Committee of Russian Officers in Poland

Committee of Russian Officers in Poland

 

a revolutionary organization existing from 1861 to 1863 in units of the Russian Army serving on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland and parts of the western provinces of Russia.

The committee arose through the initiative of the Russian officer V. Kaplinskii and his colleagues, who were connected with the circle of Z. Serakovskii and other revolutionary circles in St. Petersburg. It was a federation of brigade, regimental, and battalion circles numbering several hundred men. The membership included Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Latvians, Byelorussians, and other nationalities. The leaders of the committee included A. A. Potebnia, J. Da>rowski, and Z. Padlevskii.

The committee maintained close ties (organizationally, personally, and by letters) with Russian revolutionary centers in London (Kolokol) and St. Petersburg. In late 1862 it merged with Land and Liberty. Intellectually and organizationally it was linked with the Polish revolutionary democrats and with the left wing of the party of the Reds. In 1861–62 it carried on agitational and propaganda work. It issued more than 16 proclamations in large editions. By mid-1863 the committee’s activity died down because of tsarist repression (arrests, transfers of servicemen); it also suffered from the changed political situation in the country. However, former committee members aided the insurgents during the Polish Uprising of 1863–64 (by fighting in their ranks and offering assistance to captured rebels.)

REFERENCES

Russko-pol’skie revoliutsionnye sviazi, vols. 1–2. Moscow, 1963. (In the series Vosstanie 1863 g.: Mat-ly i dok-ty)
D’iakov, V. A. “Revoliutsionnaia organizatsiia russkikh ofitserov v Pol’-she (1861–1863).” In V. A. D’iakov and I. S. Miller, Revoliutsionnoe dvizhenie v russkoi armii i vosstanie 1863 g. Moscow, 1964.
D’iakov, V. A. Deiateli russkogo i pol’skogo osvoboditel’nogo dvizheniia v tsarskoi armii 1856–1865 gg. (Bibliografich. slovar’). Moscow, 1967.

V. A. D’IAKOV