14. CRACOVIA: The Republic of Cracow (1815-1846)
At the end of the Napoleonic Era, the only city of the former Republic of
Poland-Lithuania to demand independent status was Danzig. Before 1793,
Danzig had enjoyed extensive municipal liberties, and from 1807 to 1815 under
French auspices, had become an independent Republic. Its solidly German
inhabitants feared and hated the traditional impositions of Prussian rule,
against which in 1797 they had revolted. At the Congress of Vienna, the states-
men weighed these considerations, and in their wisdom gave the status of a Free
City not to Danzig but to Cracow. Contrary to the fervent petitions of its citi-
zens, Danzig was re-annexed to Prussia.
As far as it is known, the only desire of the Cracovians at this time was to be
reunited with that main Polish community of which their ancestors had once
been the undisputed leaders. But any such simple solution was frustrated by the
rivalry of the Powers. Austria, which had held Cracow from the Third Partition
in 1795 to its annexation by the Duchy of Warsaw in 1809, was not prepared to
see it pass into the Russian sphere in the Congress Kingdom. The Russians were
not prepared to see it return to Austria. The Prussians were happy enough to
preserve a bone of contention between their two rivals. Hence, by the Treaty of
3 May 1815, Cracow was established as a Free City. Ambiguously enough, it
was to be 'free, independent, and neutral' and yet 'under the protection' of the
three Powers. To the Poles, it was universally known as the Rzeczpospolita
Krakowska, the Cracovian Republic' Its Constitution, like that of the Congress
Kingdomto which Adam Czartoryski contributed in 1815, was prepared by a
Commission sent to Cracow by the Tutelary court. Put into effect in 1818, it
provided all the forms of a liberal parliamentary system. The Lower House of
the Sejm, the Zgromadzenie Reprezentantow (Assembly of Representatives),
was to meet annually, and, elected by male suffrage, was to be responsible for
legislation. The Upper House, the Senat Rzqdzqcy (Ruling Senate), consisted of
thirteen elected members, including two from the Jagiellonian University and
two from the episcopal Curia, and was to control executive business. Its chair-
man, the City President, was to hold office for a term of three years. His
appointment and his executive decisions required the approval of the three
Residents of Austria, Prussia, and Russia. The city's territory, which measured
1,164km^2 (455 square miles) and included three small towns - Chrzanow,
Trzebinia, and Nowa Gora - and 224 villages, stretched for 30 miles along the