Grand Duchy of Warsaw
| Duchy of Warsaw | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Duché de Varsovie Herzogtum Warschau Księstwo Warszawskie |
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Client state of the French Empire, Personal union with the Kingdom of Saxony |
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.svg) The Duchy of Warsaw in 1812.
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| Capital | Warsaw | |||||||||||||||||||
| Languages | Polish, German, French | |||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic, Judaism | |||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy | |||||||||||||||||||
| Duke | ||||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1807–1815 | Frederick Augustus I | ||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | ||||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1807 | Stanisław Małachowski | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1807–1808 | Ludwik Gutakowski | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1808–1809 | Józef Poniatowski | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1809–1815 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Legislature | Sejm | |||||||||||||||||||
| • | Upper house | Senate | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | Lower house | Chamber of Deputies | ||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Napoleonic Wars | |||||||||||||||||||
| • | Treaties of Tilsit | 9 June 1807 | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | Constitution adopted | 22 July 1807 | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | Battle of Raszyn | 19 April 1809 | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | Treaty of Schönbrunn | 14 October 1809 | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | Invasion of Russia | 24 June 1812 | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | Congress of Vienna | 9 June 1815 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Area | ||||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1807 | 103,000 km² (39,769 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1809 | 155,000 km² (59,846 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Population | ||||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1807 est. | 2,600,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Density | 25.2 /km² (65.4 /sq mi) | |||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1809 est. | 4,300,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Density | 27.7 /km² (71.9 /sq mi) | |||||||||||||||||||
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The Duchy of Warsaw (Polish: Księstwo Warszawskie, French: Duché de Varsovie, German: Herzogtum Warschau) was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony. Following Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia, the duchy was occupied by Prussian and Russian troops until 1815, when it was formally partitioned between the two countries at the Congress of Vienna. It covered central and eastern part of present Poland and minor parts of present Lithuania and Belarus.
The area of the duchy had already been liberated by a popular uprising that had escalated from anti-conscription rioting in 1806. One of the first tasks for the new government included providing food to the French army fighting the Russians in East Prussia.
The Duchy of Warsaw was officially created by French Emperor Napoleon I, as part of the Treaty of Tilsit with Prussia. Its creation met the support of both local republicans in partitioned Poland, and the large Polish diaspora in France, who openly supported Napoleon as the only man capable of restoring Polish sovereignty after the Partitions of Poland of late 18th century. Although it was created as a satellite state (and was only a duchy, rather than a kingdom), it was commonly hoped and believed that with time the nation would be able to regain its former status, not to mention its former borders.
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Wikipedia