Polish November Rebellion 1830-1831

After the Congress of Vienna, St. Petersburg had organized its Polish lands as the Congress Kingdom of Poland, granting it a quite liberal constitution, its own army, and limited autonomy within the tsarist empire. In the 1820s, however, Russian rule grew more arbitrary, and secret societies were formed by intellectuals in several cities to plot an overthrow. In November 1830, Polish troops in Warsaw rose in revolt. When the government of Congress Poland proclaimed solidarity with the insurrectionists shortly thereafter, a new Polish-Russian war began. The rebels' requests for aid from France were ignored, and their reluctance to abolish serfdom cost them the support of the peasantry. By September 1831, the Russians had subdued Polish resistance and forced 6,000 resistance fighters into exile in France, beginning a time of harsh repression of intellectual and religious activity throughout Poland. At the same time, Congress Poland lost its constitution and its army.

After the failure of the November Revolt, clandestine conspiratorial activity continued on Polish territory. An exiled Polish political and intellectual elite established a base of operations in Paris. A conservative group headed by Adam Czartoryski (leader of the November Revolt) relied on foreign diplomatic support to restore Poland's status as established by the Congress of Vienna, which Russia had routinely violated beginning in 1819. Otherwise, this group was satisfied with a return to monarchy and traditional social structures.

Notes

[1]

[2]

References

Clodfelter, 325-6; COW517; EB - November Insurrection; Kohn, 374; Poland - A Country Study.

Category

Intra-State War

Region

Eastern Europe

Belligerents

Russia, Poles

Dispute

Governancen, Territory

Initiation Date

November 29, 1830^[1]

Termination Date

October 5, 1831^[2]

Duration

10 months, 7 days
(311 days)

Outcome

Imposed Settlement
(Russian victory)

Fatalities

Total: 35,000
Poles: 20,000
Russians: 15,000

Magnitude

4.5