Evening journal., 1914-09-03
OF 1715
A Great nation
Today Country Cursed by
War Has No Political
Entity
HELPLESS BEFORE
THE EUROPEANS

WASHINGTON, d. C., Sept. 3.-1he
Poland of l7l5 was larger than any Eu-
ropean country, with the exception of
Russia. Today it has no political en-
tity, says the NatiQnal Geographic So
ciety, at Washington, d. c., in a state
ment issued today. Two centuries ago
its domain reached from the Baltic to
the Carpathians, and stretched from
east to west for distance of approXi-
mately 600 miles.
"lhe first partition OF Poland came in
! l772, when Prussia and Austria, alarm
ed by the progress of Russia in Poland,
suggested as a means of maintaining
the equilibrium Of Europe, that all three
powers readiust their territories at tine
expense of Poland" reads the society's
bulletin. "Poland lay utterly helpless
She lost about one-ffth Of her popuia-
tion and one-fourth of her territory.
The second partition, in 1893, reduced
Poland to one-third of her original di-
mensions, with a population of about
! 3,500,000. A third treaty of partition
was signed in l706. The Congress Of
| Vienna, in 1915, divided Poland between
Prussia, Austria and Russia, with the
exception of Cracow, which was erected
into republic embedded in Galicia.
Posen and Gnesen, with a population of
$4,000, were left to Prussia. Austria
remained in possession Of Galicia, with
its 100000 inhabitants. Lithuania and
the Ruthenian Palatinates continued to
be incorporated with Russia. The rem
nant vas constituted as the so-called
Congress Kingdom, under the Emperor
of Russia as the King of Poland.
"ln the same year, Tsar Alexander
granted the new kingdom a constitu-
tion, which declared it to be united to
Russia, in the person of the tsar, as a
separate political entity. Poland retain
ed its flag and national army In
. 1880, following the outbreak of the
, French revolution, military revolt
took place in Warsaw. This war lasted
for ten months, and at its conclusion
, the Congress Kingdom was reduced to
the position of a Russian province. The
last remaining remnant of POland's sep
arate political existence was Cracow
and it was finally occupied by Austria
} in 1886 The last attempt of the Poles
to achieve independence was in 1868. II
was marked by no real battle and the
uprising was soon repressed. The ma.
tional history of Poland closes with this
attempt at freedom In 1868, by ukase
of the Emperor of Russia, the govern.
b ment was absolutely incorporated with
that of Russia, and the use of the
Polish language in public places and for
. public purposes was prohibited.
Russian Poland contains the hrst
line of defense of the Russian Empire
ON it's western frontier. The marshy
lowlands. covered with forests on the
western banks of the Vistula, offer
natural defense against an army ad
vancing from the west, and they ar
/ strengthened by a number of fortresse
on that river. The center of these lat
ter is Warsaw.
"rhe Poles are rather Of medium stat
' ure and we'll built. Those in the soutl
: are dark and i'm the north are incline
to be fair. While well endowed by ma
$ tme, they are today not remarkabl
! in that energy which characterizes Il,
: northern races OF Europe, and in sens
+ of unity which has been the strength q
their present rulers, and the reason
ir Obvious For several years past tn
= German element has been annually il
1 creasing both in number and in infr
~ ence in Russian Poland. From remot
is antiquity Poland has been celebrated fC
n the production and export of grail
Since 1878 there has been a remarkabl
N development of manufacturing entel
y prise. The railroads of Russian Polan
# have an aggregate length of 1900 mile
= The entire administration Of Il
4 province is under the governor genera
n residing at Warsaw. After the insu
n rection of 1868 all towns with less tina
m 2O00 inhabitants were deprived of the
,r municipal rights. The elective munic
,t pal councils were practically abolishe
IN and Russian officers nominated in the
ie place. The prevalent religion is Roms
Is Catholic"