Greater Poland uprising of 1794 | |||||||
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Part of Kościuszko Uprising | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Prussia | Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Frederick William II Philipp von Schwerin |
Jan Dąbrowski Antoni Madaliński |
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Strength | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
The 1794 Greater Poland uprising (Polish: Powstanie Wielkopolskie 1794 roku) was a military insurrection by Poles in Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) against Kingdom of Prussia which had taken possession of this territory after the 1793 Second Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The outbreak of Kościuszko Uprising in central Poland in March 1794 served as the spark for the formation of Polish military units in the Prussian partition, as Poles in Wielkopolska hoped to liberate their region. Initially, Tadeusz Kościuszko, who had initiated the fight against Russians in central Poland did not want to support the Greater Poland Uprising in the hope of avoiding a two front war (at the time, Kingdom of Prussia was nominally in an alliance with Poland against Russia). As a result, the planned insurrection in Wielkopolska almost ended before it could start. However, the situation changed in June 1794 when the Prussians declared their support for Tsarist Russia and offered them military support in suppressing Kościuszko (after his victory at the Battle of Racławice). As a result, the Supreme National Council issued a proclamation To the Citizens of Greater Poland calling them to arms.
The initial center of the uprising was the Kujawy region. The command was given to Józef Niemojewski, although many of the units in the field operated independently. Initial clashes took place on the 20th of August. On the 22nd of August the insurrectionists took Gniezno. Soon after, general Paweł Skórzewski took Konin and other towns in the area. As a result, the King of Prussia, Frederick William II was forced to withdraw some of his forces from central Poland which were besieging Warsaw.