Lithuanian Provisional Governing Commission

History

The commission was established on 1 July 1812 by order of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Its chief tasks included the creation of Lithuanian armed forces, and the provisioning of Napoleon's troops. The governates (later changed to "departments") of Vilnius, Grodno, Minsk and Białystok were attached to the jurisdiction of the government of Lithuania.

Central, regional and local bodies of the civil administration of the 4 provinces were subordinated to him. Departments were divided into divisions headed by sub-prefects. In each of them, and later in the Vitebsk and Mogilev departments (not subordinate to the government, subordinate to the military governor Charpentier), an administrative commission of 3 members, appointed or approved by Napoleon, was organized under the chairmanship of the French quartermaster. The structure of municipal (city) self-government was organized according to the example of Vilnius. At the same time, a system of military-administrative management of the region was created. The bodies of the Napoleonic administration were mainly involved in the organization of armed formations, provision of troops, and collection of funds.

The Provisional Government of Lithuania, initially, had no connections to Poland.

Supervision of the commission was entrusted to the former French Resident in the Duchy of Warsaw, Commissioner Louis Pierre Édouard Bignon. Actual power, however, was exercised by Dutch General Dirk van Hogendorp, former governor of Java, who was appointed governor of Vilnius.

Napoleon, contrary to the hopes reposed in him by the General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland, had not restored Polish statehood to the former Polish–Lithuanian lands. He had merely established, in the conquered territories, a provisional administration, thereby sidestepping final dispositions pending his further conquest of Russia.

Józef Wybicki, sent on 11 July 1812 to Vilnius with a deputation from the Council of the General Confederation, unsuccessfully attempted to get the Emperor to declare the restoration of the Kingdom of Poland, including the territories that had been annexed in the Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Napoleon also refused to attach the military units consisting of Lithuanians to the Polish ones.

Only on 14 July 1812 the Commission formally joined the General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland, creating the united Kingdom of Poland.

After Russian troops invaded Lithuanian territory at the end of 1812, the Commission acted outside Lithuania.

Presidents

• Józef Sierakowski (to July 18, 1812)
• Stanisław Sołtan (to August 24, 1812)
• Dirk van Hogendorp (to September 1812)
• Stanisław Sołtan (to September 1813)

Secretary General: Józef Ignacy Kossakowski

Members

• Louis Pierre Édouard, Baron Bignon
• Aleksander Stanisław Potocki
• Aleksander Antoni Sapieha
• Jan Śniadecki

References

Sources

• Janusz Iwaszkiewicz, Litwa w roku 1812 (Lithuania in 1812), Warsaw, 1912.
• Marian Kukiel, Wojna 1812 roku (The 1812 War), Kraków, 1937.
• A. Rembowski, "Konfederacja Generalna i pospolite ruszenie w roku 1812" ("The General Confederation and Levee en Masse in 1812"), Biblioteka Warszawska (The Warsaw Library), vol. 1, 1896, fascicle 3, pp. 478–514; vol. 2, 1896, fascicle 1, pp. 67–86.
• Władysław Zajewski, Józef Wybicki, Warsaw, 1983.
• БЕЛАРУСЬ І НАПАЛЕОН: 200 ГАДОЎ Міхась ГАЛДЗЕНКОЎ "Аналітычная газэта «Сакрэтныя дасьледаваньні»

References

1. "Lietuvos laikinosios vyriausybės komisija".
2. (8 September 2015). ""Nepriklausomybės sąsiuviniai". Lietuviškumo idėja ir 1863 metų sukilimas".
3. (2007). "The restitution of Lithuania's statehood". Lithuanian National Museum.