Between the Consolidation from Above and the Fragmentation of the State: Partitions, Duchy of Warsaw and Polish Lands After the Congress of Vienna (1795–1830)

Abstract

The Polish state ceased to exist as a result of three partitions in 1795. Subsequently, it was revived—on a significantly diminished territory—first, by Napoleon, as the Duchy of Warsaw, and then, after the Congress of Vienna, as the Kingdom of Poland (known as Congress Poland) and the Free City of Cracow, both with relative autonomy (including their own constitutions). Within the Prussian state, some extent of autonomy was granted to the Grand Duchy of Posen. These quasi-states came to a decline between 1831 (the defeat of the November Uprising) and 1848 (after the Revolutions of 1848).