Kaukaz w polskich planach walki o niepodległość w XIX wieku
Caucasus in Polish Plans for the Fight for Independence in the Nineteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: The imperial policy of the Russian Empire led to the annexation of part of the Polish lands and the Caucasus by the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. This was noticed by Polish emigre politicians who decided to use the Caucasus in the fight for Polish independence. To this end, it was necessary to get closer to Turkey, which coincided with the direction of the policy of the Western powers – England and France, striving to stop Russian expansion in Europe and the Middle East. Based on the support of the Western powers, the envoys of Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, who runs the Polish emigre policy, have developed activities in Turkey against Russia. The article presents Polish actions aimed at transferring the struggle for independence to the Caucasus. Their particular intensity falls on the period between the November and January uprisings in Poland.Modernizing in the nineteenth century, Turkey needed the staff support that the Poles offered to her. The price for the possibility of acting in Turkey was often religious conversion to Islam, which for many Poles was a huge problem. Nevertheless, the Polish military reformed the Turkish army and commanded its troops. Operating in Turkey, they also created plans for the fight for independence, taking into account the use of anti-Russian forces in the Balkans and the Caucasus. This opened the way to the creation of Polish military units there, which took up the fight there with Russia during the Eastern War and after it. The article presents the treatment of Polish military and emissaries sent by Hotel Lambert to the Caucasus, among whom the greatest merit was given to Michał Czajkowski and generals: Wojciech Chrzanowski, Feliks Breański and Ludwik Bystrzonowski. However, it was not until 1857 that Colonel Teofil Łapiński created a military unit that fought with the Russian army in the Caucasus.The article attempts a critical analysis of the achievements, which includes two elements. The first is the polemic with the stereotypes in Poland about the Caucasus. The second is the comparison of the existing arrangements with sources produced in the nineteenth century on the Russian side of the Caucasian front by Polish exiles and Russian institutions. Both lead to the conclusion that despite the failure of the Polish military action in the Caucasus, taking action there proves the determination and vastness of the intellectual horizons of Polish independence environments in the nineteenth century.

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