NOVEMBER 27 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

NOVEMBER 27

1815

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland, was signed on November 27, 1815 by the Tsar of Russia. It was a constitution octroyée, that is, decreed by the ruler, and not voted upon by a parliament.  The Congress of Vienna obliged Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and King of Poland, to issue a constitution to the newly recreated Polish state which was under Russian domination. The Polish state was one of the smallest states in Polish history, even smaller than the preceding Duchy of Warsaw, and much smaller than the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Since it was the Congress of Vienna which, de facto created the Kingdom of Poland, it became unofficially known as the Congress Poland. The constitution promised freedom of speech, religious tolerance,  and other freedoms that rendered the document among the most liberal in all of Europe at the time. However, the constitution was never respected by the Russian authorities, whose manipulation and violations prompted growing unrest by the Polish people.  Their discontent led to the failed November Uprising of 1830. (see November 30)


City of Kraków was declared a free republic state by the Congress of Vienna. On November 27, 1815, the Congress of Vienna, declared the Free City of Krakow, a city republic which included its surrounding areas. The city state was jointly occupied by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, and was a hub centre of agitation by the Polish people struggling for an independent Poland.   In 1846, following the unsuccessful Kraków Uprising, the Free City of Cracow was annexed by the Austrian Empire.  The Free City of Kracow had a vast majority of Polish-speaking people - its population consisted of 85% Catholics, 14% of Jews while other religions comprised less than 1%. The city of Kraków itself had a Jewish population almost nearing 40%, while the remainder were  Polish-speaking Catholics. The most notable szlachta family was the Potocki family of magnates, who owned a mansion in Krzeszowice.  The Free City was a duty-free area, and granted privileges to trade with Russia, Prussia and Austria. Not only were there no duties whatsoever, taxes were very low, and numerous economic favors were granted by the neighbouring powers. Consequently, the Free City rapidly grew to become one of the European centres of economic liberalism and supporters of laissez-faire, attracting new enterprises and immigrants.  Weavers from Prussian Silesia had often used the Free City as a contraband outlet to avoid tariff barriers along the borders of Austria and the Kingdom of Poland. However, when Austria annexed the Free City, the Prussian textile exports dropped significantly.

1937

Legia Akademicka was re-activated. A Council of Ministers re-activated the Legia Akademicka,  a paramilitary organization of student volunteers.  It was originally founded on November 11, 1918 comprising students from Warsaw universities and POW members and reformed into a regular infantry unit. In 1929, it was reformed into an organization for the preparation of military listeners of higher schools in Poland, then dissolved in August 1932 and reactivated again in 1937.  Activities included military exercises, lectures in university halls and physical education on sports fields and other sports facilities. The mission of Legia Akademica was to disseminate military knowledge and educate in the spirit of noble Polish militarism as an expression of creative power.

1942

French Fleet Scuttled.  On November 27, 1942, the French fleet at Toulon was scuttled to avoid its capture by Nazi Germans. The Allied invasion of North Africa had provoked the Germans into invading the ‘Free Zone’ (Vichy France) which was officially neutral according to the terms of the 1940 Armistice. Vichy Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Darlan, defected to join De Gaulle and the Free French, who were gaining increasing support from both servicemen and civilians. His replacement, Admiral Auphan, guessed correctly that the Germans were planning to capture the large fleet at Toulon, and issued orders for scuttling these vessels. The French destroyed 77 vessels, including three battleships, seven cruisers, 15 destroyers, 13 torpedo boats, six sloops, 12 submarines, nine patrol boats, 19 auxiliary ships, one school ship, 28 tugs and four cranes. The Nazis captured thirty-nine small ships, most of which had already been disarmed by the French and cleverly sabotaged.  Some of the major ships were ablaze for several days, and the oil spills polluted the harbour so badly that it was unsafe to swim there for two years.

OCTOBER 18 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

OCTOBER 18

1672

Poland & Turkey sign Peace of Buczacz:    On October 18, 1672, representatives of the Polish Commonwealth were forced to sign the Peace of Buczacz with the forces of the Ottoman Empire. As a result Poland had to cede part of the Ukraine ( the right-bank Braclaw Voivodeship, the Podole Voivodeship and part of the Kiev Voivodeship) as well as pay an annual tribute of 22,000 ducates.   When the Ottoman forces, numbering 80,000 men, led by Ahmed and Mehmed IV, invaded Polish Ukraine in August, they captured the Commonwealth fortress at Kamieniec Podolski and besieged the city of Lwów. The Polish Commonwealth was not prepared for war due to internal political strife by King Michael I, the szlachta nobility and the Sejm. At issue was the inability of the Sejm to raise taxes in order to gather a larger army. This instability lay the groundwork for a greatly weakened Commonwealth.

1815

Free City of Krakow was proclaimed on this day:  The Free City of Krakow was a city republic established by the Congress of Vienna, on October 18, 1815, and included the city of Kraków and its surrounding areas. It was under the control of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, hence the area became a hotbed of agitation against foreign occupation, and a struggle for an independent Poland. In 1846, in the aftermath of the unsuccessful Kraków Uprising, it was annexed by the Austrian Empire. It was a remnant of the Duchy of Warsaw, which was partitioned between the three states in 1815.  It was an overwhelmingly Polish-speaking city-state, in which 85% of the population were Catholics, 14% were Jews while other religions constituted less than 1%.  (However the city itself had a Jewish population of almost 40%, while the rest were almost exclusively Polish-speaking Catholics.)

1939

Over 120,000 Jewish refugees flocked to Kaunas from Wilno. This influx rivals that of Jews from Nazi-held territory in Poland to areas controlled by the Soviet forces.  Poland and Lithuania both considered the city of Wilno as their own, and it has been a cultural center of Polish Jewry. Wilno was formally transferred to Lithuania on October 22, 1939.

1944

Viktor Ullmann died on October 18, 1944 in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Ullmann was a Silesian-born Austrian composer, conductor and pianist. Two years earlier, while imprisoned at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, he composed numerous choral works, song cycles, stage music, and most significant were his last three piano sonatas, the Third String Quarted, and the chamber opera, "The Emperor of Atlantis, or "The Refusal of Death". The premiere of the latter was planned for Theresienstadt in the autumn of 1944.  But the Nazi SS suppressed it due to perceived similarities between the role of the Emperor of Atlantis and Hitler.  Before Ullmann was deported to Auschwitz, he left his works in the safekeeping of his friend Emil Utitz, who, after the war, gave them to H. G. Adler in Theresienstadt in 1945. Adler then brought the scores to England in 1947. While imprisoned at Theresienstadt, Viktor Ullmann wrote, "By no means did we sit weeping on the banks of the waters of Babylon. Our endeavor with respect to arts was commensurate with our will to live."

1981

Polish General Jaruzelski was elected party leader on October 18, 1981 and held the post until July 29, 1989. He was also Prime Minister (1981-1985), Polish head of state (1985-1990), and  President (1989-1990) and the last commander-in-chief of the Polish People's Army.  On December 13, 1981, Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland, and ordered the  borders sealed, closed airports, and imposed curfew.  Pro-democracy movements, in particular Solidarnosc, were banned, and their leaders, including Lech Walesa, arrested and jailed.  Thousands of soldiers in military vehicles swarmed the streets of every major city.  Telephone service was disconnected, the mail was censored, all independent organizations were outlawed, and classes in schools and universities were suspended.  Jaruzelski resigned after the Polish Round Table Agreement in 1989, (read about Solidarnosc, ie Solidarity) which led to democratic elections in Poland.  Jaruzelski died of a stroke on May 25, 2014.  Lech Wałęsa and Komorowski, who were among the thousands imprisoned during the crackdown on Solidarity in 1981, both stated that judgement against Jaruzelski "would be left to God".