Poland on the eve of October 1917. History of Poland

Poland was part of the Russian Empire from 1815 to 1917. It was a turbulent and difficult period for the Polish people - a time of new opportunities and great disappointments.

Relations between Russia and Poland have always been difficult. First of all, this is a consequence of the proximity of the two states, which for many centuries has given rise to territorial disputes. It is quite natural that during major wars Russia always found itself drawn into the revision of the Polish-Russian borders. This radically influenced the social, cultural and economic conditions in the surrounding areas, as well as the way of life of the Poles.

"Prison of Nations"

The “national question” of the Russian Empire aroused different, sometimes polar, opinions. Thus, Soviet historical science called the empire nothing more than a “prison of nations,” and Western historians considered it a colonial power.

But from the Russian publicist Ivan Solonevich we find the opposite statement: “Not a single people in Russia was subjected to such treatment as Ireland was subjected to in the times of Cromwell and the times of Gladstone. With very few exceptions, all nationalities in the country were completely equal before the law."

Russia has always been a multi-ethnic state: its expansion gradually led to the fact that the already heterogeneous composition of Russian society began to be diluted by representatives of different nations. This also applied to the imperial elite, which was noticeably replenished with immigrants from European countries who came to Russia “to pursue happiness and rank.”

For example, an analysis of the lists of the “Rank” of the late 17th century shows that in the boyar corps there were 24.3% of people of Polish and Lithuanian origin. However, the overwhelming majority of “Russian foreigners” lost their national identity, dissolving into Russian society.

"Kingdom of Poland"

Having joined Russia following the Patriotic War of 1812, the “Kingdom of Poland” (since 1887 – “Vistula region”) had a dual position. On the one hand, after the division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, although it was a completely new geopolitical entity, it still retained ethnocultural and religious connections with its predecessor.

On the other hand, national self-awareness grew here and the sprouts of statehood emerged, which could not but affect the relationship between the Poles and the central government.
After joining the Russian Empire, changes were undoubtedly expected in the “Kingdom of Poland”. There were changes, but they were not always perceived unambiguously. During Poland's entry into Russia, five emperors changed, and each had his own view of the westernmost Russian province.

If Alexander I was known as a “polonophile,” then Nicholas I built a much more sober and tough policy towards Poland. However, one cannot deny his desire, in the words of the emperor himself, “to be as good a Pole as a good Russian.”

Russian historiography generally has a positive assessment of the results of Poland’s century-long entry into the empire. Perhaps it was Russia’s balanced policy towards its western neighbor that helped create a unique situation in which Poland, although not an independent territory, retained its state and national identity for a hundred years.

Hopes and disappointments

One of the first measures introduced by the Russian government was the abolition of the “Napoleonic Code” and its replacement with the Polish Code, which, among other measures, allocated land to peasants and intended to improve the financial situation of the poor. The Polish Sejm passed the new bill, but refused to ban civil marriage, which provides freedom.

This clearly showed the Poles' orientation toward Western values. There was someone to take as an example. Thus, in the Grand Duchy of Finland, by the time the Kingdom of Poland became part of Russia, serfdom had been abolished. Enlightened and liberal Europe was closer to Poland than “peasant” Russia.

After the “Alexander freedoms” the time came for the “Nikolaev reaction”. In the Polish province, almost all office work is translated into Russian, or into French for those who did not speak Russian. Confiscated estates are distributed to persons of Russian origin, and all senior official positions are also filled by Russians.

Nicholas I, who visited Warsaw in 1835, senses a brewing protest in Polish society, and therefore forbids the deputation to express loyal feelings, “in order to protect them from lies.”
The tone of the emperor’s speech is striking in its uncompromisingness: “I need deeds, not words. If you persist in your dreams of national isolation, the independence of Poland and similar fantasies, you will bring upon yourself the greatest misfortune... I tell you that at the slightest disturbance I will order the city to be shot, I will turn Warsaw into ruins and, of course, I will not I’ll rebuild it.”

Polish revolt

Sooner or later, empires will be replaced by national-type states. This problem also affected the Polish province, where, in the wake of the growth of national consciousness, political movements that have no equal among other provinces of Russia are gaining strength.

The idea of ​​national isolation, right up to the restoration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth within its former boundaries, embraced ever wider sections of the masses. The driving force behind the protest was the student body, which was supported by workers, soldiers, and various sections of Polish society. Later, some landowners and nobles joined the liberation movement.

The main demands made by the rebels were agrarian reforms, democratization of society and ultimately the independence of Poland.
But for the Russian state it was a dangerous challenge. The Russian government responded sharply and harshly to the Polish uprisings of 1830-1831 and 1863-1864. The suppression of the riots turned out to be bloody, but there was no excessive harshness, which Soviet historians wrote about. They preferred to send the rebels to remote Russian provinces.

The uprisings forced the government to take a number of countermeasures. In 1832, the Polish Sejm was liquidated and the Polish army was disbanded. In 1864, restrictions were introduced on the use of the Polish language and the movement of the male population. To a lesser extent, the results of the uprisings affected the local bureaucracy, although among the revolutionaries were the children of high-ranking officials. The period after 1864 was marked by an increase in “Russophobia” in Polish society.

From dissatisfaction to benefits

Poland, despite the restrictions and infringements of freedoms, received certain benefits from belonging to the empire. Thus, during the reigns of Alexander II and Alexander III, Poles began to be appointed to leadership positions more often. In some counties their number reached 80%. The Poles had no less opportunity for advancement in the civil service than the Russians.

Even more privileges were given to Polish aristocrats, who automatically received high ranks. Many of them oversaw the banking sector. Profitable positions in St. Petersburg and Moscow were available to the Polish nobility, and they also had the opportunity to open their own business.
It should be noted that in general the Polish province had more privileges than other regions of the empire. Thus, in 1907, at a meeting of the State Duma of the 3rd convocation, it was announced that in various Russian provinces taxation reaches 1.26%, and in the largest industrial centers of Poland - Warsaw and Lodz it does not exceed 1.04%.

It is interesting that the Privislinsky region received 1 ruble 14 kopecks back in the form of subsidies for every ruble donated to the state treasury. For comparison, the Central Black Earth Region received only 74 kopecks.
The government spent a lot on education in the Polish province - from 51 to 57 kopecks per person, and, for example, in Central Russia this amount did not exceed 10 kopecks. Thanks to this policy, from 1861 to 1897 the number of literate people in Poland increased 4 times, reaching 35%, although in the rest of Russia this figure fluctuated around 19%.

At the end of the 19th century, Russia embarked on the path of industrialization, supported by solid Western investments. Polish officials also received dividends from this, participating in railway transportation between Russia and Germany. As a result, a huge number of banks appeared in large Polish cities.

Tragic for Russia, 1917 ended the history of “Russian Poland”, giving the Poles the opportunity to establish their own statehood. What Nicholas II promised came true. Poland gained freedom, but the union with Russia so desired by the emperor did not work out.

History of Poland.

World War I

The First World War divided the powers that liquidated Poland: Russia fought with Germany and Austria-Hungary. This situation opened up life-changing opportunities for the Poles, but also created new difficulties. First, the Poles had to fight in opposing armies; secondly, Poland became the arena of battles between the warring powers; thirdly, disagreements between Polish political groups intensified. Conservative national democrats led by Roman Dmowski (1864–1939) considered Germany the main enemy and wanted the Entente to win. Their goal was to unite all Polish lands under Russian control and obtain autonomy status. Radical elements led by the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), on the contrary, viewed the defeat of Russia as the most important condition for achieving Polish independence. They believed that the Poles should create their own armed forces. A few years before the outbreak of the First World War, Józef Piłsudski (1867–193 5) , the radical leader of this group, began military training of Polish youth in Galicia. During the war he formed the Polish legions and fought on the side of Austria-Hungary.

August 14, 1914 Nikolai I in an official declaration, he promised to unite the three parts of Poland into an autonomous state within the Russian Empire after the war. However, in the fall of 1915 O Most of Russian Poland was occupied by Germany and Austria-Hungary, and on November 5, 1916, the monarchs of the two powers announced a manifesto on the creation of an independent Polish Kingdom in the Russian part of Poland. On March 30, 1917, after the February Revolution in Russia, the Provisional Government of Prince Lvov recognized Poland's right to self-determination. On July 22, 1917, Pilsudski, who fought on the side of the Central Powers, was interned, and his legions were disbanded for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the emperors of Austria-Hungary and Germany. In France, with the support of the Entente powers, the Polish National Committee (PNC) was created in August 1917, led by Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski; The Polish army was also formed with commander-in-chief Józef Haller. On January 8, 1918, US President Wilson demanded the creation of an independent Polish state with access to the Baltic Sea. In June 1918, Poland was officially recognized as a country fighting on the side of the Entente. On October 6, during the period of disintegration and collapse of the Central Powers, the Council of Regency of Poland announced the creation of an independent Polish state, and on November 14 transferred full power to Pilsudski in the country. By this time, Germany had already capitulated, Austria-Hungary had collapsed, and there was a civil war in Russia.

The new country faced great difficulties. Cities and villages lay in ruins; there were no connections in the economy, which had been developing for a long time within three different states; Poland had neither its own currency nor government institutions; finally, its borders were not defined and agreed upon with its neighbors. Nevertheless, state building and economic recovery proceeded at a rapid pace. After the transition period, when the socialist cabinet was in power, on January 17, 1919, Paderewski was appointed prime minister, and Dmowski was appointed head of the Polish delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference. On January 26, 1919, elections to the Sejm were held, the new composition of which approved Pilsudski as head of state.The question of boundaries.

The western and northern borders of the country were determined at the Versailles Conference, by which Poland was given part of Pomerania and access to the Baltic Sea; Danzig (Gdansk) received the status of a “free city”. At the conference of ambassadors on July 28, 1920, the southern border was agreed upon. The city of Cieszyn and its suburb Cesky Cieszyn were divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia. Fierce disputes between Poland and Lithuania over Vilno (Vilnius), an ethnically Polish but historically Lithuanian city, ended with its occupation by the Poles on October 9, 1920; annexation to Poland was approved on February 10, 1922 by a democratically elected regional assembly.

On April 21, 1920, Piłsudski entered into an alliance with the Ukrainian leader Petliura and launched an offensive to liberate Ukraine from the Bolsheviks. On May 7, the Poles took Kyiv, but on June 8, pressed by the Red Army, they began to retreat. At the end of July, the Bolsheviks were on the outskirts of Warsaw. However, the Poles managed to defend the capital and push back the enemy; this ended the war. The subsequent Treaty of Riga (March 18, 1921) represented a territorial compromise for both sides and was officially recognized by a conference of ambassadors on March 15

One of the first post-war events in the country was the adoption of a new constitution on March 17, 1921. She established a republican system in Poland, established a bicameral (Sejm and Senate) parliament, proclaimed freedom of speech and organization, and equality of citizens before the law. However, the internal situation of the new state was difficult. Poland was in a state of political, social and economic instability. The Sejm was politically fragmented due to the many parties and political groups represented in it. Constantly changing government coalitions were unstable, and the executive branch as a whole was weak. There were tensions with national minorities, who made up a third of the population. The Locarno Treaties of 1925 did not guarantee the security of Poland's western borders, and the Dawes Plan contributed to the restoration of German military-industrial potential. Under these conditions, on May 12, 1926, Pilsudski carried out a military coup and established a “sanation” regime in the country; Until his death on May 12, 1935, he directly or indirectly controlled all power in the country. The Communist Party was banned, and political trials with long prison sentences became commonplace. As German Nazism strengthened, restrictions were introduced on the grounds of anti-Semitism. On April 22, 1935, a new constitution was adopted, which significantly expanded the power of the president, limiting the rights of political parties and the powers of parliament. The new constitution did not receive the approval of the opposition political parties, and the struggle between them and the Piłsudski regime continued until the outbreak of World War II.

The leaders of the new Polish Republic tried to secure their state by pursuing a policy of non-alignment. Poland did not join the Little Entente, which included Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania. On January 25, 1932, a non-aggression pact was concluded with the USSR.

After Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in January 1933, Poland failed to establish allied relations with France, while Great Britain and France concluded a “pact of agreement and cooperation” with Germany and Italy. After this, on January 26, 1934, Poland and Germany concluded a non-aggression pact for a period of 10 years, and soon the validity of a similar agreement with the USSR was extended. In March 1936, after Germany's military occupation of the Rhineland, Poland again unsuccessfully tried to conclude an agreement with France and Belgium on Poland's support for them in the event of war with Germany. In October 1938, simultaneously with the annexation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, Poland occupied the Czechoslovak part of the Cieszyn region. In March 1939, Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia and made territorial claims to Poland. On March 31, Great Britain and on April 13, France guaranteed the territorial integrity of Poland; In the summer of 1939, Franco-British-Soviet negotiations began in Moscow aimed at containing German expansion. In these negotiations, the Soviet Union demanded the right to occupy the eastern part of Poland and at the same time entered into secret negotiations with the Nazis. On August 23, 1939, a German-Soviet non-aggression pact was concluded, the secret protocols of which provided for the division of Poland between Germany and the USSR. Having ensured Soviet neutrality, Hitler freed his hands. On September 1, 1939, World War II began with an attack on Poland.

The Poles, who had not received military assistance from France and Great Britain despite promises (both of them declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939), could not hold back the unexpected invasion of powerful motorized German armies. The situation became hopeless after Soviet troops attacked Poland from the east on September 17. The Polish government and the remnants of the armed forces crossed the border into Romania, where they were interned. The Polish government in exile was headed by General Wladyslaw Sikorski. In France, a new Polish army, naval and air force with a total strength of 80 thousand people were formed. The Poles fought on the side of France until its defeat in June 1940; the Polish government then moved to Britain, where it reorganized the army, which later fought in Norway, North Africa and Western Europe. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, Polish pilots destroyed more than 15% of all German aircraft shot down. In total, more than 300 thousand Poles served abroad in the Allied armed forces.

The left, the intelligentsia and the army became his support. Pilsudski was assisted by War Minister Żeligowski, who authorized extensive maneuvers. So the marshal had a large army at his disposal. In May 1926 it moved towards Warsaw. Fighting with government supporters continued for three days. Finally, on May 15, the capital came under Piłsudski's control. Two weeks later he was again elected president of Poland, but refused the position.

Brest process

In 1931-1932 Pilsudski finally got rid of his political opponents. The authorities arrested former Seimas deputies who opposed the new sanitization regime on criminal charges.

The Brest trial was held over them. It was named after the place where prisoners were kept. They served their time in the Brest Fortress. Some oppositionists managed to emigrate to Czechoslovakia or France. The rest served their prison sentences and were virtually thrown out of the country's political life. These measures allowed Pilsudski's supporters to remain in power until the fall of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Sanitation

Pilsudski supported the candidacy of Ignacy Moscicki as head of state. He became the country's president until 1939, when the Wehrmacht invaded it. An authoritarian regime was established, which relied on the military. Under the new order, the government in the Republic of Poland lost most of its powers.

The resulting regime was called reorganization. Oppositionists and opponents of Pilsudski's course (and he greatly influenced public policy) began to be persecuted by the authorities. Officially, authoritarianism in the form of highly centralized power was enshrined in the new constitution of 1935. It also defined other important foundations of the state system, for example, the fact that Polish was recognized as the only state language, despite the presence of national minorities in some regions.

Agreements with Germany

Piłsudski became minister of military affairs in 1926. He completely controlled the country's foreign policy. He managed to achieve stabilization of relations with neighbors. In 1932, a non-aggression pact was concluded with the Soviet Union, and its border with Poland was agreed upon and settled. The republic signed a similar agreement with Germany in 1934.

However, these agreements were unreliable. Pilsudski did not trust the communists and even less the Nazis who came to power in Germany. Poland, Russia, the Third Reich and their tangled and complex relationships were sources of tension throughout Europe. Trying to play it safe, Piłsudski sought support from Great Britain and France. The Minister of Military Affairs died on May 12, 1935. Due to the death of the marshal, national mourning was declared for the first and last time in the history of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Polonization

During the interwar period, Poland was a multinational country. This was due to the fact that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth came under the control of territories that were annexed mainly during military campaigns of conquest in neighboring states. There were about 66% Poles in the country. There were especially few of them in the east of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Ukrainians made up 10% of the republic's population, Jews - 8%, Rusyns - 3%, etc. Such a national kaleidoscope inevitably led to conflicts. In order to somehow smooth out the contradictions, the authorities pursued a policy of polonization - the implantation of Polish culture and the Polish language in territories inhabited by ethnic minorities.

Tešin conflict

In the second half of the 1930s, the international situation continued to deteriorate. Adolf Hitler insisted on the return to Germany of the lands seized from it after the First World War. In 1938, the famous Munich Agreement was signed. Germany received the Sudetenland, which belonged to Czechoslovakia, but was populated mainly by Germans. At the same time, Poland did not miss the opportunity to make claims to its southern neighbor.

On September 30, an ultimatum was sent to Czechoslovakia. Prague was demanded to return the Cieszyn region, which, due to the national characteristics of the region, was claimed by Poland. Today, due to the bloody events of World War II, this conflict is hardly remembered. However, it was in 1938 that Poland captured Cieszyn, taking advantage of the Sudetenland crisis.

Hitler's ultimatum

Despite the Munich Agreement, Hitler's appetite only grew. In March 1939, Germany demanded that Poland return Gdansk (Danzig) and provide a corridor to Warsaw, all claims were rejected. On March 28, Hitler broke the non-aggression pact between Germany and Poland.

In August, the Third Reich concluded an agreement with the Soviet Union. The secret protocol of the document included an agreement to divide Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Stalin and Hitler each received their half of Poland. The dictators drew a new border along the Curzon line. It corresponded to the ethnic composition of the population. To the east of it lived Lithuanians, Belarusians and Ukrainians.

Occupation of the country

Years, the troops of Nazi Germany crossed the German-Polish border. The government of the country, together with Ignacy Moscicki, fled to neighboring Romania two weeks later. The Polish army was significantly weaker than the German one. This predetermined the transience of the campaign.

In addition, on September 17, Soviet troops attacked eastern Poland. They reached the Curzon line. The Red Army and the Wehrmacht stormed Lviv together. The Poles, surrounded on both sides, could not stop the inevitable. By the end of the month, the entire territory of the country was occupied. On September 28, the Soviet Union and Germany officially agreed on their new Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ceased to exist. The revival of Polish statehood occurred after the end of World War II. A communist regime loyal to the USSR was established in the country.

The Polish government was in exile during the war. After the Western powers agreed with the Soviet Union on the future of Eastern and Central Europe, it was no longer recognized in the United States and Great Britain. However, the government in exile continued to exist until 1990. Then the presidential regalia was handed over to the head of the new Third Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Lech Walesa.

Poland was part of the Russian Empire from 1815 to 1917. It was a turbulent and difficult period for the Polish people - a time of new opportunities and great disappointments.

Relations between Russia and Poland have always been difficult. First of all, this is a consequence of the proximity of the two states, which for many centuries has given rise to territorial disputes. It is quite natural that during major wars Russia always found itself drawn into the revision of the Polish-Russian borders. This radically influenced the social, cultural and economic conditions in the surrounding areas, as well as the way of life of the Poles.

"Prison of Nations"

The “national question” of the Russian Empire aroused different, sometimes polar, opinions. Thus, Soviet historical science called the empire nothing more than a “prison of nations,” and Western historians considered it a colonial power.

But from the Russian publicist Ivan Solonevich we find the opposite statement: “Not a single people in Russia was subjected to such treatment as Ireland was subjected to in the times of Cromwell and the times of Gladstone. With very few exceptions, all nationalities in the country were completely equal before the law."

Russia has always been a multi-ethnic state: its expansion gradually led to the fact that the already heterogeneous composition of Russian society began to be diluted by representatives of different nations. This also applied to the imperial elite, which was noticeably replenished with immigrants from European countries who came to Russia “to pursue happiness and rank.”

For example, an analysis of the lists of the “Rank” of the late 17th century shows that in the boyar corps there were 24.3% of people of Polish and Lithuanian origin. However, the overwhelming majority of “Russian foreigners” lost their national identity, dissolving into Russian society.

"Kingdom of Poland"

Having joined Russia as a result of the Patriotic War of 1812, the “Kingdom of Poland” (since 1887 - “Vistula region”) had a dual position. On the one hand, after the division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, although it was a completely new geopolitical entity, it still retained ethnocultural and religious connections with its predecessor.

On the other hand, national self-awareness grew here and the sprouts of statehood emerged, which could not but affect the relationship between the Poles and the central government.

After joining the Russian Empire, changes were undoubtedly expected in the “Kingdom of Poland”. There were changes, but they were not always perceived unambiguously. During Poland's entry into Russia, five emperors changed, and each had his own view of the westernmost Russian province.

If Alexander I was known as a “polonophile,” then Nicholas I built a much more sober and tough policy towards Poland. However, one cannot deny his desire, in the words of the emperor himself, “to be as good a Pole as a good Russian.”

Russian historiography generally has a positive assessment of the results of Poland’s century-long entry into the empire. Perhaps it was Russia’s balanced policy towards its western neighbor that helped create a unique situation in which Poland, although not an independent territory, retained its state and national identity for a hundred years.

Hopes and disappointments

One of the first measures introduced by the Russian government was the abolition of the “Napoleonic Code” and its replacement with the Polish Code, which, among other measures, allocated land to peasants and intended to improve the financial situation of the poor. The Polish Sejm passed the new bill, but refused to ban civil marriage, which provides freedom.

This clearly showed the Poles' orientation toward Western values. There was someone to take as an example. Thus, in the Grand Duchy of Finland, by the time the Kingdom of Poland became part of Russia, serfdom had been abolished. Enlightened and liberal Europe was closer to Poland than “peasant” Russia.

After the “Alexander freedoms” the time came for the “Nikolaev reaction”. In the Polish province, almost all office work is translated into Russian, or into French for those who did not speak Russian. Confiscated estates are distributed to persons of Russian origin, and all senior official positions are also filled by Russians.

Nicholas I, who visited Warsaw in 1835, senses a brewing protest in Polish society, and therefore forbids the deputation to express loyal feelings, “in order to protect them from lies.”

The tone of the emperor’s speech is striking in its uncompromisingness: “I need deeds, not words. If you persist in your dreams of national isolation, the independence of Poland and similar fantasies, you will bring upon yourself the greatest misfortune... I tell you that at the slightest disturbance I will order the city to be shot, I will turn Warsaw into ruins and, of course, I will not I’ll rebuild it.”

Polish revolt

Sooner or later, empires will be replaced by national-type states. This problem also affected the Polish province, where, in the wake of the growth of national consciousness, political movements that have no equal among other provinces of Russia are gaining strength.

The idea of ​​national isolation, right up to the restoration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth within its former boundaries, embraced ever wider sections of the masses. The driving force behind the protest was the student body, which was supported by workers, soldiers, and various sections of Polish society. Later, some landowners and nobles joined the liberation movement.

The main demands made by the rebels were agrarian reforms, democratization of society and ultimately the independence of Poland.

But for the Russian state it was a dangerous challenge. The Russian government responded sharply and harshly to the Polish uprisings of 1830-1831 and 1863-1864. The suppression of the riots turned out to be bloody, but there was no excessive harshness, which Soviet historians wrote about. They preferred to send the rebels to remote Russian provinces.

The uprisings forced the government to take a number of countermeasures. In 1832, the Polish Sejm was liquidated and the Polish army was disbanded. In 1864, restrictions were introduced on the use of the Polish language and the movement of the male population. To a lesser extent, the results of the uprisings affected the local bureaucracy, although among the revolutionaries were the children of high-ranking officials. The period after 1864 was marked by an increase in “Russophobia” in Polish society.

From dissatisfaction to benefits

Poland, despite the restrictions and infringements of freedoms, received certain benefits from belonging to the empire. Thus, during the reigns of Alexander II and Alexander III, Poles began to be appointed to leadership positions more often. In some counties their number reached 80%. The Poles had no less opportunity for advancement in the civil service than the Russians.

Even more privileges were given to Polish aristocrats, who automatically received high ranks. Many of them oversaw the banking sector. Profitable positions in St. Petersburg and Moscow were available to the Polish nobility, and they also had the opportunity to open their own business.

It should be noted that in general the Polish province had more privileges than other regions of the empire. Thus, in 1907, at a meeting of the State Duma of the 3rd convocation, it was announced that in various Russian provinces taxation reaches 1.26%, and in the largest industrial centers of Poland - Warsaw and Lodz it does not exceed 1.04%.

It is interesting that the Privislinsky region received 1 ruble 14 kopecks back in the form of subsidies for every ruble donated to the state treasury. For comparison, the Central Black Earth Region received only 74 kopecks.

The government spent a lot on education in the Polish province - from 51 to 57 kopecks per person, and, for example, in Central Russia this amount did not exceed 10 kopecks. Thanks to this policy, from 1861 to 1897 the number of literate people in Poland increased 4 times, reaching 35%, although in the rest of Russia this figure fluctuated around 19%.

At the end of the 19th century, Russia embarked on the path of industrialization, supported by solid Western investments. Polish officials also received dividends from this, participating in railway transportation between Russia and Germany. As a result, a huge number of banks appeared in large Polish cities.

Tragic for Russia, 1917 ended the history of “Russian Poland”, giving the Poles the opportunity to establish their own statehood. What Nicholas II promised came true. Poland gained freedom, but the union with Russia so desired by the emperor did not work out.