After the formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, the chief administrative division in Poland was the Wojw\u00f3dztwo, translated into English as Voivodeship, Administrative District, or Province.<\/p>\n
After the third partition of Poland on 24 Oct 1795, Poland ceased to exist as a nation. The territory had been divided among Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Polish territory in the Russian Partition was divided into sixteen Gubernias. These divisions were changed repeatedly after the partitions.<\/p>\n
The Napoleonic Wars led to the formation of the Duchy of Warsaw on 09 Jun 1807 from some of the territory formerly partitioned by Prussia and Russia. On 14 Oct 1809, part of the Austrian partition was also included in the Duchy. The Duchy was divided into Departments, rather than Gubernias.<\/p>\n
In 1815, the Congress of Vienna redistributed the Polish lands and created the Congress Kingdom of Poland and, in 1816, the Congress Kingdom of Poland was divided into eight Voivodeships.<\/p>\n
This terminology was short-lived, however . After the November Uprising, Russia tightened its grip on the Congress Kingdom of Poland and, on 07 Mar 1837, the administrative divisions were once again called Gubernias. In 1844, the number of Gubernias was reduced from eight to five.<\/p>\n
In 1867, after the failed January Uprising, the structure of the Gubernias changed once again. Moreover, the Russian government no longer referred to the territory as the Congress Kingdom of Poland, but as the Vistulan Country or Vistula Land. The names of the Gubernias after 1867 were:<\/p>\n
These are the Gubernias seen on maps of the Congress Kingdom of Poland from the late 19th and early 20th centuries .<\/p>\n
Finally, in 1912, Che\u0142m Gubernia was formed from parts of the Siedlce and Lublin Gubernias. Che\u0142m Gubernia was administered directly by the Russia Empire, while the other Gubernias were administered through the Vistulan Country.<\/p>\n
And so, with all the changes that happened within the territory in this time period, it’s no wonder that anyone has questions about how to describe the location of a Polish village at any given point in history.<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2007 by Stephen J. Danko<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After the formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, the chief administrative division in Poland was the Wojw\u00f3dztwo, translated into English as Voivodeship, Administrative District, or Province. After the third partition of Poland on 24 Oct 1795, Poland ceased to … Continue reading