Kraków uprising

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the World War II planned uprising, see Kraków Uprising (1944).
Kraków uprising
Free City of Kraków
(modern Poland
)
Result Austrian victory
Belligerents

Polish independence movement

  • Polish militia and peasant guerrillas

 Austrian Empire

  • Imperial Austrian Army
    , Russian and peasant allies
Commanders and leaders Jan Tyssowski  (POW)
Edward Dembowski  † Ludwig Collin
Ludwig von BenedekStrength Unknown, estimated at few thousands Unknown, estimated at few thousandsCasualties and losses 1,000–2,000 Unknown

The Kraków uprising (

Free City of Krakow. It was directed at the powers that partitioned Poland, in particular the nearby Austrian Empire
. The uprising lasted about nine days and ended with Austrian victory.

Background

The uprising was primarily organized and supported by members of the

Free City of Krakow, nominally independent, was a central place for pro-Polish independence activists to discuss their plans.[6]

Initial success

The uprising began on the night of 20 February 1846.[6] It was successful in a short term, briefly taking over the city of Kraków.[1][5] Faced with riots, demonstrations and barricades, a small Austrian force in the city under General Ludwig Collin quickly retreated.[7][8] A provisional government formed on 22 February.[8] That day it issued a radical "Manifesto for the Polish Nation", in which it ordered the end of many elements of serfdom, such as corvée, declared universal suffrage, and other revolutionary ideas inspired by the French Revolution.[6][8][9]

Most of the uprising was limited to the Free City of Krakow, where its leaders included Jagiellonian University philosophy professor Michał Wiszniewski, and lecturer and lawyer Jan Tyssowski, who declared himself a dictator on 24 February (Tyssowski was assisted by radical democrat, acting as his secretary, Edward Dembowski, who according to some[9][10] might have been the real leader of the revolutionary government).[5][11][12] On 27 February a struggle for power developed, and Wiszniewski, after a failed attempt to take power, was exiled by Tyssowski and Dembowski within a matter of hours.[5][8]

Suppression

Attack of the Krakusi on Russians in Proszowice during the 1846 uprising. Juliusz Kossak painting.

Austrian forces in the area were led by Ludwig von Benedek.[5] The revolutionaries, despite some support from the Free City and its immediate surroundings, fared badly in the wider countryside.[6] They had up to 6,000 volunteers, but many were badly trained and poorly armed.[8] The rebels suffered a defeat on 26 February at the Battle of Gdów and were quickly dispersed by von Benedek's forces.[3][8][13] The Polish commander, Colonel Jakub Suchorzewski, was criticized for poor leadership, and for not taking sufficient precautions despite scout reports of an approaching enemy force.[14] The battle was very short, as the Polish forces collapsed almost immediately, with most of the infantry captured or killed by the peasants accompanying the Austrian forces.[13]

The uprising was soon suppressed by the Austrian army with help from local peasants.

Polish Commonwealth and that they were glad they could now complain to the Austrian emperor.[18]

It is estimated that about 1,000–2,000 Polish nobility who supported the uprising died in the conflict.[2] According to Judson, the Austrian military in fact had to intervene at one point to stop the violence and protect the rebels.[18]

According to Lerski, Dembowski was apprehended and executed by the Austrians.

religious procession with which he attempted to quell the peasants was attacked.[8][9][19] Whatever the case, the government of Tyssowski surrendered, just nine days after taking power, and Kraków was occupied first by Russians (on 3 March), and soon afterward (perhaps on the same day[7]), by the Austrians under Collin.[5][6][12] (Davies however writes that Russians joined Austrians on 4 March).[2] Tyssowski, who crossed the Prussian border with about 1,500 soldiers on 4 March, was interned, and later emigrated to the United States.[8][12]

Aftermath

Galician slaughter) by Jan Lewicki

Austria and Russia signed a treaty on 16 November, deciding to end the status of Kraków as the Free City.

Treaty of Vienna caused a short lived scandal in European politics of the day.[5] Kraków would be relegated to the role of a provincial capital in the Empire.[20]

Significance

As noted by Anderson, despite its failure, the uprising was seen by some scholars, including

Spring of Nations.[21][22] This view is common in the Polish historiography.[22]

The Uprising, and related events in

Galician slaughter), were widely discussed in the contemporary European press.[1]

The Austrian Empire, and the Metternich regime, ultimately lost out in the propaganda war that followed the Uprising. The fact that the peasantry supported the Austrians over a return to Polish rule was lost, with the rebels successfully claiming that the Austrians had effectively bought off the peasants and turned them against their national leaders. The conservative Metternich also would struggle to openly admit that peasant violence was justifiable, even if it was in support of the Habsburg Empire.[18]

As soon as the Kraków Uprising was put down, the Austrians pacified the insurgent peasantry,

Spring of Nations in 1848, resulting in the abolishment of serfdom in 1848.[21][25][26][27]

Coat of arms of the Kraków Uprising

Notable participant

  • Walerian Kalinka[28]

See also

  • Austrian Poland

Notes

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-57181-164-6. Archived
    from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-57181-164-6. Archived
    from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4678-0448-6. Archived
    from the original on 25 July 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  4. ISBN 978-0-295-80361-6. Archived
    from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-57181-164-6. Archived
    from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-313-03456-5. Archived
    from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  7. ^ a b Rocznik Biblioteki Polskiej Akademii Nauk w Krakowie. Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Wydawn. Polskiej Akademii Nauk. 1963. p. 255. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-925340-1. Archived
    from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8204-7866-1. Archived
    from the original on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  10. ISBN 978-0-295-80361-6. Archived
    from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  11. ^ Julian Dybiec (1970). Michał Wiszniewski, źycie i twórczość. Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich. p. 355. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-0-313-03456-5. Archived
    from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-83-02-02790-1. Archived
    from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  14. ^ Marian Anusiewicz; Jan Wimmer; Tadeusz Nowak; Eligiusz Kozłowski; Mieczysław Wrzosek (1973). Dzieje oreza polskiego, 963–1945. pp. 195–196. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  15. ^ (in Polish) "Austriacy wraz z polskimi chłopami zadali powstańcom klęskę pod Gdowem 26 lutego 1846, zaś chłopi wymordowali wielu powstańców": Historia Polski by Michał Tymowski, Jan Kieniewicz, Jerzy Holzer, Warsaw, 1990, p. 234.
  16. ^
    ISBN 978-0-313-03456-5. Archived
    from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  17. ISBN 978-1-84467-086-4
    . Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  18. ^
    ISBN 978-0674047761
    .
  19. ISBN 978-0-670-89271-6
    . Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  20. ISBN 978-92-871-6794-1. Archived
    from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  21. ^
    ISBN 978-0-226-01984-0. Archived
    from the original on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  22. ^
    ISBN 978-1-57181-164-6. Archived
    from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  23. ISBN 978-0-521-85332-3. Archived
    from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  24. ISBN 978-0-8047-7429-1. Archived
    from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  25. ISBN 978-1-60844-821-0. Archived
    from the original on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  26. ISBN 978-1-55753-371-5. Archived
    from the original on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  27. ISBN 978-0-8014-8996-9. Archived
    from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  28. ISBN 978-0-313-03456-5. Archived
    from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2013.

Further reading

External links

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