Galician Uprising of 1846

an antifeudal peasant rebellion in the part of the Polish lands belonging to Austria. The uprising was the consequence of a crisis in feudal and serf-labor relations in Galicia, aggravated by the failure of the harvests in 1844 and 1845. The uprising broke out on Feb. 10, 1846. By February 18, the moment chosen by the secret patriotic organizations headed by the Polish gentry for the start of their national liberation revolt, the uprising had engulfed the Tarnow, Bochnia, Jasło, Sącz, and Sanok districts of Western Galicia. The peasants plundered about 200 estates and everywhere refused to render feudal obligations. Only in the Free City of Kraków, where the rebel government formed during the Kraków Uprising of 1846 had abolished feudal dues, and in the village of Chochołow (Sącz District) did the peasants support the national liberation movement. In the greater part of Western Galicia the peasantry fought against the gentry’s rebel detachments, and the Austrian authorities used the peasants to rout the Polish national liberation movement in March and April 1846. In April the Austrian authorities suppressed the Galician Uprising.