Marian Langiewicz

Marian Langiewicz

Marian Langiewicz (born August 5, 1827 in Krotoschin , † May 10, 1887 in Constantinople ) was a Polish independence fighter and was dictator for a short time during the January uprising in 1863 .

Early years

The father was a doctor and joined the Polish November uprising in 1830 . The son attended high school in Poznan and then studied in Wroclaw , where he mainly devoted himself to mathematics. In 1848 he moved to Prague and studied mainly Slavic languages. During this time he also took part in the Slavic Congress . After the revolution of 1848/49 he returned to Breslau and a short time later took a position as tutor in the Russian part of Poland. Two years later he was able to continue his studies in Breslau and then in Berlin . He served as a one-year volunteer in the Prussian artillery. When the Prussian army was mobilized in 1859, he was called up and served as an officer. This increased his military knowledge. After demobilization he continued his studies. In addition to mathematics, he devoted himself to strategy.

In 1860 he went to Paris and taught at the Polish military school founded there by Ludwik Mierosławski . In the same year he went to Italy and became an adjutant to General Alexander Milbitz. With this he made Garibaldi's expedition to Naples ( train of a thousand ). He then taught at the Polish military school in Genoa and Cuneo . A short time later he went to Paris and learned about the January uprising in the Russian part of Poland in 1863.

January uprising

Battle at Małogoszcz

Langiewicz then returned to Poland and joined the insurgents. He initially commanded insurgent units in the Sandomierz area with success . He gathered a force of about 3,000 workers, students and farmers. He also built up an ammunition production facility. Only a small number were armed with rifles, most of them with scythes and similar weapons. His two 600-strong cavalry regiments were better armed. He managed to withstand Russian attacks. He won at Wąchock and Małogoszcz , where he was able to capture numerous weapons.

This made him popular in Poland. The moderate party of the “whites”, strongly represented in Krakow, saw the chance to use him in the power struggle with the more radical “red” Central Committee in Warsaw . On March 10, 1863, he was proclaimed dictator by the White Committee. This step was accepted by the Warsaw residents after clearing some reservations. Between March 12 and March 21, Langiewicz was a widely recognized dictator.

Thereupon he united his troops with the other existing units on the left bank of the Vistula . However, he gave up the advantage of the small units, which could escape the Russian army more easily than a regular army. As a result, there were also conflicts with representatives of the high nobility, for example in filling officer positions. He had some nobles who had assumed officer's posts brought before the court martial and demanded the death sentence. The court, which partly consisted of members of the high nobility, acquitted the accused.

There are different details about the further development. According to one account, Langiewicz resigned his post as dictator. Others say that a council of war decided to redistribute the troops and return to partisan warfare. Several military defeats also played a role in the end of the dictatorship.

In exile

Grave of Marian Langiewicz in the Haydarpaşa cemetery

While trying to travel through Austrian territory, he was recognized and captured and eventually interned at the Josefstadt Fortress. In 1864, Switzerland, which had previously granted him citizenship, demanded his release. Only after the Austrian MP Karl Rechbauer had campaigned for Langiewicz, Langiewicz was released. After living in Switzerland, he later lived in the Ottoman Empire . He is said to have worked there under the name Ibrahim Bey or as Langie Bey as a high official at the arsenal in Constantinople.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Langiewicz, Marian . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 14th part. Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1865, pp. 121–124 ( digitized version ).
• Military operations in the Kingdom of Poland in 1863. In: Minerva. Illustrated military-scientific journal. Vol. 2, Vienna, 1894, pp. 647-648.
• The Cambridge History of Poland. Vol. 2. Cambridge, 1950, pp. 378-379.
• Jerzy Jan Lerski: Historical dictionary of Poland, 966–1945. Westport, 1996, p. 290.