January Uprising - Eve of The Uprising

Eve of The Uprising

After the Russian Empire lost the Crimean war and was weakened economically and politically, an unrest started in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In Vilnius alone 116 demonstrations were held in 1861. In August 1861, manifestations in Vilnius ended in clashes with the Imperial Russian Army. In spite of Russian police and Cossack interference, a symbolic meeting of hymn-singing Poles and Lithuanians took place on the bridge across Niemen River. Another mass gathering took place in Horodło, where Union of Horodło has been signed in 1413. The crowds sang Boże, coś Polskę (God protect Poland) in Lithuanian and Belarussian. In the autumn of 1861 Russians had introduced a state of emergency in Vilna Governorate, Kovno Governorate and Grodno Governorate. After series of patriotic riots, the Russian Namestnik of Tsar Alexander II, General Karl Lambert, introduced martial law in Poland on 14 October 1861. Public gatherings were banned and some public leaders made outlaws.

The future leaders of the uprising gathered secretly in St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Vilnius, Paris and London. After this series of meetings two major factions emerged. The Reds united peasants, workers and some clergy while The Whites represented liberal minded landlords and intelligentsia of the time. In 1862 two initiative groups were formed for the two components of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.