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WARSAW (Polish Warszawa, Ger. Warscha...

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 335 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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See also:

WARSAW (See also:Polish Warszawa, Ger. Warschau, Fr. Varsovie) , the See also:capital of See also:Poland and See also:chief See also:town of the See also:government of Warsaw. It is beautifully situated on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Vistula, 387 M. by See also:rail E. of See also:Berlin, and 695 m. S.W. of St See also:Petersburg. It stands on a See also:terrace 120 to 130 ft. above the See also:river, to which it descends by steep slopes, leaving a broad See also:bench at its See also:base. The suburb of Praga on the right bank of the Vistula, here 450 to 66o yds. broad, is connected with Warsaw by two See also:bridges—the railway See also:bridge which passes See also:close under the guns of the See also:Alexander citadel to the See also:north, and .the Alexander bridge (1666 ft. See also:long; built in 1865 at a cost of 634,000) in the centre of the town. With its large See also:population, its beautiful river, its ample communications and its See also:commerce, its university and scientific See also:societies, its palaces and numerous places of amusement, Warsaw is one of the most pleasant as well as one of the most animated cities of eastern See also:Europe. From a military point of view Warsaw is the chief stronghold for the See also:defence of Poland; the Alexander citadel has been much improved, and the bridge across the Vistula is defended by a strong fort, Sliwicki. Situated in a fertile See also:plain, on a See also:great navigable river, below its confluence with the Pilica and Wieprz, which drain See also:southern Poland, and above its confluence with the Narew and See also:Bug, which tap a wide region in the See also:east, Warsaw became in See also:medieval times the chief entrep6t for the See also:trade of those fertile and populous valleys with western Europe. Owing to its position in the territory of Mazovia, which was neither Polish nor Lithuanian, and, so to say, remained neutral between the two See also:rival See also:powers which constituted the See also:united See also:kingdom, it became the capital of both, and secured advantages over the purely Polish See also:Cracow and the Lithuanian See also:Vilna. And now, connected as it is by six See also:trunk lines with See also:Vienna, See also:Kiev and See also:south-western See also:Russia, See also:Moscow, St Petersburg, See also:Danzig and Berlin, it is one of the most important commercial cities of eastern Europe.

The south-western railway connects it with See also:

Lodz, the See also:Manchester of Poland, and with the productive See also:mineral region of See also:Piotrkow and See also:Kielce, which See also:supply its steadily growing manufactures with See also:coal and See also:iron, so that Warsaw and its neighbourhood have become a centre for all kinds of manufactures. The iron and See also:steel See also:industry has greatly See also:developed, and produces large quantities of rails. The machinery See also:works have suffered to some extent from competition with those of southern Russia, and find the high See also:price of See also:land a great obstacle in the way of See also:extension. But the manufactures of plated See also:silver, carriages, boots and shoes (See also:annual turnover £8,457,000), millinery, See also:hosiery, gloves, See also:tobacco, See also:sugar, and all sorts of small See also:artistic See also:house decorations, are of considerable importance, chiefly owing to the skill of the workers. Trade is principally in the goods enumerated above, but the See also:city is also a centre for trade in See also:corn, See also:leather and coal, and its two fairs (See also:wool and hops) have a great reputation throughout western Russia. The wholesale deportations of Warsaw artisans after the Polishinsurrections of 1794, 1831 and 1863 considerably checked, but by no means stopped, the See also:industrial progress of the town. The barrier of See also:custom-houses all See also:round Poland, and the See also:Russian See also:rule, which militates against the progress of Polish See also:science, technology and See also:art, are so many obstacles to the development of its natural resources. The population has nevertheless grown rapidly, from 161,008 in 186o, 276,000 in 1872 and 436,750 in 1887, to 756,426 in 19o1; of these more than 25,000 are Germans, and one-third are See also:Jews. The Russian See also:garrison See also:numbers over 30,000 men. Warsaw is an archiepiscopal see of the See also:Greek Orthodox and See also:Roman See also:Catholic churches, and the headquarters of the V., VI. and XV. See also:Army See also:Corps. The streets of Warsaw are adorned with many See also:fine buildings, partly palaces exhibiting the Polish See also:nobility's love of display, partly churches and cathedrals, and partly public buildings erected by the See also:municipality or by private bodies.

Fine public gardens and several monuments further embellish the city. The university (with 1500 students), founded in 1816 but closed in 1832, was again opened in 1869 as a Russian institution, the teaching being in Russian ; it has a remarkable library of more than 500,000 volumes, See also:

rich natural See also:history collections, a fine botanic See also:garden and an astronomical See also:observatory. The medical school enjoys high repute in the scientific See also:world. The school of arts, the See also:academy of See also:agriculture and forestry, and the conservatory of See also:music are all high-class institutions. The association of the See also:friends of science and the See also:historical and agricultural societies of Warsaw were once well known, but were suppressed after the insurrections, though they were subsequently revived. The See also:theatre for Polish See also:drama and the See also:ballet is a fine See also:building, which includes two theatres under the same roof ; but the See also:pride of Warsaw is its theatre in the Lazicaki gardens, which were laid out (1767–1788) in an old See also:bed of the Vistula by See also:King See also:Stanislaus See also:Poniatowski, and have beautiful shady alleys, artificial ponds, an elegant little See also:palace with ceilings painted by Bacciarelli, several imperial villas and a See also:monument (1788) to See also:John Sobieski, king of Poland, who delivered Vienna from the See also:Turks in 1683. Here an artificial ruin on an See also:island makes an open-See also:air theatre. Two other public gardens, with alleys of old See also:chestnut trees, are situated in the centre of the city. One of these, the Saski Ogrod, or Saxon garden (17 acres), which has a summer theatre and fine old trees, is one of the most beautiful in Europe; it is the resort of the Warsaw See also:aristocracy. The Krasinski garden is the favourite See also:promenade of the Jews. The central point of the See also:life of Warsaw is the former royal See also:castle (Zamek Krolewski) on See also:Sigismund Square. It was built by the See also:dukes of Mazovia, enlarged by Sigismund III.

(whose memorial stands opposite) and See also:

Ladislaus IV., and embellished by John Sobieski and Stanislaus Poniatowski. At See also:present it is inhabited by the " See also:governor-See also:general of the provinces on the Vistula " (i.e. Poland), and by the military authorities. Most of its pictures and other art treasures have been removed to St Petersburg and Moscow. Four See also:main thoroughfares radiate from it; one, the Krakowskie Przedmiescie, the best See also:street in Warsaw, runs southward: It is continued by the Nowy Swiat and the Ujazdowska Aleja See also:avenue, which leads to the Lazienki gardens. Many fine buildings are found in and near these two streets: the See also:church of St See also:Anne (1454), which belonged formerly to a Bernardine monastery ; the agricultural and industrial museum, with an ethnographical collection; the monument (1898) to the See also:national poet See also:Adam See also:Mickiewicz (1798–1855) ; the Alexander Nevski See also:cathedral of the Orthodox Greek Church, built in 1894 and following years on the Saxon Square in the See also:Byzantine See also:style, with five gilded cupolas and a detached campanile, 238 ft. high; close beside it the former Saxon palace, once the See also:residence of the Polish See also:kings but now used as military administrative offices; the Lutheran church finished in 1799, one of the most conspicuous in Warsaw; a monument (1841) to the Polish generals who held with Russia in 183o and were therefore shot by their compatriots, removed to the Zielony Square in 1898 ; the buildings of the Art Association, erected in 1898–1900; the university (see above) ; the church of the See also:Holy See also:Ghost (1682–1696), with the See also:heart and monument of the musician F. F. See also:Chopin; a monument (183o) to the astronomer N. Kopernicus (1473–1543); the palaces of the families See also:Zamoyski and Ordynacki (now the conservatory of music) ; the building of the Philharmonic Society (1899–1901); and the church of St Alexander, built in 1826 and splendidly restored in 1891. The Ujazdowska Aleja avenue, planted with See also:lime-trees and bordered with cafes and places of amusement, is the Champs Elysees of Warsaw It leads to the Lazienki See also:park and to the See also:Belvedere palace (1822) now the summer residence of the governor-general, and farther wes to the Mokotowski See also:parade ground, which is surrounded on the south and See also:west by the manufacturing See also:district. Another See also:principal street, the Marszalkowska, runs parallel to the Ujazdowska from the Saxon garden to this parade ground, on the south-east of which are the Russian See also:barracks. The above-mentioned streets are crossed by another See also:series See also:running west and east, the chief of them being the Senators, which begins at Sigismund Square and contains the best shops.

The palace of the See also:

archbishop of Warsaw, the Imperial (Russian) Bank, formerly the Bank of Poland; the town See also:hall (1725), burned in 1863, but rebuilt in 1870; the small Pod Blacha palace, now occupied by a See also:chancery; the theatre (1833); the old See also:mint; the beautiful Reformed church (1882) ; the Orthodox Greek cathedral of the Trinity, rebuilt in 1837; the Krasinski palace (1692), burned in 1782 but rebuilt; the See also:place of See also:meeting of the Polish diets, now the Supreme See also:Court; the church of the Transfiguration, a thank-offering by John Sobieski for his victory of 1683, and containing his heart and that of Stanislaus Poniatowski; and several palaces are grouped in or near Senators' Street and Miodowa Street. To the west Senators' Street is continued by See also:Electors' Street, where is the very elegant church (1849) of St See also:Charles See also:Borromeo, and the Chlodna Street leading tote suburb of Wola, with a large See also:field where the kings of Poland used to be elected. In Leshno Street, which branches off from Senators' Street, are the Zelazna Brama, or Iron See also:Gate; in the See also:market-place the See also:bazaar, the See also:arsenal and the Wielopoiski barracks. To the north of Sigismund Square is the old town—Stare Miasto —the Jewish See also:quarter, and farther north still the Alexander citadel. The old town very much recalls old See also:Germany by its narrow streets and See also:antique buildings, the cathedral of St John, the most See also:ancient church in Warsaw, having been built in the 13th See also:century and restored in the 17th. The citadel, erected in 1832–18J5 as a See also:punishment for the insurrection of 1831, is of the old type, with six forts too close to the walls of the fortress to be useful in See also:modern warfare. The suburb of Praga, on the right bank of the Vistula, is pocrly built and often flooded; but the bloody assaults which led to its See also:capture in 1794 by the Russians under See also:Suvarov, and in 1831 by See also:Paskevich, give it a name in history. In the outskirts of Warsaw are various more or less noteworthy villas, palaces and battlefields. Willanow, the palace of John Sobieski, afterwards belonging to See also:Count X. Branicki, was partly built in 1678–1694 by See also:Turkish prisoners in a fine See also:Italian style, and is now renowned for its historical See also:relics, portraits and pictures. It is situated to the south of Warsaw, together with the See also:pretty See also:pilgrim-See also:age church of Czerniakow, built by See also:Prince Stanislaus Lubomirski in 1691, and many other fine villas (Morysinek, Natolin, Krolikarnia, which also has a picture See also:gallery, Wierzbno and Mokotow). Marymont, an old See also:country residence of the wife of John Sobieski, and the Kaskada, much visited by the inhabitants of Warsaw, in the north, the Saska Kempa on the right bank of the Vistula, and the castle of Jablona down the Vistula are among others that deserve mention.

The castle and See also:

forest of Bielany (41 m. N.), on the bank of the Vistula, are a popular See also:holiday resort in the See also:spring. Among the battlefields In the neighbourhood is that of GrOchow where the Polish troops were defeated in 1831, and Wawer in the same quarter (E. of Praga), where Prince See also:Joseph Poniatowski defeated the Austrians in the See also:war of 1809; at Maciejowice, 50 M. up the Vistula, See also:Kosciuszko was wounded and taken by the Russians in 1794; and 20 M. down the river stands the fortress of Modlin, now See also:Novogeorgievsk. History.—The history of Warsaw from the 16th century onwards is intimately connected with that of Poland. The precise date of the See also:foundation of the town is not known; but it is supposed that Conr'.d, See also:duke of Mazovia, erected a castle on the present site of Warsaw as See also:early as the 9th century. Casimir the Just is supposed to have fortified it in the iith century, but Warsaw is not mentioned in See also:annals before 1224. Until 1526 it was the residence of the dukes of Mazovia, but when their See also:dynasty became See also:extinct it was annexed to Poland. When Poland and Lithuania were united, Warsaw was chosen as the royal residence. Sigismund See also:Augustus (Wasa) made it (1550) the real capital of Poland, and from 1572 onwards the See also:election of the kings of Poland took place on the field of Wola, on the W. outskirts of the city. From the 17th century See also:possession of it was continually disputed between the Swedes, the Russians, the Brandenburgers and the Austrians. Charles Gustavus of See also:Sweden took it in 1655 and kept it for a See also:year; the Poles retook it in See also:July 1656, but lost it again almost immediately. Augustus II. and Augustus III. did much for its embellishment, but it had much to suffer during the war with Charles XII. of Sweden, who captured it in 1702; but in the following year See also:peace was made, and it became See also:free again.

The disorders which followed upon the See also:

death of Augustus III. in 1763 opened a field for Russian intrigue, and in 1764 the Russians took possession of the town and secured the election of Stanislaus Poniatowski, which led in 1773 to the first See also:partition of Poland. In See also:November 1794 the Russians took it again, after the bloody See also:assault on Praga, but next year, in the third partition of Poland, Warsaw was given to See also:Prussia. In November 18o6 the town was occupied by the troops of See also:Napoleon, and after the peace of See also:Tilsit (1807) was made the capital of the See also:independent duchy of Warsaw;but the Austrians seized it on the 21st of See also:April 1809, and kept possession of it. till the 2nd of See also:June, when it once more became independent. The Russians finally took it on the 8th of See also:February 1813. On the 29th of November 1830, Warsaw gave the See also:signal for the unsuccessful insurrection which lasted nearly one year; the city was captured after great bloodshed by Paskevich, on the 7th of See also:September 1831. Deportations on a large See also:scale, executions, and See also:confiscation of the domains of the nobility followed, and until 1856 Warsaw remained under severe military rule. In 1862 a series of demonstrations began to be made in Warsaw in favour of the See also:independence of Poland, and after a bloody repression a general insurrection followed in See also:January 1863, the Russians remaining, however, masters of the situation. Executions, banishment to the convict prisons of See also:Siberia, and confiscation of estates followed. See also:Deportation to Siberia and the interior of Russia was carried out on an unheard-of scale. Scientific societies and high See also:schools were closed; monasteries and nunneries were emptied. Hundreds of Russian officials were called in to fill the administrative posts, and to See also:teach in the schools and the university; the Russian See also:language was made obligatory in all See also:official acts, in all legal proceedings, and even, to a great extent, in trade. The very name of Poland was expunged from official writings, and, while the old institutions were abolished, the Russian tribunals and administrative institutions were introduced.

The See also:

serfs were liberated. Much rioting and lawless bloodshed took place in the city in 905-1906. (P. A. K.; J. T.

End of Article: WARSAW (Polish Warszawa, Ger. Warschau, Fr. Varsovie)

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