Aleksander Łappa (1802-1869) – ostatni marszałek szlachty guberni mińskiej z wyboru. Część II: Gubernialny marszałek szlachty (1859-1863)

Abstract

Alexander Łappa held the rank of the Minsk Governorate Marshal of Nobility during a period of widespread social transformations in the Russian Empire and a national and political crisis in the Kingdom of Poland and the Western Governorates. Trying to promote his multifaceted program of reforms in the Belarusian-Lithuanian lands, he relied on deep dialogue with the liberal bureaucratic circles of the Imperial Government and, at the same time, rejected conspiratorial, armed and other kinds of adventurous forms of the national liberation struggle. The polarization among the nobles of the Minsk Governorate increased after the scandalous Noble Elections of 1862. It was aggravated after the outbreak of the January Uprising in the Kingdom of Poland and, connected with it, the growing repressive policy of the civil and military authorities. All of these factors caused Łappa to lose influence in the socio-political life of the nobility and voluntarily resign from his position as marshal.