The Republic One and a Half

It often seems to us that between the final fall of the joint Polish-Lithuanian state in 1795 and the rebirth of the Republic in 1918, there were no significant forms of Polish statehood, and the Duchy of Warsaw (1807-1815) and the Kingdom of Poland (1815-1831) are treated only as effects of the policies of the invaders, although Napoleonic France can hardly be considered such. Meanwhile, this is not true, because in the years 1806-1831 we were dealing with the birth, existence and fall of Polish statehood, which can be described as the Republic of One and a Half.

It is beyond dispute that both of these forms of Polish statehood were not sovereign entities, and the scope of their independence, and therefore the possibility of actually deciding about their fate, was significant. This was expressed, for example, by finding themselves in a state of war with Russia twice in the name of restoring the Republic, and while in 1812 the elites of the Duchy primarily implemented Napoleon's intentions, in the years 1830-31 the leaders of the Alexandrian Kingdom understood the interests of Poland in this way, even taking into account the possibility of a provoked outbreak of the November Uprising.

The quarter-century of the existence of the Republic of Poland one and a half ended in a spectacular defeat, although it did not have to be so: literally at the last moment, at the beginning of September 1831, the possibility of a Polish-Russian agreement appeared, which could have led to saving the continued existence of the Kingdom of Poland, but its leaders did not take advantage of it. This is all the more astonishing because, in fact, the same generation of military commanders and civilian politicians, who had been in charge of the Polish cause since the end of the first Republic, and certainly since the Napoleonic Wars, witnessed the fall of the first incarnation of the Republic of Poland one and a half in the years 1812-1815 and should remember that the embryo of Polish statehood was saved and transformed into the Kingdom of Poland not thanks to the efforts of the Polish army, the remnants of which remained loyal to Napoleon's cause until the end, but as a result of the policy of Russia, and mainly its tsar, implemented against the resistance of the other European powers.

The analysis of the birth, existence and fall of the Republic of Poland One and a Half should allow us to answer the question of why the process of Poland's emergence for full independence collapsed in such a spectacular way, and instead of conducting politics based on our own state institutions, we became almost professional participants in every revolutionary turmoil that often swept through Europe at that time for a large part of the 19th century. This was the recipe for solving the Polish question formulated by the democratic camp. The conservative-liberal proposal was equally fruitless, because Western countries did not need instructions on how to conduct their policy towards Russia. Also, offers to create Polish legions in the event of an armed conflict with the Tsarist empire were dismissed with nothing, unless it was about providing typical cannon fodder by Poles.
In this work I often refer to older historical literature, which in many cases is more interesting than works created today. I also do not omit numerous memoirs or documents, trying to give voice to the heroes of the analyzed events wherever possible. This should provide an opportunity for a reliable understanding of the intricacies of Polish politics in the period of the Republic of Poland one and a half; hence - as much as possible - I try to give my theses a thoroughly documented character, especially since in many cases they differ from those that have dominated science or collective consciousness so far.

The large number of quotes may be a problem, but I would like Polish politicians and commanders to be able to present their arguments and defend the choices they made. In this way, we may be better able to understand the process of birth, existence and circumstances of the fall of the embryo of Polish statehood in the years 1806-1831.
And the matter is of no small importance, because starting from the Northern War of the early 18th century until today, we have had to conduct Polish politics surrounded by states much stronger than ours. It is a difficult art and it is always better to learn from the mistakes of others – even if our ancestors were to make them – than from our own, although we usually fail to do even that.

Lech Mazewski

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Hand-bound. Marbled paper on the endpapers. Stained block edges.

The book was set in Williams Caslon 12 pt font and printed on Munken Pure 100 g paper. Year of publication: 2011 Format: 175×250

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