Everything about Free City Of Krak W totally explained
The
Free, Independent, and Strictly Neutral City of Kraków (Cracow) with its Territory, more commonly known as either the
Free City of Kraków or
Republic of Kraków (), was a
city-state created by the
Congress of Vienna in 1815, and controlled by its three neighbours (
Russia,
Prussia, and
Austria) until 1846, when in the aftermath of the unsuccessful
Kraków Uprising it was annexed by the Austrian Empire. It was a remnant of the
Duchy of Warsaw partitioned between the three states in 1815.
History
The Free City was formally established on
May 3 1815. The statelet received an initial
constitution in 1815, revised and expanded in 1818, establishing significant autonomy for the city. The
Jagiellonian University could accept students from the partitioned territory of Poland. The Free City thus became a center of Polish political activity on the territories of partitioned Poland.
During the
November Uprising of 1830–31, Kraków was a base for the smuggling of arms into the Russian-controlled
Kingdom of Poland. After the end of the uprising the autonomy of the Free City was restricted. The police was governed by Austria, the election of the president had to be approved by all three powers. Kraków was subsequently occupied by the Austrian army from 1836 to 1841. After the unsuccessful
Kraków Uprising of 1846, the Free City was annexed by Austria on
November 16 1846 as the
Grand Duchy of Cracow.
Geography and population
The Free City of Kraków was created from the south-west part of the
Duchy of Warsaw (part of the former
Kraków Department on left bank of the
Vistula river). The territory of the city comrised 1164-1234 km² (sources vary). It bordered with
Russian Empire,
Prussia and
Austro-Hungarian Empire. It comprised the city of
Kraków and its environs, the other settlements in the area administered by the Free City included 224 villages and 4 towns (
Jaworzno,
Chrzanów,
Trzebinia and
Nowa Góra).
In 1815 its population was 95,000; in 1843 - 146,000. 85% of them were Catholics, 14% - Jews, 1% - others. The most notable
szlachta family was the
Potoccy family of
magnates, with their mansion in
Krzeszowice.
Politics
The statelet received an initial
constitution in 1815 which had mainly been devised by Prince
Adam Jerzy Czartoryski. The constitution was revised and expanded in 1818, establishing significant autonomy for the city. Legislative power was vested in the Assembly of Representatives (
Izba Reprezentantów), and the executive power was given to a Governing Senate.
In 1833, in the aftermath of the
November Uprising and the foiled plan by some Polish activist to start an uprising in Kraków, the partitioning powers issued a new constitution, much more restrictive: the numbers of senators and deputies were lowered and their competences limited, while the commissars of the partitioning powers had their competences expanded.
Freedom of press was also curtailed. In 1835 a secret treaty between the partitioning powers presented a plan in which in case of another Polish unrest, Austria was given the right to occupy and annex the city. That would take place after the
Kraków Uprising of 1846.
The law was based on the
Napoleonic civil code and
French commercial and criminal law. The official language was
Polish. In 1836 local police force was disbanded and replaced by Austrian police; in 1837 the partitioning powers curtailed the competences of the local courts which refused to bow down to their demands.
Economy
The Free City was a
duty-free area, allowed to trade with Russia, Prussia and Austria. It had no
duties, very low
taxes, and various economic privileges granted by the neighbouring powers. As such, it became one of the European centres of economic liberalism and supporters of
laissez-faire, attracting new enterprises and immigrants, which resulted in impressive growth of the city.
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