Poland. One of the great nations of Europe during the Renaissance, it fell on hard times in the 18th century and, beginning in 1772, its neighbors (Russia, Prussia, and Austria) carved up the country for themselves. The Poles, until that time, thought of their capital, Warsaw, as the Paris of the East and were justifiably proud of their heritage and accomplishments in many fields.
Russia occupied the bulk of former Polish lands, but important parts were held by the Prussians and Austrians. In 1816 Russia began a special coinage for the Kingdom of Poland, which existed in name only under Russian Czar Alexander I as king. These coins were made to pre–1795 Polish standards, however.
Long pent-up emotions exploded in November 1830 when Polish rebels seized control of Warsaw. There was savage fighting for months but in the end czarist troops crushed the uprising with brutal force. Russian authorities, in 1832, began a changeover of the monetary system to integrate it more closely to that of Imperial Russia.
This new Russo-Polish coinage existed until 1850 when the Imperial Treasury decreed that only regular Russian coins (with a Warsaw mintmark) were to be made in Poland. (Some minor Polish coins continued to be made at Warsaw until 1864, but the date was frozen at 1840.)
Poles rebelled again in January 1863 and, as in 1830-31, the rebellion was put down with great difficulty and loss of life, especially Polish. Russian authorities reacted with an iron fist after the
