Kraków Uprising Begins

Date: February 20, 1846 • Location: Kraków, Poland

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1846.

Polish insurgents in the Free City of Kraków led an uprising (depicted) attempting to incite a fight for national independence that was put down by the Austrian Empire nine days later.

The Free City of Cracow, also known as the Republic of Cracow, and officially the Free, Independent, and Strictly Neutral City of Cracow and its District, was a nominally independent city-state that existed from 1815 to 1846. It was established by the Congress of Vienna using territory from the former Duchy of Warsaw, which had been divided among the Russian, Prussian and Austrian empires after the Congress in 1815. The Free City comprised the Polish city of Cracow (Kraków) and its surrounding district.