When was the Duchy of Warsaw created and by whom?
The Duchy of Warsaw was created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807 as part of the Treaty of Tilsit with Prussia. It comprised ethnically Polish lands that Prussia ceded to France under the treaty's terms.
Questions about Duchy of Warsaw
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who ruled the Duchy of Warsaw?
Frederick Augustus I of Saxony ruled the Duchy of Warsaw as duke, holding it in personal union with the Kingdom of Saxony. He was compelled by Napoleon to govern the duchy as a constitutional monarchy with a parliament called the Sejm of the Duchy of Warsaw.
How large was the army of the Duchy of Warsaw?
By the time of Napoleon's Russian campaign in 1812, the duchy's army totaled almost 120,000 troops from a total population of just 4.3 million people. It had started with 30,000 regular soldiers and grown to over 60,000 by 1810.
What was the "sum of Bayonne" in Polish history?
The "sum of Bayonne" refers to a debt the Duchy of Warsaw was forced to purchase from France in 1808 under an agreement signed at Bayonne. The duchy bought Prussia's debt to France for 21 million francs, though the debt's face value was more than 43 million francs in gold. The phrase became a Polish synonym for a huge sum of money.
What happened to the Duchy of Warsaw after Napoleon's defeat?
After Napoleon's defeat, the Congress of Vienna in 1815 formally divided the duchy. The bulk of its territory, measuring some 128,000 square kilometres, became Congress Poland in personal union with Russia and was effectively annexed to the Russian Empire in 1831. Prussia received Greater Poland, reconstituted as the Grand Duchy of Posen, and Kraków became the Free City of Cracow until Austria annexed it in 1846.
What was the ethnic composition of the Duchy of Warsaw?
According to the 1810 census, the duchy had a population of 4,334,000. Ethnic Poles made up 79 percent of inhabitants. Jews constituted 7 percent, Germans 6 percent, and Lithuanians and Ruthenians 4 percent each.