duchy · Poland, Lithuania and Russia
Duchy of Warsaw
Origins
After defeating Prussia in 1806 and 1807, Napoleon created the Duchy of Warsaw by the Treaty of Tilsit out of the lands Prussia had taken in the Second and Third Partitions of Poland. He made Frederick Augustus I, King of Saxony, its duke, linking it to the Kingdom of Saxony.
Rule and society
The constitution of 1807 abolished personal serfdom, declared equality before the law and introduced the Napoleonic Code, though nobles kept their land. Real power lay with French officials and the needs of Napoleon's wars. Prince Jozef Poniatowski built a Polish army that defeated Austria in 1809, after which the duchy gained Krakow and Lublin.
Decline and legacy
About 100,000 soldiers from the duchy joined the invasion of Russia in 1812, and Poniatowski died at Leipzig in 1813. Russia occupied the duchy, and the Congress of Vienna divided it in 1815 into Congress Poland, the Grand Duchy of Posen and the Free City of Krakow.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (3)
- Kingdom of Saxony in personal union with Duchy of Warsaw1807 CE – 1815 CE
- Duchy of Warsaw was a protectorate of French Empire1807 CE – 1813 CE
- Duchy of Warsaw in personal union with Kingdom of Saxony1807 CE – 1815 CE
More states of Poland, Lithuania and Russia →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Duchy of Warsaw. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-warsaw
- MLA
- “Duchy of Warsaw.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-warsaw. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Duchy of Warsaw.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-warsaw.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Duchy of Warsaw’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-warsaw (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻