Duchy of Warsaw

The Duchy of Warsaw (Polish: Księstwo Warszawskie, Latin: Ducatus Varsoviae, French: Duche de Varsovie) was a Polish state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807 from the Polish lands he seized from the Kingdom of Prussia in Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was in personal union with Saxony under Frederick Augustus I as Duke of Warsaw (1807-1813).

Name and political status: Duchy (not Grand)

In some contemporary, especially American, sources this state is erronously called the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. The title and status of a Grand Duke and Grand Duchy is slightly higher that Duke and Duchy, so if Frederick Augustus had received these titles he would be the first to tell it to everybody. Frederic Augustus always called himself the King of Saxony. Duke of Warsaw (Latin: Rex Saxoniae, Dux Vasoviae). During the Napoleon's Russian campain in 1812 the Polish Parliament passed an act of the Kingdom restoration, renaming the Duchy of Warsaw into the Kingdom of Poland in union with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but with the campaign's failure, the status of the Duchy of Warsaw was restored.

Area of the Duchy (1806-1809)

The area of the Duchy had already been liberated by a popular uprising in 1806, provoked by proclamation of conscription to the Polish army. The first tasks for the new government included providing food to the French army which was fighting the Russians in East Prussia. According to the Treaties of Tilsit, the area of the Duchy was formed from the Prussian provinces:

New East Prussia (except Bialystok district which was given to Russia)
Southern Prussia (Second partition of Poland)
New Silesia (Second partition of Poland)
parts of West Prussia (mainly Netze district and Chelmno Land)
Gdansk was made a free city with French and Polish garrisons there.

Area of the Duchy (1809-1815)

After the ensuing war with Austria in 1809 and the Battle of Raszyn, the Duchy was extended with land from the following provinces:

West Galicia
Krakow
parts of Galicia (district Zamosc)

The area of the Duchy was 158,000 km² with a population of over 3 million.

Teritorial administration

Constitution

The Duchy was endowed with a formal constitution by Napoleon (see Constitution of Duchy of Warsaw).

**Polish history series**
Polish statehood File:Piast Eagle.png
Kingdom of Poland (Piasts) Kingdom of Poland (Jagiellonian) Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Duchy of Warsaw(1807-1815) Congress Poland(1815-1916) Grand Duchy of Poznań (1815-1846) Free City of Kraków(1815-1846) Kingdom of Poland (1916-1918) Second Polish Republic Polish government-in-exile People's Republic of Poland Poland

History

Unlike the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Duchy was highly militarized and overtaxed. In 1812, the state of 3 million people contributed almost 200,000 army recruits for service against Russia.

Poles expected in 1812 that the duchy would be upgraded to the status of a kingdom, and that during Napoleon's march on Russia, it would be joined with the liberated territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. However, Napoleon didn't want to make a permanent decision that would tie his hands before the anticipated peace settlement with Russia. The Grand Duchy was not an independent state. Its ruler was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and it did not possess its own diplomatic representation. The Armed Forces were completely under French control via its war minister Józef Poniatowski, who was also a French marshal, and had to participate in Napoleon's campaigns.

The Duchy divided (4th partition of Poland)

After the fall of Napoleon, according to the Congress of Vienna (1815), the territory of the Duchy was divided into three parts:

Kingdom of Poland in personal union with Russia - 128,000 km²,
Grand Duchy of Poznan in real union with Prussia - 29,000 km²
Free City of Kraków (under protection of the three powers, but in 1846 annexed by Austria) - roughly 1000 km² with 88,000 people.