Running head: IMPERIAL MANIFESTO ON POLAND

Imperial Manifesto on Poland

The document of Imperial Manifesto of Poland was created by the Russian Tsar Nicholas I. The document that Nicholas I is referring to was written on March 25, 1832 after the Polish troops were severely defeated by the Russian army in the November uprising. This document is Tsar Nicholas’s proclamation of Russian rule over what was known once as Poland. Which was “a political entity that was created out of the at the Congress of Vienna Congress.” (Wikipedia, Congress of Poland). The Imperial Manifesto of Poland takes away the Constitutional Charter that was issued to Poland during the Vienna Congress in 1815.

When Poland was created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna it was “one of the few contemporary in Europe, with the Tsar of Russia as .” (Encyclopedia, Congress of Poland). The constitution that was granted to Poland at that time was one of the most free constitutions in the 19th century. As it is stated, “Congress Poland had a which could vote on laws and was responsible to the tsar. It had also its own army, , budget, and was separated from the rest of Russian lands by a customs boundary.” (Wikipeadia, Congress of Poland). As it is said, “Initially was crowned as the King of Poland and obeyed the constitution” (Encyclopedia, Alexandar I King of Russia), therefore he was generally liked by the Polish population. Political life in Russia was starting to change and Tsar Alexandar I decided to appoint Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich to look after Poland, Konstantin Pavlovich received almost dictatorial power over Poland. After Tsar Alexandar’s death in 1825, his brother Tsar Nicholas I took over the throne and everything in Poland would turn for the worse. As it is stated, “Nicholas I denied to crown himself as a Polish monarch and instead continued to limit the liberties of Poland.” (Encyclopedia, Nicholas I of Russia).

This is a preview of the whole essay

Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, was born on July 6, 1796 in Russia. He was the younger brother of Alexandar I and after Alexandar’s death he succeeded the throne and became the next Tsar of Russia. Unlike his brother, he did not want to rule with an intellectual and spiritual mind. As noted, “he saw his role simply as one paternal autocrat ruling his people by whatever means were necessary.” (Wikipedia, Nicholas I of Russia). Nicholas would resort to any means to the Russian people under tight rule and to secure the Russian Empire. Nicholas I and his government also succeeded in censoring aspects of Russian life including any publishings, literature, education and religion. Nicholas I strongly opposed the idea of revolution. During the revolutions of 1848, he sent his troops to countries to help break up the revolution and prevent it. He helped supress the uprsing in Hungary and urged Prussia not to accept a constitution. Tsar Nicholas favored Slavic philosophy and believed that Slavs are superior to others. Tsar Nichoalas I died in 1855 during the Crimean war and before the fall of Sevastopol.

Tsar Nicholas I during his reign from 1825-1855 would continually start revoking Polish rights that were given to them by the constituion under his brother Tsar Alexandar I. Slowly their rights started to be changed more and more to the rights of people that were in Russia. Slowly Poland was being incorporated into the Russsian Empire. Tsar Nicholas I in 1830 sent Polish troops to put down a revolutions that was occuring in France. This contributed to the Polish anger towards the Tsar about his actions and was the spark of the November Uprising. The November Uprising occurred on November 29, 1930 and was led by a non commission officer named Piotr Wysocki.who “took the arms from their garrison on , , and attacked the , the main seat of the Grand Duke” (Wikipepedia, November Uprising). Although the Polish army managed to capture the city of Warsaw, they ended up losing in the long run to the Russian army. The revolution was over on October 5, 1831 and Polish soldiers ended up surrendering to the Russians.

It is quite ironic to note how the documents starts out, Nicholas states, “By the grace of God, Nicholas, Tsar of all the Russias, King of Poland” (Arkenberg, 1998). It is quite interesting that he refers to himself as the King of Poland, when he has never been proclaimed as the King by the Polish people. If anything he denied the crown of being the Polish King. The first paragraph of the document discusses the reasons why Nicholas I attacked Poland in the first place and the results of those attacks. Tsar Nicholas also says “We deem it right to carry into execution our plan with regard to the introduction of the new order of things, whereby the tranquillity and union of the two nations.” (Arkenberg, 1998). He is stating that he is going to bring a new order to Poland that is different from the constitution that they had and that would unite Russia and Poland together into one big Russian Empire. Nicholas goes on to say that Russia should dominate Poland and that the constitution of 1815 was only granted because of his brother Tsar Alexandar I.

The second paragraph starts out saying “These favors, however, would not satisfy the eternal enemies of order and lawful power. Obstinately persevering in their culpable projects, they ceased not one moment to dream of a separation between the two nations.” (Arkenberg, 1998). This means that the favors he gave to Polish did not seem to satisfy them and that they still want a separate nation from Russia, therefore the November Uprising and the damage caused by the Russian army was brought on by the Polish who were seeking to defy the Russians rule. This is evident when Tsar Nicholas says “…eternal enemies of order and lawful power.”(Arkenberg, 1998). The last paragraph is interesting because Nicholas talks about now that all the evils have passed Poland can be restored to peace and flourish under new order and under the rightful government of Russia. This is evident when he says, “The kingdom of Poland, again subject to Our scepter, will regain tranquility, and again flourish in the bosom of peace, restored to it under the auspices of a vigilant government.” (Arkenberg, 1998).

In this document Tsar Nicholas I tried to affirm Russian dominance over Poland and that Poland was won over to Russia by God’s will. When he refers to the constitution of 1815, he also always notes that the Polish constitution was only granted and fought for because his brother was very kind and warm hearted. When Tsar Nicholas talks about the rebellion, he also refers to it as something evil and something that is not heavenly or good.

There was not much influence surrounding this document. However, it did foreshadow the fate of the Polish people and their country. Tsar Nicholas I never had any intentions of giving back the people of Poland their constitution and the right to decide their own fate. The next couple of years of Nicholas’s firm rule over the Polish people, would bring another uprising on January 22, 1863 against Russian rule. This caused the Polish people the revocation of all right of self-governing, language, schools and Russian was introduced in all institution and also became the official language. Congress of Poland belonged to Russia until 1915, when the Germans in WWI created the Kingdom of Poland.