The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-06-29
poLAND's UNHAPPY HISTORY.

Poland. where the chief internal dis
tLrbauces of Russia are now taking
place. has had an unhappy history.
much of it due TO poor methods of gov
eminent when the country was an in
dependent kingdom and the rest due
TO the rapacity of IFS ueighbors, Russia
Austria and Prussia. In the middle Of
the seventeenth century Poland com
prised an area of 2S2. 600 square miles.
a little larger than that of Texas. Of
this territory Russia has now secured
-1e5o0 square miles. Austria and
Prussia getting the rest.
Poland's written history begins at
the close of the tenth century. About
five hundred years later. the way to
the Kingdoms ultimate fall was made
easy by the adoption of the system of
electing kings and the IiBerum veto.
under which one member OF the diet
had il i'm his power 10 defeat the pro-
ceedngs of the body. Social condi-
tions. also. were bad. The country .
business wac almost entirely I'm the
hands of the Jews. who never we're
prominent in the country's politics
There was no middle class I'm old Po-
land The mobiles devoted themselves to
literature and art VIII Re the serfs titled
the soil. The two classes had little in
common. Several. times the scrfs sided
with the country's enemies against the
mobiles
Beginning with Stephen Batory i'm
1910 and continuing about one hundred
and fifty years under various kings.
Poland was engaged i'm war after war.
some of them being successfully. prose-
cuted against Russia. But the internal
differences gradually weakened the
nation. Following the death of Angus
tus 1T of Poland in 1853. one of the
factions of Poland formed an alliance
with Catherine II of Russia for the
purpose of establishing an hereditary
constitutional mouorchy and aboIishing
the liberum veto. Catherine aided them
in placing Poniatowski on the throne
IL 1864 but later. believing a continue
tion Of the policy of reform would
hinder her ultimate purpose of seizing
the country, deserted the PoniatowsIi
faction. which stood for Roman
Catholicism. and declared for religious
federation, sending "a number of the
PoniatowsIli adhereuts To- Siberia. In
17I2 Prussian and Austrian armies in
Vaded Poland 10 Join the large force
Catherine already had there and the
cutting up of Poland began. Russia
took ~ GOO square mites. Prussia took
Posen with 1900 square miles and
Austria took Galicia with 1000 square
miles Following this many govern
mental reforms were adopted by the
Poles. but a strong party of mobiles. dis
satisfied by the curtaiIment of thei-
privileges. dealt their country new
blow by nstiSatius another invasion
% Poland by Russian troops. Prussia
joined the Russians and the PoIisE
forces. led by Kosciusko. who had
helped the Americans achieve their in
dependence. and by Joseph Ponia-
towski. were defeated Poland lost
more territory. Russia taking % 00'
square miles and Prussia 1000 square
miles. \ general uprising i'm the PoIisT
provinces was consequence OF this
second partition and but for the ap-
pearance on she scene of Austrian
troops the invaders would have beer
driven from Poland. The Poles were
defeated at Maciejowice, the capital