Greater Poland uprising (1806) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Greater Poland uprising of 1806
Part of the War of the Fourth Coalition
Entrance of Jan Henryk Dąbrowski to Poznań painted by Jan Gładysz
Date 3 November — 3 December 1806 Location Greater Poland Result Franco-Polish victory
Belligerents
First French Empire Polish Insurgents	Kingdom of Prussia
Commanders and leaders
Napoléon Bonaparte Jan Dąbrowski Józef Poniatowski	Frederick William III
Strength
Unknown French soldiers ca. 23,000 Polish soldiers Unknown Pospolite ruszenie

The Greater Poland uprising of 1806 was a Polish military revolt. It happened in the region of Wielkopolska, also known as Greater Poland. This uprising was against the Prussian forces who had taken control of the area. This happened after the Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1772–1795).

General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski organized the uprising. His goal was to help the French army, led by Napoleon, free Poland from Prussian rule. The Wielkopolska Uprising was very important. It helped create the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807. It also made Wielkopolska a part of this new Duchy.

Why the Uprising Happened: Historical Background

The Kingdom of Prussia already had many Polish people living in Upper Silesia. But after the partitions of Poland, Prussia gained even more Polish citizens. From the start of Prussian rule, Poles faced many actions against them and their culture. For example, the Polish language was replaced by German.

The War of the Fourth Coalition started between Napoleon's France and Prussia. This war gave hope to the Polish people in Greater Poland. They hoped to regain their independence and end the harsh Prussian rule.

Napoleon wanted to control lands on the other side of Prussia. So, he sent people to South Prussia. Their job was to gather information about the area. They also checked how Polish citizens felt about the situation. On September 20, 1806, Napoleon ordered a new army unit to be formed. It would be made of Polish soldiers who had left the Prussian army. So many Poles wanted to join that Napoleon decided to form a second unit two days later.

The fight between France and Prussia meant Prussia could only keep a small number of soldiers in Greater Poland. Also, many of these soldiers were Polish. This caused big problems for Prussian commanders. For example, between November 1 and December 20, 3,000 Polish troops left the Toruń Corps. This was one-seventh of their force.

General Dąbrowski's Important Mission

Napoleon wanted to create trouble for the Prussians from behind their lines. He chose General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski for this job. Dąbrowski was in Italy at the time. Napoleon picked him because he was well-respected in Greater Poland. He had shown great leadership during the uprising of 1794.

Napoleon sent a message to Dąbrowski on October 5, 1806. On October 22, the General met Napoleon in Dessau. During this meeting, Napoleon told Dąbrowski to go to Poznań. There, he was to organize regular Polish troops. After four days of planning, Dąbrowski suggested a plan to Napoleon. He wanted to form a Polish army of 40,000 soldiers.

To make this happen, Dąbrowski asked for Polish officers from other French units to join him. He also specifically asked for Józef Wybicki to lead the civilian government. Napoleon, who was in Berlin, told them that "Poles have to deserve independence." When asked if he would create a Polish State, Napoleon replied: "I will see whether the Poles are worthy of being a nation."

The Uprising Begins

Dąbrowski sent people ahead to Poznań to check the situation. They returned with good news: the whole area was "full of patriotic spirit and joy about the success of the French Army." So, Dąbrowski and Wybicki entered the city on November 3, 1806. They led the first French army units. Their arrival was a huge Polish patriotic event.

On that same day, Dąbrowski called on Poles to take up arms. He urged them to fight with Napoleon against Prussian rule. Dąbrowski and Wybicki set up "Voivodship Commissions." These groups took control of the local government. They also worked to keep the area peaceful and prevent social problems.

The call from Dąbrowski and Wybicki was eagerly accepted by the middle class (the bourgeoisie). However, the nobles (the szlachta) were more hesitant. Because of this, in the new Poznań Department, Polish army units formed mostly in big cities like Poznań. In the countryside, it took much longer to gather soldiers.

In the Kalisz Department, a special message was announced on November 9. Large groups of uprising fighters formed in Kalisz and Konin. On November 10, Polish fighters battled Prussian troops near Ostrzeszów and Kępno. Then, on November 13, the uprising spread to the area around Sieradz.

Poles faced the toughest fighting in the Bydgoszcz Department. General Amilkar Kosiński commanded the new Polish units there. He had to fight the largest Prussian forces in Greater Poland. He also dealt with a French supply officer who was not helpful. Kosiński's troops had very little training or experience.

Meanwhile, Dąbrowski was busy creating a regular army. He called for one man from every ten homes to join. On December 3, he made the pospolite ruszenie (a type of citizen militia) helpers to the regular troops. These regular army units, along with some irregular uprising fighters, cleared Greater Poland of the remaining Prussian forces. The uprising spread to other regions. In November, fighters took control of the Jasna Góra fortress.

Thanks to Wybicki's efforts, by early January 1807, the regular Polish army had 23,000 soldiers. About 20,000 of them came from the Poznań and Kalisz Departments. This army was organized like Napoleon's other armies. The French Emperor stayed in Poznań from November 27 to December 12, 1806.

The Pomeranian Campaign

On January 1, 1807, Dąbrowski was near Łowicz. There, he received a bulawa (a ceremonial mace) that once belonged to hetman Stefan Czarniecki. Despite Dąbrowski's great achievements and popularity, Józef Poniatowski was chosen to lead the War Office in the Ruling Commission instead. Poniatowski was not a fan of Dąbrowski. Napoleon chose Poniatowski to ensure the cooperation of the Polish nobles.

Dąbrowski and Poniatowski had a big disagreement when writing the Polish Army Code. Poniatowski wanted to keep corporal punishment (physical punishment). Dąbrowski strongly opposed it. To avoid this conflict, Napoleon decided the Polish Army would use the French code.

On January 3, French marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier ordered the existing units from Poznań and Kalisz Departments to form one brigade each. General Wincenty Axamitowski commanded the Poznań Brigade. General Stanisław Fiszer commanded the Kalisz Brigade. Both infantry brigades formed a division led by General Dąbrowski. The brigades were strengthened by 300 Polish cavalry units. An additional cavalry unit from the Warsaw Department was also added. These were all combined into one cavalry regiment. It was commanded by Dąbrowski's son, Lt. Col. Jan Michał Dąbrowski. All units of the new division began their march on January 7. They were to meet in Bydgoszcz.

Meanwhile, units led by Amilkar Kosiński had been fighting Prussian troops since December. They won the battle of Koronowo. Then, they marched to Świecie, forcing the enemy to leave the town. This secured a meeting point for the new division.

Before the new campaign began, the main Polish troops were strengthened and reorganized. They formed three divisions: the Poznań Division (led by J. H. Dąbrowski), the Kalisz Division (led by Józef Zajączek), and the Warsaw Division (led by Józef Poniatowski). The Kalisz Division was sent to help with the siege of Grudziądz. The Warsaw Division moved north with the French Army towards Danzig. At this time, 6,000 soldiers of the Poznań Division stayed near Bydgoszcz. Later, they advanced on Gniezno and Dirschau. Both towns were captured, but the Poles were forced to retreat by Prussian troops. Later, Poniatowski ordered some of the pospolite ruszenie to disband. This weakened the Poznań Division. These soldiers were returned as reinforcements in February 1807. After that, only General Kosiński's troops were fighting in this area.

After being reorganized, the Poznań Division had 6 battalions of infantry, 3 squadrons of cavalry, and 2,000 pospolite ruszenie. General Michał Sokolnicki commanded them. On February 15, the cavalry again captured Dirschau, but was forced to retreat once more. Eight days later, on February 23, the entire division attacked the town. A strong Prussian army defended it. After 7 hours of fighting, the Poles captured Dirschau. However, General Dąbrowski was wounded and had to leave his division for a while. His son was also badly injured. Because of this, J. M. Dąbrowski was promoted to Brigade General and moved to the Invalide Corps. After the battle, General Kosiński became the new division commander.

Earlier, in January 1807, Dąbrowski had formed a group from the Poznań troops. Colonel Garczyński commanded this unit. This unit captured Schneidemühl, Deutsch Krone, and Wieluń. In February 1807, Garczyński's group was placed under General Kosiński. Later, with some pospolite ruszenie troops, it was sent to fight near Neustettin. At this time, Sokolnicki's troops captured Stolp in Pommern. Later, they took part in the siege of Danzig, which surrendered in May. Also in May, the Poznań Division was renamed the 3rd Polish Division. It returned under the command of General J. H. Dąbrowski. After Danzig was captured, Polish troops also fought in Masuria, including the battle of Friedland.

What Happened Next

The Pomeranian Campaign ended when Königsberg surrendered on June 15, 1807. This led to the treaties of Tilsit. These treaties officially recognized the Duchy of Warsaw by the Kingdom of Prussia.

But there was an even more immediate effect. Before the uprising, the Prussian army was thought to be one of the strongest in Europe. However, by the time of the uprising, it was almost completely destroyed. Napoleon had wiped out most of the Prussian army just months after the war began. The only strong force still loyal to Prussia was stationed in Prussian Poland. These troops were expected to join the Russians and keep fighting the French.

However, with this Polish uprising, supported by French military actions, this was no longer possible. Except for a few Prussian units that managed to escape and join the Russians, the Prussian army was completely gone. Russia would have to face France alone.

See also

• Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919)
• Sejny Uprising in 1919