Whites (January Uprising)

Last updated

The "Whites" (Polish: Biali) were a faction among Polish insurrectionists before and during the January Uprising in early 1860s. They consisted mostly of progressive-minded landowners and industrialists, the middle class, and some intellectuals of Russian controlled Congress Poland. The faction had its origins in the Towarzystwo Rolnicze (Agricultural Society) started by Count Andrzej Artur Zamoyski in 1858. While the Whites supported ending serfdom, unlike the "Red" faction, they advocated for some kind of compensation to be made to the landlords. Also unlike the Reds, the Whites generally opposed the idea of an armed insurrection against Russia, seeing it as doomed to failure. Instead, they tried to use diplomacy and the support of other European powers to win greater autonomy, a separate administration, and a native Polish army for Congress Poland. They also tried to influence the Tsar to engage in the recovery of former Polish lands, which had been taken by partitioning powers Austria and Prussia. However, once the January Uprising broke out, most Whites supported it both politically and militarily.

Notable members

Related Research Articles

Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki King and Grand Duke of Poland-Lithuania

Michael I was the ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 29 September 1669 until his death in 1673.

Stanisław August Poniatowski last King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania

Stanisław August Poniatowski, known by his regal title Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Congress Poland Former state in Eastern Europe

Congress Poland or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state and successor to Napoleon's short-lived Duchy of Warsaw. It was established in the Russian sector after Poland was partitioned by the Habsburg Monarchy, Russia and Prussia. In 1915, during World War I, it was replaced by the Central Powers with the nominal Regency Kingdom of Poland, until Poland regained independence in 1918.

January Uprising Polish uprising against occupying Russian Empire in the 19th century

The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland aimed at the restoration of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last insurgents were captured by the Russian forces in 1864.

Gabriel Narutowicz Polish/Lithuanian academic and first President of Poland (1865–1922)

Gabriel Józef Narutowicz was a Polish/Lithuanian professor of hydroelectric engineering and politician who served as the first President of Poland from 11 December 1922 until his assassination on 16 December, five days after assuming office. He previously served as the Minister of Public Works from 1920 to 1921 and briefly as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1922. A renowned engineer and politically independent, Narutowicz was the first elected head of state following Poland's regained sovereignty from partitioning powers.

Stanisław Staszic

Stanisław Wawrzyniec Staszic was a leading figure in the Polish Enlightenment: a Catholic priest, philosopher, geologist, writer, poet, translator and statesman. A physiocrat, monist, pan-Slavist and laissez-fairist, he supported many reforms in Poland. He is particularly remembered for his political writings during the "Great (Four-Year) Sejm" (1788–92) and for his large support towards the Constitution of 3 May 1791, adopted by that Sejm.

Vistula Land

Vistula Land or Vistula Country was the name applied to the lands of Congress Poland from 1867, following the defeats of the November Uprising (1830–31) and January Uprising (1863–1864) as it was increasingly stripped of autonomy and incorporated into Imperial Russia. It also continued to be formally known as Congress Poland and Russian Poland during the Russian partition.

Zamoyski family

Zamoyski is the name of an important Polish noble (szlachta) family, which used the Jelita coat of arms. It is the Polish term for "de Zamość", the name they originally held as lords of Zamość. The family was influential in Polish politics for several centuries, and its members held various official titles, including those of Count and Countess.

Andrzej Artur Zamoyski Polish noble

Count Andrzej Artur Zamoyski was a Polish nobleman, landowner and political and economic activist.

Ambassadors and envoys from Russia to Poland (1763–1794)

Ambassadors and envoys from Russia to Poland–Lithuania in the years 1763–1794 were among the most important characters in the politics of Poland. Their powers went far beyond those of most diplomats and can be compared to those of viceroys in the colonies of Spanish Empire, or Roman Republic's proconsuls in Roman provinces. During most of that period ambassadors and envoys from the Russian Empire, acting on the instructions from Saint Petersburg, held a de facto position superior to that of the Polish king, Stanisław August Poniatowski. Backed by the presence of the Russian army within the borders of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and leveraging the immense wealth of the Russian Empire, they were able to influence both the king and the Polish parliament, the Sejm. According to their demands, the king dispensed the Commonwealth offices among the Russian supporters, and the Sejm, bribed or threatened, voted as the Russians dictated. The agenda of the Permanent Council was edited and approved by the Russian ambassador, and the members of the council were approved by him.

Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party

The Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party, also translated as Fighting Organization of the Polish Socialist Party; also known as bojówki ; Organizacja Spiskowo-Bojowa PPS ; Koła Bojowe Samoobrony Robotniczej and Koła Techniczno-Bojowe, was an illegal Polish guerrilla organization founded in 1904 by Józef Piłsudski.

Łódź insurrection

The Łódź insurrection, also known as the June Days, was an uprising by Polish workers in Łódź against the Russian Empire between 21 and 25 June 1905. This event was one of the largest disturbances in the Russian-controlled Congress Poland during the Russian Revolution of 1905. Poland was a major center of revolutionary fighting in the Russian Empire in 1905–1907, and the Łódź insurrection was a key incident in those events.

Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland (1905–1907)

A major part of the Russian Revolution of 1905 took place in Russian-partitioned Poland, lasting until 1907. One of the major events of that period was the insurrection in Łódź in June 1905. Throughout that period, many smaller manifestations, demonstrations and armed struggles between the peasants and workers on one side, and the government on the other, took place. The demands of the demonstrators included both the improvement of the workers' living conditions, as well as political freedoms, particularly related to increased autonomy for Poland. Particularly in 1905, Poland was at the verge of a new uprising, revolution, or a civil war. Some Polish historians even consider the events of that period a fourth Polish uprising against the Russian Empire.

Zamoyski Code was a major, progressive legislation, proposed by Andrzej Zamoyski, Grand Chancellor of the Crown of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1776. This legislation was an attempt of codification of the previously uncodified law of the Commonwealth. It was opposed by several conservative and foreign factions and eventually rejected by the sejm of 1780.

History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1648)

The history of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1648) covers a period in the history of Poland and Lithuania, before their joint state was subjected to devastating wars in the middle of the 17th century. The Union of Lublin of 1569 established the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a more closely unified federal state, replacing the previously existing personal union of the two countries. The Union was largely run by the Polish and increasingly Polonized Lithuanian and Ruthenian nobility, through the system of the central parliament and local assemblies, but from 1573 led by elected kings. The formal rule of the proportionally more numerous than in other European countries nobility constituted a sophisticated early democratic system, in contrast to the absolute monarchies prevalent at that time in the rest of Europe.

The "Reds" were a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863. They were radical democratic activists who supported the outbreak of the uprising from the outset, advocated an end to serfdom in Congress and future independent Poland, without compensation to the landlords, land reform and other substantial social reforms. This contrasted them with the "White" faction, which only came to support the Uprising after it was already under way, and which, while also strongly supporting an end to serfdom wanted to compensate the landowners.

History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1764–1795)

The History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1764–1795) is concerned with the final decades of existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The period, during which the declining state pursued wide-ranging reforms and was subjected to three partitions by the neighboring powers, coincides with the election and reign of the federation's last king, Stanisław August Poniatowski.

Zamoyski family entail

The Zamoyski family entail was one of the first and largest fee tails in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was owned by the Zamoyski family, the richest aristocratic family in Poland. It was established upon the request of Crown Hetman Jan Zamoyski, on 8 July 1589. The fee existed until the end of World War II, when it was abolished by the communist government of the People's Republic of Poland, which in 1944 initiated an agricultural reform.

Zamoyski Palace

Zamoyski Palace - a historical building, located by Nowy Świat Street in Warsaw, Poland.

Leopold Stanisław Kronenberg

Leopold Stanisław Kronenberg was a Polish banker, investor, and financier, and a leader of the 1863 January uprising against the Russian Empire.

References