View source for Vistula Land

{{morefootnotes|date=July 2024}}
{{Short description|1867–1915 name for Congress Poland}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
| native_name            = {{plainlist|
*{{native name|ru|Привислинский край}}
*{{native name|pl|Kraj Nadwiślański}}}}
| conventional_long_name = Vistula Land
| subdivision            = Krai
| nation                 = the [[Russian Empire]]
| year_start             = 1867
| date_start             = 
| year_end               = 1915
| date_end               = 
| p1                     = Congress Poland
| flag_p1                = Royal Standard of the Tsar of Poland (1815–1830).svg
| s1                     = Government General of Warsaw
| flag_s1                = Flag of the German Empire.svg
| s2                     = Military Government of Lublin
| flag_s2                = Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg
| s3                     = Ober Ost
| flag_s3                = War Ensign of Germany (1903–1919).svg
| image_flag             =
| flag_type              =
| image_coat             = Герб Царства Польского 1882.svg
| coa_size               =
| symbol                 = Coat of arms of Poland
| image_map              = CongressPoland1914Map.png
| image_map_caption      = Administrative subdivisions of Vistula Land in 1914.
| capital                = [[Warsaw]]
| political_subdiv       = 
| today                  = {{plainlist|
*[[Poland]]
*[[Lithuania]]
*[[Belarus]]}}
}}
[[File:Map Treaty Brest-Litovsk.jpg|thumb|Russian Poland, Lithuania and Courland was officially yielded on terms of the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] (marked in red).]]
'''Vistula Land''',<ref>''The name of the kingdom was changed to Vistula Land, which was reduced to a tsarist province; it lost all autonomy and separate administrative institutions''. Richard C. Frucht, Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture. 2005</ref><ref>''The name of the territory, which had been Congress Poland, was changed to the more innocuous Vistula Land. Vistula Land was administered by Russians;'' Alison Fleig Frank, Oil Empire: Visions of Prosperity in Austrian Galicia , 2005</ref> also known as '''Vistula Krai''' ({{langx|ru|Привислинский край|Privislinskiy kray}}; {{langx|pl|Kraj Nadwiślański}}),<ref>''The name of Poland ceased to be used by the Russian authorities, who designated the region once occupied by the kingdom as the "Vistula Country"'', John Clark Ridpath: Ridpath's History of the World: Being an Account of the Principal Events in ... 1910</ref> was the name applied to the lands of [[Congress Poland]] from 1867, following the defeats of the [[November Uprising]] (1830–1831) and [[January Uprising]] (1863–1864) as it was increasingly stripped of autonomy and incorporated into [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]]. It also continued to be formally known as the '''Kingdom of Poland''' ({{langx|pl|Królestwo Polskie}}) until the fall of the Russian Empire.{{Ref_label|a|a|none}}

Russia lost control of the region in 1915, during the course of the [[World War I|First World War]]. Following the 1917 [[October Revolution]], it was officially ceded to the [[Central Powers]] under the terms of the 1918 [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]].

==History==
In 1831, in the aftermath of the [[November Uprising]], the [[Polish Army]], the [[Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland]], its parliament ([[Sejm]]) and local self-administration were disbanded. The constitution was replaced by the much less liberal and never fully implemented [[Organic Statute of the Kingdom of Poland]]. Also all universities were closed, and replaced several years later by purely Russian-language high schools.

For a short time the territory maintained certain degree of autonomy. The former Kingdom of Poland continued to use the Polish currency ([[Polish złoty|złoty]]) and the [[Administrative Council]] retained some of its privileges (although it was directly controlled by the Russian governor Field Marshal [[Ivan Paskevich]]). However, by 1832 the currency and the customs border were abolished, as was the [[SI|metric system]] and the Polish [[penal code]] (which was replaced by the Russian penal code, ''de facto'' in use since the Uprising began). Also the [[Catholic Church]] was persecuted and most monasteries were closed and nationalized. In 1875, following the rules of the [[Synod of Polotsk]] of 1839, the [[Eparchy of Chełm-Belz (Ruthenian Uniate Church)|Eparchy of Chełm-Belz]] of the Catholic [[Ruthenian Uniate Church]] disbanded itself and united with the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].

After 1837 all [[Voivodeships of Poland|voivodeships]] that constituted the Kingdom of Poland were turned into [[gubernia]]s and became an integral part of Russian administrative division, ruled directly by the [[List of Russian monarchs|Russian tsars]].

After the [[January Uprising]] in 1863, the former coat of arms of the Congress Kingdom was abolished. The [[Polish language]] was banned from office and education, and the process of incorporating the Polish gubernias and the [[Russification]] of its administration was completed.

The 1867 reform, initiated after the failure of the January Uprising, was designed to tie the Kingdom of Poland more tightly to the administration structure of the Russian Empire. It divided larger governorates into smaller ones and introduced a new lower-level entity, [[gmina]]s. There were 10 ''[[guberniya|Governorate]]s'': five on the right bank of the [[Vistula River]]—Сувалкская ([[Suwałki Governorate|Suvalkskaya]]), Ломжинская ([[Łomża Governorate|Lomzhinskaya]]), Плоцкая ([[Płock Governorate|Plotskaya]]), Седлецкая ([[Siedlce Governorate|Sedletskaya]]) and Люблинская ([[Lublin Governorate|Lublin]]skaya)—and the remaining five on the left bank: Калишская ([[Kalisz Governorate|Kalishskaya]]), Варшавская ([[Warsaw Governorate|Varshavskaya]]), Петроковская ([[Piotrków Governorate|Petrokovskaya]]), Радомская ([[Radom Governorate|Radomskaya]]) and Келецкая ([[Kielce Governorate|Keletskaya]]).

Despite the abolition of the Kingdom of Poland, the [[tsars of Russia]] retained the title "Tsar of Poland".

The territory was a ''[[namestnichestvo]]'' until 1875 and later [[Governorate General]], ruled by the [[Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland|Namestniks and Governor Generals of Poland]].

In the 1880s, the official language was changed to [[Russian language|Russian]], and [[Polish language|Polish]] was banned both from official use and education.

The name Vistula Land first appeared in official documents in 1888<ref>Wojciech Bartel et al. ''Historia państwa i prawa Polski.'' Juliusz Bardach i Monika Senkowska-Gluck (ed.). T. III: od rozbiorów do uwłaszczenia. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1981, p. 67. {{ISBN|83-01-02658-8}}</ref> although more recent scholarship traced it back to 1883.<ref>Andrzej Szwarc. ''Od Wielopolskiego do Stronnictwa Polityki Realnej zwolennicy ugody z Rosją, ich poglądy i próby działalności politycznej (1864–1905).'' Warszawa: Wydział Historyczny UW, 1990, pp. 208-209.</ref>

A minor reform of 1893 transferred some territory from the [[Płock Governorate|Płock]] and [[Łomża Governorate]]s to [[Warsaw Governorate]]. A more extensive 1912 reform created a new governorate—[[Chełm Governorate]] (Kholmskaya ''Guberniya'' in Russian)—from parts of the Siedlce and Lublin Governorates. However this was split off from the Privislinsky Krai and made part of the [[Southwestern Krai]] of the [[Russian Empire]], in order to facilitate its [[russification]].

=== World War I ===
{{further|Poland during World War I}}
The [[World War I|First World War]] initially expanded Russian control of Poland after the [[Imperial Russian Army]] scored a series of early victories against [[Austria-Hungary]] on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]] and [[Russian occupation of Eastern Galicia (1914–1915)|occupied Eastern Galicia]]. Within a year the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]] and the [[Imperial German Army]] reoccupied the territory and counterattacked into Russian Poland in the [[Gorlice–Tarnów offensive]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robson |first=Stuart |url=http://archive.org/details/firstworldwar0000robs_r5x1 |title=The First World War |date=2007 |publisher=Pearson Longman |isbn=978-1-4058-2471-2 |edition=1 |location=Harrow, England |pages=21–30 |language=en |ref=None |via=Archive Foundation}}</ref> During the Imperial Russian Army's subsequent [[Great Retreat (Russian)|Great Retreat]], it looted and abandoned the [[Congress Poland|Kingdom of Poland]], trying to emulate the [[scorched-earth]] policy adopted during the [[French invasion of Russia#March on Smolensk|1812 invasion]].<ref name="JHAK">John N. Horne, Alan Kramer, ''German Atrocities, 1914: A History of Denial'', Yale University Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-300-10791-9}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Navs5TkI9oAC&dq=Russian+pillaged+1915+Poland&pg=PA83 Google Print, p. 83]</ref><ref>Roger Chickering, Stig Förster, ''Great War, Total War: Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front, 1914-1918'', Cambridge University Press, 2000, {{ISBN|0-521-77352-0}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Yikxt3y1eCIC&dq=Russian+pillaged+1915+Poland&pg=PA160 Google Print, p.160]</ref> The Russians also evicted and deported hundreds of thousands of the area's inhabitants whom they suspected of collaborating with the enemy.<ref name="JHAK"/><ref>Barnett R. Rubin, Jack L. Snyder, ''Post-Soviet Political Order: Conflict and State Building'', Routledge, 1998, {{ISBN|0-415-17069-9}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NEiUVsa7Gx8C&dq=Russian+pillaged+1915+Poland&pg=PA43 Google Print, p.43]</ref><ref>Alan Kramer, ''[[Dynamic of Destruction: Culture and Mass Killing in the First World War]]'', Oxford University Press, 2007, {{ISBN|0-19-280342-5}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HHAK6eMMLg4C&dq=Russian+pillaged+1915+Poland&pg=PA151 Google Print, p.151]</ref>

As the Russians retreated, the [[Central Powers]] occupied the area (1915); subsequently, they proposed the establishment of the [[Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)|Kingdom of Poland]]. In the March 1918 [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], Russia (by then embroiled in a [[Russian Civil War|civil war]]), effectively ceded all Polish territories it had formerly possessed to the [[German Empire]] and [[Austria-Hungary]].

== Administrative divisions==
{{main|Administrative division of Congress Poland}}

{{Privislinsky_Krai_Governorates_of_the_Russian_Empire}}

== See also ==
* [[Kresy]]
* [[Western Krai]]

==Notes==
'''a''' {{Note_label|a|a|none}} Sources agree that after the fall of the [[January Uprising]] in 1864, the autonomy of Congress Poland was drastically reduced. However, they disagree on whether the state of the Kingdom of Poland (colloquially known as [[Congress Poland]]) was officially replaced by the Vistula land as 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 the Kingdom of Poland (or Vistula land) officially ceased to exist; some argue it ended with the assumption of control by the German and Austro-Hungarian occupying authorities; others, that it ended with the proclamation of the [[Regency Kingdom of Poland]] in 1916; finally, some argue that it occurred only with the creation of the independent [[Second Polish Republic]] in 1918. Examples:

* '''Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geographical and Spatial Organization''', p.&nbsp;539, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090319085556/http://www.igipz.pan.pl/wydaw/Monografie_5/Aneks.pdf]
** {{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.''
** {{in lang|en}} ''Despite the introduction of the official name Vistula Land, terms such as, Kingdom of Poland, Congress Poland, or in short Kongresówka were still in use, both in everyday language and in some publications.''
* [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";''
** {{in lang|en}} ''after the fall of the uprising the last elements of autonomy of the Kingdom of Poland (including the name) were abolished, transforming it into the "Vistula land";''
* [http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/15674,,,,krolestwo_polskie,haslo.html Królestwo Polskie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424024512/http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/15674, |date=2017-04-24 }}. [[Encyklopedia WIEM]]:
** {{in lang|pl}} "Królestwo Polskie po powstaniu styczniowym: Nazwę Królestwa Polskiego zastąpiła, w urzędowej terminologii, nazwa Kraj Przywiślański." [...] "Po rewolucji 1905-1907 w Królestwie Polskim ..." [...] "W latach 1914-1916 Królestwo Polskie stało się...".
** {{in lang|en}} "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 inconsistently states: "After the revolution 1905-1907 in the Kingdom of Poland" and "In the years 1914-1916 the Kingdom of Poland became...".
* [http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3927693 Królestwo Polskie, Królestwo Kongresowe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607152907/http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3927693 |date=2011-06-07 }}, [[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).''
** {{in lang|en}} ''[Congress Poland was] under German and Austro-Hungarian occupation from 1915 to 1918; K.P [abbreviation for Królestwo Polskie (Kingdom of Poland)] was finally abolished after the creation of the Second Polish Republic in November 1918''

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Manfred Alexander: ''Kleine Geschichte Polens''. Stuttgart: Reclam 2003 (Quelle)
* [[Roman Dmowski]]: ''Deutschland, Rußland und die polnische Frage (Auszüge)''. In: ''Polen und der Osten. Texte zu einem spannungsreichen Verhältnis''. Hrg. Andrzej Chwalba, {{ISBN|3-518-41731-2}} (Denken und Wissen. Eine Polnische Bibliothek. Band 7)
* Hensel, Jürgen (ed.): ''Polen, Deutsche und Juden in Lodz 1820 - 1939. Eine schwierige Nachbarschaft'', Osnabrück: fibre Verlag 1996

==External links==
* [http://www.raether-clan.de Sammlung historischer Landkarten zur deutsch-polnischen Geschichte]

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{{Vistula}}

[[Category:Congress Poland]]
[[Category:Governorates-General of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:1867 establishments in Poland]]
[[Category:1915 disestablishments in Poland]]
[[Category:1867 establishments in the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:1915 disestablishments in the Russian Empire]]
[[ru:Привислинский край]]