January Uprising – Warsaw
Fact of the Polish figure „The Battle of Maciejowice – Maciejowice”
Part of the „The myth of national disaster” topic
The January Uprising broke out on January 22, 1863. The reasons for the uprising were strong national-liberation sentiments, intensified by strong repressions by the Russian Empire. The insurgents believed that the condition of the tsar’s power and its military strength was severely limited (the defeat of the Empire in the Crimean War 1853). The immediate reason for the uprising was the planned arrest of people suspected of plotting against the tsar in the territories of the Polish kingdom at the end of January. The uprising was still in preparation when its commanders found out about it, but could not wait. As a result, the uprising took on a guerrilla character, because there was a lack of trained men and weapons. For a year and a half, 1200 skirmishes and battles were fought in the territories covered by the uprising. But against the overwhelming number of occupation troops, the uprising had no chance to succeed. As a result, about 40 thousand people were sentenced to death. The autonomy of the Polish kingdom was abolished, and numerous repressions were introduced.
