Kościuszko Uprising: Encyclopedia II - Kościuszko Uprising - Uprising

Kościuszko Uprising - Uprising

On March 24, 1794 in Kraków General Tadeusz Kościuszko, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War pronounced the general uprising and assumed the powers of the commander in chief of the entire Polish Army, becoming the de facto dictator of Poland. He also vowed to

In order to strengthen the Polish forces, Kościuszko issued an act of mobilisation, requiring that every 5 houses in Lesser Poland delegate at least one able male soldier equipped with carbine, pike or an axe. Kościuszko's staff estimated that by mobilising all able males between 18 and 40 years of age the army of the uprising will soon reach the number of 10 000. The difficulties with providing enough armament for the mobilised troops made Kościuszko form large units composed of people armoured with scythes.

To destroy the, still weak, opposition, the Russian tsar ordered the corps of Major General Fiodor Denisov to attack Kraków. On April 4 both armies met near the village of Racławice. In what became known as the Battle of Racławice Kościuszko's forces defeated the numerically and technically superior opponent. After a bloody battle the Russian forces withdrew from the battlefield. Kościuszko's forces were too weak to start a successful pursuit and wipe the Russian forces out of Lesser Poland. Although the strategical importance of the victory was close to none, the news of the victory spread fast and soon other parts of Poland joined the ranks of the revolutionaries. By early April the Polish forces concentrated in the lands of Lublin and Volhynia, ready to be sent to Russia, joined the ranks of Kościuszko's forces. On April 17 Jan Kiliński started an armed uprising against the Russian garrison of Warsaw and after two days of heavy city fights managed to completely rout the Russian forces in the area. Similar uprising was started by Jakub Jasiński in Wilno on April 22 and soon other cities and towns followed.

On May 7, 1794, Kościuszko issued an act that became known as the "Połaniec Universal Call", in which he partially abolished the serfdom in Poland, granted civil liberty to all peasants and provided them with state help against the abuses by szlachta. Although the new law never fully came into being and was boycotted by much of the szlachta, it also attracted many peasants to the ranks of the revolutionists. It was the first time in Polish history when the peasants were officially regarded as part of the nation, the word being previously equal to szlachta.

Despite the promise of reforms and quick recruitment of new forces, the strategical situation of the Polish forces was still critical. On May 10 the forces of Prussia crossed the Polish borders and joined the Russian armies operating in northern Poland. On June 6 Kościuszko was defeated in the Battle of Szczekociny by a joint Russo-Prussian force and on June 8 General Józef Zajączek was defeated in the Battle of Chełm. Polish forces withdrew towards Warsaw and started to fortify the city. On June 15 the Prussian army captured Kraków unopposed, but the Russian forces were defeated in a series of skirmishes near Warsaw and the defenders managed to finish the fortification efforts. Although it was besieged by Russo-Prussian forces on July 22, the siege was unsuccessful. On August 20 an uprising in Greater Poland started and the Prussians were forced to withdraw their forces from Warsaw. The siege was lifted soon afterwards, on September 5. Russian forces commanded by Ivan Fersen were withdrawn towards Pilica River.

Although the opposition in Lithuania was crushed by Russian forces (Wilno was besieged and capitulated on August 12), the uprising in Greater Poland achieved some success. A Polish corps under Jan Henryk Dąbrowski captured Bydgoszcz (October 2) and entered Pomerania almost unopposed. Thanks to the mobility of his forces, General Dąbrowski evaded being encircled by a much less mobile Prussian army and disrupted the Prussian lines, forcing the Prussians to withdraw most of their forces from central Poland.

The new commander of the uprising, Tomasz Wawrzecki, was not able to control the spreading internal struggles for power and ultimately became only the commander of weakened military forces, while the political power was held by General Józef Zajączek, who in turn had to struggle with both the leftist liberal Jacobins and the rightist and monarchical gentry.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Uprising", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki