the entire Russian market.

Although the economic and industrial progress occurred rapidly, most of the farms, called ''[[folwark]]s'', chose to rely on [[serfs]] and paid workforce. Only a few experimented by obtaining proper machinery and plowing equipment from [[England]].<ref name="sciaga.pl"/> New crops were being cultivated like [[sugar beet]], which marked the beginning of Polish sugar refineries. The use of iron cutters and plows was also favoured among the farmers. During the [[January Uprising]] the occupying authorities sought to deprive peasant insurgents of their popularity among [[Szlachta|landed gentry]].<ref name="sciaga.pl"/> Taxes were raised and the overall economic situation of commoners worsened. The noblemen and landowners were, on the other hand, provided with more privileges, rights and even financial support in the form of [[bribery]]. The aim of this was to weaken their support for the rebellion against the Russian Empire.

Congress Poland was the largest supplier of [[zinc]] in Europe.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} The development of the zinc industry took place at the beginning of the 19th century. It was mostly caused by the significant increase of demand for zinc mainly in industrialized countries of [[Western Europe]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aul.uni.lodz.pl/t/2005nr78/s.pdf|author=Rafał Kowalczyk|title=DEVELOPMENT OF ZINC INDUSTRY IN THE KINGDOM OF POLAND 1815–1904|website=Aul.uni.lodz.pl|access-date=11 November 2017}}</ref>

In 1899, Aleksander Ginsberg founded the company ''FOS'' (''Fabryka Przyrządów Optycznych''-"Factory of Optical Equipment") in Warsaw, which produced [[cameras]], [[telescopes]], [[Objective (optics)|objectives]] and [[Stereoscopy|stereoscopes]]. Following the outbreak of [[World War I]] the factory was moved to [[St. Petersburg]].

In the late 1890s and early 1900s, Russia experienced a coal crisis marked by coal shortages and high prices. This was attributed to the dramatic increase of industrial output and a still nascent coal mining industry.<ref>"The Coal Crisis in Russia." ''Financial Times'', 22 Mar. 1900, p. 3.</ref> In 1900, because of coal shortages in the Warsaw industrial region, the Minister of Finance approved the [[Free trade|duty-free]] import of 125,000,000 [[Pood|poods]] of coal.<ref>"Multiple News Items." ''Financial Times'', 27 Nov. 1899, p. [1].</ref>

==Demographics==
According to the [[Russian Empire Census|Russian Empire Census of 1897]], Congress Poland had a population of 9,402,253: 4,712,090 men and 4,690,163 women.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей. |url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97.php?reg=2 |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=www.demoscope.ru}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Linguistic composition of Congress Poland in 1897<ref name=":0" />
!Language
!Native speakers
!%
|-
|[[Polish language|Polish]]
| align="right" |6,755,503
| align="right" |71.85
|-
|[[Yiddish language|Yiddish]]
| align="right" |1,267,194
| align="right" |13.48
|-
|[[German language|German]]
| align="right" |407,274
| align="right" |4.33
|-
|[[Ukrainian language|Little Russian]]
| align="right" |335,337
| align="right" |3.57
|-
|[[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]
| align="right" |305,322
| align="right" |3.25
|-
|[[Russian language|Russian]]
| align="right" |267,160
| align="right" |2.84
|-
|[[Belarusian language|Belarusian]]
| align="right" |29,347
| align="right" |0.31
|-
|Other
| align="right" |35,116
| align="right" |0.37
|-
!TOTAL
!9,402,253
!100.00
|}
{{Historical populations
|title       = Population<br/> <sup>(by year)</sup>
|width       = 10.5em
|state       = collapsed
|percentages = off
|source      = Golab (1977)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Golab |first1=Caroline |title=Immigrant Destinations |date=1977 |publisher=[[Temple University Press]] |isbn=978-0877221098 |page=91}}</ref>
|1814 |2,815,000
|1820 |3,520,355
|1825 |3,911,000
|1830 |3,998,000
|1835 |4,188,112
|1840 |4,488,009
|1845 |4,798,658
|1850 |4,810,735
|1855 |4,673,869
|1860 |4,840,466
|1865 |5,336,210
|1870 |6,078,564
|1875 |6,515,153
|1880 |7,104,864
|1885 |7,687,893
|1890 |8,256,562
|1897 |9,402,253
|1904 |11,588,585
|1909 |11,935,318
|1913 |13,058,000
}}

==See also==
* [[Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland]]
* [[Grand Duchy of Finland]] (1809–1917)
* [[Grand Duchy of Posen]]
* [[Great Retreat (Russian)|Great Retreat]] – the withdrawal of Russian forces from Poland in 1915
* [[History of Poland (1795–1918)]]
* [[Pale of Settlement]]

== References ==
=== Note ===
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Main|Bibliography of the history of Poland}}
* Davies, Norman. ''God's Playground: A History of Poland''. Vol. 2: ''1795 to the Present'' (Oxford University Press, 1982) pp.&nbsp;306–33
* Getka-Kenig, Mikolaj. "The Genesis of the Aristocracy in Congress Poland," ''Acta Poloniae Historica'' (2009), Issue 100, pp.&nbsp;79–112; {{ISSN|0001-6829}}. Covers the transition from feudalism to capitalism; the adjustment of the aristocracy's power and privilege from a legal basis to one of only social significance; the political changes instigated by the jurisdictional partitions and reorganizations of the state.
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Poland, Russian | volume= 21 |last1= Kropotkin |first1= Peter Alexeivitch |author1-link= Peter Kropotkin| last2= Bealby |first2= John Thomas| pages = 929–932 }}
* {{cite book|author=Leslie, R. F. |title=Polish politics and the Revolution of November 1830|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LGcZAAAAMAAJ|year=1956|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=9780837124162}}
* Leslie, R. F. "Politics and economics in Congress Poland," ''Past and Present'' (1955), 8#1, pp.&nbsp;43–63 {{JSTOR|649777}}
* {{cite book |last1=Mykhed |first1=Oksana |title=Borderlands in World History, 1700–1914 |date=2014 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-1-137-32058-2 |pages=123–142 |language=en |chapter=Not by Force Alone: Public Health and the Establishment of Russian Rule in the Russo-Polish Borderland, 1762–85}}
* Zamoyski, Adam. Poland: a history. New York: Hippocrene Books, 2012

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Congress Poland}}

{{Administrative division of Congress Poland}}
{{Authority control}}

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