Europe · The modern states
Duchy of Warsaw
1807–1815
Created by the Treaty of Tilsit (July 1807) from Polish lands Prussia had seized in the Partitions — the first attempt to restore a Polish state after 1795. It was held in personal union by Frederick Augustus I of Saxony as Duke of Warsaw (a legitimate candidate for the old Polish throne, being grandson of Augustus III), while a French resident and Marshal Davout wielded real influence.
- Existed
- 1807–1815
- Shown on the map
- 1809–1814, 1820–1865, 1868–1870 (3 periods)
- Peak area
- 180k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
Created by the Treaty of Tilsit (July 1807) from Polish lands Prussia had seized in the Partitions — the first attempt to restore a Polish state after 1795. It was held in personal union by Frederick Augustus I of Saxony as Duke of Warsaw (a legitimate candidate for the old Polish throne, being grandson of Augustus III), while a French resident and Marshal Davout wielded real influence. The constitution (granted by Napoleon at Dresden, 22 July 1807) instituted equality before the law, a bicameral Sejm with — for the first time in Polish history — burgher representation (though a 60:40 balance favoured the nobility), and abolished personal serfdom (Article IV); the Napoleonic Code was introduced. A subsequent decree, however, left the peasant's movable property to his lord, preserving the noble advantage, and Jews were denied civil rights. Capital: Warsaw. It was enlarged in 1809 with Austrian-ceded territory after the Battle of Raszyn (19 April 1809) and the Treaty of Schönbrunn; Prince Józef Poniatowski led its army and contributed ~180,000 troops to Napoleon's cause. After the 1812–1813 collapse it was occupied by Russia; the Congress of Vienna partitioned it into Congress Poland (Russia), the Grand Duchy of Posen (Prussia), and the Free City of Kraków.
Common questions
- What was the Duchy of Warsaw?
- Created by the Treaty of Tilsit (July 1807) from Polish lands Prussia had seized in the Partitions — the first attempt to restore a Polish state after 1795. It was held in personal union by Frederick Augustus I of Saxony as Duke of Warsaw (a legitimate candidate for the old Polish throne, being grandson of Augustus III), while a French resident and Marshal Davout wielded real influence.
- When did the Duchy of Warsaw exist?
- The Duchy of Warsaw existed 1807–1815. On this map it is drawn 1809–1814, 1820–1865, 1868–1870.
- How large was the Duchy of Warsaw?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Duchy of Warsaw covered about 180,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity as the primary basis, with Encyclopædia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, napoleon.org (Fondation Napoléon), the Deutsches Historisches Museum, and academic studies (H-France Review, the *Napoleonica* journal) on the Revolution's and Napoleon's contested death tolls and legacy. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Duchy of Warsaw en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Warsaw
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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