Lithuanian Provisional Governing Commission
Grand Duchy of Lithuania | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1812–1813 | |||||||||
Capital | Vilnius | ||||||||
Common languages | |||||||||
Lithuanian | |||||||||
Government | Constitutional monarchy | ||||||||
Grand Duke | |||||||||
• 1812–1813 | Frederick Augustus I | ||||||||
President | |||||||||
• 1812 (first) | Józef Sierakowski | ||||||||
• 1812–1813 (last) | Stanisław Sołtan | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Declared | 1 July 1812 | ||||||||
• Joining the General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland | 14 July 1812 | ||||||||
• Russian conquest of Lithuanian territory | December 1812 | ||||||||
• Dissolution of the government-in-exile | 30 April 1813 | ||||||||
|
The Provisional Government Commission of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; also, the Lithuanian Provisional Governing Commission (
History
The commission was established on 1 July 1812 by order of French Emperor
Central, regional and local bodies of the civil administration of the 4 provinces were subordinated to him. Departments were divided into divisions headed by sub-prefects. In each of them, and later in the Vitebsk and Mogilev departments (not subordinate to the government, subordinate to the military governor Charpentier), an administrative commission of 3 members, appointed or approved by Napoleon, was organized under the chairmanship of the French quartermaster. The structure of municipal (city) self-government was organized according to the example of Vilnius. At the same time, a system of military-administrative management of the region was created. The bodies of the Napoleonic administration were mainly involved in the organization of armed formations, provision of troops, and collection of funds.[2]
The Provisional Government of Lithuania, initially, had no connections to Poland.[3]
Supervision of the commission was entrusted to the former French Resident in the
.Napoleon, contrary to the hopes reposed in him by the General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland, had not restored Polish statehood to the former Polish–Lithuanian lands. He had merely established, in the conquered territories, a provisional administration, thereby sidestepping final dispositions pending his further conquest of Russia.
Józef Wybicki, sent on 11 July 1812 to Vilnius with a deputation from the Council of the General Confederation, unsuccessfully attempted to get the Emperor to declare the restoration of the Kingdom of Poland, including the territories that had been annexed in the Partitions of Poland. Napoleon also refused to attach the military units consisting of Lithuanians to the Polish ones.
Only on 14 July 1812 the Commission formally joined the General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland, creating the united Kingdom of Poland.
After Russian troops invaded Lithuanian territory at the end of 1812, the Commission acted outside Lithuania.
Presidents
- Józef Sierakowski (to July 18, 1812)
- Stanisław Sołtan (to August 24, 1812)
- Dirk van Hogendorp(to September 1812)
- Stanisław Sołtan (to September 1813)
Secretary General: Józef Ignacy Kossakowski
Members
- Louis Pierre Édouard, Baron Bignon
- Aleksander Stanisław Potocki
- Aleksander Antoni Sapieha
- Jan Śniadecki
References
- vle.lt. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ Lrt.lt(in Lithuanian). Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ISBN 978-9955-415-66-4.
Sources
- Janusz Iwaszkiewicz, Litwa w roku 1812 (Lithuania in 1812), Warsaw, 1912.
- Marian Kukiel, Wojna 1812 roku (The 1812 War), Kraków, 1937.
- A. Rembowski, "Konfederacja Generalna i pospolite ruszenie w roku 1812" ("The Levee en Massein 1812"), Biblioteka Warszawska (The Warsaw Library), vol. 1, 1896, fascicle 3, pp. 478–514; vol. 2, 1896, fascicle 1, pp. 67–86.
- Władysław Zajewski, Józef Wybicki, Warsaw, 1983.
- БЕЛАРУСЬ І НАПАЛЕОН: 200 ГАДОЎ Міхась ГАЛДЗЕНКОЎ "Аналітычная газэта «Сакрэтныя дасьледаваньні»