Editing History of Poland (section)

====The Uprising of January 1863====

[[File:Romuald Traugutt 111.PNG|thumb|upright|right|[[Romuald Traugutt]], the last supreme commander of the [[January Uprising|1863 Uprising]]]]

As a matter of continuous policy, the Russian autocracy kept assailing Polish national core values of language, religion and culture.<ref name="Burant 131–156">{{Harvnb|Burant|1985|pp=131–156}}.</ref> In consequence, despite the limited liberalization measures allowed in [[Congress Poland]] under the rule of Tsar [[Alexander II of Russia]], a renewal of popular liberation activities took place in 1860–1861. During large-scale demonstrations in Warsaw, Russian forces inflicted numerous casualties on the civilian participants. The "[[Reds (January Uprising)|Red]]", or [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]] faction of Polish activists, which promoted peasant enfranchisement and cooperated with Russian revolutionaries, became involved in immediate preparations for a national uprising. The "[[Whites (January Uprising)|White]]", or [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]] faction, was inclined to cooperate with the Russian authorities and countered with partial reform proposals. In order to cripple the manpower potential of the Reds, [[Aleksander Wielopolski]], the conservative leader of the government of Congress Poland, arranged for a partial selective conscription of young Poles for the Russian army in the years 1862 and 1863.<ref name="playground II xxi"/> This action hastened the outbreak of hostilities. The [[January Uprising]], joined and led after the initial period by the Whites, was fought by partisan units against an overwhelmingly advantaged enemy. The uprising lasted from January 1863 to the spring of 1864,<ref name="playground II xxi"/> when [[Romuald Traugutt]], the last supreme commander of the insurgency, was captured by the tsarist police.<ref name="Gierowski 287–311">{{Harvnb|Gierowski|1986b|pp=287–311}}.</ref><ref name="Biel, czerwień, czerń">{{Harvnb|Zdrada|2010}}</ref>

On 2 March 1864, the Russian authority, compelled by the uprising to compete for the loyalty of Polish peasants, officially published an [[Abolition of serfdom in Poland|enfranchisement decree in Congress Poland]] along the lines of an earlier land reform proclamation of the insurgents. The act created the conditions necessary for the development of the [[capitalism|capitalist]] system on central Polish lands. At the time when most Poles realized the futility of armed resistance without external support, the various sections of Polish society were undergoing deep and far-reaching evolution in the areas of social, economic and cultural development.<ref name="playground II xxi"/><ref name="Biel, czerwień, czerń"/><ref name="Gierowski 311–318">{{Harvnb|Gierowski|1986b|pp=311–318}}.</ref>