St. James's / CNG
Auction 29 - The Lissner Collection 1-2 August 2014
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POLAND, November Uprising. 1830-1831. AV Ducat (21mm, 3.44 g, 1h). In the types of the Netherlands trade coinage. Warszawa (Warsaw) mint; privy marks: torch and Polish eagle. Dated 1831. Dot before torch. KM (C) 125; Friedberg 114; Parchimowicz 1059. In NGC encapsulation graded UNC DETAIL Surface Hairlines. Nice UNC with light contact. Very minor hairlines.
Purchased from M. Louis Teller, March 1999.
Also known as the Cadet Revolution, the November Uprising was an armed rebellion in the Congress Kingdom of Poland against the Russian Empire. At the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), which sought to restore Europe to a pre-Revolutionary "balance of power," the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw was divided between Prussia and Russia. The Russian portion, known as the Congress Kingdom of Poland, while in personal union with the Russian Empire, possessed a great deal of internal political autonomy with its own constitution, Parliament (Sejm), and army. Although Tsar Aleksandr I Pavlovich was technically the head of state as King of Poland, he did not accept the title and instead appointed his brother, the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, as viceroy. Between the inception of this new state and the November Uprising, the Russian government ignored the kingdom's constitutional government, something that worsened when Aleksandr's brother and successor, Nikolai I Pavlovich assumed the Polish title in 1829. The planned use by the Russians to employ the Polish army to assist in putting down the 1830 revolutions in France and Belgium – a clear violation of the Polish constitution – prompted the Warsaw garrison under lieutenant Piotr Wysocki to rebel and storm the headquarters of the Russian viceroy on the night of 29 November, forcing the Grand Duke and his Russian troops to withdraw from the capital. Over the following weeks, the Polish government tried to resolve a small rebellion which had turned into a full-scale national revolution. On 25 January 1830, the Sejm formally passed the Act of Dethronement of Nikolai I, ending the personal union with the Tsar and, in effect, a declaration of war on Russia. In the resulting war between Poland and Russia (February-October 1831), the Russians were ultimately successful, despite their own bloody losses and a technical Polish victory at the Battle of Olszynka Grochowska, as well as popular sympathy for the Poles across Europe and in the United States. With the end of the war and the uprising crushed, Nikolai I imposed harsh terms on the Poles. Poland now became an integral part of Russia. It was governed by the victorious Russian general, Feldmarshal Ivan Fyodorovich Paskevich who became the new state's first namiestnik, or imperial viceroy, ruling in the now heavily garrisoned capital of Warsaw. And to prevent future revolutionary and nationalist revolts from the developing, the Tsar ordered the closure of the University of Warsaw. Those Poles who could, fled the country in part of what would become known as the Great Emigration. Among the Polish expatriates was the Romantic composer Frédéric Chopin. Although never personally participating in the Uprising, he became associated with it through his compositions, which became musical symbols of Polish nationalism.
Purchased from M. Louis Teller, March 1999.
Also known as the Cadet Revolution, the November Uprising was an armed rebellion in the Congress Kingdom of Poland against the Russian Empire. At the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), which sought to restore Europe to a pre-Revolutionary "balance of power," the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw was divided between Prussia and Russia. The Russian portion, known as the Congress Kingdom of Poland, while in personal union with the Russian Empire, possessed a great deal of internal political autonomy with its own constitution, Parliament (Sejm), and army. Although Tsar Aleksandr I Pavlovich was technically the head of state as King of Poland, he did not accept the title and instead appointed his brother, the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, as viceroy. Between the inception of this new state and the November Uprising, the Russian government ignored the kingdom's constitutional government, something that worsened when Aleksandr's brother and successor, Nikolai I Pavlovich assumed the Polish title in 1829. The planned use by the Russians to employ the Polish army to assist in putting down the 1830 revolutions in France and Belgium – a clear violation of the Polish constitution – prompted the Warsaw garrison under lieutenant Piotr Wysocki to rebel and storm the headquarters of the Russian viceroy on the night of 29 November, forcing the Grand Duke and his Russian troops to withdraw from the capital. Over the following weeks, the Polish government tried to resolve a small rebellion which had turned into a full-scale national revolution. On 25 January 1830, the Sejm formally passed the Act of Dethronement of Nikolai I, ending the personal union with the Tsar and, in effect, a declaration of war on Russia. In the resulting war between Poland and Russia (February-October 1831), the Russians were ultimately successful, despite their own bloody losses and a technical Polish victory at the Battle of Olszynka Grochowska, as well as popular sympathy for the Poles across Europe and in the United States. With the end of the war and the uprising crushed, Nikolai I imposed harsh terms on the Poles. Poland now became an integral part of Russia. It was governed by the victorious Russian general, Feldmarshal Ivan Fyodorovich Paskevich who became the new state's first namiestnik, or imperial viceroy, ruling in the now heavily garrisoned capital of Warsaw. And to prevent future revolutionary and nationalist revolts from the developing, the Tsar ordered the closure of the University of Warsaw. Those Poles who could, fled the country in part of what would become known as the Great Emigration. Among the Polish expatriates was the Romantic composer Frédéric Chopin. Although never personally participating in the Uprising, he became associated with it through his compositions, which became musical symbols of Polish nationalism.