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Poland marks anniversary of 1863 uprising against Russia

PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki 22.01.2018 16:24
Poland’s prime minister on Monday led ceremonies to pay tribute to the heroes of the country’s 1863 January Uprising against Russian rule.
Prime Mateusz Morawiecki speaks during ceremonies in Warsaw on Monday to mark 155 years since the outbreak of Poland's 1863 January Uprising against czarist Russia. Photo: PAP/Tomasz GzellPrime Mateusz Morawiecki speaks during ceremonies in Warsaw on Monday to mark 155 years since the outbreak of Poland's 1863 January Uprising against czarist Russia. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell

The ceremonies in Warsaw marked the 155th anniversary of the outbreak of the revolt, which was the largest Polish national uprising in the 19th century.

As part of the commemorations, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki laid flowers at the Warsaw Citadel, a 19th-century fortress in the Polish capital where many Poles were imprisoned and executed after the failed insurrection.

The January Uprising was “an act of courage, but not an act of madness,” Morawiecki said during the ceremonies.

In those days 155 years ago, Russia controlled most of Poland’s area, while the rest of the country was divided between Austria and Prussia, Morawiecki noted.

He also said that those taking part in the uprising “passed the test of patriotism” and that the revolt, though unsuccessful, paved the way for the country’s hard-won sovereignty in 1918.

Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak echoed that “the myth” of the 1863 uprising became the cornerstone of Polish independence 55 years later.

Parliamentarians, military commanders and soldiers as well as World War II veterans and historians were also among those attending Monday’s ceremonies in Warsaw.

The January Uprising broke out on January 22, 1863 when a provisional national government issued a manifesto in which it appealed to all Poles to take up arms against czarist Russian.

The insurgency became the largest and longest of Poland's armed struggles for independence during the 19th century. It comprised more than 1,200 battles and skirmishes fought by some 200,000 insurgents.

Over 30,000 insurgents were killed during the bloody one-year-long struggle and some 40,000 were deported to Russia’s far-eastern Siberia region.

Poland ultimately regained independence on November 11, 1918, the day World War I ended, after 123 years of foreign rule.

(gs)

Source: PAP

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