Duchy of Warsaw - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Duchy of Warsaw | |||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1807–1815 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Greater Coat of Arms:![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() The Duchy of Warsaw in 1812 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Client state of the French Empire, Personal union with the Kingdom of Saxony | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Capital | Warsaw | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Common languages | Polish, French, German | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Religion | Roman Catholic | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Government | Constitutional monarchy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Duke | |||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1807–1815 | Frederick Augustus I | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1807 | Stanisław Małachowski | ||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1807–1808 | Ludwik S. Gutakowski | ||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1808–1809 | Józef Poniatowski | ||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1809–1815 | Stanisław K. Potocki | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Legislature | Sejm | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Senate | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Chamber of Deputies | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Historical era | Napoleonic Wars | ||||||||||||||||||||||
9 June 1807 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
22 July 1807 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
19 April 1809 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
14 October 1809 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
24 June 1812 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
9 June 1815 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||||||||||||||
• Total | 157,194 km2 (60,693 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Currency | Złoty | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Duchy of Warsaw (Polish: Księstwo Warszawskie, French: Duché de Varsovie, German: Herzogtum Warschau) was a Polish state started by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807 during the Napoleonic Wars. Poland had been divided among its neighbors in the Partitions of Poland. The Dutchy was made up of the Polish lands given to France by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. Prussian and Russian troops occupied it when Napoleon was defeated in Russia. This split was made official in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna.
Polish fighting in the Napoleonic Wars started when the first Polish legions were made with supporters of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Napoleon used them during the campaigns in Italy to great effect.