[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Reply to Peter

[Jack Milner]

*Volhynia and the Partitioning of Poland*

Volhynia had been a feudal province with a Polish aristocracy and 
Ukrainian serfs, ruled by Poland until the late 18th century, when 
Poland was partitioned by the Prussian, Austrian, and Russian empires. 
  Prussia, Russia, and Austria had already annexed parts of Poland in 
1772 and 1793. During the third partition in 1795, Poland's last 
remaining territory was occupied by the three partitioning powers, which 
resulted in the disappearance of Poland from the European map.

In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, Russia formally incorporated the 
greater part of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and allowed some semi-autonomy 
with little interference. There were several uprisings and rebellions 
over the next 50 years, but it was the one in 1863 that finally caused 
Russia to clamp down on the Poles. Beginning in 1867, they enforced the 
use of the Russian language as that of education and government.

After the partitions of Poland, Volhynia was a gubernia, or province, of 
the Russian Empire until 1921, when the western part of Volhynia once 
again became part of Poland. In 1945 the entire area of the Volhynia 
Gubernia was absorbed into the Soviet Union, but the gubernia system was 
no longer used and the Volhynia name was used to identify a smaller 
region, called an oblast, in the western part of the old gubernia. Most 
of what was the Volhynia Gubernia is now in Ukraine, with a small part 
of northern Volhynia in Belarus. Major cities and towns in and around 
Volhynia include Zhitomir (the former capital), Rovno, Lutsk, Kovel, 
Berdichev, and Novograd-Volinsk.



On 2015-01-26 12:45 PM, Peter wrote:
>
> If someone could please help shed light on my ignorance of exactly
> when and if Poland was truly part of Russia, I'd greatly appreciate
> it.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Peter Schmidt
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