Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland

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Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland (Polish: Namiestnik Królestwa Polskiego) was the title of the official representatives of the king of Poland (i.e. tsar of Russia, who used that title in that period) in Congress Poland, which existed from 1815 to 1874. Between 1874 and 1914, as Congress Poland became the Vistulan Country, the title of namestnik was replaced by the title of Governor-General of Warsaw (Polish: Generał-gubernator warszawski).^[1]

The office was introduced by the Constitution of Congress Poland in 1815 and described in Chapter 3 (On the Namestnik and Council of State). The namestnik was chosen by the tsar from among the noble citizens of the Russian Empire or the Kingdom of Poland, excluding naturalized citizens. The namestnik supervised the entire public administration, and in the absence of the monarch, chaired the Council of State, as well as the Administrative Council. He had the right to veto the council's decisions; other than that his decisions had to be countersigned by the appopriate minister. He had wide legislative rights: he could propose candidates for most senior official positions (ministers, senators, judges of the High Tribunal, councilors of the state, referandaries, as well as bishops and archbishops).

The namestnik had no competences in the realm of finances and foreign policy; his military competences varied.^[2] In case the namestnik was unable to hold his office due to resignation or death, his function was temporarily held by the president of the Council of State.

The office of namestnik was never abolished; however, after the January Uprising it disappeared along with the Congress Kingdom. The last namestnik was Fyodor Berg, who served from 1863 to 1874. No namestnik was nominated to replace him after his death in 1874;^[3] however, the role of the namestniks - viceroys in the former Congress Kingdom, now the Vistulan Country - passed to the Governors-General of Warsaw^[4] – or to be more specific, of the Warsaw Military District (Polish: Warszawski Okręg Wojskowy, Russian: Варшавский Военный Округ).

The governors-general were directly subordinate to the tsar and had much wider powers compared to the namestniks. In particular, they had control over all of the military forces in the region, and were the overseers of the juridical systems (they could pronounce death sentences without trials). They could also issue "declarations with the force of statutes", which could change existing laws.

1 Namestniks of the Kingdom of Poland
2 Governor-Generals of Warsaw
3 Notes
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Namestniks of the Kingdom of Poland

Józef Zajączek (1815–26)
1826-31 - vacant, power and responsibilities assumed by the Administrative Council
Ivan Paskevich (1831–55)
Mikhail Dmitrievich Gorchakov (1855 to May 3, 1861)
Nikolai Sukhozanet (16 May 1861 to 1 August 1861)
Karl Lambert (1861)
Nikolai Sukhozanet (11 October 1861 to 22 October 1861)
Alexander Lüders (November 1861 to June 1862)
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia (June 1862 to October 31, 1863)
Friedrich Wilhelm Rembert von Berg (1863–74)

[edit] Governor-Generals of Warsaw

Pavel Kotsebu (1874–80)
Pyotr Albedinsky (1880–83)
Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko (1883–94)
Pavel Andreyevich Shuvalov (1894–1896)
Alexander Imeretinsky (1896–1900)
Mikhail Chertkov (1900–05)
Konstantin Maximovich (1905)
Georgi Skalon (1905–14)
Yakov Zhilinsky (1914)
Pavel Yengalychev (1914–1915)

[edit] Notes

^ The literature refers to that office using several names. Namestnik is also sometimes translated as viceroy, regent or lord lieutenant, and sometimes even prince of Poland or Prince of Warsaw; Governors-General of Warsaw are sometimes referred to as Governors-General of the Kingdom of Poland or Governors-General of Poland, and some sources erroneously use the term namestnik for after 1874, or governor-general for the preceding period.
^ Sources are contradictory on whether the namestnik had or did not have competences in the military realm. Certainly from 1815 to 1831 the military of the Congress Kingdom was controlled by Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia, who de facto had more power then the namestnik, Józef Zajączek. Zajączek died in 1826, and was not replaced until 1831, when the November Uprising saw Ivan Paskevich assuming the post of namestnik - and also command of the Russian military forces in the region, as he was tasked with defeating the uprising. The issue of who controlled the military after Paskevich's death is unclear, but again the last namestnik, Fyodor Berg, was tasked with crushing another Polish uprising - the January Uprising - and had command over the military.
^ Hugo Stumm, Russia's advance eastward, 1874, Google Print: p.140, note 1
^ Thomas Mitchell, Handbook for Travellers in Russia, Poland, and Finland, 1888, Google Print, p.460