Central and Eastern Europe, International Journalism and PR

January uprising

 

January Uprising -was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (present-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, parts of Ukraine, and western Russia) against the Russian Empire. It started on January 22, 1863 in the Kingdom of Poland and on February 1, 1863 in Lithuania, lasted until autumn 1864.

It was the largest Polish national uprising, and was supported by international public opinion. It had the character of a guerrilla war in which about 1200 battles and skirmishes were fought. About 200,000 people passed through the units of the January Uprising.

Public executions and deportations to Siberia led many Poles to abandon armed struggle and turn instead to the idea of “organic work”: economic and cultural self-improvement.

Photo: Wikipedia, “The Battle” from the cycle of paintings “Polonia” dedicated to January Uprising of 1863 – Artur Grottger.