Capital Kraków Religion Roman Catholic Founded 1815 Date dissolved 1846 | Languages Polish November Uprising 29 November 1830 Area 1,164 km² | |
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Government Constitutional republic Legislature Assembly of Representatives (Kraków) Currencies Polish złoty (?–1835), Kraków złoty (1835–) | ||
The Free, Independent, and Strictly Neutral City of Kraków (Cracow) with its Territory (Polish: Wolne, Niepodległe i Ściśle Neutralne Miasto Kraków z Okręgiem), more commonly known as either the Free City of Kraków or Republic of Kraków (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Krakowska, German: Republik Krakau), was a city republic created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which included the city of Kraków and its surrounding areas. It was controlled by its three neighbours (Russia, Prussia, and Austria). It was a center of agitation for an independent Poland. In 1846, in the aftermath of the unsuccessful Kraków Uprising, it was annexed by the Austrian Empire. It was a remnant of the Duchy of Warsaw, which was partitioned between the three states in 1815. It was an overwhelmingly Polish-speaking city-state; of its population 85% were Catholics, 14% were Jews while other religions comprised less than 1%. The city of Kraków itself had a Jewish population reaching nearly 40%, while the rest were almost exclusively Polish-speaking Catholics.
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History
The Free City was approved and guaranteed by Article VII of the Treaty between Austria, Prussia, and Russia of 3 May 1815. The statelet received an initial constitution at the same time, revised and expanded in 1818, establishing significant autonomy for the city. The Jagiellonian University could accept students from the partitioned territory of Poland. The Free City thus became a center of Polish political activity on the territories of partitioned Poland.
During the November Uprising of 1830–31, Kraków was a base for the smuggling of arms into the Russian-controlled Kingdom of Poland. After the end of the uprising the autonomy of the Free City was restricted. The police were controlled by Austria and the election of the president had to be approved by all three powers. Kraków was subsequently occupied by the Austrian army from 1836 to 1841. After the unsuccessful Kraków Uprising of 1846, the Free City was annexed by Austria on November 16, 1846 as the Grand Duchy of Cracow.
Geography and population
The Free City of Kraków was created from the southwest part of the Duchy of Warsaw (part of the former Kraków Department on the left bank of the Vistula river). The territory of the city comprised 1164–1234 km² (sources vary). It bordered the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire. It comprised the city of Kraków and its environs; the other settlements in the area administered by the Free City included 224 villages and three towns (Chrzanów, Trzebinia and Nowa Góra).
In 1815 its population was 95,000; as of 1843 it had a population of 146,000. 85% of them were Catholics, 14% Jews, while other religions comprised 1%. The most notable szlachta family was the Potocki family of magnates, who had a mansion in Krzeszowice.
Politics
The statelet received an initial constitution in 1815 which had mainly been devised by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski. The constitution was revised and expanded in 1818, establishing significant autonomy for the city. Legislative power was vested in the Assembly of Representatives (Izba Reprezentantów), and the executive power was given to a Governing Senate.
In 1833, in the aftermath of the November Uprising and the foiled plan by some Polish activists to start an uprising in Kraków, the partitioning powers issued a new, much more restrictive constitution: the number of senators and deputies was lowered and their competences limited, while the commissars of the partitioning powers had their competences expanded. Freedom of press was also curtailed. In 1835 a secret treaty between the partitioning powers presented a plan in which in case of additional Polish unrest, Austria was given the right to occupy and annex the city. That would take place after the Kraków Uprising of 1846.
The law was based on the Napoleonic civil code and French commercial and criminal law. The official language was Polish. In 1836 the local police force was disbanded and replaced by Austrian police; in 1837 the partitioning powers curtailed the competences of the local courts which refused to bow down to their demands.
The Free City of Kraków was the first purely republican government in the history of Poland.
Economy
The Free City was a duty-free area, allowed to trade with Russia, Prussia and Austria. It had no duties, very low taxes, and various economic privileges granted by the neighbouring powers. As such, it became one of the European centres of economic liberalism and supporters of laissez-faire, attracting new enterprises and immigrants, which resulted in impressive growth of the city.
Weavers from Prussian Silesia had often used the free city as a contraband outlet to avoid tariff barriers along the borders of Austria and Kingdom of Poland. Austria's annexation of the free city subsequently led to a significant drop in Prussian textile exports.